Colombo, November 2: High Commissioner Gopal Baglay held two separate meetings with Vidura Wickramanayaka, Sri Lankan Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs on the implementation of USD 15 million grant by the Government of India for the promotion of Buddhist ties and the functioning of the Jaffna Cultural Center (JCC) on Tuesday.
The Secretary, Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Somarathna Vidanapathirana, First Secretary (Development Cooperation), Eldos Mathew Punnoose and other officials representing the Governments of India and Sri Lanka attended these meetings.
It may be recalled that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special grant of USD 15 million for the promotion of bilateral Buddhist ties at the Virtual Bilateral Summit on 26 September 2020 and an MOU governing the grant was signed on 28 March 2022, during the visit of External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar to Colombo.
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The High Commissioner and Minister Wickramanayaka agreed to immediately undertake steps for the quick implementation of jointly-identified priority projects under the grant in numerous areas pertaining to Buddhism.
Specific action points regarding the installation of solar power facilities in places of worship and the Pirivenas spread across Sri Lanka were also identified.
The disccusions on the Jaffna Cultural Center focused on the establishment of an enabling joint framework to make the state-of-the-art facility available for regular use by the public. The JCC, a glowing example of an India-Sri Lanka development partnership, which had been constructed under a Government of India grant of more than USD 11 million, consists of multiple facilities such as a museum of two floors, the latest theatre style auditorium for more than 600 people, an 11-storeyed learning tower, and a public square which could also act as an amphitheater, among others.
The two meetings underscore the Government of India’s abiding commitment to bring about a palpable impact to the daily lives of the people of Sri Lanka through the implementation of people-centric grant projects. These projects are guided by the demands and needs of all sections of Sri Lankan society and the priorities of the Government of Sri Lanka.
Till date, India has been associated with the implementation of more than 85 grant projects in Sri Lanka. The latest endeavors include the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity Project.
Sri Lanka will miss the December deadline for securing an IMF loan as main bilateral debtor China was involved in 20th party congress and had little time for holding debt restructuring talks with Colombo. The next meeting of IMF executive board is in March 2023.
Sri Lanka is headed for major political turbulence ahead as it will not be able to secure the much-needed IMF loan in December for its main ally and debtor China was involved in the 20th party congress and is still to initiate a dialogue on debt restructuring with the Island nation.
According to financial analysts based in Washington, Sri Lanka likely will miss the December IMF deadline and will have to wait for March 2023 to secure a USD 2.9 billion loan from the lending institution in eight equal tranches. In the meantime, the Sri Lankan debt has increased further due to forex depreciation, deep recession, and burgeoning fiscal deficit. Since the end of 2021, inflation has considerably eroded the real value of domestic debt.
While debtors India and Japan have already initiated a dialogue with Colombo on debt reconciliation and restructuring, China is still to engage in the dialogue as Beijing was involved in the 20th National Party Congress and had little time for client state Sri Lanka. The total debt of the island nation was USD 36 billion at the end of 2021. Of this, Sri Lanka owes USD 7.1 billion to China or 20 percent of its debt. The total public debt, which was 115.3 per cent of the GDP at end-December 2021, has now gone up to 143.7 per cent of the GDP by end-June 2022. Of this the bilateral debt has climbed from 12.7 percent of the GDP to 20.4 percent of the GDP. On October 31, 2022, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe went on record stating: Now, this is the process, we had to move. If we can move and come to an agreement by December, which means coming to an agreement by mid-November, and going up to the IMF Board in mid-December, we will gain a big advantage. However, I don’t know whether we can do it for the simple reason that in China the focus has started now after the party conference. However, we must aim to have it by January.”
Behind this political jugglery of Wickremesinghe, who is a lone MP of his party and a close ally of the discredited Rajapaksa regime, is the fact that Sri Lanka will require a bridge gap funding of USD 850 million to survive till the next IMF board meeting in March. Or else there will be public protests as in the last July-August and the ultra-leftist parties will gain political traction as the Sri Lankan opposition does not have the clout to stand up on its own. The question is who will give the USD 850 million bridge funding to help Colombo survive till March 2023?
The economic crisis in Sri Lanka is due to misgovernance, poor fiscal discipline and corruption by the Rajapaksa regime, who secured a 900-megawatt Norochcholia Power Station with Chinese help after taking a loan from Beijing apparently at 11 percent interest. The white elephant projects undertaken by Sri Lanka with Chinese assistance have led the Island nation deep into an economic black hole with no signs of recovery at least in the next five years.
While China is still to come on board to restructure its debt, India has already had two rounds of talks with Colombo and is in discussion with another debtor Japan to ensure that Sri Lanka gets early relief. Colombo owes nearly USD 1.7 billion in bilateral debt to India with another USD four billion in emergency assistance as the Modi government has gone out of its way to keep the Island nation afloat. This is even though Sri Lanka is still playing around with India’s adversaries China and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean region. Perhaps, Sri Lanka is waiting for China to lift its zero Covid policy and allow Han Chinese tourists to spend money in the Island nation to revive its economy. The political and economic future of Sri Lanka is very bleak.
According to information published by the Russian MoD on November 3, 2022, a detachment of Pacific Fleet ships led by the flagship missile cruiser Varyag has entered the TOF area of responsibility south of Sri Lanka.
A detachment of Pacific Fleet ships led by the flagship of the Nakhimov Guards missile cruiser Varyag, the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs and the large sea tanker Boris Butoma have entered the responsibility zone of the TOF south of Sri Lanka.
The detachment of ships is making an inter-fleet transition from the Mediterranean Sea to the point of permanent deployment in Vladivostok after completing tasks in the far maritime zone.
In the area of Sri Lanka Island, the Pacific Fleet took operational control of the ships’ detachment on the crossing from the Black Sea Fleet, whose area of responsibility they successfully traversed. The detachment of ships is currently making the crossing across the Indian Ocean.
About the destroyer
Admiral Tributs is a Project 1155 Large Anti-Submarine Ship (Большой Противолодочный Корабль, BPK) of the Russian Navy. The ship was laid down on 19 April 1980 and launched on 26 March 1983.
The vessel is 163 m (534.8 ft) long with a beam of 19.3 m (63.3 ft) and a draught of 7.8 m (25.6 ft). Displacement was 6,200 t (6,102 long tons) standard and 7,900 t (7,775 long tons) full load.
Power is provided by four 23,000 kW (31,000 hp) hp GTA M-9 propulsion complexes, each comprising a 6,300 kW (8,500 hp) M-62 and a 16,800 kW (22,500 hp) hp M-8KF powering two fixed pitch propellers. which gave a maximum speed of 29.5 knots (55 km/h; 34 mph).
To combat submarines, Admiral Tributs mounts two quadruple launchers for eight missiles in the Metel Anti-Ship Complex along with two RBU-6000 12-barrel rocket launchers for close in defence.
Sri Lanka, which is under an ongoing economic crisis, is headed for another major turbulence as the country will not be able to secure the much-needed IMF loan in December as its ally and debtor China is yet to initiate a dialogue on debt restructuring with Colombo.
A report in Hindustan Times quoting financial analysts based in Washington said that Sri Lanka will miss the IMF deadline and will have to wait till March next year to secure a loan of $2.9 billion.
The country was expecting the IMF to approve the $2.9 billion loan by the end of this year, officials from the country’s central bank told investors earlier in September.
While the debtors- India and Japan have already started a dialogue with Sri Lanka on debt reconciliation and restructuring, China is yet to engage in the dialogue as Beijing was involved in the 20th National Party Congress, which elected Xi Jinping for a third term and had little time for Sri Lanka.
It is struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, which has led to shortages of essentials and the ouster of a president.
Meanwhile, the debt has increased further due to forex depreciation, deep recession and burgeoning fiscal deficit. Since the end of 2021, inflation has considerably eroded the real value of domestic debt.
The total debt of the nation was $36 billion at the end of 2021. Of this total debt, Colombo owes $7.1 billion to China or 20 percent.
Now, this is the process, we had to move. If we can move and come to an agreement by December, which means coming to an agreement by mid-November, and going up to the IMF Board in mid-December, we will gain a big advantage,” Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said last week.
However, I don’t know whether we can do it for the simple reason that in China the focus has started now after the party conference. However, we must aim to have it by January,” he added.
It now requires a bridge gap funding of $850 million to survive till the next IMF meeting in March or there will be public protests like the one the country witnessed in July-August this year.
An urgent shipment of medical aid has arrived in Sri Lanka, and which has been provided by the Qatar Fund for Development to support the health sector in the country, QNA reported.
Qatar’s ambassador to Sri Lanka Jassim bin Jaber al-Sorour received the Qatari medical aid, which he handed over to Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella.
The ceremony was attended by the Diplomats in the Mission and the senior officials of the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka including Mr. Janaka Chandraguptha, Secretary – Ministry of Health, Dr. Asela Gunawardana, DGHS, Dr. Anver Hamdani, Coordinator In-Charge of Covid-19 and Health Care Donor Activities.
The Qatar Fund for Development said in a statement that urgent medical assistance will play a pivotal role in promoting health and will contribute to easing the burden on the medical sector in Sri Lanka.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Government of Russia to increase the number of flights between Russia and friendly states, according to the Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the first resuming flight of Russia’s largest charter airline, Azur Air has arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this morning.
The first flight reportedly arrived with around 335 passengers onboard.
Russian airlines have not been flying to Sri Lanka since early June, when an A330-300 operated by Aeroflot was briefly detained due to a dispute with lessor AerCap’s special purpose vehicle Celestial Aviation Trading Limited.
Even though the court quickly released the aircraft and the Sri Lankan government guaranteed that no further seizures would be made in the country, Russian airlines had been reluctant to return to the island.
However, Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot last month resumed flights between Moscow and Colombo after a lapse of 4 months.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Tourism had announced that Azur Air would be re-commencing flights to Sri Lanka starting from today (November 03).
Russia has closed its airspace to airlines from 36 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union, in response to Ukraine-related sanctions targeting its aviation sector.
Punitive measures imposed by Western powers have also forced Western firms to terminate leasing contracts with Russian airlines for over 500 aircraft.
The sanctions also prevent Russian airlines from buying aircraft parts or maintenance services from Europe or the United States, adding to the pressure on the world’s 11th largest aviation market from a ban on using North American and European airspace.
Russia has since 2021 maintained and expanded a list of unfriendly” countries, which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, EU members and their Western allies, in response to economic sanctions.
The clause on visa-free travel in the Kremlin’s decree does not contain mentions of friendly” or unfriendly” countries.
In a closely watched anti-Western speech last week, Putin hailed African, Latin American and certain Asian countries as friends of Russia.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry told state media Wednesday that it would prepare proposals on e-visas by the end of 2022.
The change in the British Prime Minister has become a question of whether Britain needs a new leader with dynamic abilities for economic policy innovation and conceivable to direct such policies to the world as happened in the past. In this environment, another question emerges, why is apocryphal thinking respected by British people has failed to innovate policies for their own country and relegate to a difficult situation? The economic history of the world indicates that British economists contributed many views to change the economic policies of the world. It may not be the way as George W. Southgate explained in his history book. This situation has been reflected since Adam Smith. The contribution of J.M Keynes and AC. Pigou was in minds of economics students at the beginning of economic studies. J.M Keynes was a policy leader of the British Treasury and constructed a strong bridge between classical economics and modernized economics through Keynesian economics which was based on protecting aggregate demand. Later, Neo Keynesians and Monetarists such as Milton Friedman came up with ideas of demand for money and motives for demanding money in an economy and they also believed taxation will control inflation.
The Keynesian beliefs base policies are still in many countries and no economist was born after Keynes was able to change the economic policy based, departing from the British-based economists and many countries tried to make reforms staying and supporting for ideological based on Keynesian concept. After the recession experienced ending the Cold war, many attempted to say Keynesian economics was staled and the world bank promoted spending cuts and disciplines in investment management
After the election of Rishi Sunak as the Prime Minister of the UK, people have an opportunity to compare the economic policies of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the vital hope of people is whether Rishi Sunak would be able to act like a policy innovator to attract the worship of people like J.M.Keynes. Washington Post published, in brief, the economic policies of both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Now independent analysts could critically look at policies that would be attracted by the world. Although Rishi Sunak genetically associated with Indian flock his experience associate with African values.
High-income earners in any country of the world (US, Australia, France, New Zealand and Canada) cry for the tax cut which means they have a motive of gaining more money in hand after the tax payment, and a major revenue source of government in the West concerns charging tax from personal income and goods and services, and the significant point associated with this aspect is, it might be a greater concern to people in western countries, and without giving incentives to the poor in the tax reform, could a country maintains aggregate demand at the required level?. There is a clear conflict between the motives of high-income earners and low-income earners. Practically, policymakers need to assess who will positively react to the expectations of the economy from tax cuts while maintaining the saving level consistent with consumption. It believes as Keynsians assumed savings equals investment. Practically, the team of Sunak need to decide after consultation with advisors whether the British economy should go consistent with Keynes or need to invent new thinking to strengthen the economy. If this decision would not be happened Sunak’s policy and popularity will be failed.
The motive of both lower-income earners and high-income earners in this tax debate would be vital because when mathematically calculating, the reaction of consumers may decide which group of consumers either low-income earners or high-income earners would positively react to the fiscal policy. The difficult task is making the right decision without practical data on which group’s reaction is beneficial to the country and what would be the quantum of benefits to the country from the reaction of each group. This is a mathematical analysis, which associate with practical matters that cannot be mathematically calculate.
The benefit to the country from a tax cut and how positively impacts the macroeconomic variables giving advantages to all types of people in the country vital in this debate because an economy cannot manage to ignore whichever group of people related to a tax cut. If this situation could be incurred and reconciled by the policies of Rishi Sunak, he would be a marvellous policy dictator to the world, and no one in Britain could defeat him and all English-speaking countries will follow Sunak’s Britain. Sunak will be a new Churchill to the Western world.
Another vital point that should evaluate in the modern world is the behaviour of consumption, investment and saving in the modern world. The consumption of the community seems to align more with goods and services of information technology era, however, consumption in the modern world associated with different items that were not in the society, and investors will choose shares in innovative companies that will produce goods and services attracting consumers, who associated with non-traditional products, and investments would be the companies that produce of goods and services attracted by modern technology. For investment, stocks of companies that are producing goods and services are demanded by logical people in modern society. When compared to many countries in the world, the demand from overseas would be important as it would support and strengthen the foreign assets base of the country.
Another significant point is the motives of both groups regard to spending the savings from the tax cut should be accurately identified by the policymakers, it could be done by research. The real behaviour of the current world displays a huge difference between lower-income earners and high-income earners, in practice, the use of savings by lower-income earners may turn to consumption and higher-income earners might be interested in investment despite savings, and the changes the attitudes in the modern world might have a contradicting reaction or results. The value of money radically declines and people get away from groups who has speculative motives in this depreciating currency value. Look at the British Pound how it has been changed during the past decade.
Economists believe that the use of savings from the tax cut would be utilized by lower-income earners for consumption while high-income earners are likely to use them for investment. However, the use of saving from the tax cut may use for a different purpose in the modern technological era.
As it gets information every day, people on both sides may have interested in investing in crypto currency such as an investment preference that has high risk, sometimes, such investment choice might lead to bankruptcy. Neither in the classical era nor the Keynesian era was a popular investment in cryptocurrency that generate positive returns and quite difficult to interpret how it happens. In such a situation, a traditional belief of how to use savings from a tax cut should be carefully considered by government policymakers and cryptocurrency investors might destroy the economy. Whilst considering these points, spending savings from tax cuts may go to illegal dangerous drug consumption and business. The quantum of spending for illegal drug consumption was negligible in the past. Current world it is betokening and policymakers cannot ignore it despite the lack of data for decision making. This is a high-risk factor that should be considered by policymakers. Despite this requirement, policymakers have no data that support decision-making on this matter and Rishi Sunak might be a refuge in policy gimmick.
Which action is better for the world? If high-income earners use the savings from the tax cut for investment or consumption, it would have a positive impact on the economy. The aggregate income of the economy would be higher from new investments if they are used by new investments. Lower-income earners use it for consumption and it would cause to create an unstable condition in a country. The results of dynamism could not be augured in the modern world.
Rishi Sunak worked in British Treasury and may have read much research about consumer behaviour and investment. He is not a politician with a sympathetic heart for poor people and like an Indian businessman, he likes to grow wealth. His wife and family also indicate they are wealth growers by working.
After the taxing issue, the most significant policy invention required by Britain as well as other countries in the world seems to solve the problem of cost of living. In fact, it could be explained as earning is not sufficient to consume and saving. This is a more complicated problem that needs urgent attention and it is an issue of labour voters. Tory voters also concern with higher expenses for living, which is concerned problem all over the world. Theoretically, it is related to the price theory and the equilibrium point may be in a higher price with abilities to buy a lower quantity. The fundamental problem is balancing the demand and supply to reach the new equilibrium point. The problem is also related to factors on the production side.
Prof. Chandana Jayaratne Chairman-Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT)Head of the Department of Physics and Director, Astronomy and Space Science Unit, Department of Physics, University of Colombo,
eclipse on November 8th at moonrise
(A lunar eclipse on the 8thfull moonday)
On November 8, 2022 full moon day, there will be a total lunar eclipse that will be visible in Asia, Australia, America and part of Europe. However, this eclipse is visible to Sri Lanka as a partial lunar eclipse at the moon’s rise.
The total eclipse begins at 1.32 p.m., the maximum occurs at 4.29 p.m. and the eclipse ends up at 7.26 p. m., Sri Lanka Standard time. Sri Lankans can view only the latter part of this safe naked-eye event as a partial eclipse with the moon rise at 5.48 p.m. from the eastern horizon. The partial phase of the eclipse ends up at 6.19 p.m. said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, the Director of the Astronomy and Space Science Unit, Department of Physics, Colombo University.
This is the second and final total lunar eclipse of 2022 and is famously known as the Beaver Blood Moon lunar eclipse. The true maximum point of this eclipse cannot be seen in Sri Lanka because the Moon is below the horizon at that time. Since the Moon is near the horizon at this time, it is better to select a high point or find an unobstructed area with free sight to the east-northeast for the best view of the eclipse, said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne.
The next total lunar eclipse won‘t take place untilMarch 14, 2025.
Why do we call it a Beaver Blood Moon Eclipse?
All the full moons have popular nicknames. If the full moon in November falls before November 7, it is called the Hunter’s Moon. Otherwise, like this year, it is called the full Beaver Moon. The name Beaver is given due to the time of year when beavers available in many countries in the northern parts of the world prepare their dens for the coming cold months and stock up on food.
Despite its nickname blood moon”, at the totally, eclipsed moon looks an orangey-copper reddish color and not a blood-red color.
During a total lunar eclipse, a full moon passes first into the penumbra or less dark outer shadow of the Earth and then enters into the Earth’s umbra or deep central shadow. At the totality, the only sunlight reaching the moon is light that passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Instead of expected black, it turns the lunar surface red because of Rayleigh scattering. The more the environmental pollution, dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the Moon will appear.
Prof. Chandana Jayaratne
Director, Astronomy and Space Science Unit, University of Colombo
Head of the Department of Physics, Universityof Colombo
Immediate Past General President-Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science
Chairman, Arthur C ClarkeInstitute for Modern Technologies and
National Coordinator and Board Member-International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics
Interesting question, and in an ethnically divided society like ours, it is better to find answers and how some, if not all, of their methods, can be adopted by others as well.
One of the most successful business communities in the world for centuries has been the Jews.
What are the secrets of their success?
They are no longer secrets, and a few methods that they practice can be adopted and practised by others as well.
The first and foremost one is honesty in all dealings.
Many would disagree with me when I say this.
I do not want to deal with dissenters, but if honesty was missing in their dealing, they would not have been in business for this long.
Most of the practices are commandments and they follow them diligently.
One is that a father should teach his son how to make an honest living and, further, it goes to say, to teach him how to swim.
It should not be taken literally and what it means is to teach how to navigate in different and difficult conditions to survive.
The next one is to have a very positive relationship with money.
Money is yet another tool to be used for the betterment of oneself and others, and it is not as evil as some belief.
Never be too shy or proud to ask for help from your community.
If the person standing next to you in prayer would not help, do you think a total stranger would?
The same with giving.
Give back to your community first.
Make it a practice to give to charity.
Muslims recommend 3%, while Jews recommend 10%.
You can’t wipe out all evils by just giving to charity, but even if a few would get help, it is better than doing nothing.
Always aspire to be an owner rather than a worker.
This rings the entrepreneurial bell in most people, and it makes good sense too.
Further, never be envious of another’s success, but rather be happy as you can learn from their experience and incorporate their methods into your business too.
Another important thing is not to neglect your bread and butter.
When success knocks, many get distracted and tend to take their eyes off the ball to pay more attention to other matters and ventures.
Their success formula is to pay 90% of your attention to your bread and butter, 8% to any future projects, and the balance of 2% to your dreams.
Never do to others anything you would not want them to do to you.
In other words, to avoid karmic repercussions.
Their recommendation for wealth is to be segregated and hedged, so if one goes bad for a period, others will provide the necessary cushioning.
The ideal ratio is to have 1/3 of your wealth in cash, 1/3 in inventory, and the other 1/3 in real estate.
They are more risk-takers than others because of their strong belief in God.
If we try hard enough, God will make it happen, is what they believe
If we do not try hard and are ready to give up, then divine intervention will not come.
Finally, take a day off from your busy schedule each week to have time for yourself, to pay attention to family and others’ needs, and to be able to come back and resume your day fully charged for the next six days.
I do not think that any of them are non-adoptable practices, and therefore anyone can duplicate their success by simply following those steps.
Disclaimer: The goal of this post is not to elevate or denigrate any group in our society; rather, it is to highlight some simple, doable alternatives for those that struggle.
Geneva, 2 November 2022: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, while marking the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on Wednesday commented, ‘more needs to be done to fight impunity on the ground’. Slow progress is made, but still very insufficient, said the PEC after appealing to launch the work for an international convention.
Recently, five years after the killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017 in Malta, two brothers were sentenced to 40 years in prison on 14 October, Justice is very slow but better than nothing,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC, adding that in Mexico, three persons were condemned on 28 October for the murder of journalist Lourdes Maldonado (killed in January 2021).
Despite these rare examples, impunity is prevailing in most crimes.
The masterminds of the crime are not prosecuted. According to a recent UNESCO report, 86% of the crimes against journalists remained unpunished. In 10 years, the drop is only 9%. UNESCO reported an upward trend of resolved cases worldwide from 11% in 2018 to 14% in 2022.
2022 will be a particularly deadly year for journalists with 107 media workers (the latest one is Pakistani female journalist Sadaf
Naeem) killed. It is an increase of 57% in 10 months compared to last year. So far Ukraine, Mexico, Pakistan, Haiti emerge as the most dangerous countries for journalists this year. It is important that the killing of journalists in Ukraine don’t go unpunished and those crimes must be investigated independently,” added Lempen.
PEC is calling again on governments to support the adoption of a United Nations convention on the safety of journalists and other media professionals. Despite 13 resolutions on the safety of journalists adopted at the UN and the adoption of the United Nations plan of action on the safety of journalists and impunity which commemorates its 10th anniversary, the journalists continue to be attacked for doing their job.
In this regard, PEC welcomes the global campaign for the adoption of an international convention dedicated to the protection of journalists and media professionals, formally launched by the International Federation of Journalists at the 51st session of the UNHRC in Geneva on 30 September last. The convention highlights existing weaknesses and loopholes in international humanitarian and human rights law and the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms.
PEC’s south Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that Pak television reporter Naeem (40) was crushed to death as she fell from a truck during the political march led by former PM Imran Khan on 30 October. The mother of two children, associated with Channel 5 in Lahore, followed the convoy which was proceeding towards Islamabad.
Thus, the hard-working journalist died in the line of duty.
Pakistan earlier lost journalists Arshad Sharif, Muhammad Younis, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hasnain Shah, Murtaza Shar and Athar Mateen to assailants since 1 January. It’s neighbour India witnessed the murder of journalists Rohit Kumar Biswal, Sudhir Saini, Juned Khan Pathan and Subhash Kumar Mahato. Three journalists (Hashibur Rahaman Rubel, Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem and Abdul Bari) were killed in Bangladesh and Myanmar lost photojournalist Aye Kyaw and reporter Pu Tui Dim to military atrocities.
Nov 1 (Bloomberg) – Sri Lanka’s inflation slowed in October for the first time in a year as shortages of food and fuel eased.
The consumer price index in the capital Colombo cooled to 66% from a year ago, the statistics department said in a statement Monday. That’s down from 69.8% in September and a median of 68.5% in a Bloomberg survey.
Transport costs stood at 150.4% and food prices came in at 94.9%, the data showed
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and several members from the SJB were today seen leaving the anti government protest site after they failed to move past the human barricade set up by the police.
https://youtu.be/P9ym7Bb39ZA
Much to the displeasure of the protestors who were seen urging Premadasa and the SJB members to move past the human barricade, the opposition Leader and opposition members were seen getting into their vehicles and leaving the protest site to maintain calm and non violence.
The protestors however showing their displeasure, even went as far as to asking why Premadasa had arrived at the scene if he could not move past the police human barricade.
Some protestors had also jeered at him and the other opposition members as they were seen leaving the area.
The protest ended peacefully a short while ago with police re-opening the routes towards Fort from the Technical Junction.
Family politics is a concerning matter for all Sri Lankans because there has been severe criticism against family politics which promoted corruption in the country. In history, before foreign invasions, families got the power to become kings and queens. Since the beginning of the Donormore administration in 1932, the political leadership has been transferred from one family to another and this tradition will be ended after the next election. The last family in the political administration was the Rajapaksa family, which has lost its respect because the family has been associated with disgraceful management and corruption and the new situation denotes that Sri Lanka needs a new family for political leadership.
The Rajapaksa family had an opportunity to go further but so-called corrupt practices and conflicts between the family members forced people to reject the family politics and it shows that the country, Sri Lanka needs a new family for political leadership possibly to bring new philosophy that will bring justice. Although Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family, and Basil Rajapaksa will attempt to take over power, such efforts will be rejected by people, the wish of the Rajapaksa family would be in the water, and people informally express a view that they need a new family.
There is an informal talk among influential people that a lady doctor who is the daughter of assassinated Upatissa Gamanayake may willing to be the leader of JVP, and the current political refugee situation might change if there will be result-oriented thinker for the leadership is selected. It may not be like so-called branch stacking or improperly increasing voting groups in political parties. If the daughter of Upatissa Gamanayake becomes the leader of JVP no doubt that she will attract the support of the political bureau.
The leaders of current major political parties are not acceptable to the public and a new leader like the late Bob Hawke in Australia, and Sri Lanka also needs to inject new blood from outside and a lady leader like the daughter of Late Gamanayake from outside will be acceptable to Sri Lankans.
There are many active politicians in JVP and they are not capable of modernizing the party policies. The leadership in the current party is self-centred and in this century JVP needs to critically think about policies and how to change them consistent with the requirements of the young generation. Like Rishi Sunak, political leaders in this century must be able to judge the validity of political and economic policies and the potential response from social and religious leaders towards policies.
The views of people toward JVP and other registered political parties are aforementioned and the new family leader to govern the country should be an efficacious figure.
A National Council has been established within the Parliament consisting of 35 members representing all political parties with the objective of
a) Determine priorities on guidelines for the formulation of National short-, medium- and long-term policies.
b) To reach a consensus on a common minimum short-, medium- and long-term program to stabilize the economy.
There is serious doubt whether the members of this Council have the capacity and the will to deliver the tasks assigned. Most of them have been in Parliament for decades and some have held ministerial responsibilities. When even the very Parliament which had overarching power over finance had no sense of priorities and allowed the present crisis to develop over so many years failed miserably, serious doubts on these 35 members making an impact is justified. National policies and priorities should be devoid of partisan politics. It would be impossible for these members to determine national interest over political interest.
In 1956 Sri Lanka introduced the National Planning Council Act where the Council was to advise the Cabinet on the planning of agriculture, industry, commerce, education, housing, health and social services, public utilities, and all other matters pertaining to the national economy. SWRD envisaged a 10-year national development plan. It was after 1977 that National planning was given up.
Priorities on National Development cannot be plucked out of thin air but must be based on potential and prospects of the economy based on in depth studies. This is the task of a National Planning body staffed with trained technocrats. Political manifestos provide visions on national development. We had such broad visions in Regaining Sri Lanka, Mahinda Chintanaya, and Visions of Prosperity but did not have any well formulated plans for implementations.
The number of countries with a national development plan has more than doubled, from about 62 in 2006 to 134 in 2018. More than 80 per cent of the global population now lives in a country with a national development plan of one form or another. This is a stunning recovery of a practice that had been discredited in the 1980s and 1990s as a relic of directed economies and state-led development.
China is on their 14th 5-year Plan and South Korea is on the fifth 5 year plan.
What we need is a scientifically formulated National Development Plan and a strong mechanism for plan implementation and not a political declaration of the state of the Union”.
It’s Really True: They Know they are Killing the Babies
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Incisive analysis by Dr. Naomi Wolf, first published by Global Research on May 31, 2022
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I’ve been silent for some weeks. Forgive me.
The truth is: I’ve been rendered almost speechless — or the literary equivalent of that — because recently I’ve had the unenviable task of trying to announce to the world that indeed, a genocide — or what I’ve called, clumsily but urgently, a baby die-off” — is underway.
The WarRoom/DailyClout Pfizer Documents Research Volunteers, a group of 3000 highly credentialled doctors, RNs, biostatisticians, medical fraud investigators, lab clinicians and research scientists, have been turning out report after report, as you may know, to tell the world what is in the 55,000 internal Pfizer documents which the FDA had asked a court to keep under wraps for 75 years.
By court order, these documents were forcibly disclosed. And our experts are serving humanity by reading through these documents and explaining them in lay terms. You can find all of the Volunteers’ reports on DailyClout.io.
The lies revealed are stunning.
The WarRoom/DailyClout Volunteers have confirmed:
that Pfizer (and thus the FDA) knew by December 2020 that the MRNA vaccines did not work — that they waned in efficacy” and presented vaccine failure.” One side effect of getting vaccinated, as they knew by one month after the mass 2020 rollout, was COVID.”
Pfizer knew in May of 2021 that 35 minors’ hearts had been damaged a week after MRNA injection — but the FDA rolled out the EUA for teens a month later anyway, and parents did not get a press release from the US government about heart harms til August of 2021, after thousands of teens were vaccinated. [See this]
Pfizer (and thus the FDA; many of the documents say FDA: CONFIDENTIAL” at the lower boundary) knew that, contrary to what the highly paid spokesmodels and bought-off physicians were assuring people, the MRNA, spike protein and lipid nanoparticles did not stay in the injection site in the deltoid, but rather went, within 48 hours, into the bloodstream, from there to lodge in the liver, spleen, adrenals, lymph nodes, and, if you are a woman, in the ovaries. [See this]
Pfizer (and thus the FDA) knew that the Moderna vaccine had 100 mcg of MRNA, lipid nanoparticles and spike protein, which was more than three times the 30 mcg of the adult Pfizer dose; the company’s internal documents show a higher rate of adverse events with the 100 mcg dose, so they stopped experimenting with that amount internally due to its reactogenicity” — Pfizer’s words — but no one told all of the millions of Americans who all got the first and second 100 mcg Moderna dose, and the boosters.
Pfizer skewed the trial subjects so that almost three quarters were female — a gender that is less prone to cardiac damage. Pfizer lost the records of what became of hundreds of their trial subjects.
In the internal trials, there were over 42,000 adverse events and more than 1200 people died. Four of the people who died, died on the day they were injected.
Adverse events tallied up in the internal Pfizer documents are completely different from those reported on the CDC website or announced by corrupted physicians and medical organizations and hospitals. These include vast columns of joint pain, muscle pain (myalgia), masses of neurological effects include MS, Guillain Barre and Bell’s Palsy, encephaly, every iteration possible of blood clotting, thrombocytopenia at scale, strokes, hemorrhages, and many kinds of ruptures of membranes throughout the human body.
The side effects about which Pfizer and the FDA knew but you did not, include blistering problems, rashes, shingles, and herpetic conditions (indeed, a range of blistering conditions oddly foreshadowing the symptoms of monkeypox).
The internal documents show that Pfizer (and thus the FDA) knew that angry red welts or hives were a common reaction to the PEG, a petroleum-derived allergen in the vaccine ingredients — one that you are certainly not supposed to ingest. Indeed, PEG is an allergen so severe that many people can go into anaphylactic shock if they are exposed to it. But people with a PEG allergy were not warned away from the vaccines or even carefully watched by their doctors, EpiPen in hand. They were left to their shock.
Pfizer knew that exposure” to the vaccine was defined — in their own words – as sexual contact (especially at time of conception), skin contact, inhalation or lactation. [See this]. ‘Fact-checkers’ can deny this all they want. The documents speak for themselves.
Of course, people who have tried to raise any of these issues have been deplatformed, scolded by the President, called insane, and roundly punished.
Athletes and college students and teenagers are collapsing on football and soccer fields. Doctors wring their hands and express mystification. But BioNTech’s SEC filing shows a fact about which the CDC and the AMA breathe not a word: fainting so violently that you may hurt yourself is one of the side effects important enough for BioNTech to highlight to the SEC.
But not to highlight to you and me.
I was able to process all of this and keep simply reporting. But in the last few weeks the horror overcame me. Because now, the Volunteers, under the excellent leadership of Program Manager Amy Kelly, have confirmed that there is a genocide underway, intentionally driven or not. And Israeli journalist Etana Hecht has added her own superb analysis. Here is Ms Hecht’s summary of the Volunteers’ findings:
Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss allegedly sent a message saying ‘It’s Done’ to the U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately after the Nord Stream attack. Kim Dotcom, a German-Finnish internet entrepreneur who resides in New Zealand, said the text message is the reason Russia claims the UK was involved in blowing up the pipeline. He has credited iCLOUD admin access for the disclosure. The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked the British government to officially comment on the explosive claims against Truss. Last week, several British media outlets reported that the personal phone of Liz Truss was allegedly hacked by Putin’s spies. Notably, Russia’s claims that the British Navy was involved in the Nord Stream “terror attack” came just after Liz Truss’s phone hacking allegations. This report has full information.
(Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka is still struggling to afford international fuel prices and is unable to fully procure the country’s requirements, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said.
The cash-strapped country is still seeking financial assistance from oil-producing nations, but has yet to secure any aid apart from an existing deal with India, Wijesekera said Tuesday on the sidelines of the Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka’s financial crisis has been stretching on for months, impeding its ability to pay for food and fuel.
It’s very difficult for us to access letters of credit or give any other guarantees on payments,” he said.
The country expects a diesel cargo from China to arrive by the end of November, which will help meet its needs for several months, he said.
Beijing is donating 10.6 million liters of diesel to Sri Lankan farmers and fishermen in remote areas of the South Asian island nation, to upgrade livelihood,” the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said in a tweet.
READ: Bankrupt Sri Lanka Takes Russia Oil as Fuel Crisis Persists
Sri Lanka is seeking to privatize its oil industry, but has yet to make a deal, he added. It earlier implemented a national fuel-management program that helped reduce consumption by 40%, and is still in discussions with the International Monetary Fund for financial aid, he said.
Imports of Russian oil and fuel are also still under consideration. It doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, as long its affordable for Sri Lanka,” he said.
A total of 14 suspects are under arrest in connection with the tense situation in Kebithogollewa in which a police officer succumbed to injuries after being assaulted last night.
Several police officers, responding to a report on the death of a woman caused by a wild elephant attack, had shown up in Rambakapuwewa area in Kebithigollewa.
When the police officers arrived at the location, at least 100 people including a Buddhist monk had blocked the road, staging a protest against the authorities’ inaction to resolve the human-elephant conflict.
A tense situation then ensued as a group of individuals wielding clubs attacked the police officers.
The police officers fired shots in the air to take the situation under control.
However, a police officer sustained critical injuries after one of the individuals brutally assaulted him with a club. He was rushed to the Kebithigollewa Hospital and was transferred to the Anuradhapura Hospital for further treatment. As his condition exacerbated, the injured police officer was moved to the Base Hospital in Medawachchiya, where he was pronounced dead.
The deceased is a 54-year-old sergeant attached to the Kebithigollewa Police. He is reportedly a resident of Wariyapola area.
Soon after the incident, a Buddhist monk and four others were arrested in connection with the death of the police officer. However, nine more suspects were later taken into custody over the incident.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara has questioned if individuals participating in tomorrow’s (2) demonstration are joining the protest as the government brought an end to the era of queues.
The Minister speaking at a media briefing today (1) said the Cabinet of Ministers informally discussed the protest planned for tomorrow and questioned if individuals joining the protest were those who were attending after waiting in fuel or gas queues and having to endure more than 10-12 hours of power cuts with their children unable to study or businessmen unable to continue operations at factories.
Minister Nanayakkara added that prices of goods have reduced to a certain extent while fuel prices have also decreased while Sri Lanka has also begun receiving foreign exchange through various products.
>He questioned if protests are being planned as the country has gained a certain level of stability.
Minister Nanayakkara also noted that following discussions with the International Monetary Fund, a staff level agreement could be reached by the first week of December, while negotiations with creditors have already commenced while talks with Japan, China and India have been successful.
Several business chambers in a joint statement have noted with concern that some organizations have called for mass protests tomorrow (Nov. 02).
While recognizing their freedom of speech and right to express views, the Chambers requested all parties to call off protests of this nature that could undermine the efforts being taken to resolve the current economic crisis with the support of the international community.”
Any act of destabilization taking place at this time and any negative publicity arising from it would seriously derail actions that are being taken to revive the economy including the efforts being taken to promote tourism, the statement read further.
A few airlines have agreed to commence flights to Sri Lanka and given the high cost of energy in Europe during the winter and Sri Lanka will have an ideal opportunity to attract tourists which will support the hospitality industry that has been badly affected since the Easter attacks, the business chambers stressed in their statement. In addition, any instability can affect the recovery process for exports and foreign investment too.
We appeal to all parties to divert their energies and resources towards encouraging positive reforms and focus on how we recover as a nation instead of engaging in acts that can further damage the economy and place more burdens on the people of this country.”
This statement was issued by the following Chambers:
• Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) • Chamber of Young Lanka Entrepreneurs (COYLE) • Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) • International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) • National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) • Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC)
Venerable Borella Sirisumana Thero has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) today (Nov. 01), the police spokesman says.
He was taken into custody over the information uncovered during investigations into the alleged financial frauds committed by Thilini Priyamali.
The owner of Thico Group of Companies (Pvt.) Ltd., Thilini Priyamali was arrested and remanded on October 06 over alleged multi-billion rupee fraud by swindling businesspersons and VIPs.
Meanwhile, Isuru Bandara who is said to be her business partner was also taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department on October 17 over alleged financial fraud.
Priyamali has allegedly deceived businesspersons and high-profile political figures after befriending them by promising high returns for investing in her business.
The police recently revealed that 12 complaints in total have been received so far against Priyamali for defrauding more than Rs. 1.28 billion.
China has donated 10.6 million litres of diesel to farmers and fishermen in remote areas of Sri Lanka, to upgrade livelihood in the most affected sectors of agriculture and fishery.
The shipment is scheduled to arrive between November and December, according to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo.
Reassuring support for Sri Lanka, the Chinese government has handed over 5,500 metric tons of rice and essential medicines worth LKR 3 billion over the past 5 months as emergency humanitarian donations to the island nation.
The Malaysian government has extended a goodwill gesture by donating a consignment of urgently required medical supplies to Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
Based on a request made by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health seeking assistance in acquiring medical supplies for the island nation, the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Kuala Lumpur had reached out to the Malaysian government for their support.
At a symbolic handing-over ceremony held at the Ministry of Health of Malaysia yesterday (Oct. 31), Minister of Health of Malaysia, Khairy Jamaluddin handed over the donation worth USD 63,100 to the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Malaysia, Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Sumangala Dias.
The Foreign Ministry stated that the national carrier SriLankan Airlines has agreed to airlift the donation free of charge. Accordingly, the consignment was dispatched in flight UL 319 which departed Kuala Lumpur on October 29 to Colombo.
