Adaderana

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

Erotic crimes are punished by criminal law and the ragging in Universities of Sri Lanka could be investigated and punished as criminal offences. These barbaric activities are going on in universities despite controls and laws against these barbaric activities. When I entered a university in 1969, I was relegated to ragging which was the major cause of depression and the rag leaders were associated with Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa who was working in the university library.

University ragging is a criminal offence and these offenders should be criminally prosecuted and punished. Jail sentences for more than five years with rigorous imprisonment would be the appropriate punishment for these offenders. 

Sudath Gunasekara

Today is the 22^nd death anniversary of this illustrious daughter of mother Lanka. I am compelled to re-publish an article here again which was published on 30th Jan 2021 Lankaweb (First, published on the 14th, December 2010 in Lankaweb), since we have miserably failed as an ungrateful nation to fulfil this proposal, I made as far back as in 2010.

A Statue to Commemorate Mrs Bandaranaike, the first woman Prime Minister in the world, the most illustrious Lady and the greatest political leader of our time.

What a shame even not to have one such erected to commemorate this great of the nation lady in a suitable place even after 22 years of her death on 10th   October, in a country where we have hundreds of statues of colonial murderers and plunderers and even indentured labour leaders like Thondaman are exhibited in front of the Parliament. I propose that a statue of legendary daughter of Lanka be erected in front of the Parliament and other important places such as the Mahamaluwa in front of the Sri Dalada Maligava. Mahanuwara from where her ancestry hails.

The writer with Prime Minister Mrs Bandaranayaka at the Sri Lanka Handicraft Exhibition organized by him as the Deputy Director Small Industries for the Nonaligned Conference 1976

Everyone in the world knows that Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayaike was the first woman Prime Minister in the world. No one can refute that. In that context she was the greatest and the most illustrious Lady ever born in this resplendent Island. I do not think anyone will disagree or quarrel with me for this statement. On account of that alone she has made history by creating a world record which any one will not be able to break on any day. It is irreversible forever. That alone makes her a national heroine who should be remembered and adored by all Sri Lankans forever irrespective of their politics.

 She became the Prime Minister on 21st July 1960 and carried forward the socio-cultural revolution launched by her late husband S.W.R.D in 1956. S.W.R.D’s untimely assassination within three years and five months robed him as well as the country of the historic role he was destined to play for mankind. Although the credit for that turning point in the history of our country goes to him it was Sirimavo who really took off the flight that crash landed with SWRD’s untimely death in September 1959. When she took over the reins of the nation’s leadership in 1960 it was like a wrecked and rudderless ship on high seas. No one thought she could steer it in the correct direction. As D.B. Dhanapala the veteran journalist of our time wrote in his book Among Those Present

No one thought she will do it, but today no one doubts that she had done it  better than any other man or woman”.

 I had the rare privilege of reading the Encyclopedia of Social Science at the University of Cambridge when I was doing my post graduate work in 1982 and you will be surprised to hear that in that book, she carries the longest and the most colourful account on any contemporary leader of this country. Then again when once I attended an International Film Festival in Czechoslovakia in May 1991 and I told the audience that I come from Sri Lanka this was how they reacted

Oh! you come from the Land of Bandaranaike. How is your Queen Sirimavo Bandaranaike”

 Remember at that time she was not even the leader of the opposition and she was at home deprived of even her civil rights in 1980 by the JRJ Government. Furthermore, she was the only Sri Lankan leader I think who had a wax statue in the famous Madame Tussauds Art Museum in Landon

I mentioned these three events just to tell my readers how this great Lady was regarded and respected by the outside world

 It is common knowledge how she spearheaded the social revolution that was set in motion in 1956 and how she put this Island in high heavens in the world map in the years that followed.  Everybody knows how she handled the Non-Aligned Conference in 1976. The 1972 Republican Constitution that made this Island nation an Independent Republic, Non-aligned Foreign policy, settling the Sino- Indian war in 1962, taming the Marxist giants like NM, Peter Khenaman, Colvin, Lesli, and Dr Wickramasinha (which even SWRD could not do), handling the 1962 coup and the JVP insurrections of 1971, historic Land reforms that limited private ownership to 50 acres and nationalization of Sterling plantations, laid the foundation for a national economy by introducing import substitution, Sirima- Sastri Pact and how she resolved the Kachchative issue and the Indo-China conflict as a mediator were shining jewels in her crown. Above all her dominating personality and character, simplicity, the captivating smile and the devotion to religion, like Viharamaha Devi, which has made her the ideal ”Symbol of a Sinhala Buddhist Mahopasika’ of our time, has elevated her above all others, both men and women, in contemporary society. Her period of governing also has gone down in history as the best period of Indo-Lanka relationship between India and Sri Lanka after King Devampiyatissa’s reign.

She became the Prime minister thrice in this country by popular vote and dominated and illuminated the political stage for 40 years which no one else had done. She set the rhythm for the emergence women leaders all over the world to be followed by all others like Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meyer, Benazi Bhutto, Corazon Akino and Shia Kalida. Thereby she carved a permanent niche for all women the world over.

  Thus, she made history irreversible and created a legend unparalleled and thus became a legendary woman not only in Sri Lanka but in the whole world. The open question I am asking therefore from all politicians and more specifically those in power having come to power under the banner of Bandaranayaka policies as to why they have not erected at least one monument of this legendary Sinhala Buddhist uncrowned Queen in a suitable place in this country for the posterity to get inspired.

 But it is unfortunate and shameful too that we as a nation have not been able to recognize her role and show our gratefulness to this most uncommon and Great Lady even though 22 years have now passed after her death in October 2000. What a shame for a nation that boasts of a religious legacy which teaches us even to venerate a tree that helped Gautama Buddha to attain Supreme Enlightenment. Lord Buddha himself set this example for others to follow by paying respect to the Bo tree for seven days with Animisa lochana puja.

 Therefore, I call upon at least the present government to erect a statue near the Parliament to commemorate this great personality at least now, without further delay. Even Thondaman, an immigrant south Indian labour leader has a statue made for him, in front of the old Parliament, within few months of his death during President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time. But even the daughter had forgotten to erect a statue for this great lady of Sri Lanka.

I hope at least some one will erect a statue to remember this Great Mother of Lanka at least before the next death anniversary in the most prominent and appropriate place, in the Kotte Parliamentary complex.

 She is the Daughter of Lanka” who should be honoured not only at the Parliament Complex but also in every village and town. As for me I regard her as the greatest stateswomen this country has ever produced. For me she is simply a Legend, unparalleled in the history of this country. Most women in this world shine on the achievements of their husbands or their children. But Sirimavo made history by being a leader on her own achievements.

I met her for the first time as the Prime Minister when I was only the Deputy Director of Small Industries in 1976. I organized the Handicrafts Exhibition for the 1976 Non-Aligned Conference for her full satisfaction and ever since I have had a very intimate and close relationship with her until her death in 2000. When I was Secretary to the Ministry of Technical education in 1994, one day she called me home and appointed me as her Ministry Secretary. That is how she remembered people.

 I am not a political fanatic as many people are in this country. But going by the Buddha’s noble word we must respect the one who is respect worthy, ‘Pujaca Pujaniyanam’ irrespective of their political colour, ethnicity or ideology.

 As I wrote in 1996 in the supplement issued on her 80th birth day, by the Ceylon Daily News (April 17th)

Chiseled on granite and embossed with golden letters the name of Sirimavo Bandaranaike will remain immortal as the most illustrious and celebrated daughter of mother Lanka as long as the sun and the moon shall last”.

 It is a tragedy that the whole nation has failed in its onerous duty by this great personality up to date. What an ungrateful bunch of people we are to have completely forgotten the mother of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the mother of the Nation as well? Above all the SLFP and all the politicians who enjoy the plums of political power gained under that banner should be ashamed for not doing their duty by this Great Lady for whom they owe so much for all what they enjoy today. Most of these men and women who are in power would have been unheard and unseen, if not for her sacrifices.

 If she did not consent to lead the party in 1960 after it had been ruined by people like Dahanayaka there would have been no SLFP at all for these people to enjoy the luxuries of political office. It is true that it was SWRD with his astute and unsurpassed statesmanship and his silver tongue, who founded the SLFP and brought it to power in 1956 under the banner of the MEP. But there would not have been a SLFP today if not for Mrs Bandaranaike who resurrected it in 1960 from the grave and built it up for forty long years under her able, magnetic and charismatic leadership, having lost everything including her husband who was gunned down by an assassin and even her civil rights for seven years robbed by her political rival JR in 1977 who feared her charismatic and populist leadership.

Anjalika Silva – USA

I.                     Purpose: 

To examine all avenues available to find appropriate avenues to address the current foreign reserves crisis with the help of a ready resource of foreign earners as expats for a long-term relationship beneficial to the country and individuals who are a strength that has not been tapped while many possibilities have been overlooked or not explored.

II.                 Problem to address:

The current situation with foreign reserves of Sri Lanka is in dire straits. There are options that can be considered beyond borrowing with long term burden on Sri Lanka.  Borrowings for immediate relief with further plans for long term solutions is a need that must be considered for long term.

With the large expatriate population living and earning foreign currency income overseas in professions and even at middle level in stable employment overseas, enjoying disposable income that can be rewarded will benefit Sri Lanka if the right approach is taken.  Access to their participation under the appropriate checks and balances to win the confidence of expats will be of immense benefit to the country.  However, there are many factors to consider between countries, international regulations, and permissions.  The most critical condition is the confidence provided to investors with transparent, corruption free security of funds. The investor must be protected from corruption that plagues every level of transactions in the country.

Sri Lanka’s decision makers need to acquaint themselves with systems and processes in other countries beyond country-to-country macroeconomic solutions.  The Government must have links to various well-informed representatives of developed countries who can acquaint the government with systems in place that can factor into solutions for Sri Lanka.  Sri Lankan expat groups can provide sources to help the government if the control of their assets is totally in their hands and not in any way accessible to corrupt power sources.  This is easily done and is not to be considered rocket science or be stereotyped as avoidance excuses.  They do not encourage rules and regulations put into effect with lack of subject matter knowledge.

This document is written with respect to possibilities in the USA.  However, a modification of the recommendations made can be explored for other developed nations where Sri Lankan earners can be reached.

III.              Participants:

Participants can be retirees earning foreign currency pensions living overseas with or without dual citizenship and in addition it can consider younger citizens of Sri Lankan birth to park part of their savings in secure foreign currency accounts in Sri Lanka. Non retirees can also be considered based on the needs of working expats with foreign national status without dual citizenship being a deterrent in either case.

Offering benefits to younger Sri Lankan expats will benefit the country with a pool of qualified intellectuals among them who will be encouraged to contribute to informed decision making that is seriously lacking in Sri Lanka.  There is a perception that knowledge is not given importance and proper fact finding, data collection of this population does not take place.

It must be remembered that in the USA as is the case in most developed countries that do not experience shortfall in foreign reserves, the encouragement for savings accounts earning interest is very low.  For example, in the USA, it is 1% or less return on savings investment. Sri Lanka is at an advantage to attract expats with the attractive interest rates for rupees and a better and more competitive rate for foreign currency that offers a higher rate than they can receive in the US or any other country.

The low interest on savings investments may be attributed to the larger interest and dependence on investing in stock trading and in the case of employer offered retirement plans referred to as 401K plans that are incentives to reduce and defer lumpsum taxes paid on earnings by contributing to tax deferred plans for later years. However, these are volatile investments and Sri Lankan expats will accept anything with more stability if only the country does the thinking in those terms.  It is a disappointment that the creative thinking element is missing.

Also, all employees contribute to Social Security and Medicare in the US that are mandated by government throughout their working life.  At the end of 40 quarters or ten years of employment paying this tax, at age 62 or 65 any qualified employee gets a guaranteed pension that can be subsidized with employer retirement plans or other tax deferred tools available.  That part of tax deferred income that does not sit parked in savings can be worked out by the Government exploring international banks that can be permitted to park foreign currency of expat Sri Lankan Born account holders with other conditions as stipulated.

Current Status:  It must also be noted that currently, among foreign nationals of Sri Lankan origin, only those with dual citizenship can open NRFC accounts as it requires an NIC number after obtaining dual citizenship. Dual citizenship takes too long and is too cumbersome and expensive draining the enthusiasm of expats.  Instead of the lump sum one time, if they open the resident status without dual citizenship, they can receive continuous asset investment which does not happen with dual citizenship focused only on the individual for property ownership.  Holding dual citizenship is not an attraction to return to Sri Lanka and so far the government has not secured systems that win the confidence of expat investors.  The NIC card is not an automatic inclusion in the Dual Citizenship process, and it takes a further time interval extending longer than a year as reported by those who have tried.

 A very small population of Sri Lankans who had NIC prior to immigration and taking a foreign citizenship retained their bank credentials using their NIC number prior to converting to a foreign nationality.  For example, in the USA, a permanent resident of US status is retained for 5 years with a Sri Lanka Passport that could provide an NIC for holder prior to completion of 5 years as a PR and gaining US citizenship.  The need to have Dual citizenship for those who accepted US Citizenship cuts out a large portion of the immigrants from opening Non-Resident Foreign Currency Accounts (NRFC).  In such cases requiring dual citizenship acts as a deterrent that also serves no purpose without the NIC.  The large fee is also a deterrent that serves the country no purpose in a rupee fee.

Dual citizenship is not secure with some developed countries with their policy on immigration.  The power to validate, accept or recognize dual citizenship of those with a foreign nationality with another country can be reversed and the power to do so is in the hands of other powerful countries.  This results in the reluctance of some Sri Lankan born expats to get dual citizenship.  If Sri Lanka takes their power in their hands and permits foreign nations with Sri Lankan birth right to live indefinitely in Sri Lanka and finance their upkeep with foreign pensions, the benefit to the country will be immense.  Also, such liberty to move back without losing the hard earned foreign status will generate employment with care givers for seniors, enhance the demand for practical housing and have benefits on the fringes that no government is exploring.

IV.             Foreign Citizens and their Fears:

With the dual citizenship requirement to park foreign earnings in Sri Lanka, there is a remote possibility that prosperous countries may at some point ask for a single citizenship.  This has been expressed as a reluctance to take dual citizenship with Sri Lanka. An open Non-Resident Foreign National type of status with unlimited stay, spending foreign income pensions or transferring savings accounts parked in Sri Lanka is far more feasible.  Expats have many fears even donating to causes due to their inability to assume transparency.

However, pensions earned through Social Security at retirement in the USA, provides an advantage to recipients to enjoy a better standard of life overseas, as in this case in Sri Lanka. It is however insufficient to meet costs in the USA unless qualified concessions can be obtained, or other investments/assets are available.   The Social Security pension is a contributory pension that the US Government cannot restrict regardless of where the Sri Lankan born citizen with a US citizenship decides to live. This pension is owned by the citizen as it is a contributory pension.  This was confirmed by informed US authorities.  Even with direct deposit to US bank accounts, they can make electronic transfers from any location if Sri Lanka provides foreign currency accounts that are freely accessible.

It is now established that Sri Lankan immigrants to the US count four generations beyond the first-generation immigrants.  This keeps growing and not all generations will be Sri Lankan born but they can be provided some concessions if they have interest in parking savings in Sri Lanka.  This is a decision to be cleared by the government.

Expanding the above to non-Sri Lankan born foreign citizens with careful thought: 

Exploring the privilege of investing private foreign currency for non-SriLankan will also be worthy of exploration.  The attractive interest rates over the low rates in the United States will definitely attract investments with the appropriate checks and balances.

V.                 Conditions to be met:

The Government of Sri Lanka needs to visit these possibilities. Provide for a category of Sri Lankan born foreign citizens to choose to return under a different category while retaining foreign nationality with unlimited time to live in Sri Lanka using foreign currency income.    

The long processing and cumbersome dual citizenship may not be attractive to most people.  Those who try are frustrated by the process and it may not bring a return on their investment.   If they can retain their foreign nationality if they abide by the financial requirements of Sri Lanka and do not engage in money laundering or misuse of their privileges another category will certainly be of benefit all round. Savings income in Sri Lanka will be attractive for retirees to return.   

Such a category should be permitted to stay for indefinite periods if they are not dual citizens.  In the current situation, those without dual citizenship, born in Sri Lanka or of Sri Lankan Heritage can live only 6 months at a time using a 5-year multiple visas.  Those who wish to live longer periods in retirement should be given the choice to do so.

VI.             Government Intervention Required:

The role of the government should be to investigate possibilities, collect data and evaluate the interest among expat Sri Lankans to seek their ideas.  It must however be completely under the control of the account holder and the government assurances must be watertight before people part with their hard-earned savings in full or part for a higher interest rate if parked in Sri Lanka.  These are US Taxpayers, and the Government can negotiate taxation terms to avoid double taxation of foreign nationals who are liable for taxes in their foreign national countries.

The Government must create a well thought out category that is different to the stringent long-drawn-out process of dual citizenship that takes too long for people who need to bring their foreign earnings back to Sri Lanka. If relocating to Sri Lanka, expats cannot wait for delays.  The process should be speedy with no undue hardship for participants trying to help the country.  Appreciation is key.

The Government must also study the use of secured technologies adopted in the USA to provide autonomy to account holders. This is easily done if those who make decisions understand and follow the global trends today.

There is a considerable transfer of funds direct from US$ to rupees in donations and to families and this can be taken into consideration and encompassed in the system to count as legitimate foreign currency coming into the country.   The possibility for large scale money laundering must be plugged and addressed accordingly with close monitoring.

VII.          Participant Expectations:

As referred to above, accounts must be secure, accessible online from global locations, ownership secured with appropriate security and clearly defined taxation implications because US citizens are mandated to file annual tax returns.

It will be an avenue for tax accountants between the two countries to tie up a practice to facilitate tax payments on interest earned and reporting structure set up so that double taxation is prevented. In any case, Sri Lankan banks require foreign passport holders to report funds in rupee accounts in Sri Lanka.

VIII.      Engaging Pre-retired Foreign Currency Earners Overseas:

If the above category is permitted for retirees to park foreign currency accounts and earn higher interest in Sri Lanka, this can be extrapolated to provide the same opportunity for others who are pre-retirement, and their savings will serve to benefit Sri Lanka and the higher interest will help those who are building their resources.

IX.             A transparent system of transfer to dependents in Sri Lanka:

Many Sri Lankans living overseas provide charitable donations to Sri Lanka and help with financial support for family members.  All these transactions can be provided through a system that is quick and convenient for the donor and recipients. Electronic transfers, cyber security for accounts and all the services at the highest level should be available to users.

X.                 Encouraging Retirees to Return with Foreign Pensions:

The Government must make a close study of the locked foreign assets potential of Sri Lankan born retirees living in the USA and other countries and provide an easy method for them to return with assets in exchange for contributing to foreign reserves.

They should be given the right assurances by making sure their input and expectations are listened to and fulfilled.  This is better for the country than paying for loans and interest at taxpayer’s expense.  These are time sensitive and if the government is serious, they need to work on a plan right away and provide a project plan to those who are entrusted with implementation.  This cannot take on the face of the long-drawn-out dual citizenship that discourages most Sri Lankans from applying with long waits and the package of the NIC is another operation that impedes opening accounts with foreign currency.  This is a totally unproductive practice that is not at all beneficial to the country or the account holders.

With time, the benefits to individuals will be guaranteed with growing interest by depositors.  The key is an efficient, well-planned operation that is a lot to expect but a dire need.

XI.             Concessions to Patriotic Citizens helping Sri Lanka

As a note of appreciation for patriotic Sri Lankans of Foreign citizenship, a simplistic identification card provided by the government with their identity will be widely accepted. This is particularly as a courtesy card when those who visit Sri Lanka are treated with some courtesy that is lacking now.

Such a tool should be made known to immigration officers and front-line greeters of patriots who can report shabby treatment on entry to Sri Lanka.  Personal stories reveal experiences that have offended returning immigrants with their first encounters on entry.  With a card to distinguish those who help the country, this can be overcome.

Very little is done for those who live decades away from Sri Lanka but continue to serve their home country without reservations or rewards.  This has been ignored for decades and is a loss for the country. The opportunity to engage expats in productive ways that benefit them too will be appropriate to investigate.

Some concessions to live indefinite periods with foreign citizenship, enjoy the higher percentage interest on foreign currency savings accounts that can be opened on proving birth right is a simplistic beginning to an expanded advantage to Sri Lanka.

XII.          Brief SWOT Analysis

Strengths not utilized:  Well educated expats and skilled work force earning overseas not tapped into for the benefit of the country.

Weaknesses:  Lack of creative thinking in problem solving and the lack of strict systems with transparency not made available to participants who lack confidence.  Lack of knowledge about the systems in other countries and methods that can be used to benefit Sri Lanka.  Poor education, background knowledge and language inadequacies play a part.  Lack of commitment in providing efficient services.

Opportunities not used:  Expats are not provided comfortable and trusted systems with choices that benefit the country and meet their needs. Transparency and commitment to accurate and easy to access systems are not considered with input from the users.

Threats:  Those who bring politics into all aspects of changes that are beneficial to the country and focus on personal gain and corrupt practices with no accountability for the efficiency in expediting programs that clearly benefit the country.

Manusha Media

ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුරක්ෂිතතා හා සෞඛ්‍ය සතියේ සමාරම්භක සැසිය අමතමින් අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර කියයි.

දැඩි නීතිරීති පනවා හෝ වැඩබිමේ කම්කරුවාගේ සෞඛ්‍ය සහ සුරක්ෂිතතාව තහවුරු කරන බවත්, අනතුරක දී රක්ෂණ අරමුදලක් හරහා නඩු නොමැතිව වන්දි ලබා දීමේ ක්‍රමවේදයක් නිර්මාණය කරන බවත්, කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා පැවැසීය. ඒ අද (11) උදෑසන කොළඹ බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේ දී සමාරම්භ වූ ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුරක්ෂිතතා හා සෞඛ්‍ය සතියේ සමාරම්භක සැසිය අමතමිනි.

සෑම වසරක ම ඔක්තෝබර් දෙවන සතිය ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුරක්ෂිතතා හා සෞඛ්‍ය සතිය ලෙසින් කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය විසින් ම ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කර ඇති බවත්, වැඩ කරන ජනතාවගේ වෘත්තීය සුරක්ෂිතතාව සහ සෞඛ්‍ය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්‍රමාණවත් අවධානයක් යොමු නොකරන්නේ නම් ආර්ථික ඵලදායීතාවයේ උපරිම ය ළගා කර ගත නොහැකි බවත් එහි දී ප්‍රකාශ කළ ඇමැතිවරයා, තවදුරටත් මෙසේ ද පවසා සිටියේ ය.

‘වෘත්තීය අනතුරු හා රෝග නිසා ලෝකය පුරාම සිදු වෙන මානව හා ආර්ථික පාඩුව අති විශාලයි. ජාත්‍යන්තර කම්කරු සංවිධානය තමන්ගේ දත්තවලින් පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ සෑම රටක ම දළ ජාතික නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් සියයට හතරක් පමණ වෘත්තීය අනතුරු හා රෝග නිසා අපතේ යන බවයි.

අපේ රටේත් වෘත්තීය අනතුරුවලින් විතරක් හැම අවුරුද්දක ම වැඩ කරන මිනිස් දින ලක්ෂ පහකට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් අපතේ යනවා. ඉදිකිරීම් ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ මරණීය අනතුරු විස්සකට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් වාර්තා වෙනවා. මේ බොහෝ අනතුරු සිදු වෙන්නේ ඉහළ ස්ථානවල වැඩ කරද්දී නිසි සුරක්ෂිතතා ක්‍රියාමාර්ග අනුගමනය නොකිරීම නිසයි. මෙමගින් සිද්ද වෙන මානව හා ආර්ථික හානිය මූල්‍යමය වශයෙන් සැලකුවොත් ඉතා විශාලයි. ඒ නිසා තමයි වැඩකරන ජනතාවගේ වෘත්තීය සුරක්ෂිතතාව සහ සෞඛ්‍ය සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිසි අවධානයෙක් යොමු නොකර ආර්ථික ඵලදායීතාවයේ උපරිම මට්ටමට ළගා වෙන්න බැරි.

ඒ නිසා මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් සමාජය නිසිලෙස දැනුම්වත් කිරීම අපට ඉතා ම වැදගත්. ලෝකයේ ඕනෑ ම වැඩබිමක් සිය සුරක්ෂිතතාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගත යුතු උපරිම පියවර අරගෙන තියෙනවා. නිසි ආරක්ෂිත ඇදුම්පැලදුම් නොමැති ව සාමාන්‍ය පුද්ගලයකුට  කර්මාන්ත ශාලාවකට ඇතුළු වීමට පවා හැකියාවක් නෑ. වැඩබිම සුරක්ෂිතතාවය පිළිබද වෘත්තිකයා වගේ ම අනෙක් ප්‍රජාවත් දැනුවත් ව ඉන්න ඕනෑ ඒ නිසයි. සුරක්ෂිත සහ සෞඛ්‍යාරක්ෂිත වැඩබිමක සංස්කෘතියක් බිහිවෙන්නේ එහෙම දැනුවත් වුණොත් විතරයි. කම්කරු අමාත්‍යංශය විදියට අපි එයට ජාතිකමය වටිනාකමක් දිය යුතුයි.

රටවල් දියුණු වෙද්දී වැඩි වැඩියෙන් නීතිරීතිවලට අනුගත වෙනවා. කලක් යද්දී නීති රීති නියාමනයක් නොවුණත් ජනතාව ඒවාට අනුගත ව ස්වයං ව කටයුතු කරනවා. ආරක්ෂිත හිස්වැස්මක් පැළදගෙන යතුරුපැදි ධාවනය කරන එක අපිත් මහා කරදරයක් කියලා හිතුව කාලයක් තිබුණා. නීති-රීති දැඩි කරලා පොලීසියෙන් දඩ ගහන්න ගත්තා ම හෙල්මට් එක දාගෙන යන්න පුරුදු වුණා. අද අපි පොලිසිය ඇල්ලුවත් නැතත් හෙල්මට් නැතිව යන්නේ නැති තැනට ඇවිත් ඉන්නවා. ඒ අපි අපේ ජීවිතේ ආරක්ෂාව ගැන හිතන නිසා.
ආරක්ෂාව කියන එක සමාජයක් තේරුම් ගන්නේ නැත්නම් ඒක නීතියක් විදියට ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න වෙනවා. ඒ නිසා තමයි අමාත්‍යංශය විදියට අපි කම්කරු නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නේ. ජාත්‍යන්තරය නිරන්තරයෙන් මේ තත්ත්වය නිරීක්ෂණය කරනවා, අවධානයෙන් ඉන්නවා. රටක නිෂ්පාදනය හොද වුණාට මදි, එය නිපදවන කර්මාන්ත ශාලාවේ සේවකයාගේ සුරක්ෂිතතාව, ආරක්ෂාව සහ සෞඛ්‍ය පිළිබද සැලකිලිමත් විය යුතුයි. ජාත්‍යන්තරය කටයුතු කරන්නේ ඒ විදියටයි. රටක් විදියට ඉදිරියට යද්දී ජාත්‍යන්තර අවශ්‍යතාවන් සහ නිර්ණායක අනුව අවම මූලික නීතිරීති ටිකට හෝ අනුගත විය යුතුයි. එනිසා මේ මට්ටම දවසින් දවස ඉහළ නංවන්න අමාත්‍යංශය විදියට අපට දිය හැකි උපරිම දායකත්වය සපයනවා.

විදෙස් රැකියා අමාත්‍යංශය විදියට අපි දකින දේ තමයි රැකියාවන් සදහා අපේ අය පුහුණු කරන්න ටිකක් අමාරුයි කියන එක. වැඩි දෙනෙක්ට තියන අමාරුම දේ තමයි නියමිත පුහුණුව නියමිත පරිදි ලබා ගැනීම. එහෙම වුණා ම අපේ අය දන්නේ නෑ වැඩබිමක සිටිය යුත්තේ කොහොමද කියන එක. ඒකෙන් වෙන්නේ අනතුරුවලට මුහුණ පෑමට සිදුවීම. අපි නිසි පුහුණුවක් සහිත ව යොමු කළොත්, තමන්ගේ කාර්යය පමණක් නෙවෙයි, ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබදත් පුහුණුවක් සහිත ව යොමු කළොත්, ඒ පිරිස රැකියාගත කිරීමේ දී වැඩි අවස්ථාවක් ලබා ගන්න පුළුවන්. මෙහේ හෙල්මට් දාන්න බෑ කියන, ඕවරෝල් අදින්න බෑ කියන, ගල් බූට් දාන්න බෑ කියන සියලු දෙනා විදෙස් රැකියාවට ගියාට පස්සේ හරි අගේට ඒ දේවල් කරනවා. ඒ නිසා අපිත් එතනට යාමට අවශ්‍ය මානසිකත්වය නිර්මාණය කරන එකයි ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් කළ යුත්තේ.

මේ සියල්ල අනතුරක් වෙන්න පෙර කළ යුතු දේවල්. අනතුරක් වළක්වා ගන්න, වැඩ බිමේ දී අනතුරක් සිදු නොවෙන්න කළ යුතු දේවල්. අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයා, කම්කරු කොමසාරිස් ජෙනරාල්වරයා පුමුඛ දෙපාර්තමේන්තු නිලධාරීන් මේ වන විට ජාත්‍යන්තරයත් සමග සම්බන්ධ වෙමින්, ලෝක කම්කරු සංවිධානයේ සහයෝගය ඇති ව මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඉතා ප්‍රශස්ත වැඩපිලිවෙලක් සකසමින් ඉන්නවා.

කම්කරුවකුට, වැඩ කරන සේවකයකුට යම් අනතුරක් වුණොත් එයට අදාළ වන්දිය ගන්න, වන්දි කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලයට ගිහිල්ලා, නඩු දාලා, අවුරුදු ගාණක් බලන් ඉන්න ඕනෑ. ඇගිල්ලක්, අතක් කැඩුණු එකට විතරක් නෙවෙයි, ජීවිත හානියකටත් වන්දි ගන්න අවුරුදු ගාණක් දුක්විදින්න වෙලා තියෙනවා. ලැබෙන්නේ සොච්චම් මුදලක් විතරයි. රැකියාව අහිමි වුණොත් ඒකටත් නඩු කියන්න වෙනවා. අවුරුදු ගාණකට පස්සේ නඩු ගාස්තුත් නැතිව, බස් ගාස්තුත් නැති ව සොච්චමක් ලැබෙනවා. බැරි වෙලාවත් පූර්ණ දුබලතාවකට ලක් වුණොත් ජීවිතේ ඉදිරි කාලය ම අනාරක්ෂිතයි.

අපි රජයක් විදියට එවන් තත්ත්වයකට පත් වන සියලු දෙනා ම ආවරණය වෙන විදියට සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ දැලක් නිර්මාණය කරනවා. නඩු නොගිහින් වන්දි ගෙවන ක්‍රමවේදයක්, රක්ෂණ අරමුදලක් හරහා වන්දි ගෙවන වැඩපිළිවෙළක් නිර්මාණය කරන්න කටයුතු කරමින් ඉන්නවා‘.

කර්මාන්ත ශාලා සදහා සුරක්ෂිතතා අත්පොත් ප්‍රදානය කිරීම, සුරක්ෂිතතා පුහුණු වැඩසටහනේ සහතිකපත් ප්‍රදානය, මාර්ගගත ක්‍රමය ඔස්සේ කර්මාන්තශාලාවල සුරක්ෂිතතා කමිටු පිහිටුවීම හා ස්වං විගණන වාර්තා ලබා ගැනීම ද මෙහි දී සිදු කෙරුණි. කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා ආර්. පී. ඒ. විමලවීර, කම්කරු කොමසාරිස් ජෙනරාල් නීතීඥ බී. කේ. ප්‍රභාත් චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති යන අය ද සභාව ඇමතූහ.

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

The report containing the observations and recommendations of the Prime Minister’s Committee, which was appointed to investigate the cause of the frequent fires in Modara Kajimawatta houses, was handed over to Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on 10-10-2020 at the Prime Minister’s Office, Colombo.

The co-chairmen of the committee, Member of Parliament Major Pradeep Udugoda and Colombo District Secretary Pradip Yasaratne were present on this occasion.

Within a short period of one and a half years, three fires were erupted in the Modara Kajimawatta estate houses and a large number of families were displaced.

The Prime Minister, who drew attention to this matter in the Colombo District Coordinating Committee, appointed this committee to investigate the cause of the fire and about the residents as well.

The co-chairman of the Colombo District Coordinating Committee Major Pradeep Udugoda and the Colombo District Secretary Mr. Pradip Yasaratne acted as the chairpersons of that committee while officials and institutions including the Colombo Municipal Commissioner, Government Analyst, Superintendent of Police, Colombo Divisional Secretary, Grama Niladhari and Disaster Management Center, Urban Development Authority, Housing Development Authority and all other relevant parties were appointed as members to the committee.

The committee that met last week investigated the ownership of the house, its current users, how the residents got there, the future measures to be taken and the reasons for the recent fires. The final report containing the observations and recommendations prepared accordingly was handed over to the Prime Minister.

Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu

World Bank flags need for higher social security in the island  

As Sri Lankans continue braving their worst economic crisis since Independence, urban poverty on the island has tripled in the last year, from 5% to 15 %, according to a recent World Bank report.    

Sri Lanka is experiencing its highest poverty rate since 2009 [when the civil war ended], and an erosion of the steady gains in welfare made between 2006 and 2019,” the Bank noted in its recent Sri Lanka Development Update titled ‘Protecting the poor and vulnerable in a time of crisis’, released earlier this month.  

While 80% of Sri Lanka’s poor still live in rural areas, the poverty rate in urban areas has tripled since 2021, and half the population in estate areas is currently living below the poverty line, it said, referring to Sri Lanka’s hill country that is home to the island’s historically-neglected Malaiyaha Tamils. About 1.5 lakh people, mostly women, from the million-strong community work in the tea estates, bringing in crucial foreign exchange to the country.  They live in dire conditions, in colonial era line rooms, and labour hard to be paid their hard-won LKR 1000 daily wage (roughly ₹ 225). 

Also read: Sri Lanka’s Malaiyaha Tamils living in inhumane, degrading conditions: U.N. expert

Across districts, Mullaitivu in the Tamil-majority Northern Province continues to be the poorest — 57 % poverty recorded in 2022 — followed by neighbouring Kilinochchi and Nuwara Eliya in the Central Province [hill country], the report said.  

The update comes while Sri Lanka struggles to cope with a harrowing economic crash, that forced the government to default on its $50 billion foreign debt in April. The following months witnessed enormous shortages of essentials, including food staples, fuel and medicines, as well as an unprecedented people’s uprising that ousted former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Backed by a parliamentary vote, senior politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected President in July. While essential supplies have since improved, with the government’s fuel rationing policy and repurposed World Bank funds, the fundamental macroeconomic problems remain.

Headline inflation increased to 69.8% in September 2022, while food inflation spiked to 94.9%. Amid frequent local media reports of hunger and starvation, resulting in a rise in school dropouts in some areas, the World Food Programme and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization have assessed that nearly a third of Sri Lanka’s 22 million population are food insecure since the crisis hit.  

Emphasising that national security is ensured not only with the military, but also through food and economic security, President Wickremesinghe has called for urgent measures”, his office said on Tuesday, following a review meeting of the government’s ‘National Food Security and Nutrition Assurance Programme’. His government, while facing growing public criticism over inadequate action and repression, is counting on a $2.9 billion package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that will be released only after Sri Lanka’s creditors commit to a debt restructuring programme.  

Social security in focus

As part of its recommendations, the World Bank has urged the government to increase financing for social assistance; come up with a social protection strategy, that includes an operational Welfare Benefits Board and a Social Registry, to enable effective targeting of social security programmes, given the addition of newly poor” families. It has also called for an increase in cash transfers, to account for the double-digit inflation.  

Meanwhile, rights watchdog Amnesty International, in a report on the current economic situation in Sri Lanka released on October 4, made a case for universal social security that sections in Sri Lanka have also sought.

Highlighting limitations to existing programmes in Sri Lanka, Amnesty, in the report titled ‘We are near total breakdown’ pointed to the lack of sufficient funding, inadequacy of the level of benefits, poor targeting, and the exclusion of a large proportion of people due to administrative inadequacies.” The targeting of benefits based on levels of poverty has been criticised by experts for arbitrariness, excluding people who should be covered, stigmatising effects, and higher administrative costs,” the report said.  

Courtesy Adaderana

Two Australian men have been charged with bribing Sri Lankan officials to secure infrastructure contracts worth millions of dollars.

Australian police arrested the pair last month after a decade-long investigation spanning several countries.

The men, aged 67 and 71, worked for a company which has been accused of misconduct in South Asian countries.

They are yet to respond to the charges and will face court on Tuesday.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) say the men arranged bribes of more than A$ 304,000 ($ 190,000, £ 172,000) to government officials between 2009 and 2016.

The bribes were allegedly made in the pursuit of two Sri Lankan projects – which police did not name – worth A$ 14m.

The charges follow an investigation into SMEC International Pty Ltd, an Australian-based engineering firm, which involved authorities from the US, Canada, India and elsewhere.

More arrests and charges are possible, the AFP said.

Corruption undermines fair competition and can have disastrous consequences for developing economies, global anti-poverty and development efforts,” Detective Supt Helen Schneider said.

Originally known as the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation, SMEC was formed in 1949 to build an iconic Australian infrastructure project. It has since grown to employ 5,400 staff in many countries.

In 2017, the World Bank temporarily barred SMEC and four subsidiaries in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from bidding for any of its contracts.

The World Bank said it had discovered evidence linking the company to suspected inappropriate payments” in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

At the time, a spokesperson for SMEC said the allegations did not relate to any Australian projects, and that the company would continue to strengthen its corporate integrity compliance programmes.

Protests have erupted in Sri Lanka this year over corruption allegations and the country’s worst economic crisis in history.

Source: BBC

Courtesy Adaderana

Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar has accepted that charges cannot be maintained under the Public Properties Act against former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Arjun Mahendran, Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, Arjun Aloysius and the other defendants over the case on Treasury Bond auction of 27 February 2015.

The order was issued by a two-thirds majority of the three-member High Court bench which consisted of Justices Sanjeewa Morayas, Damith Thotawatta and Namal Balalle.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Contradicting Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardane, President’s Media Division (PMD) said Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country.

The PMD said in a statment that the government is pursuing a “reverse graduation” policy for a limited period of time.

Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardane told the weekly Cabinet briefing this morning that the cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal to downgraded Sri Lanka from a middle income to low income status.

The immediate rectification by the President’s Office seems to show a rift between the Cabinet of Ministers and President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Courtesy WION

The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved a proposal to downgrade the country’s status from a middle-income country to a low-income country. The cabinet spokesperson says Sri Lankan GDP is expected to decline further and that this step was being taken to unlock more financial support from international institutions.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval for the proposal to downgrade Sri Lanka’s status from a ‘middle-income country’ to a ‘low-income country’, the Cabinet Spokesman says.

Joining the Cabinet press meeting held today, Minister Bandula Gunawardene stated that Sri Lanka was declared a middle-income country in accordance with international classification, adding that foreign loan assistance cannot be obtained under concessional conditions when a country is internationally recognized as a middle-income country.

This classification is done according to the per capita income of the country, the minister explained while emphasizing that Sri Lanka’s per capita income dropped in recently along with the economic downturn.

If we refer to the history, during the period of 56 years from 1948 to 2004, the average economic growth rate of our country was less than 5 percent for more than a century.”

At the time of the independence, the per capita income of the country was USD 120 and it took 56 years to reach USD 1,000 mark, he added.

Minister Bandula Gunawardena, who mentioned that especially with the end of the civil war and the conflicts in the northern and eastern parts of the country, economic activities were expanded to a larger extent, further stated that thereafter, there was an awakening in the mass production process.

As a result, by 2014, when the per capita income reached USD 3,827, Sri Lanka got out of the ‘low-income’ classification and joined the ‘middle-income’ status. In 2017, it was USD 4,074, in 2018 it decreased to USD 4,057 and in 2019 it further dropped to USD 3,848. In 2020, it was USD 3,695 and USD 3,815 in the year 2021.”

Since this per capita income is expected to continue to drop in 2022, the international organizations have informed the Minister of Finance that in order to facilitate the intervention of the international organizations in obtaining concessional loan assistance during this difficult time, the country should be classified as a ‘low-income country’ again, he explained further.

Courtesy Adaderana

A country’s security is not only ensured militarily but is also secured through food and economic security, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasized.

The President said this during the progress review meeting of the National Food Security and Nutrition Assurance Program held at the Presidential Secretariat last morning (11).

Emphasizing that urgent measures should be taken to provide the country with fuel and food, the President said that if necessary, he could intervene through state security regulations.

The President also noted that if the implementation of the food security and nutrition assurance program is hampered due to the collapse of the state machinery, he is ready to intervene at any moment to resolve these issues.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe also pointed out the need to modernize agriculture and enact legislation on food security through this program.

The multi-sectoral joint mechanism to empower rural economic revitalization centres to ensure food security and nutrition was recently implemented across the island under the theme No citizen should be allowed to starve due to the lack of food”, on the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Also, the progress of the program at the district level was examined during this discussion and it was stated that rural economic revitalization committees have been established at the village level in all districts and programs have been initiated to ensure food security and nutrition.

Discussions also centred on the issues that could arise during the cultivation process in the relevant districts, while special attention was placed on the supply of fertilizer, land issues, unavailability of seeds and the crop damage caused by wild animals.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that measures have been taken to solve these problems in consultation with the relevant institutions and instructed the authorities to expedite the process of resolving the issues that further remain to be resolved.

Having paid attention to the progress presented by the district secretaries about the implementation of the program in each district the President informed the officials to identify separately the crop cultivations done at the rural level to create food security and to identify the areas suffering from food shortages and submit a report on the matter immediately.

Based on this information, the President also directed the officials to implement a food bank and community kitchen programs to cover every district under the leadership of the District Secretaries.

Further, the President instructed the relevant departments to continue implementing this program until 2023, mustering the contribution of all the government officials, armed forces, civil defence force, government and non-governmental organizations, to ensure the nutritional needs of the people and to prepare for the world economic crisis that may occur in the future, through this programme.
The President further stated that after 03 weeks, a report on the progress of this program should be sent to the Cabinet every week.

Speaking at this discussion, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena pointed out the need to speed up the provision of land for new cultivators and follow a formal system for it.

He also noted that the upcoming rainy season is conducive to cultivation and highlighted the importance of educating the people at the rural level on engaging in agricultural activities without delay.

Cabinet and State Ministers including Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief Staff of the President Sagala Ratnayake, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Senior Advisor to the President on Food Safety Dr Suren Batagoda and government officials including Secretaries of the line Ministries and District Secretaries participated in this discussion.

-PMD

Courtesy Adaderana

The United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP) joined on Tuesday the chorus of institutions and charities warning that a serious debt crisis is now taking hold in the poorest parts of the world.

In a new report, the UNDP estimated that 54 countries, accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people, now needed immediate debt relief to avoid even more extreme poverty and give them a chance of dealing with climate change.

A serious debt crisis is unfolding across developing economies, and the likelihood of a worsening outlook is high,” the report published on Tuesday said.

The warning comes as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank hold meetings in Washington this week amid rising global recession worries and a crop of debt crises from Sri Lanka and Pakistan to Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia.

Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, urged a string of measures, including writing off debt, offering wider relief to greater numbers of countries and even adding special clauses to bond contracts to provide breathing space during crises.

It is urgent for us to step up and find ways in which we can deal with these issues before they become at least less manageable and perhaps unmanageable,” he told reporters.

Without effective debt restructuring, poverty will rise and desperately needed investments in climate adaptation and mitigation will not happen.

The UNDP’s report also called for a recalibration of the G20-led Common Framework – the plan designed to help countries pushed into financial trouble by COVID-19 pandemic restructure debt. Only Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia have used it so far.

It is urgent for us to step up and find ways in which we can deal with these issues before they become at least less manageable and perhaps unmanageable,” he told reporters.

Without effective debt restructuring, poverty will rise and desperately needed investments in climate adaptation and mitigation will not happen.

The UNDP’s report also called for a recalibration of the G20-led Common Framework – the plan designed to help countries pushed into financial trouble by COVID-19 pandemic restructure debt. Only Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia have used it so far.

Its proposal was to expand the Common Framework’s eligibility so that all heavily indebted countries could utilise it rather just the 70 or so poorest countries, and for any debt payments to be automatically suspended during the process.

Both will act as an incentive for creditors to participate and to maintain a reasonable timeline, and it could also remove some of the hesitancy caused by rating fears for debtor countries,” the report said.

It also recommended creditors should have a legal duty to cooperate in good faith” in a Common Framework restructurings and that countries could offer to take eco-friendly measures to encourage creditors to write their down debt.

It makes a lot of sense,” the report said. Not only have these countries contributed the least to, but bear the highest cost of, climate change”.

Source: Reuters

Sangadasa Akurugoda

Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, since independence, due to the depletion of foreign exchange reserves. Meanwhile, the Resolution against Sri Lanka titled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was passed at the UNHCR few days ago.  The resolution against Sri Lanka, as usual, was proposed by a group of states comprising the so-called Core Group on Sri Lanka (UK, US, Canada Germany etc) and introduced by the UK Ambassador to UNHCR, Rita French. The countries voted for the resolution are well known pro-western countries while the counties voted against the resolution (especially China and Pakistan) are well known for supporting us whenever we are in trouble. 

At many times in our history, the sovereignty and independence of our motherland has been damaged due to foreign interference. We remember very well how separatist terrorism grew due to the intervention of India, Norway and same group   of the western countries (today appearing as ‘Core Group on Sri Lanka’}  in the most recent era and how it became a curse for the country for thirty years. Instead of helping the Sri Lankan government to eradicate terrorism the western countries then appeared as donor countries / Co-chairs ’ and almost forced the then government to bow down to the conditions laid down by the terrorist group, since we were made to dependent economically on those neo colonialists.  What would have been the situation in the country today, if the country continued to follow the CFA (Cease Fire Agreement) signed in 2002 and the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) signed 2005 as advised by the so-called Co-Chairs, instead of eradicating terrorism militarily under the right political leadership in 2009?   Thus the basic question is whether there is any difference between what these westerners were doing in the past and what they are doing now exploiting the country’s economic crisis.

Thus the eradication of terrorism militarily, no doubt, was of ‘grave concern’ to some countries (including those who trained and armed the racial groups at the very beginning), who are interested in maintaining their ‘superiority’ over the others. On the other hand, the eradication of terrorism also caused tremendous hardship to the political wings of the militarily eliminated LTTE, the TNA and the GTF, the politicians who signed pacts with the terrorist leader and promoted so-called political solutions for three decades, and the NGOs. They were exploring every possible political avenue, by any means necessary, to install a puppet regime to achieve their goals.

Apart from being in the midst of immense economic hardship, patriotic goals of the people who elected a President with a remarkable mandate of 6.9 million during the last Presidential election are also unexpectedly facing many obstacles and challenges. By hook or crook, the President elected by the people’s vote is no more and he was replaced by a Parliamentarian completely rejected by the people during the last Parliamentary election, but elected through Parliamentary votes!

 It is apparent now, that the country is moving fast towards its foreign policies prior to 1956 and moving away from the countries that helped us economically and politically in many ways since then. We were under foreign powers for centuries due to the acts of saboteurs and traitors. Throughout our history, invaders manipulate public opinion to retain power more than artilleries. Portuguese, Dutch and British invaders used the above weapons with the enormous support from power-hungry segments of society.

The West won the world not by superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organised violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non Westerners never do.‘ British Duplicity in ‘The PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS in Sri Lanka’ (http://archives.dailynews.lk/2013/04/04/fea01.asp ) The Uva Wellassa region where thousands of our forefathers laid down their lives for the liberation of the country from the clutches of British imperialism is one of the example in our history where the he British rulers massacred thousands of Sinhala youth and a mass exodus of people continued from the area as the irrigation tanks and the property of the people were destroyed by the British rulers after the 1818 rebellion.

Unless we are fully aware of what is going on, and act wisely to defeat the sinister motives of those enemies, the much awaited peace, stability and progress of our country, prior to last Presidential election, will be at stake.

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.

අරගලයට ළමුන් ගෙනවිල්ලා හියුමන් ශීල්ඩ් එකක් ලෙස භාවිතා කරන එක වැරදියි. ඒක තමයි ප්‍රභාකරනුත් කලේ .

ලංකාවේ ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් මුලින්ම ඇති කලේ රෝහණ විජේවීර විසිනි. 1971 දී ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් හඳුන්වන ලද්දේ රතු ගැටවු ලෙසටය. 1971 කැරැල්ලේදී සමහර රතු ගැටවු නොහොත් ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් මිනිස් ඝාතන පවා කරන ලදි. 1988 / 1989 ජවිපෙ දෙවන කැරැල්ලේදීද ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් මගින් මිනී මැරවීම, බස් , රජයේ ගොඩනැගිලි ගිනි තැබ්බවීම කරවන ලදි. ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් බහුල වශයෙන් භාවිතා කරන ලද්දේ වේලුපිල්ලේ ප්‍රභාකරන් විසිනි. ඔහු බේබි බ්‍රිගේඩ් නම් ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් බළකායක් පිහිටුවන ලදි. ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් අත් විඳින ක්‍ෂිතමය යුද අත්දැකීම් නිසා ඔවුන් ගේ මනසට වන දුර්විපාක ගැන අළලා මනෝ වෛද්‍ය මහාචාර්‍ය දයා සෝමසුන්දරම් සමග මා විසින් ලියන ලිපියක් පහත දැක්වේ. මෙම පත්‍රිකාව මුලින්ම පළ වූයේ කේම්බ්‍රිජ් විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ මනෝ විද්‍යා ජර්නලයකය  Read;  https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/essentials-of-global-mental-health/child-soldiers/C868557CA43324AB571DDF9E3DD54F06

CAMBRIDGE.ORG

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

රජයේ ඉඩම්  විවිධ චක්‍රලේඛප්‍රකාරව වගා කිරීම සඳහා ගම්වල ගොවීන්ට  ලබා දීමට  රජය නියෝග කර ඇති බැවින් කිසිම රජයේ  නිලධාරියෙකු එයට හරස් නොවිය යුතු බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන  මහතා අවධාරණය කරයි.
හෝමාගම කඳනවත්ත ප්‍රදේශයේ ගොවී, කාන්තා සංවිධාන සහ ස්වේච්චා සංවිධාන වෙත 2022.10.10 දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා සහ යදාමිණී ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ  පාර්ලිමේන්තු විමධ්‍යගත අරමුදලෙන් භාණ්ඩ බෙදා දීමේ අවස්ථාවේදී  අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේය.
එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා –
 අපි ආර්ථික වශයෙන් මුහුණ දෙන්නෙ ගැටලු සහගත කාලයකටයි. ඊට මුහුණ දීමට අප සියලු දෙනා අත්වැල් බැඳගෙන කටයුතු කළ යුතුයි. පළමුවෙන් තිබෙන සටන ආහාර අතින් ස්වයංපෝෂිත තත්වයන් ඇතිකර ගැනීමයි. ගමින් ගමට හැම දෙයක්ම නිෂ්පාදනය කරන්න බැරි උනත් රට ආහාර අතින් ස්වයංපෝෂිත භාවයට ගෙන එන්න ජීවත් වෙන අයගේ එකමුතුවට පුළුවන්කම තිබෙනවා.
මේ ප්‍රදේශ විශේෂයෙන් ගොවිතැන් බත් කරපු ප්‍රදේශ. විශාල භූමි භාගයන් එසේ කළේ නැති වුණත්  ප්‍රමාණික ව ඒ කටයුතුවලට එකතු වෙලා කාන්තා ගොවි සංවිධාන  සහ අනෙකුත්  ගොවි සංවිධාන විශාල උනන්දුවක් ඒ පිළිබඳව දැක්වූවා.ඒ ගැන රජය විශාල විශ්වාසයක් ඔබ කෙරෙහි තබා තිබෙනවා. ඒ විශ්වාසයට ලබාදිය හැකි සෑම සහයෝගයක් ම ලබා දීමට    රජය බැඳී සිටිනවා.ජාතික පුනර්ජීවනය සඳහා ගමින් ගමට වැඩසටහන ග්‍රාම සේවා කොට්ටාශ දහහතර දහස් දෙසීයක ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙනවා. ලංකාවේ කෘෂි බෝග නිෂ්පාදනය ඒ සමගම විවිධ අත්කම් හා කුඩා කර්මාන්ත කරන අයට ශක්තිය දෙන්න අපි කටයුතු කළා. විශේෂයෙන් ගොවි  ජනතාව හා බැඳුණු සියලු  ජනතාවගෙන් අපි ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ මේ කර්තව්‍යයට ඔබ සැමගේ සහයෝගය දිය හැකි ප්‍රමාණයන්ගෙන් දායක වෙන්න කියලා.
 මේ ප්‍රශ්නය අප ජය ගත යුතුමයි. ඒ ජයග්‍රහණ නිලධාරීන්ට තනියම ගන්න බැහැ. ජයග්‍රහණය කරන්න වෙන්නේ මහජන සංවිධාන සිවිල් සංවිධාන කාන්තා පාර්ශවය සියලු දෙනා එකතු වුණොත් පමණයි. මේ රටේ හොඳ භූමියක් තියෙනවා. ඕනම දෙයක් වැව්වොත් මාස හය හතකින් ඵලදාව නෙළා ගන්න පුළුවන්.
ඒ වෙනුවෙන් අපි උනන්දු වෙලා සහයෝගය දීලා අදාළ නිලධාරින්ට  සහාය වෙලා වෙලා කටයුතු කළ යුතුයි.
එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී යදාමිණී ගුණවර්ධන මහතා –
කැළණිවැලි දුම්රිය මාර්ගය ඉලක්ක සහගත ලෙස වැඩි දියුනු කිරීම කළ යුතුයි. කැළණිවැලිය ප්‍රධාන දුම්රිය මාර්ගයක්. කැළණිවැලි දුම්රිය මාර්ගය මීට වඩා පහසුකම් සහිතව සකස් කරන්න අපිට පුළුවන් වුනොත් ලක්ෂ ගණන් වියදම් කරලා පිටරටින් ගෙන තෙල් ටිකට වැය කරන මුදල අපට ඉතුරු කරගන්න පුලුවන්. ඒක අනාගත පරපුර වෙනුවෙන්  ආයෝජනය කරන්නත් පුළුවන්.
මීට වසර දහයකට පෙර මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ පිරිසුදු පානීය ජලය පිළිබඳ විශාල ප්‍රශ්නයක් තිබුණා. අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා නාගරික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යවරයා  හැටියට එදා  පිටිපන ප්‍රදේශයේ දැවැන්ත සංවර්ධන කාර්යයක් ආරම්භ කළා. එහිදී පාසල් ඇතුළු රජයේ ආයතන රාශියක් ගෙන්වා ලංකාවේ කේන්ද්‍රීය සංවර්ධන භූමියක් මේ ප්‍රදේශය අවට සංවිධානය කර එම ප්‍රදේශයට ඇදී එන මහ ජනතාවට අවශ්‍ය මූලික පහසුකම වූ පානීය ජල පහසුකම  පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කළා.
   ලංකාවේ ප්‍රධානතම විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයක් වන පාලි හා බෞද්ධ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය පිටිපන ප්‍රදේශයට ගෙන ආවා. පසුව හරිත විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය ඇතුළු විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පද්ධතියක් එදා මේ ප්‍රදේශයට ගෙන ඒමට අවශ්‍ය සැලසුම් සකස් වුණේත්  අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා උසස් අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යවරයා ලෙසයි.
 . කලටුවාව ලබුගම හරහා කොළඹට නල මගින් ජලය ගෙන ගියත් මේ ප්‍ර දේශවලට නල එළීමක් සිදුවුණේ නැහැ. අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා එදා  ජල සම්පාදන අමාත්‍යවරයා හැටියට මීට අවුරුදු දහයකට පෙර ඉංජිනේරුවරුන්ට කිව්වා ඒ  නළ විදලා  මේ ප්‍රදේශයට  ජල නළ එලන්න කියලා. එහෙම තමයි ඔබේ ගෙවල් වලට නළ ජලය ලබා දුන්නේ. අද දහ පහළොස් ගුණයකින් මේ ඉඩම්වල වටිනාකම වැඩිවෙලා. ජල සම්පාදන අමාත්‍යවරයා හැටියට අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ඔබට ලබාදුන්නු විශාලතම දායාදය තමයි ඒ විදියට සෑම බිම් අඟලකම වටිනාකම දහ පහළොස් ගුණයකින් වැඩිකර දීම. ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාවට වෙනුවෙන් සිදුකළ ඒ සංවර්ධන ජයග්‍රහණයක්.
මෙම අවස්ථාවට හෝමාගම ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා මන්ත්‍රී වරුන් වන  විකුම් කිත්සිරි, කමල් චන්දන,  රංජිත් හේවාවසම් ඇතුළු  ස්වේච්ඡා සංවිදාන නියෝජිතයින්  සහභාගි වූහ.

ලලිත්  රෝහණ ලියනගේ
අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාර හා ප්‍රජා කටයුතු පිළිබඳ ජනාධිපති අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් 

පොහොට්ටුවේ කළුතර රැළිය 22 වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයට ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීමකි.  22 සංශෝධනය විසින් ලංකාවේ පක්ෂ දේශපාලනය උණුසුම් කර ඇති ප්‍රමාණයේ පිළිබිඹුවකි.

පක්ෂ නායකවරුන් ගේ රැස්වීමේ දී 22 සංශෝධනයට කමිටු අවස්ථාවේ සංශෝධන ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම පිළිබඳ නීතිපතිවරයා සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මහ ලේකම්වරයා මත දෙකක් දැරුවෝය.  මෙවැන්නක් ගැන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පූර්වාදර්ශ තිබුණේ ද නැත. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීන්දුව හා නඩු සටහන් අනුව, වසර 2 ½ කින් ජනපතිවරයාට (රනිල්ට) පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරුවා හැරිය බවත්, එය වෙනස් කිරීමට (වසර 4  ½ දක්වා වැඩි කිරීමට) නොහැකි බවත් නීතිපති හෙළි කළේය. පොහොට්ටුව, ඩලස් කණ්ඩායම, විමල් කණ්ඩායම, අනුර ප්‍රියදර්ශන කණ්ඩායමේ අභිලාශය වූවේ වසර 4 ක් හෝ වසර 4 ½ ක් යන තුරු ඡන්දය කල් දමා ගැනීම ය. තව මාස 6 කින්, ජනාධිපතිවරයාට තමන් කැමති ඕනෑම වෙළාවක පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරුවා හැරිය හැකිය. 

සජබ හා ජවිපෙ සතුට

වහා මහා මැතිවරණයක් ඉල්ලන්නේ සජබ සහ ජවිපෙ යි. සජබට ඇත්තේ මන්ත්‍රී ධූර 38 කි. විපක්ෂයේ හවුල් පක්ෂ සමඟ ඡන්ද 49 යි.  පොහොට්ටුවේ සහ විමල්, ඩලස්, අනුර ප්‍රියදර්ශන, ශ්‍රීලනිප කණ්ඩායම්වල සහාය නැතිව පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරුවා හැරීමේ යෝජනාවක් සම්මත කරන්නට විපක්ෂ නායක/ජ.වි.පෙ.ට  නොහැකිය.! දැන් විපක්ෂයේ ද ඉරණම ඇත්තේ ජනපති අතේය.

මාර්තුවල පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසිරුවා හැරීමේ බලය ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ලැබීම ගැන පක්ෂ දෙකම සතුටුය.  සජබ බහුතරයකගේ මතය පක්ෂ දෙක එක්විය යුතු බවය.  ‘රනිල් එක්ක අපට ආණ්ඩු කළ හැකියි‘ ඔවුහු කියති.

ජනපති බලය අඩු කරන්නේ නැතුව වුවත් හෝ ඡන්දයකට යන්නට පවා ඔවුන් කැමති ය. අගමැති කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය පත් කිරීමේ අද පවතින පරම බලය ජනපති රනිල් අත තිබිය දී පවා ඡන්දයට සජබ කැමතිය. ඒ නිසාම ඔවුන් දැන් රනිල් ජනාධිපතිවරයා දැඩි ලෙස විවේචනය කරන්නේ නැත. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගෙන ආ රාජාසන කතාව, අයවැය, 22 සංශෝධනය වැනි කිසිදු යෝජනාවලට විරුද්ධ  වූවේ ද නැත. සාධනීය විවේචණයකින් ඔබ්බට යන්නේම නැත.  ආණ්ඩුව ලබාදුන් මුදල්, කෝපා ඇතුළු කමිටු සියල්ල නිතරඟයෙන් බාර ගත්තෝය.  තවම විපක්ෂයේ බව පෙන්වන්නට ‘කෝප් ඡන්දය‘ වැනි කෘතීම අවස්ථා නිර්මාණය කර පරාජය වන්නේය.

ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ සුමන්දිරන් සහ ශානක්‍යන් ගේ දැඩි විවේචන පවා අඩුවී ඇත.   ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ නිල මතය ආණ්ඩුවට ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳන්නට ඉඩ දිය යුතු බවය.  ඡන්දයක් ඔවුන්ට ඕනෑ නැත. ඡන්දකට ගියත් ප්‍රශ්නයක් ද නැත.

ඡන්දයකට යාම ඩලස් (13), විමල් (13), අනුර ප්‍රියදර්ශන (6) ට මාර්තු මැතිවරණයක් අතිශයින් අවාසිදායක ය.  ප්‍රධාන පක්ෂ තුන (සජබ, එජාප, පොහොට්ටුව) සමඟ සන්ධාන ගත නොවන්නේ නම් ඔවුන්ට අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම ශ්‍රීලනිප සමඟ හෝ සන්ධාගතවීමට සිදුවන්නේ ය.  තනිව තරඟ කර දිස්ත්‍රික් ආසන ජය ගත නොහැකි බව රහසක් නොවේ.

අරගලය ඇරඹීමට පෙර ජවිපෙ ට තිබුණු කැමැත්ත රට පුරා ගිණි තැබීම් මාලාව සමඟ ආපහු හැරී ඇත.  නාගරිකයේ ඔවුන්ගේ ජයප්‍රියත්වය ඉහළය.  ජවිපෙ 2004 පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ආසන 31 ක් ලැබීය. පළාත් සභාවේ ආසන 81 ක් දිනුවේය.  ජවිපෙ – පෙරටුගාමී බෙදීම නිසා එදා ජවිපෙට තිබූ බලය අද තිබේද? නැත!

රත්නපුර, කළුතර, කුරුණෑගල, මොණරාගල, හම්බන්තොට, අනුරාධපුර, පොළොන්නරුව, මාතර, ගාල්ල පොහොට්ටුව සතු බලය අවතක්සේරු කළ නොහැකිය.  මාතලේ, මහනුවර, බදුල්ල, පුත්තලම, කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල සිංහල බහුතර ඡන්දදායකයින් සංඛ්‍යාවක් සිටින ආසන කිහිපයේ ද තත්වය එයම වේ.

ජවිපෙ හා පෙරටුගාමීන් ගේ බෙදීම ජවිපෙ හි පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන සංඛ්‍යාව සීමා කළේ යම් ලෙසක ද, 2020 දී එජාප – සජබ බෙදීම නිසා එයම සිදු විය. පාරම්පරික එජාප පාක්ෂිකයා ලක්ෂ 12 ක් ඡන්ද පොළට ගියේ නැත. සජබ ඉදිරි මැතිවරණයක දී තනි විශාලතම පක්ෂය විය හැකි යැයි ඔවුන් සිතන බව සන්දර්භයකදී වුව ද, සජබ ට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සරළ බහුතරය (ආසන 113 ක්) පහසු නැති බව ඔවුහු දනිති.

මේ සියල්ල කියන්නේ මාස 6 කින් පසුව ඕනෑම මොහොතක එළැඹෙන මැතිවරණයක දී කිසිදු පක්ෂයකට බහුතර බලය හිමි නොවන බව ය.

තරුණ නියෝජනය කෝ?

වත්මන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ තරුණ නියෝජනය 13% කි.  නවක මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 79 ක් 2020 පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ආවේය.  අවු. 25-30 මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් ඇත්තේ 5 ක් පමණී. ඡන්දයෙන් පත් වූ 196 න් 142 ක් ම වයස 60 ට අඩු නමුත්,  මිනිසුන්ට පෙනෙන්නේ මෙය නාකි පාර්ලිමේන්තුවක් ලෙස ය. වයස 80 ට වැඩි සම්බන්ධන්, වාසුදේව හා විග්නේෂ්වරන් ගැන හැමෝම කථා කරති. 70 ට වැඩි ජනපති, අගමැති, හිටපු ජනපති ගැන කතා කරති. නමුත්, කිසිවෙකුට තරුණයින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගෙනන ක්‍රමයක් ගැන අදහසක් හෝ වැඩපිළිවෙලක් නැත.

1981 දිස්ත්‍රික් සංවර්ධන සභාවෙන් රංජිත් මද්දුම බණ්ඩාර, ඉම්තියාස් බාකීර් මාකර්, මර්වින් ජේ කුරේ,  උපාලි පියසෝම, ජස්ටින් ගලප්පත්ති, ගුණපාල තිස්සකුට්ටිආරච්චි, සුරනිමල රාජපක්ෂ තරුණයින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආවේය.  තරුණ කෝටාව යටතේ පලාත් පාලනයෙන් දේශපාලන ඇරඹී මහින්ද අමරවීර,  නිශාන්ත පෙරේරා, සහන් ප්‍රදීප්, සම්පත් අතුකෝරල,  අජිත් රාජපක්ෂ, විරසුමන වීරසිංහ, අගලවත්ත මංජු, චාමර සම්පත් දසනායක, ශාන්ත බණ්ඩාර, අශෝක ප්‍රියන්ත ඇතුළු 20 කට වැඩි සංඛ්‍යාවක් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආවෝය. තරුණ කෝටාව නොවන්නට මේ කිසිවෙකුත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු එන්නේ නැත. 

තරුණයින් හා කාන්තාවන්ට ඊලඟ ඡන්දයට පෙර දොර විවර කළ යුතුය. ආංශික අධීක්ෂණ කාරක සභා හෝ ජන සභා හෝ පළාත් පාලනය හරහා හෝ තරුණයින් දේශපාලනයට ගෙන්වා නොගන්නේ නම් ඊලඟ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවටත් ‘නාකි පාර්ලිමේන්තුව‘ යැයි බැන බැන සිටින්නට සිදු වනු ඇත.     

සජබ-එජාප වෙන්ව තරඟ කරන්නේ නම් එජාප පාක්ෂිකයින් ඡන්දපොළට එන්නේ නැත.  එජාප සුළු ජාතික ඡන්ද පදනම ද අද සජබට නැත. එය වක්‍රව පොහොට්ටුවට වාසි සහගත ලෙස පසුගිය ජනපතිවරණයේ ද, මහා මැතිවරණයේ ද හැසිරෙනු ලැබීය.  පළාත් පාලන ඡන්දයක බලය සජබ/එජාප කඳවුරට ගැනීමට නම් කුඩා පක්ෂ තමන්ට වටා ගොනු කර ගත යුතුය.    

ජවිපෙ කොයිබටද?

නාගරික මධ්‍ය පන්තිය ජවිපෙ ට යම් ආකර්ෂණයක් ඇතත් ඔවුන්ගේ ඡන්ද පදනම ගොවි, ධීවර, හා අව වරප්‍රසාදිත කණ්ඩායම් හි ආකර්ෂනය තවමත් ඔවුන්ට නැ.  2004 දී මෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන 41 ක්, පළාත් සභා ආසන 81 ක් ලබා ගැනීම පහසු නැත. පාර්ලිමේන්තුව වට කිරීමට ජනතාව කැඳවීම සහ මැයි 9 රට පුරා සිදු වූ ගිණි තැබීම්  ද,

දෙවන අරගලයට නායකත්වය දීමේ කතාව ද විසින් නාගරික මැද පන්තිය හේතු ඇතිව හෝ නැතිව ජවිපෙ න් තාවකාලිකව නමුත් දුරස්ථව ඇත. එජාප – සජබ බෙදීම සේම ජවිපෙ – පෙරටුගාමී බෙදීම ඔවුන්ගේ සංවිධාන ශක්තිය හා ජීව ගුණය පහත දමා ඇත.

ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ ව්‍යාපාරය

ජනපති බලය අඩු කිරීම, ස්වාධීන කොමිෂන් සභා නැවත පිහිටුවීම, ප්‍රසම්පාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව පිහිටුවීම, නැතිව ඡන්දයකට යාම තුලින් යහපාලන සංකල්පය තුල බලාපොරොත්තු වූ තුලන හා සංවරණ ක්‍රියාව යථාර්ථයක් වන්නේ නැත. මේ වන විට සාධාරණ සමාජයක් සඳහා වූ ව්‍යාපාරය ඇතුළු සිවිල් සංවිධාන උත්සහ කරන්නේ පවතින අර්බුදය තුල ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ දිනා ගැනීමට ය.

අතිශයින් පක්ෂග්‍රාහී වූ මේ මැතිවරණ කොමිසම, පොලිස් කොමිසම හා  රාජ්‍ය සේවා කොමිසම යටතේ ඡන්දයක යාමත් ඉන් පසුව ආණ්ඩු පිහිටුවීමත් අර්බුදකාරී වනු ඇති බව සිවිල් ක්‍රියාකාරිහු හොඳින්ම දනිති.  2018 දින 52 ආණ්ඩුවෙන් පසුව නැවත එජාප කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය පත් කරන විට එවකට බලතල සීමා කර තිබූ මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිතුමා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා, පාලිත රංගේ බණ්ඩාර මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ට කිසිම අමාත්‍යාංශයක් දුන්නේ නැත. එවැනි තත්වයකට පත්වීමට කිසිදු සජබ මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු නැවත සුදානම් වන්නේ නැත. ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂය ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා සෘජුව විවේචනය නොකරන්නේ ඒ නිසාය.

නියමිත දිනට ඡන්දය පවත්වන්නේ නම් මහා මැතිවරණයකට තව වසර 3 ½ ක් තිබේ. ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුව තව මාස 6 කින් ජනාධිපතිවරයාට මහා මැතිවරණයක් කැඳවිය හැකිය. ඡන්දයක් ඉල්ලන කණ්ඩායමක් සිටී.  ඡන්දයකින් දිනන්නට බැරි කණ්ඩායමක් ද සිටී. ඒ සියල්ලම අතර  මිනිසුන් මිලියන 20 දැවැන්ත ජීවන අරගලයක නිරතව සිටී.  ඔවුන් අමතක කර දේශපාලනය කථා කිරීම විහිළුවකි.

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාර හා ප්‍රජා කටයුතු පිළිබඳ ජනාධිපති අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් 

Courtesy Travel Radar

Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s newest airline took to the skies on its inaugural international flight to Dubai. FitsAir, formerly known as ExpoAir, is Sri Lanka’s first and only private airline.

Passengers flying with FitsAir will now be able to board a flight to one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities from Sri Lanka’s main airport, Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport. The inaugural flight, as documented above by the airline itself, happened on October 5th and will continue to operate at a frequency of three times a week.

The airline begins operations in the midst of an economical crisis in Sri Lanka. With a lack of fuel currently affecting the nation, the timing of Fitsair’s appearance in the aviation industry would seem to be one of misfortune. However, the airline is surprisingly optimistic about its future as it prepares to create a small hub in Jaffna Airport, located in northern Sri Lanka.

Fight for the Skies: Sri Lanka’s Newest Airline in Competition With Struggling Sri Lankan Airlines

Although only having a few days as an active airline, talks of competition between FitsAir and Sri Lankan Airlines are already in the air.

Things haven’t been looking too good for Sri Lanka’s flag carrier as in the past it has been forced to cut down on several routes due to the effects of the pandemic, and the current state of Sri Lanka’s economy led to the government partially selling the airline. This, along with a new, low-cost airline, could potentially lead to Sri Lankan Airlines’ fall from grace as FitsAir swoops into the scene.

As of now, FitsAir is flying with six aircraft in its fleet, but with plans to continue its flight expansion with more routes to more airports, it’s safe to say that the skies are looking clear for this promising airline.

Courtesy Adaderana

A Russian airlines Aeroflot flight arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport this morning (10), resuming flights between Moscow and Colombo after a lapse of 4 months.

Russia’s flagship carrier had announced that it is suspending commercial flights to Sri Lanka after the island nation’s authorities detained the airline’s Airbus A330 jet on June 02.

On June 03, Aeroflot reported that the departure of its SU-289 flight from Colombo to Moscow scheduled for June 2 was at first delayed and then cancelled due to the absence of permit from Sri Lanka’s aviation authorities.

This was after the Colombo Commercial High Court satisfied a complaint filed by Ireland’s Celestial Aviation Trading Limited leasing company against Aeroflot and banned its Airbus A330 jet from leaving the country until June 16. 

However, on July 15, the Colombo Commercial High Court dismissed the case filed by an Irish company against Russia’s Aeroflot airline with costs.

Last month, Aeroflot decided to resume flights from Moscow to Sri Lanka with effect from October 09, 2022. 

Starting from October, Aeroflot will resume regular flights to Colombo, Bangkok, and Goa. Flights will be operated on Airbus A330 aircraft,” the airlines said in a statement.

From October 09, the airline will resume Colombo flights, which will initially operate twice a week.

From October 30, Aeroflot will re-launch seven weekly flights to Bangkok, and from November 02, the airline will operate up to three weekly services to Goa. 

Courtesy Adaderana

World Bank President David Malpass and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Monday of a growing risk of global recession and said inflation remained a continuing problem after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

There’s a risk and real danger of a world recession next year,” Malpass said in a dialogue with Georgieva at the start of the first in-person meetings of the two institutions since the COVID-19 pandemic.

He cited slowing growth in advanced economies and currency depreciation in many developing countries, as well as ongoing inflation concerns.

The IMF chief last week said the global lender would downgrade its forecast for 2.9% global growth in 2023 when it releases its World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, citing the shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and climate disasters on all continents.

On Monday, she noted that economic activity is slowing down in all three major economies – Europe, which has been hit hard by high natural gas prices, China, where housing volatility and COVID-19 disruptions are dragging down growth, and the United States, where interest rate hikes are starting to bite.”

Slowing growth in advanced economies, rising interest rates, climate risks and continuing high food and energy prices are hitting developing countries particularly hard, both leaders said, calling for concerted action to help emerging markets.

Georgieva, the first IMF chief from an emerging market economy, said advanced economies needed to get the big, scary danger of debt crisis under control” because it would affect all countries, not just those with high debt burdens.

Not the rosy picture. But if we joined forces, if we act together, we can reduce the pain that is ahead of us in 2023.”

Georgieva said the IMF will be advocating this week for central banks to continue their efforts to contain inflation, despite the negative impact on growth.

If they don’t do enough, she said, we are in trouble. … We cannot afford inflation to be a runaway train.”

Fiscal measures should be well targeted” to ensure they did not add more fuel to the flames of inflation.”

Malpass, who came under fire last month for declining to say whether he accepts the scientific consensus on global warming, said officials at the bank were working hard to free up more funds to address climate problems facing so many developing countries.

Georgieva said the world needed a staggering $3 to $6 trillion to address climate change and it was essential to increase collaboration with the private sector and leverage funds on scale” to help meet the needs.

Source: Reuters
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena emphasizes that since the government has instructed to give the government lands to the farmers of the villages for cultivation in accordance with circular measures, no government official should interfere with it.

The Prime Minister mentioned this during the distribution of goods from the Parliamentary Decentralized Fund of Mr. Dinesh Gunawardena and Mr. Yadamini Gunawardena to organizations of farmers, women’s and voluntary entities in Homagama, Kandanawatta area on Monday (10).

We are facing difficult times economically. We all have to work together to face it. The first battle is to achieve self-sufficiency in food production. Even if it is not possible to produce everything from village to village, the unity of the people living there has the potential to bring the country to self-sufficiency in terms of food,” said the Prime Minister.

He further said that the government has placed a lot of trust in the potential of farmers and the government was obliged to give all possible support to that belief. Village to village program for national revival is being implemented in fourteen thousand two hundred village service sectors.

At the same time, the government has worked to give strength to those who do various handicrafts and small industries in Sri Lanka, he said. We request all the people, especially those associated with the farmers, to contribute to this task as much as you can support,” the Prime Minister said.

We must overcome this problem. The officials cannot take those victories alone. We will win only if all the public organizations, civil organizations and the women’s side come together. There is good land in this country. If you plant anything, you can harvest the fruit in six to seven months,” he said.

Voluntary organization representatives including the members of Homagama Pradeshiya Sabha Vikum Kitsiri, Kamal Chandana and Ranjith Hewawasam were present at the occasion.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe noted that the country needs a national policy that does not change with every government that comes to power and invited everyone to commit to building the country on one national policy without party differences.

The President pointed out that to build a developed economy and raise Sri Lanka to the pinnacle of the world, a solid economic policy as well as political stability is a must. Hence, he invited everyone to join hands to discuss the national policy framework using the Jathika Sabhawa” (National Council) as a platform.

President Wickremesinghe stated this while declaring open the first life-saving pharmaceutical manufacturing plant established in Sri Lanka today (10).

The President also pointed out that he is working towards establishing a national policy to prepare an export economy using competitive and modern technology.

Expressing his views further, the President said, First let me congratulate the Chairman of this company. He is a farsighted individual. He had a good understanding of the drug shortage the country is facing. He also understood that the local market is insufficient. Therefore, this company has taken steps to develop our export industry, not only to supply medicines needed domestically but also by producing medicines needed internationally.

We sincerely hope that this project commenced by this young entrepreneur will progress to greater heights. This project has created great employment opportunities for many. This investment has been done at a time when the country’s economy is facing its hardest period. Our budget deficit is one factor that has contributed to the collapse of our economy.

The foreign exchange we receive is not sufficient to meet our needs.

Therefore we have to obtain loans every year. Currently, we are in a situation where we are unable to pay the debt. Our economy must be rebuilt. If we are to succeed we must remember one thing. We must earn the required foreign exchange. A deficit of foreign exchange cannot be maintained. It is not possible to maintain a budget deficit. Our aim should be to keep the surplus of the expenditure head. For this, we need to increase our foreign income.

For that purpose, the goods produced for export, the crops grown and the services provided should be increased. We need an export-oriented economy that uses the most competitive technology.

Today people are facing grave difficulties. Many have lost their jobs. Some have to skip meals and be in hunger. We need to find long-term solutions to address these issues. It is not possible to go back and find solutions. That is why plans are being made today to create a very competitive, modern technology-based export economy. That is why we should make policies.

This establishment that we are declaring open today was initiated when Maithripala Sirisena was the President and I was the Prime Minister. Rajitha Senaratne was the Health Minister at that time. All of us contributed to taking this forward.

This is one result of the initiatives taken by the Good Governance regime. We worked in silence. Then the government changed and a new government was elected. After Gotabhaya Rajapaksa came to power this program was not halted.

Generally, when one government loses power and another one comes to power, the work done by the previous government is halted. However, this project was not stopped and now I am declaring this establishment open as the President.

We should all follow one national policy. we can engage in our daily debates. However, we need to make one national policy. If we continue with that national policy, we will never fail. We made the mistake of changing policies with every change of government. Even when the ministers changed within the government, the policies were changed. So how can you expect the country to prosper?

We must have a good economic framework. There should be a good social framework as well as a political framework.

Our economic framework depends on the stability of the political framework. If a stable political system cannot be established, the people of the country will suffer.

Today, all the parties are represented here, except the JVP. Therefore, I would like to invite everyone to work according to a national framework. Then, whether or not governments change, will not become an issue. That is why several committees have been created so that everyone in parliament can engage.

We created the ‘Jathika Sabha’ (National council) and I would like to make it a stage to discuss the establishment of a national policy and to implement it.

Today the stage has been set to earn foreign exchange through this new venture. Just as this project that was commenced in 2017 could have been brought forward, I am confident that we can all unite and agree on one policy. Let us make it a reality.

Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said;

Professor Senaka Bibile’s policy was to export pharmaceutical products and that is what the Yaden Laboratories (PVT) LTD is doing now. During the COVID pandemic, the country strongly felt the need for medicines. 

Today Yaden Laboratories (PVT) LTD has come forward as a pharmaceutical exporting company to which we should extend our fullest cooperation. We will extend our fullest support to the Yaden Institute to make its mark in the international sphere. 

We should extend a supportive hand to these young entrepreneurs who can bring in the foreign currency that the country requires today. This will also help retain the much needed foreign exchange within the country as well.”

Mr Shashimal Dissanayake, Chairman of Yaden Laboratories Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company:

Yaden Company has come a long way in the past ten years. This laboratory was started in 2012 by two people. 

Today, our laboratory can produce 100% high-quality medicines.

This pharmaceutical laboratory has created history in Sri Lanka today. Currently, there are 110 laboratory staff and 20 technicians working here. Our laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

This laboratory has been established with the primary objective of providing medicines needed by Sri Lankans.

Accordingly, there is an opportunity to save a lot of the country’s money that would otherwise be spent on importing drugs.”

President Ranil Wickremesinghe also made a note in the guest book of Yaden Institute.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena, Minister of Ports and Shipping Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Plantation Industries Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayake, Senior Advisor to the President Ruwan Wijewardane, State Ministers Lasanta Alagiyawanna, Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Members of Parliament Pavithra Vanniarachchi, Duminda Dissanayake, Mayantha Dissanayake, Sujith Sanjaya, Harshana Rajakaruna, Nimal Lanza, J.C Alawathuwala, Eran Wickramaratne, and Chief of Defense Staff General Shavendra Silva were present at this occasion.

C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.

  සවුදි රජපවුලට බැන්නොත් මරනවා…” – YouTube

Introduction

After seeing the above YouTube piece by Sepal (Oct 2, 2022), I felt there is nothing more to discuss with him about Ven. GG. Because with this second video Sepal has proven that the BBS stand is correct. He can easily find out whether he received a fake email by tracing the IP address of the computer from which it came. Whether it’s a prank or not, Sepal’s reaction revealed how frail we humans are. He should have ignored this email. Sepal’s recent videos on Paba-Damita, university ragging, Surein Raghuwan are rational dissections like cutting butter with a hot knife. But, if Sepal could get so upset by one Wahabi email in a lifetime, one could imagine the kind of agony Ven. GG must have gone through for almost a decade for trying to tell three objective truths: 1. Sinhala Buddhists are leaderless; 2. There is unethical religious conversion, and 3. Wahabism/Sharia invasion is real. On top of that sharia and evangelical agents have infiltrated all strategically important institutions and jobs. Cricket as well as the Attorney G’s dept. are on the victims list!

Evangelical power

The treasure of a big political party, a 13-A supporter, is the head pastor of a large born-again church system. Now there are over 500 such sheds, houses, or huts in rural areas. There were news reports in the past of smashing Buddha statutes by converts to born again sects and urinating on the rubble. RanilW has been branded as anti-Buddhist until his house was burnt and a collection of precious Buddha statutes was found. Who broke the heads of these priceless statutes? A Buddhist would not do it. SajithP’s sister was questioned by the CID about the arson incident at Ranil’s house and then suddenly she left the country with her family. Was it possible that some rascals came with her did this crime without her knowledge? This is the extent of penetration by Christian fundamentalists. Ven. Ampitiye Sumanaratana, once punished a pastor when he got caught operating unethical propaganda work targeting innocent villagers in Batticaloa.

Ven. GG’s role in Sri Lankan politics

The conspiracy to destroy Ven. GG had no limits. Even black magic was tried. At the last election, a coup by the so-called democratic establishment sabotaged his nomination papers for three districts that had wider support base for him, and then when his ‘party’ got one bonus seat, he was cheated again by a fellow monk he trusted for a long time and saved him from death from a fast unto death! One Ven. GG in the parliament could have handled 224 others in any ideological and practical debate/argument/confrontation relating to the plight of Sinhala Buddhists. Ven. GG faces so many police magistrate court cases filed by Muslim politicians, sometimes several cases for the same incident! In most of these what Ven. GG pointed out was that the archaeology law has no religious or ethnic bias, and it is common law applicable to all residents in the island (resident monks cannot dig ground even for a toilet pit without prior permission from the archeology dept if the temple land is marked as protected territory). But officers are a helpless lot in dealing with Muslim politicians.

One such case against him relates to his comment about the destruction of the smaller stupas (පරිවාර චෛත්‍ය) encircling the Somawathi Stupa flood protection zone. Muslim settlers use the stupa base as high ground to erect cattle sheds despite warning signs. They remove the signposts! This is deliberate wanton action done with the support of Muslim politicians to erase the island’s historical record.  It is different from them taking ancient rock pieces routinely as ලිග්ගල්, හෝදන රෙදි අතුල්ලන ගල්, වැසිකිලි-කැසිකිලි ගල් etc. He is accused of telling Somawathi land is not Allah’s property.  The irony is big lawyers ask big money to argue on his behalf, while Muslim politicians have all the money in the world to hire one like Abraham Sumanthiran, who anyway failed to prevent RanajanR going to jail!

In another case he was accused of violating a court order prohibiting the cremation of the body of the chief priest of the Gurukanda Raja Maha Vihara within the temple land. A few days ago in the parliament, Gajendra Ponnambalam accused of officers violating a court order suspending renovation of the Kurudumalei Raja Maha Vihara. In this case magistrate involved withdrew one of his previous (arbitrary?) orders after an onsite inspection.  These two temples are on the paths taken by ancient Buddhist missions from India bringing sacred relics.

Blessing in disguise

Sepal’s video gave me an opportunity to ponder on how important and timely a phenomenon like BBS in Sri Lanka’s present predicament. It is a case of අන්තෝජටා-බහිජටා. In a situation like that in the absence of rational thinkers such as the late Carlo Fonseka, people like Sepal needs to examine critically the recommendations made by Ven. GG’s OC-OL report. Look at the mess. Sarath Fonseka says a revolution is a must. Amnesty International, suspected as an arm of the western new imperialism, with which Kumar Rupasinghe had deals then, predicts bad luck for SL. All foreign agencies led by Geneva HRC issue warnings ranging from malnutrition of children to the need for foreign judges. Parliament is like a pot warming slowly with 225 mad crabs swimming in it. Separatist elements are hopeful that 13-A+ would be added to 22A. The evil triangle, its officer leg, operates as usual. Protests are everywhere in the name of democratic right to protest, but to end democracy and balkanize the island. Is it possible to avoid UN-R2P trap? Buddhist monks are confused, shortsighted, and divided. They are failing in fulfilling their historic role as guardians of the Sinhala nation, its language and religion.  This did not mean harming other minorities.  For them Bodu Bala Sena provides a rational path based on ‘Buddhist politics.’  Even the president RanilW has advanced from his Lichchavi ideals preached during the so-called yahapalana days to Dantakuuta Jathaka examples now in October 2022 (ref. his speeches in the parliament and at the workshop for govt. media personnel).

Victor Ivan-Karu Jayasuriya and BBS

From its inception in May 2012 to the One Country-One Law Report in 2022 Ven. GG has evolved as a mature national leader following the Buddhist Middle Path. Sinhala Buddhist, Muslim, Tamil separatist and Marxist politicians of all kinds tried to condemn BBS, but Muslim and Tamil people demonstrated their confidence and trust in Ven. GG at numerous OC-OL hearings. Giving him this task was one bold Hitler-like decision taken by GotabhayaR as president. OC-OL takes the country on a path towards system change.

President RanilW, like the proverbial man who ate honey facing three deaths (මරණ තුනක් ඇති මිනිහෙක් පැණි කෑය), mentioned twice now his decision to meet with the demand made by the Galle Face crowd for people’s Councils (මහජන සභා) at the grassroot level. This idea is lifeblood of the Peratugami strategy of system revolution. And like the motherhood no politician old or young opposes the words, Jana Sabha!  RanilW first said to Samantha Power that Karu J and Victor I are preparing plans to convert 14,000 GSN units as People’s Councils. Again, at the workshop for govt media directors he reiterated (Oct. 7) that KaruJ’s  jana sabha plan will be implemented from next week.

Bodu Bala Sena and LLRC (Buddhist self-reliance)

These new developments must be like honey in Ven. GG’s ears. BBS has been a people-centered peace and prosperity movement started in May 2012 aimed at an unconventional system change which politicians threatened by its message tried to derail with falsehood. I sent a set of suggestions to BBS in March 2013 titled, ‘Bodu Bala Sena and LLRC (Buddhist self-reliance), based on my independent understanding of its role (my first ever direct communication took place only in June 2022).  An improved version of this in Sinhala was sent again in Sept. 2014 (ref. link below).

ජන සභා සංකල්පය තුලින් සාමකාමි තිරසර ලංකාවක් බිහි කර ගැනීම (බෞද්ධ දේශපාලනය)
Posted on September 25th, 2014

හැඳින්වීම

මෙම සංදේශය පිළියෙල කරන ලද්දේ මේ මස 28 දා පැවැත්වෙන බොදු බල සේනා මහා සංඝ සමුළුවේදී සංවාදයට ලක් කල හැකි යෝජනාවක් වශයෙනි. මෙහි දැක්වෙන මූලික අදහස නම් ගම් මටටමින් පුර වැසියන්ට බලය පවරා දෙන පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් තොර (නිදසුන: ගැමි දිරිය වැඩ සටහන) පරිසර නිර්‌ණායක අනුව මායිම් වෙන් කරනු ලබන ජන සභා පිහිටුවීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවය ය. (රටේ ප්‍රශ්න වලින් 70% ක පමණ මේ මඟින් විසඳා ගත හැකිය). ඌව චන්දයෙන් පෙනී ගිය කරුණක් නම් (හැම දෙනාම අමතක කර දමන්නට හදන) බොදු බල සේනාවට විරුද්ධව කතා කල ඇමතිලා දෙන්නෙක්ම ලැබූ පරාජය ය. ඉදිරි චන්ද වලදී බොදු බල සේනාව විසින් 1956 දී මෙන් බලවේගයක් ගොඩ නඟණු නිසැකය.

LankaWeb – ජන සභා සංකල්පය තුලින් සාමකාමි තිරසර ලංකාවක් බිහි කර ගැනීම (බෞද්ධ දේශපාලනය)
2014/9/25

These documents are resurrected again for people like Sepal to read and understand the other side to their one-track Marxist ideology. Sepal regrets that JVP and the Peratugamis did not act in unison to topple the parliament to finish their Aragalaya to capture power for the people! Aragalaya became a fraud. Pathum Kerner is missing. Motivation Appachchi is going to contest the next presidential election. Damitha, the working activist now certifies that Sajith faithfully adheres to the five basic tenets of Buddhism (පන්සිල් පද පහ). Previously, early in the Aragalaya Dulika Marapana shouted set fire and vanished from the radar.  Because the essay below is too long, I will only copy the first two paragraphs of it here. Unfortunately, the original essay found on Lankaweb website (archives) has some formatting defects. Therefore, the link to it cannot be given. Instead, a cleaned version will be presented as Sepal-part III. Both these essays, Sinhala and English are useful to KaruJ (and Victor Ivan) in finetuning his/their people’s council project, especially the diagram below.

Source:       රට කැබලි නොකර සිස්ටම් චේන්ජ් කිරීම (බුදු දහම හා ජන සභා සංකල්පය)

                   2022

Bodu Bala Sena and LLRC (Buddhist self-reliance)
Posted on March 31st, 2013

C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.

Need for a new map of terrain

What empowers a Sinhala/Tamil medium graduate left Sri Lanka in frustration to become a professor, a scientist, or a research director for example, in USA facing world-wide competition? How was it possible for young men from poor Sri Lanka to win the world cup of cricket by team effort? What reasons were the behind the capacity of village girls and boys in Sri Lanka to end a thirty-year war in less than three years surprising the whole world? In each case the old map of terrain which was not real and not true was replaced or revised with a new map, new model. Since 1832 Sri Lanka used the Eurocentric-colonial map/model. Prior to that Sri Lanka had a map based on the trinity of village, tank and the temple guided by a philosophy set out in the Buddhist Jataka Stories, 550 of them. That model was based on truth and reality. In 2013 the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) is acting to discard the old map (Colombo black-white model). We cannot escape from freedom and avoid challenge. We must be open to challenge.

Compare you-tube video clips of monks Dambara Amila, Bellanvila Wimalaratane and Baddegama Samitha with the monks Kirama Wimalajothi and Galabodaaththe Gnanasara. You can almost touch the pain the latter two monks undergo in their feeling of responsibility (Those who are genuine in their public service mission get angry and agitated like what we heard of the Anagarika Dharmapala). The former three are reading old unreal maps without any feelings, like those Marxists happened to be in front of Jetavanaramaya, Somawathiya or the Tissa weva. For them they are just brick and water. There is no national pride, no goose bumps. Meanwhile the types of Azath Salley sents secret SMS to mosques! 

Reasonableness Doctrine

In these times of our seeing the Buddhist King Pasenadi Kosol’s Sixteen Dreams in real life, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) reminds one the idea known as the Pas Maha Balum. BBS is in the right place at the right time. If one surf the English medium websites like the anti-Sinhala Buddhist Colombo Telegraph and newspapers, what jumps out is venom and confusion against BBS. Those English-speaking local and foreign agents who refused to come before the LLRC then are the ones now in the forefront demanding the implementation of its report.  This same – this war is not winnable boat – people are so confused, they think that BBS is all about Taliban-based halal and pretend that they did not know or see the BBS website. Under colonial assault the first Buddhist Renaissance began shortly after the 1848 genocide culminating with an ideological victory at the Great Panadura Debate in 1873. The public cheating of Buddhists by partisan politics since 1948 deteriorated so badly with a crook and criminal system of governing that began after 1978, forcing the arrival of the Bodu Bala Sena Movement in 2012. The business of BBS is open discussion and debate, no lurking in the dark.

BBS is an idea based on the Middle Path doctrine in Buddhism. In ancient Greece and in China there was the idea of the Middle Way, but the Buddhist Middle Path goes along with the phenomenon of impermanence and the cyclical nature of life (not linear). Buddhism is simply the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Noble path (4NT+8NP).  This Middle Path is nothing but the reasonableness doctrine of the modern Western world.  For example, it was this reasonableness which allowed women to become Buddhist monks 2600 years ago. In modern politics or global geopolitics reasonableness is equated as moderates or compromise of give and take. Majorities and minorities compromise in modern representative capitalist democracies. Rights as well as duties, not escape from freedom! Because BBS is based on reasonableness doctrine it was ready to discuss openly the merit and demerit of Halal certification and the gonibilla full face cover. What is reasonable in Afghanistan or dessert sands of Arabia or in Paris or London may not be reasonable in the context of Sri Lankan history and geography. Thus, marijuana can be legal in Bangladesh but not whiskey. If Muslim MPs did not like to see pork served in the parliament canteen, was it reasonable to ban pork from 90% of others’ choice of almost free lunch that all the MPs are enjoying?

MICHAEL HUDSON  Courtesy The Unz Review

The reaction to the sabotage of three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in four places on Monday, September 26, has focused on speculations about who did it and whether NATO will make a serious attempt to discover the answer. Yet instead of panic, there has been a great sigh of diplomatic relief, even calm. Disabling these pipelines ends the uncertainty and worries on the part of US/NATO diplomats that nearly reached a crisis proportion the previous week, when large demonstrations took place in Germany calling for the sanctions to end and to commission Nord Stream 2 to resolve the energy shortage.

The German public was coming to understand what it will mean if their steel companies, fertilizer companies, glass companies and toilet-paper companies were shutting down. These companies were forecasting that they would have to go out of business entirely – or shift operations to the United States – if Germany did not withdraw from the trade and currency sanctions against Russia and permit Russian gas and oil imports to resume, and presumably to fall back from their astronomical eight to tenfold price increase.

Yet State Department hawk Victoria Nuland already had stated in January that one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward” if Russia responded to the accelerating Ukrainian military attacks on the Russian-speaking eastern oblasts. President Biden backed up U.S. insistence on February 7, promising that there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it. … I promise you, we will be able to do it.”

Most observers simply assumed that these statements reflected the obvious fact that German politicians were fully in the US/NATO pocket. Germany’s politicians held fast turbines refusing to authorize Nord Stream 2, and Canada soon seized the Siemens dynamos needed to send gas through Nord Stream 1. That seemed to settle matters until German industry – and a rising number of voters – finally began to calculate just what blocking Russian gas would mean for Germany’s industrial firms, and hence domestic employment.

Germany’s willingness to self-impose an economic depression was wavering – although not its politicians or the EU bureaucracy. If policymakers were to put German business interests and living standards first, NATO’s common sanctions and New Cold War front would be broken. Italy and France might follow suit. That prospect made it urgent to take the anti-Russian sanctions out of the hands of democratic politics.

Despite being an act of violence, sabotaging the pipelines has restored calm to US/NATO diplomatic relations. There is no more uncertainty about whether Europe may break away from U.S. diplomacy by restoring mutual trade and investment with Russia. The threat of Europe breaking away from the US/NATO trade and financial sanctions against Russia has been solved, seemingly for the foreseeable future. Russia has announced that the gas pressure is falling in three of the four pipelines, and the infusion of salt water will irreversibly corrode the pipes. (Tagesspiegel, September 28.)

Where do the euro and dollar go from here?

Looking at how this will reshape the relationship between the U.S. dollar and the euro, one can understand why the seemingly obvious consequences of Germany, Italy and other European economies severing trade ties with Russia have not been discussed openly. The solution is a German and indeed Europe-wide economic crash. The next decade will be a disaster. There may be recriminations against the price paid for letting Europe’s trade diplomacy be dictated by NATO, but there is nothing that Europe can do about it. Nobody (yet) expects it to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. What is expected is for its living standards to plunge.

German industrial exports and attraction of foreign investment inflows were major factors supporting the euro’s exchange rate. To Germany, the great attraction in moving from the deutsche mark to the euro was to avoid its export surplus pushing up the D-mark’s exchange rate and pricing German products out of world markets. Expanding the eurozone to include Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and other countries running balance-of-payments deficits prevented the euro from soaring. That protected the competitiveness of German industry.

After its introduction in 1999 at $1.12, the euro sank to $0.85 by July 2001, but recovered and indeed rose to $1.58 in April 2008. It has been drifting down steadily since then, and since February of this year the sanctions have driven the euro’s exchange rate below parity with the dollar, to $0.97 this week.

The major deficit problem has been rising prices for imported gas and oil, and products such as aluminum and fertilizer requiring heavy energy inputs for their production. And as the euro’s exchange rate declines against the dollar, the cost of carrying Europe’s US-dollar debt – the normal condition for affiliates of U.S. multinationals –rises, squeezing profits.

This is not the kind of depression in which automatic stabilizers” can work to restore economic balance. Energy dependency is structural. To make matters worse, the eurozone’s economic rules limit its budget deficits to just 3% of GDP. This prevents its national governments supporting the economy by deficit spending. Higher energy and food prices – and dollar-debt service – will leave much less income to be spent on goods and services.

As a final kicker, pointed out by Pepe Escobar on September 28 that Germany is contractually obligated to purchase at least 40 billion cubic meters of Russian gas a year until 2030. … Gazprom is legally entitled to get paid even without shipping gas. … Berlin does not get all the gas it needs but still needs to pay.” A long court battle can be expected before money will change hands. And Germany’s ultimate ability to pay will be steadily weakening.

It seems curious that the U.S. stock market soared over 500 points for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday. Maybe the Plunge Protection Team was intervening to try and reassure the world that everything was going to be all right. But the stock market gave back most of these gains on Thursday as reality no longer could be brushed aside.

German industrial competition with United States is ending, helping the U.S. trade balance. But on capital account the euro’s depreciation will reduce the value of U.S. investments in Europe and the dollar-value of any profits they may still earn as the European economy shrinks. Reported global earnings by U.S. multinationals will fall.

The effect of U.S. sanctions and the New Cold War outside of Europe

The ability of many countries to pay their foreign and domestic debts already was reaching the breaking point before the anti-Russian sanctions raised world energy and food prices. The sanctions-driven price increases have been compounded by the dollar’s rising exchange rate against nearly all currencies (ironically, except against the ruble, whose rate has soared instead of collapsing as U.S. strategists tried in vain to make happen). International raw materials are still priced mainly in dollars, so the dollar’s currency appreciation is further raising import prices for most countries.

The rising dollar also raises the local currency cost of servicing foreign debts denominated in dollars. Many European and Global South countries already have reached the limit of their ability to service their dollar-denominated debts, and are still coping with the impact of the Covid pandemic. Now that US/NATO sanctions have driven up world prices for gas, oil and grain – and with the dollar’s appreciation raising the cost of servicing dollar-denominated debts – these countries cannot afford to import the energy and food that they need to live if they have to pay their foreign debts. Something has to give.

On Tuesday, September 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shed crocodile tears and said that attacking Russian pipelines was in no one’s interest.” But if that really were the case, no one would have attacked the gas lines. What Mr. Blinken really was saying was Don’t ask Cui bono.” I don’t expect NATO investigators to go beyond accusing the usual suspects that U.S. officials automatically blame.

U.S. strategists must have a game plan for how to proceed from here. They will try to maintain a neoliberalized global economy for as long as they can. They will use the usual ploy for countries unable to pay their foreign debts: The IMF will lend them the money to pay – on the condition that they raise the foreign exchange to repay by privatizing what remains of their public domain, natural-resource patrimony and other assets, selling them to U.S. financial investors and their allies.

Will it work? Or will debtor countries band together and work out ways to restore the world of affordable oil and gas prices, fertilizer prices, grain and other food prices, metals and raw materials supplied by Russia, China and their allied Eurasian neighbors, without U.S. conditionalities” such as have ended European prosperity?

An alternative to the U.S.-designed neoliberal order is the great worry for U.S. strategists. They cannot solve the problem as easily as sabotaging Nord Stream 1 and 2. Their solution probably will be the usual U.S. approach: military intervention and new color revolutions hoping to gain the same power over Global South and Eurasia that America’s diplomacy via NATO wielded over Germany and other European countries.

The fact that U.S. expectations for how anti-Russian sanctions would work out against Russia have been just the reverse of what actually has happened gives hope for the world’s future. The opposition and even contempt by U.S. diplomats toward other countries acting in their own economic interest deems it a waste of time (and indeed, to be unpatriotic) to contemplate how foreign countries might develop their own alternative to the U.S. plans. The assumption underlying this U.S. tunnel vision is that There Is No Alternative – and that if they don’t think about such a prospect, it will remain unthinkable.

But unless other countries work together to create an alternative to the IMF, World Bank, International Court, World Trade Organization and the numerous UN agencies now biased toward the U.S/NATO by U.S. diplomats and their proxies, the coming decades will see the U.S. economic strategy of financial and military dominance unfold along the lines that Washington has planned. The question is whether these countries can develop an alternative new economic order to protect themselves from a fate like that which Europe this year has imposed upon itself for the next decade.

← The Federal Reserve and Debt

Tamil Nadu-Press Trust of India

he searches were conducted in Salem and Sivagangai districts on Saturday and led to the recovery of incriminating materials including digital devices like compact discs related to LTTE.

New Delhi: 

The NIA conducted searches at two locations in Tamil Nadu in a case related to two self-radicalised Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supporters planning attacks on commercial establishments and important leaders in the state, an official said on Sunday.

The searches were conducted in Salem and Sivagangai districts on Saturday and led to the recovery of incriminating materials including digital devices like compact discs related to LTTE, a Sri Lanka-based banned terrorist group, a spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency said.

Books on LTTE, photos of LTTE leaders including its slain chief Prabhakaran, incriminating documents, invoices, bills for materials used for manufacturing illegal firearms, ammunition and explosive substances, seeds for making poison, and jungle survival kits were also seized during the raids, the official said.

The case was initially registered against the two individuals on May 19 at Omalur police station in Tamil Nadu and re-registered by the NIA on July 25, the spokesperson said.

By P. K. Balachandran Courtesy eurasiareview

The  stance on human rights appears to have been determined by the member’s geopolitical predilections and national interest

Looking at the voting on the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on Sri Lanka on October 6, it appears that the decisions taken by the 47 members were determined by their respective positions in geopolitics and their national interest.  

The 20 members who voted for the resolution castigating Sri Lanka for alleged human rights violations, were Western nations and their political allies. Japan, which is a firm ally of the West, however, struck a different path. It abstained perhaps due to its national interest vis-à-vis Sri Lanka. Those who voted against the resolution had been at odds with the West geopolitically. And those who abstained either had mixed feelings about the West’s agendas or had other more important national interests at stake.     

Among those who said aye” were hardcore Western nations, such as the US, UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. These were also votaries of the Western concept of human rights. Among others countries that said aye” were those feeling threatened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and had been flocking to the West and NATO. Many of these are new States that had emerged from the former Soviet Union but are now harboring fears of Russian expansionism. Ukraine, which voted for the resolution, is being aided by the West to fight Russia. 

Countries like Armenia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Finland, also fear that they might be Russia’s next target and have flocked to the US camp. Poland remembers that the USSR had occupied it ahead of World War II. Montenegro, which had emerged from the ruins of Yugoslavia, had joined NATO in 2017 and was firmly in the Western camp. Paraguay, Argentina and Honduras in South America, and South Korea in Asia, had been firm allies of the US. 

However, it is remarkable that there was only one African country, Malawi and one Asian country, South Korea, among the 20 that went along with the US-led Western alliance in the Council.      

The Nays 

Among the seven countries that voted against the resolution, there were none from Europe. All of them had serious differences with the US. The nays were Bolivia, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Eritrea, Uganda and Venezuela. In 2008, Bolivia had expelled the US Ambassador. Even now the US has been pressing Bolivia to improve its rights record.  US-Eritrea tensions were related to rights violations. In 2021, the US had imposed selective sanctions. 

Uzbekistan is close to China as China is the largest trading partner. China has also been increasing its development loans to Uzbekistan as it regards Uzbekistan as a critical part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Uzbekistan’s voting against the resolution, with China, therefore, stood to reason. China’s hostility to the US needs no explanation. As for Pakistan, it has had a love-hate relationship with the US. It has also been a firm ally of Sri Lanka. 

The US had broken off diplomatic relations with Venezuela in 2019, after accusing its authoritarian leader Maduro of electoral fraud. The Trump administration then tried to topple Maduro by sanctioning Venezuelan oil exports. Maduro responded by seeking economic and diplomatic help from Russia, as well as Iran and China. 

Abstentions

Among the abstaining 20 countries, there was only one pro-US country, namely, Japan. Japan has always taken a soft line on Sri Lanka trying to reform it by helping it economically rather than sanctioning or shaming it publicly. The other countries in the group either had problems with the West, or had a tendency to take independent postures (ex: Malaysia) or had geopolitical reasons to be neutral (ex: India). Under the Trump Presidency, US-Brazil relations were good, but not under Biden. Trump supported the right wing President Bolsonaro. But Bolsonaro is now being electorally challenged by the leftist Luiz Inacio Lula” da Silva. 

Cameroon’s relations with the US have been under strain over human rights abuses, in particular in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions of the country, and also over the pace of political and economic liberalization. In troubled Cote d’Ivoire, the US has been trying to help restore peace and support a democratic government whose legitimacy could be accepted by all the citizens of Cote d’Ivoire. In Gabon, China’s presence is manifest. In 2019 China was the buyer of 63% of the products sold by Gabon on the world market. 74.8% of the products sold during this reference year consisted of hydrocarbons. 

Relations between the US and Gambia had not improved significantly due to the human rights and freedom of press shortcomings, which resulted in the suspension of Gambia’s compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in June 2006. The US is involved in Mauritania on a wide array of issues, including human rights and the rule of law. In Namibia, there is a marked Chinese presence. There are scores of Chinese official development projects, through grants, concessional loans and preferential export buyers’ credit running to millions of RMB. Namibia is amenable to Chinese influence. 

Given persistent troubles in Somalia, the US Embassy there was closed from 1991 to 2018. Senegal remained neutral at the UNHRC voting though its relations with the US had been good. US Secretary of State Blinken would be visiting the country in November.

The US has had problems with Sudan over terrorism. Although Sudan  publicly supported the international coalition actions against the al Qaida network and the Taliban in Afghanistan, it had criticized US air strikes in that country. In response to Sudan’s continued complicity in unabated violence in Darfur, President Bush had imposed economic sanctions on Sudan in May 2007. But in December 2020, Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism was rescinded.

The UAE irked the US in December 2018, when it reopened its embassy in Syria, reatoring ties with the government of anti-US, pro-Russian President Bashar al-Assad. In January 2019, the UAE hosted a Syrian trade delegation that was led by a businessman who had been on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list since 2011. As the UAE’s relations with China were intensifying, its alliance with the US began to face turbulence.

Additionally, China has been the biggest buyer of crude oil from the Gulf region. China has been broadening its economic and political footprint across the Middle East, which has created tension in UAE-US relations. In November 2021, the US warned the UAE about a Chinese military presence in it. US intelligence had found that China was secretly building a military facility at a port in Abu Dhabi. Following several American meetings and visits by the US officials, the site construction was halted. Despite that, the US officials said that extensive Chinese presence in the UAE could endanger the planned US$ 23 billion deal of F-35 fighter jets, Reaper drones and other advanced munitions.

China’s Gains in Africa

The UNHRC voting shows Chinese gains in Africa and the relative weakness of the US in that continent. According to the National Bureau of Asian Research, China appears to be seeking a loose, partial, and malleable hegemony over the global South, making the African continent a strategic priority for Beijing.” China has brought under the BRI umbrella, the Digital Silk Road, which is focused on improving information and communications technology and digital capabilities in Africa.

Most importantly, unlike the US and the West, China does not promote its authoritarian model of governance. It is, in fact, indifferent or blind to the type of regime that exists in a client State. Local regimes find this to be very convenient. Local nationalisms detest preaching by outsiders especially former colonial powers or the new imperialist” powers. These nationalistic feelings came to Sri Lanka’s aid at the time of voting in the UNHRC. Though the resolution was carried, Sri Lankan nationalists drew comfort from the fact that the majority of the UNHRC members (27 out of 47) either said nay” or abstained.

P. K. Balachandran

P. K. Balachandran is a senior Indian journalist working in Sri Lanka for local and international media and has been writing on South Asian issues for the past 21 years.

By Joe Rennison and Isabella Simonetti Courtesy Khaleej Times 

Low-income countries, like Ghana and Pakistan, were already struggling during the pandemic. The dollar’s strength is adding to their woes

The average household in Ghana is paying two-thirds more than it did last year for diesel, flour and other necessities. In Egypt, wheat is so expensive that the government has fallen half a billion dollars short of its budget for a bread subsidy it provides to its citizens. And Sri Lanka, already struggling to control a political crisis, is running out of fuel, food and medical supplies.

A strong dollar is making the problems worse.

Compared with other currencies, the US dollar is the strongest it has been in two decades. It is rising because the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates sharply to combat inflation and because America’s economic health is better than most. Together, these factors have attracted investors from all over the world. Sometimes they simply buy dollars, but even if investors buy other assets, like government bonds, they need dollars to do so — in each case pushing up the currency’s value.

That strength has become much of the world’s weakness. The dollar is the de facto currency for global trade, and its steep rise is squeezing dozens of lower-income nations, chiefly those that rely heavily on imports of food and oil and borrow in dollars to fund them.

We are living in a world with little fires everywhere,” said Mohamed El Erian, president of Queens’ College, part of Cambridge University, and former CEO of Pimco, a $2 trillion bond manager. If we don’t pay attention, these little fires could become much bigger.”

Higher food and energy costs resulting from Russia’s war with Ukraine were already hurting some emerging-market countries. The rising dollar, whose strength is measured against a basket of currencies representing America’s major trading partners, has exacerbated those problems by making it even more expensive to import vital commodities using weaker currencies.

A strong dollar forces countries to use more of their own currency to buy the same quantity of goods. That higher price means they are inadvertently importing more inflation along with their grain and fuel. And because they borrow in dollars, they have to pay interest in dollars, which adds to their financial distress.

Some countries are already in default. Others are teetering on the brink. A sovereign debt crisis could soon spread, derailing the fragile recovery from the pandemic and amplifying the likelihood of a severe global downturn.

Things are looking a little shaky at the moment,” said Leland Goss at the International Capital Markets Association, a trade body. There does seem to be a consensus that we could face for the first time in a while not one but a whole raft of countries going into restructurings.”

Four emerging-market countries have defaulted on their debts so far this year, according to S&P Global Ratings: Russia, Sri Lanka, Belarus and Ukraine. Another 10 countries are in severe stress”: Argentina, Lebanon, Ghana, Suriname, Zambia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville, Mozambique and El Salvador, according to the ratings agency. Of the 94 emerging-market sovereigns S&P rates around the world, over one-quarter rank as B-minus, a low-quality rating indicative of a high-risk investment.

The bleak situation is part of the collateral damage from Russia’s war with Ukraine and the Fed’s fight against inflation, and it highlights the global connections that have left the fate of countries around the world inextricably linked to decisions made in Moscow and Washington, D.C.

We are in a fragile situation,” El Erian said. Country after country is flashing amber, and some are already flashing red.”

Many lower-income countries were already struggling during the pandemic.

Roughly 22 million people in Ghana, or one-third of its population, reported a decline in their income between April 2020 and May 2021, according to a survey from the World Bank and Unicef. Adults in almost half of the households with children surveyed said they were skipping a meal because they didn’t have enough money. Almost three-quarters said the prices of major food items had increased.

Then came Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war between two of the world’s largest exporters of food and energy led to a big surge in prices, especially for importers like Ghana. Consumer prices have gone up 30 per cent for the year through June, according to data from the research firm Moody’s Analytics. For household essentials, annual inflation has reached 60 per cent or more this year, the S&P data shows.

To illustrate this, consider the price of a barrel of oil in dollars versus the Ghanaian cedi. At the beginning of October last year, the price of oil stood at $78.52 per barrel, rising to nearly $130 per barrel in March before falling back to $87.96 at the beginning of this month, a one-year increase of 12 per cent in dollar terms. Over the same period, the Ghanaian cedi has weakened more than 40 per cent against the dollar, meaning that the same barrel of oil that cost roughly 475 cedi a year ago now costs more than 900 cedi, almost twice as much.

Adding to the problem are large state-funded subsidies, some taken on or increased through the pandemic, that are now weighing on government finances.

Ghana’s president cut fuel taxes in November 2021, losing roughly $22 million in projected revenue for the government — the latest available numbers.

In Egypt, spending on what the government refers to as supply commodities,” almost all of which is wheat for its long-running bread subsidy, is expected to come in at around 7 per cent of all government spending this year, 12 per cent higher — or more than half a billion dollars — than the government budgeted.

As costs ballooned throughout the pandemic, governments took on more debt. Ghana’s public debt grew to nearly $60 billion from roughly $40 billion at the end of 2019, or to nearly 80 per cent of its gross domestic product from around 63 per cent, according to Moody’s.

It’s one of four countries listed by S&P, alongside Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, where interest payments alone account for more than half of the government’s revenues.

We can’t forget that this is happening on the back end of a once-in-a-century pandemic in which governments, to try and support families as best they could, did borrow more,” said Frank Gill, an analyst at S&P. This is a shock following up on another shock.”

In May, Sri Lanka defaulted on its government debt for the first time in its history. Over the past month, the governments of Egypt, Pakistan and Ghana have all reached out to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout as they struggle to meet their debt-financing needs, no longer able to turn to international investors for more money.

I don’t think there is a lot of appetite to lend money to some of these countries,” said Brian Weinstein, co-head of credit trading at Bank of America. They are incredibly vulnerable at the moment.”

That vulnerability is already reflected in the bond market.

In 2016, Ghana borrowed $1 billion for 10 years, paying an interest rate of more than 8 per cent. As the country’s financial position has worsened and investors have backed away, the yield — indicative of what it would now cost Ghana to borrow money until 2026 — has risen to above 35 per cent.

It’s an untenable cost of debt for a country in Ghana’s situation. And Ghana is not alone. For bonds that also mature in 2026, yields for Pakistan have reached almost 40 per cent.

We have concerns where any country has yields that calls into question their ability to refinance in public markets,” said Charles Cohen, deputy division chief of monetary and capital market departments at the IMF.

The risk of a sovereign debt crisis in some emerging markets is very, very high,” said Jesse Rogers, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. Rogers likened the current situation to the debt crises that crushed Latin America in the 1980s — the last time the Fed sought to quell soaring inflation.

Already this year, more than $80 billion has been withdrawn from mutual funds and exchange-traded funds — two popular types of investment products — that buy emerging-market bonds, according to EPFR Global, a data provider. As investors sell, the United States is often the beneficiary, further strengthening the dollar.

It’s by far the worst year for outflows the market has ever seen,” said Pramol Dhawan, head of emerging markets at Pimco.

Even citizens in some of these countries are trying to exchange their money for dollars, fearful of what’s to come and of further currency depreciation — yet inadvertently also contributing to it.

For pockets of emerging markets, this is a really challenging backdrop and one of the most challenging backdrops we have faced for many years,” Dhawan said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times

Courtesy Rediff

India has seen a great revival of Buddhism in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, said a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk as the International Buddhist Confederation celebrates Abhidhamma Day on Sunday.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at the Shilanyas ceremony of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in Lumbini, May 16, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Abhidhamma Day, a Theravada Buddhist tradition which celebrates Gautama Buddha’s descent from heaven after teaching his mother the Abhidhamma, will take place on Sunday.

Some prominent monks from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan will assemble in India’s Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the event.

Buddhist monk Waskaduwe Mahindawansa Mahanayake Thero of Sri Lanka, who is also participating in the event, said, “Today on the eve of the full moon, we, the international Buddhist community, have gathered in India to celebrate this important festival tomorrow. Especially under the Modi government, we see a great revival of Buddhism in India. Buddhism is about compassion and happiness.”

He recalled PM Modi’s message at the United Nations and hailed India’s mission “to save the planet from conflict and violence” through the principles of Buddhism.

“We saw PM Modi recently mentioning at the UN that India has given Buddhism to the world to save the planet from conflict and violence. We all appreciate this global mission. We thank the IBC and the government of India for inviting us here in UP to participate in this much important event,” the monk added.

PM Modi, together with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, in May this year, participated in the shilanyas ceremony for the construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage at a plot in Lumbini belonging to the IBC.

Moreover, a Buddhist circuit under the Swadesh Darshan Yojana by the ministry of tourism has seen the development of 5 projects worth Rs 325.53 crore.

The “Buddha Purnima Express” special train has also been started by IRCTC to facilitate travel within the Buddhist circuit.

Abhidhamma Day is celebrated on the full moon of the seventh month of the Burmese lunar year which starts in April and coincides with the end of the (first) Rains Retreat and the Pavarana festival.

To mark the auspicious day, the IBC, in collaboration with Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, is organizing the International Abhidhamma Divas.

It was at Sankassiya, presently known as Sankisa Basantapur, Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh where the Sakhyamuni descended from the celestial domain of the thirty-three divine beings (Tavatimsa-devaloka) to Sankassiya after teaching Abhidhamma Pitaka (a basket of ultimate things) to his mother.

The chief guest at the event will be Dr Ashin Nanissara (Sitagu Sayadaw), Chancellor, Sitagu International Buddhist Academies, Myanmar.The participation of the Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath, chancellor, Gautam Buddha University as the guest of honour is yet to be confirmed.

The Abhidhamma Divas, last year was organised at Kushinagar at Mahaparinirvana temple, where the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest.

He also inaugurated the international airport at the Buddhist pilgrimage town.

According to the Theravada tradition, it is believed that this day is blessed as the Buddha had gone to heaven to teach Abhidhamma Pitaka (a basket of ultimate things) to his mother.

The teaching took three months after which Buddha came back to Earth.

His followers too mark the three-month time by staying at one place and praying. It is known as the three-month rainy retreat – Varshavaas or Vassa – for the Buddhist monks and nuns.

The place is documented by the Asokan marker — Asokan elephant pillar signifying the importance of the place and of the event.

It is noted in the Buddhist texts that after teaching Abhidhamma to the Devas and his mother as witness, he descended here.

Eminent monks from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, ambassadors based in India and other diplomats representing various countries will also take part in the Abhidhamma Divas.

This is the third flagship program of the IBC while the other two being Buddha Purnima and the Asadha Purnima.

Other highlights of the day’s event include a panel discussion on the ‘Significance of Abhidhamma’, a book launch- titled ‘Recent Development in the studies of Abhidhamma in India’, a screening of the film on IBC’s project in Lumbini and the day concludes with a cultural programme by students of Buddhist universities.

IBC is a Buddhist umbrella body that serves as a common platform for Buddhists worldwide. It is headquartered in New Delhi, India.

Established under the patronage of the supreme Buddhist religious hierarchy, it currently has a global membership of over 320 monastic and lay organisations, including world bodies, national and regional federations, monasteries, international organizations and institutions.

United by the motto, “collective wisdom, united voice”, IBC aims to make Buddhist values and principles a part of the global discourse by presenting a united Buddhist voice on issues that concern all humankind.

The IBC stands for transparency, inclusiveness and a balanced representation of various traditions, gender and emerging Buddhist communities in Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Praised by followers of Buddha Dharma from around the world for including both Sangha and laity in its governing structure, IBC has been hailed by the international media as a forward-looking, credible and action-oriented World Buddhist umbrella Body.

The IBC also stands for the preservation, development and promotion of Buddhist heritage, both tangible and intangible worldwide, especially the holy sites like Bodh Gaya in India, where Buddha attained Enlightenment, as well as many others.

To gather the collective wisdom of Buddhists around the world to speak with a united Buddhist voice; to make Buddhist values part of global engagement while working to preserve and promote Buddhist heritage, traditions and practices.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that a referendum will be called to decide on the parliamentary electoral system if the Select Committee which is proposed to be established fails to reach a decision on the matter by July next year.

He made this observation during a discussion with a group of professionals held at the Presidential Secretariat today (09).

The President said that the desired changes to the political system should be brought about in accordance with the aspirations of the people, as the majority of the population in the country rejects the existing political system. 

He added that accordingly, he expects to reduce the number of council members of local authorities (Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas) from 8000 to 4000 and to implement the ‘Jana Sabha’ system, before the next election.

He said further that the executive power of the Pradeshiya Sabha should be vested on a chairman-based committee instead of same being vested on a single chairman. Laws will be drafted for this amendment before the next local government election, he said.

Pointing out that the main cause of political corruption is the Preferential Vote System, the President said that the country should immediately switch to a list based electoral system with non-preferential votes or a mixed system (single and proportional system). Limitations should also be imposed by the election law on the money spent on election propaganda.

The statement made by the President during the discussion is as follows;

There are two main issues before the country today. One is the economic collapse while the other is the rejection of the political system by the majority of the population. Many are of the view that the cause of the economic collapse is the existing political system.

As we have discussed at length the measures to be taken to revive the economy, I would not intend to talk on it any longer here but we should focus our attention instead on the political program. Today, the political system of the country is questioned by the majority of the people and they demand all 225 members to be dumped into the Diyawanna Oya. It is not because of individuals but because of the political system that is rejected by them.

It was not the political parties that initiated the protests last March. The people did not participate in protests by the political parties but they came forward independently. Unfortunately, by May and June, different political organizations took this movement into their own hands and then the violence crept in. Along with the violence they attempted to oust the government and the struggle collapsed with it.

Still the people are of the view that the existing political system should be changed. Everybody rejects violence. And we have had to accept it and have to move forward changing these attitudes.

Different groups have been formed within the Parliament due to the party system. It is not a secret that I was supported by the ruling party to be elected as the President. A few voted with other contestants. Opposition members too voted in my favor. SJB as well as members of the Tamil parties too voted in my favor. Hence, I was supported by both sides.

I work for the people irrespective of narrow party lines. Currently, in accordance with the opposition’s request, a Parliamentary National Assembly has been established. In addition committees such as Monitoring Committees too have been established. But these have not yet been completed. Some participate in the National Assembly and some don’t. The country expects everyone to work together. We should not end here.

We should consider the people’s aspirations and should act accordingly. As the People are fed up with village level politics, we accept a new concept today. It is not the government but former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya who recommended the Jana Sabha System.

To unite the public organizations in that village level and working in one committee is what Janasabha is all about. This system which existed before as Gramodaya Mandala is commendable. However, the Gramodaya Mandala had a connection with the government whereas the Janasabha has not. We hope to implement this public assembly program.

There should be proper coordination with the Pradeshiya Sabhas during the functioning of the Jana Sabhas (Public Councils). The Pradeshiya Sabhas will not be allowed to remove the Jana Sabha. We need to plan how we will work together. There are many questions about the Pradeshiya Sabha system. Many of these Pradeshiya Sabhas do not even make a profit. They are sustained on tax money. Municipal Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas that receive money utilize it to pay salaries. Hence, we have to think about this system.

However, last time we increased the number of Pradeshiya Sabha members from 4000 to 8000. This was not what the people asked for. This was done following discussions between the party leaders. Now, we have to reduce this number back again to 4000 prior to the next election.

Therefore, let’s work to amend those laws in the parliament. Let’s start this program from there. And there is another urgent amendment. The Chairmen of these Pradeshiya Sabhas are the executive heads. Some people are against it. Before the Pradeshiya Sabha system, there was no such power when there were Municipal Councils and Village Councils (Gam Sabha). Therefore, I propose to entrust the executive power of these Pradeshiya Sabhas toa chairman-based committee instead of a single chairman. The head of it would be the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman.

Now there are finance committees. Let’s create such an executive committee. We need to accomplish these two things before the next local government elections. I would like to specifically mention that it is something we must do. We have informed the ministers to prepare the necessary draft law.

Similarly, many people are not in favour of this preferential system. No one thought of the preference system initially. Mr. JR Jayawardena, after much thought, proposed the list based electoral system in 1975, which was accepted by other parties. Because it was based on ratios. Accordingly, we held the Urban council elections and the Municipal Council elections. We continued this system successfully. However, in 1988 the parties in parliament suddenly took a decision to bring in the preferential system instead of the list system. Moreover, not just one preference, but three preferences. It was further decided to increase the number of members of parliament from 196 to 225.

The main reason for corruption in this country’s politics is the preferential system. Hence, we need to prepare a new voting system. A decision should be taken to implement either the list method without preference, or the mixed method (single and proportional method). A decision should be taken after discussions before the upcoming election and that election should be held under the new system.

Then, the suitable people would be elected. This is something that we have to do. Today there is no agreement among the parties. The main parties are told one thing and the minor parties are told another. We cannot progress in this manner. The political parties need to take a decision in this regard.

I discussed this matter with the Justice Minister as well. We will propose a parliamentary select committee to decide on the parliament voting system. That committee has to convene and discuss the matter. This matter cannot be delayed because by July next year a decision should be taken. Failing which, I will opt for a referendum to seek public opinion on which electoral system is preferred.

People will be informed about this and discussions will be held about these methods. They can then discuss and choose one method. Therefore, the Parliament Select Committee should finish the activities entrusted to them. If not, I will leave it in the hands of the people to do the work. We can’t escape from these responsibilities. We must move on.

A lot of money is spent on elections today. I voted the old way back in 1977, spending was limited back then. Today, some people spend 20-30, 50 million per election. How do we repay these? Members of Parliament have been imprisoned by this method.

Therefore, we need to curtail the election expenditure through the election laws. When I contested the 1977 elections, there were limitations. We had to work in keeping with these limitations. We were unable to even spend on posters. Hence, we must introduce limitations on election expenditure.

Another factor is that there is no youth representation in our political parties today. Many work with the same old people just for namesake. There are no new organizations. Therefore, a separate law should be presented regarding the constitution of political parties, their work, how to recruit members, how to select central committees, and how to select candidates.

Currently, countries like Germany have laws called the Political Party Law. We should also act accordingly. There are rules about how to collect money, what are the cases where money cannot be collected. Then you can work transparently. Anyone can go to court against it.

Because there is transparency, and because election expenses are limited, the parliaments of those countries give money to political parties. Money is also given for elections. It is better to give from Parliament and not from private institutions. They have imposed restrictions. Even America has this system. Therefore, we should also bring in this system. I intend to appoint a separate commission to present their proposals in this regard. All this needs to be done next year.

With a new economy, there must be a new attitude. Also, some people lay blame that action is not taken against MPs. Action can be taken against MPs if they have flouted disciplinary laws. I will present to Parliament the code of conduct and values of the MPs, similar to that in the British Parliament.

Parliament needs to approve it. In England, there is a Parliamentary Standard Act, if it is not acted upon, it will be reported. When they report it, they have to leave because of popular opinion. No other step can be taken. Recently, one MP was removed from the debate.

If we bring all these rules and regulations, if we make these amendments, we can win the people’s trust. Then many people will go and vote in the next election. We can expect around 85% voter turnout.

We need to change attitudes. There is no point in going on protest marches in the old-fashioned way. Now what is happening is that political parties have started leaning on the protest struggles to get public support. But, these protest struggles are not dependent on political parties. We have to bring rules and regulations according to the opinions of the people and give them the opportunity to appoint people who they want elected to parliament. This is the work that we should do in the future.”

Secretary General of the United National Party (UNP) Palitha Range Bandara, UNP Chairman and Parliamentarian Wajira Abeywardena, UNP Senior Vice Chairman and National Organizer Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Chief of Staff to the President and Senior Advisor to the President on National Security Sagala Ratnayake, Senior Advisor to President on Parliamentary Affairs Prof Ashu Marasinghe, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Former Minister Thilak Marapana PC and professionals including former Vice Chancellor of the University of Sabaragamuwa Prof Sunil Shantha, Attorneys-at-Law, Medical Specialists, doctors, engineers, professors and university lecturers participated in the event.

Source: PMD