by Nermina Kulovic Courtesy Offshore Energy

A drillship owned by Aquadrill Offshore, formerly known as Seadrill Partners, has caught fire while docked at a port in Sri Lanka.

The Hambantota International Port Emergency Response Unit (ERU) together with the port’s Quality, Health, Safety & Environment Dept. (QHSE), and Port Control, responded to a fire that occurred onboard the drillship Polaris, on Tuesday evening, 15 February 2022.

According to the Hambantota International Port, the ship’s crew had alerted Port Control for assistance in dousing the sudden fire that had broken out in the ship’s emergency generator room.

The ERU’s fire trucks arrived on the scene within minutes of being notified, assisting the crew to quickly contain the fire with charged fire hoses. The respective ERU teams brought the fire fully under control within 33 minutes of their arrival. They were able to prevent serious damage to the drillship or its surrounding area, the port said in the statement.

The joint effort of this venture reflects professionalism and assurance to HIP port users and stakeholders of optimum safety and proactive response to unforeseen events related in maritime operations,” said Tissa Wickramasinghe, COO of HIPG.

The 14-year-old drillship called at the Hambantota Port for a layup on 11 January 2021 and was at Berth 6 when the fire occurred. The ship is expected to remain in port until June 2022.

Seadrill Partners became Aquadrill last year following an exit from bankruptcy. As part of the plan, new management services agreements were entered into for the management of the company’s offshore drilling units. As a result, Aquadrill’s 2008-built Polaris drillship, previously known as West Polaris, is managed by Vantage Drilling, which is actively bidding the rig for new employment.

Offshore Energy has reached out to Aquadrill and Vantage, seeking confirmation and further details about the incident but we are yet to receive a response.

Earlier this year, Aquadrill and Vantage reached an agreement for Vantage to manage and market another rig, the Aquarius. The 2009-built rig was previously managed by Odfjell Drilling.

Courtesy The New Indian Express

The ganja seized on Tuesday night is valued at Rs 1.25 crore, and with the vehicles used to smuggle which included a mini-lorry, two cars, and a scooter, the total value of seizure is Rs 2 crore.

By Express News Service

THANJAVUR: Ganja packets weighing 250 kg and bound for Sri Lanka were seized by a special team of police in Thanjavur on Tuesday night. A total of 14 persons were arrested in connection with the incident.

On the orders of DIG A Kayalvizhi, special teams were constituted to prevent smuggling and sales of ganja in the delta districts.

One such team, on Tuesday night, intercepted a mini lorry in Thanjavur and found equipment from a thermal power plant in Bihar being transported for repair.

On suspicion, the police conducted an intense search in the lorry and found ganja packets weighing 250 kg inside the equipment.

On interrogation, those in the mini lorry told the police that the ganja packets were being smuggled for onward despatch to Sri Lanka. Police sources further said the ganja packets used to be smuggled from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh into Tamil Nadu via Vellore and taken to places like Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district and Jambuvanodai in Tiruvarur district for smuggling to Sri Lanka through boats.

It is further said the ganja bought at Rs 3,000 per kg at Visakhapatnam is being sold at a rate of Rs 20,000 per kg to intermediaries from Sri Lanka who, in turn, sell the same at Rs 50,000 per kg in retail. Hence the ganja seized on Tuesday night is valued at Rs 1.25 crore, and with the vehicles used to smuggle which included a mini-lorry, two cars, and a scooter, the total value of seizure is Rs 2 crore, sources added.

Based on investigations the police arrested 14 persons, including 11 from Tamil Nadu — R SugaPerumal (42), Muthulingam (31), M Vellaiyan (29), M Sakthivel (38), J George Fernandes (27), Murugan (28), R Raja (43), S Veeraganesan (28), K Senthil (27), S Uma Maheswaran (51), and Raman (36), and three persons from Andhra: Pradesh K Srinivasalu (30), Govinda (27), and V Soya Nagarajan (31).

Meanwhile, A Kayalvizhi inspected the ganja seized by the special team. Thanjavur ASP V Jayachandran was present.

Courtesy superyachtnews

However, questions remain over the project’s tangible yachting benefit given current procedures and processes…

The Sri Lanka Port Authority (SPLA) has announced that nearly 100 acres of landmass will be added to the Galle Harbour. The Cabinet of Ministers has cleared a proposal to call for Expressions of Interest from investors to develop the Galle Port as a regional commercial port with additional services including tourism. However, with a focus on commercial shipping, as well as prohibitive customs and immigration procedures, even local stakeholders have doubts over whether or not this with yield any benefit for the local superyacht market.

Extensive studies have been conducted with the assistance of a sufficient spectrum of data and the design is robust and economical. Environmental Impact Assessment has also been completed and validity of the development permit is being renewed up to date,” comments Sri Lanka’s sports minister. We will be officially calling for global expressions of interest at the end of February and we expect the project to be completed in three years.”

The project involves deepening the port from the current 10m to 20m parallel to the construction of the two breakwaters. A 45-hectare land area will be reclaimed from the sea as a Port City in which shopping malls, leisure parks, community centres, hotels and many other facilities will be available. The first phase of the project, including the construction of the two breakwaters and land reclamation, is estimated to cost approximately $175m.

This is a significant incentive in attracting superyachts wanting to explore and enjoy Sri Lanka’s cruising and on-land attractions,” says Priyantha Perera, who heads up Asia Pacific Superyachts Sri Lanka. The main cruising destinations consist of the North-East coast and the South coast which boasts of some of the most pristine beaches in the world.”

Pristine beaches or not, Sri Lanka is not currently a popular superyacht destination. While superyachts undeniably visit the nation, they do so in order to provision, fuel and complete security on route to more established yachting destinations in Asia. Being a superyacht stopover or provisioning destination, however, can still be incredibly beneficial to regions, but Sri Lanka is not currently reaping the benefits of this because for the most part crews will remain on board because arriving by superyacht to one of the country’s two major ports is not considered a legitimate way for visitors to enter the country unless they are willing to wade through significant amounts of red tape that has been designed for the commercial shipping industries.

The above graph provides a snapshot of superyacht migratory data in Sri Lanka over two years. It is clear from the two hotspots that all of the superyacht activity in Sri Lanka is focused on its two major commercial ports in Colombo and Galle.

According to a stakeholder who wishes to remain anonymous, Sri Lanka is in its superyachting infancy. While the various government departments and authorities have long since expressed interest in growing the superyacht market, little action has been taken to update the various policies and processes that would allow superyachts to visit the region with any sufficient degree of freedom. They also expressed that they doubt that there will be any significant change to these policies in the short term. It must be said at this juncture that Sri Lanka is not unique in this sense.

The superyacht market often paints itself out to be global and limitless, and while the opportunities for superyachts are without doubt exceptional, they are not without their limits. In order to be a truly global market and benefit economies beyond the tried and tested yachting stomping grounds, a number of governments need to reassess their policies. Indeed, even major economies like Australia have only recently amended their systems to allow the visitation of foreign-flagged superyachts, so it would be overly harsh to point the finger at Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, if the region wishes its newest proposed development to have any significant yachting impact, it will first need to amend its policies.

Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 

Question: Will China meet Sri Lanka’s request for debt relief? Some people also believe that part of why Sri Lanka is struggling economically is due to expensive joint Chinese investments that are not profitable. What’s your response to that? 

Spokesperson: During the visit in Sri Lanka, State Councilor Wang Yi joined Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in attending the launching ceremony of celebrations to mark the 65th anniversary of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact. He also met separately with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris. Wang said that China-Sri Lanka friendship enjoys a long history, and the Rubber-Rice Pact demonstrates the two countries’ national character in the fight against hegemony and power politics. President Xi Jinping’s historic state visit to Sri Lanka in 2014 opened a new chapter in bilateral friendly cooperation. China firmly supports Sri Lanka in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. As we celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka and the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Rubber-Rice Pact, China is ready to work with Sri Lanka to carry forward the spirit of the Rubber-Rice Pact characterized by independence, self-reliance, unity and mutual support, further deepen political mutual trust, fight against the epidemic together, synergize development strategies, promote multilateralism and consolidate and expand the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership. We will make good use of the two flagship projects of Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port to help Sri Lanka realize its Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour”, and better deliver benefit to the two countries and peoples.

The Sri Lankan side said that China, as a great friend of Sri Lanka, never interferes in its internal affairs and always comes forward and extends a helping hand when Sri Lanka faces difficulties, which Sri Lanka will always remember. Sri Lanka will continue to be firmly committed to the one-China policy and staunchly support China’s just proposals on international occasions. Sri Lanka is ready to work with China to hold successful activities to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and the 70th anniversary of the Rubber-Rice Pact, and strengthen cooperation in economy, trade, finance, tourism and infrastructure construction to bring more benefits to the two peoples.

During his visit, State Councilor Wang Yi also said that island countries in the Indian Ocean have similar experiences and common needs, boasts similar natural endowments and share similar development goals. They have favorable conditions and full potential for strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation. The Chinese side proposes that a forum on the development of island countries in the Indian Ocean can be held at an appropriate time to pool consensus and form synergy for common development.

As you can tell from what I have just said, it is untrue to say that joint Chinese investments are expensive and not profitable. China-Sri Lanka cooperation is mutually beneficial and has been warmly welcomed by all sectors in Sri Lanka.

Now, coming back to the debt issue you raised, since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Sri Lanka have been showing each other understanding and support. China has been providing assistance to Sri Lanka’s economic and social development to the best of its capacity and will continue to do so in the future. It is believed that with the concerted efforts of the Sri Lankan government and people, the country will surely overcome the temporary difficulties as soon as possible and usher in renewed and greater development.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former Member of Parliament Ranjan Ramanayake, who is currently incarcerated, has been brought to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the incidents of political victimization.

He was escorted to the said commission’s police unit by the prison officials at around 9.30 a.m. today (February 17).

In January 2020, a three-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed to inquire into political victimizations that have taken place from 2015 to 2019. Ramanayake served as a state minister during this period.

This special commission was tasked with submitting a final report or interim report within three months after conducting investigations and imposing the necessary conclusions and recommendations.

The term of this commission was set to expire on October 29, however, it was given an extension of six more months until April 28, 2022.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed relevant officials to take steps to grant the nurses’ trade union demands while considering the financial situation of the country and without affecting the overall government services. 

“Health care services, including medicine and nursing, are highly valued. Understanding the financial situation in the country, take steps to provide approved nurses’ issues in a manner that does not affect the entire public service.”

This was stated by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat, today (17) at the request of the Public Service United Nurses’ Association.

Establishment of the Nursing University, promotion of Nursing Officers from Grade Il to Grade I with retrospective effect by backdating the promotion, 36 hours of duty to be treated as 30 hours duty of 5 days a week, providing of Rs. 10,000 allowance proportionate to the DTA allowance of Rs. 35,000 to medical professionals, the issuance of the Uniform Allowance Circular and the Additional Service Allowance at the rate of 1/100 of the basic salary were discussed during the meeting.

The President instructed the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Senior Professor Sampath Amaratunga, to amend the Higher Education Act and present it to the Parliament expeditiously, and to take further necessary steps to merge nursing colleges in order to create a national university. 

Mr. Amaratunga stated that the Higher Education Act would be presented to the Parliament within April and the Nursing University would be established before the end of May.

The President instructed the Secretaries of Health and Finance to make arrangements to backdate the promotions from Grade II to Grade 1 and grant the uniform allowance.

Despite the difficulties, steps were taken to pay an allowance of Rs. 5,000 to all public sector employees from January, the President said. When delivering the requests of one group, another group makes a request again.”

However, it is important for everyone to understand that not all demands can be considered in the midst of the current financial crisis, he emphasized. 

Therefore, the President instructed the officials to discuss with the Ministry of Finance and other institutions and pay attention to the requests of nurses in a manner that does not affect the entire public service.

The President of the Public Service United Nurses Union, Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella, Secretary to the President Gamini Senarath, Finance Secretary S. R. Attygalle, Health Secretary Major General Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Director General of the National Budget Jude Nilukshan, Director General of the Public Service Commission Hiransa Kaluthanthri, Secretary of the National Salaries Commission Chandrani Senaratne and members of Public Service United Nurses Association were present at the occasion.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry says that another 1,235 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus today (17).

This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases registered within the country thus far to 633,051.

Meanwhile over 20,000 patients infected with the virus are currently undergoing treatment island-wide. 

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 27 new coronavirus-related fatalities for February 15, moving the death toll in the country from the virus to 15,926.

This includes 17 males and 10 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Eight of the deceased were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 19 victims were aged 60 years and above

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Ottawa . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada

15 February 2022

Mr. R. Sampanthan MP
President, Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
16 (30), Martin Road 
Jaffna
Sri Lanka

Dead Mr. Sampanthan (Sam):

the sunday morning of February 3, 2022, bylined Aazam Ameen said,’Sampanthan writes to UNHRC Mission in Geneva saying Sri Lanka has not addressed post war commitments”

Oops….! That’s a bit nasty, isn’t it, Sam?  Not sure why!  So you complained as you always did, about all this crap again to the unsavoury Human Rights Police which was called by US’s Nikki Haley as The Human Rights Council based in Geneva, which for a long time was a protector of Human Rights abusers, is a cesspool of political bias.”

Sam, if you hadn’t heard the strains of the song sung by me for the UN Human Rights Council, here it is again.  This is part of it…

It won’t be easy.

Don’t cry for my Sri Lanka

Human Rights Council in Geneva.

We are not a member of your cesspool

of political bias,

bias for the Tamil separatist liars.

So get off my Mother Lanka’s back,

she won’t hold the bucket for the cesspool

that supports Sampanthan’s Tamils.

Who are you trying to fool…..?”

Sam, you complained ….Sri Lanka reiterated its strongest commitment to the

Promotion and protection of Human Rights.”

So You, Sam, delivered all that as the ‘Tamil Fact’, but here is the ‘Tamil Truth’.

I hate to burst  your lying ‘Tamil Fact’ bubble, but I will do it anyway. 

Yes…yes…yes…Sri Lanka has done it in a Big Way…Promoted and protected

the Human Rights of your Tamil Clan..and here is the ‘Tamil Truth’.

The ‘Tamil Truth’ that will make you uncomfortable as it will prove positive

that you happen to be one of the unsavoury bunch of ‘Eelamist-Humbugs’.

Did you not know Sam, that the Sri Lankan personnel of the Armed Forces were

the God’s gift for your Tamil Clan who protected their Human Rights, including

that of Yours.  That Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority are 100-times better off than India’s

Minority, Dalits and America’s minority of Harlem Blacks.  

So what the heck are you belly aching about,  Sam?

You with a crown of Silver ‘Wiseman’s Hair’ on the top of your head, and a  face of wrinkles

of wisdom, you seem to be losing your conscience of truth, honesty, wisdom, grace and dignity,

and your memory.  All these are symptoms of a cunning old Tamil politician,  Most certainly not

of a patient of Dementia. But of a white-vettied old Tamil man spoiling for another long-drawn fight 

for the want to dissect yours and my beautiful island into two.

Sam, you cannot cut a country in two any more than you can cut a human in two.  If you do, you do

not have two human beings; you have a corpse.

Here’s  my problem with an elderly Senior Tamil politician like you. If you are that concerned about

Human RIghts in Sri Lanka, then you should have acknowledged and recognized

The Classic Textbook Example of an Amazing Act of  defending Human Rights in a War Zone.

But you were not able to, like hundreds of other Global Human Rights Policing Humbugs like the

UNHRC Rodeo of Moon, Pillai, Sooka,  Bachelet, Darusman, Radner and so forth.. 

This amazing Humane Act didn’t show up in your radar monitor screen., nor in any other monitor of the

Rodeo.  Why?  Was it purposely blocked out from the cunning minds? Do I smell  a sick, bloated rat here?

This is bizarre…it is Hokey-pokey, contemptible antiquated rococo, Halloween, Boooo…stuff… 

It is a nauseating cruel joke on the Sri Lankan Armed Forces personnel who did what they were trained

to do, safeguard their sovereign Nation’s territory and its peoples, from invading enemy forces, and in

this case it were the India trained, serial killer Tamil Tiger terrorists fighting with a sophisticated military armoury aided and abetted  by foreign nations.  Especially by Sri Lanka’s  very friendly neighbour. And, of course, also Canada, my adopted country.  They were fighting to claim what they thought were theirs which ended on 19 May 2009, when the last Tamil Terrorist, their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran was shot dead through his forehead, on the sands of the Nandikadal lagoon in the east of Sri Lanka, and that ended a 30-year long sophisticated war.

Fought not with bows and arrows, catapults and stones and Indian police bamboo-sticks.  They fought with millions of live bullets, Kalashnikovs, Claymore mines, handgrenades M16a, SAM, rocket launchers,etc.  

Sam, let’s get this right.  With this annihilation the Sri Lankan Armed Forces gave back to 20 million of their people (you and your family included) the most paramount Human Right, their Right-to-Life which had been hijacked by your Tamil Tigers, the most ruthless terrorists in the world’s military-history, for 30 bloodying years. 

So what the heck are you crying about to your surrogate guardian  the UNHRC, that US’s Nikki Halety called it is a cesspool of political bias!”.  Go, tell it to your UNHRC, your surrogate guardian!  If you haven’t, why did you hide this TAMIL TRUTH from them? What was the reason, Sam?

Sam, let’s get this right.  With this annihilation, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces gave back 2-hour of their lives to every school going child’s Mother from Monday to Friday (between 1:30 and 2:30 in the afternoon). They now didn’t have to stand at the threshold of their front door anymore, looking deep at the approaching road to their house, to sight her child coming from school, as a  heart-pulsing whole, and not as a puzzle of a head, limbs, heart and pieces of ketchup bloody flesh in a plywood box, having been bombed by a claymore mine set up by theTamil Tigers.   These cowards were ruthless. Go tell it to the UNHRC, your surrogate guardian.  The one that US’s Nikki Haley called it a cesspool of political bias.”  If you haven’t, why did you hide this TAMIL TRUTH from them? There must be a good reason.  Why,  Do I smell a rotting rat here, Sam?

Sam, let me see you getting down on your knees, placing your palms together tilting your face up to the sky saying, as the old Tamil Granny who was carried like a baby in the arms of a young Sinhalese soldier, running dodging Tamil Tiger bullets, taking her to safety, who kissed his cheek and said, Puthata Theruwan saranai” (Son, may you be blessed by Buddha’s Triple Gem.”).  That video-clip must be in a TV reporter’s archives somewhere.

Sam, these are the same khaki uniformed Sri Lankan soldiers who risked their lives to rescue 295,873 Tamil refugees of yours from the clutches of the most ruthless terrorists in the world, Your Tamil Tigers.

 Every soldier who rescued the 295,873 Tamil refugees from the Tamil Tigers deserves a kiss on his cheek with Blessings of Gratitude – saying Puthata/Ayyata/Mallita, Theruwan saranai.”   That is not much to ask for, is it not?   Sam, you should find means to have every rescued Tamil release their testosterone hormones of class and decency to plant a Kiss of Gratitude on the cheek of every Sri Lankan soldier,   Come on Sam, do it and show me that you have a grain of decency and honesty to do that honour who saved the lives of 295,873 Tamil refugees.

You know what Sam, let  me massage your sleeping brain cells to bring back your memory, because you quite well knew it, because you are hiding the Tamil Truth from the world of those who are supporting your Eelamcause.  You all have quite cleverly made your Eelam supporters evolve into Jaffna-Sinnathamby’s village Circus clowns.

These 295,873 Tamils were used as a  Human Shield by your Tamil Tigers for six long months and frog-marched them under a scorching Jaffna-Kilinochchi sun like unwashed cattle from the west coast to the east coast by your Tamil Tigers. These are the Tamil Serial killers who you and the  rest of the TNA’s bowed and did your hosannas as Saviours of the Tamil tribe in Sri Lanka.  What crap..what strings of masala-wade with a curled chilli-rubbed hrimp fried on top to garland your necks.

My gavel has come down hard and heavy on you TNA  politicians as “Guilty” for Not exposing or discussing this amazing Classic Textbook Example of an Amazing Act of Human Rights in a war theatre.  Sam, my Heroes, the Sri Lakan Armed Forces  personnel did it. Stop playing Hide and Seek with the Tamil Truth. My Heroes in khaki did it.

So Sam, with that Classic textbook rescue Mission, the Sri Lankan Government created a  Himalayan problem for themselves.  They now had 295,873 breathing bodies, all Tamil refugees to look after,

Sam, this is not a trick question.  Let’s have your answer straight from the horse’s mouth,  straight as a travelling bullet shot from a Kalashnikov by your Tamil Tribe Saviour, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Why was this amazing Classic Textbook example of Human Rights,  a clever, brilliant, humane act  by my Khaki uniformed  Sri Lankan soldiers, defenders of Human Rights based on the International declarations and covenants that set out the Rights and all Freedoms of all human beings not recognized.  In this case it was Sri Lanka’s Northern Tamils that were the concerned humans which were.never  identified and acknowledged by your UNHRC, your TNA or any other Human Rights Policing Global  Institution.

This is where I categorize all you singly or collectively as  Human Rights Humbugs, and Good for nothing Liars.  

Well… an extension of Nikki Haley’s christening them all at  the UNHRC, your surrogate family as a
Cesspool of political bias.”

So these Sri Lanka soldiers did not bump off the 295,873 Tamils, as the Tamil Tigers did to the 700 brave police officers  on 11th June 1990.   Go let your Surrogate Mother Madam Michelle Bachelet know what happened.

Sam, tell her how these 700 soldiers of the eastern police stations surrendered  to Tamil Tigers on the promise that they would be sent South, unharmed as agreed with President Premadasa.

Tell your surrogate Mother Madam Bachelet, that your Tamil Tigers did not send the 700 policemen South, but blind folded them, tied their hands behind their backs, made them kneel down and shot everyone dead through the back of their skulls.

Compared to what happened  to the policemen, the 295,873 Tamil Refugees were fortunate to have just met forthe first time Sri Lankan Khaki clad Angels who saved their lives, You bet,.  Angels they were!

These Sinhalese khaki clad Angels not only rescued them from the clutches of the Tamil Tiger,  they were housed in temporary clean- white refugee camps in a Refugee Camp City but were also fed three hearty meals a day -breakfast, lunch and dinner. I repeat three hearty meals a day – not kanji for breakfast, two ulundu wades with some sambar and a cup of water for lunch, , and three dosas with sambar for dinner.  Note they prepared, and some soldiers turned cooks prepared a million- nourishing Dietician monitored meals-a-day to sustain theseTamil refugees.

And the kids ‘ meals included a glass  of fresh  milk.  

Don’t hide these TAMIL TRUTHS from the World, Sam, it is time that you go to your surrogate guardian’s UNHRC Headquarters in Geneva and using a bull-horn and announce these amazing Classic Textbook Examples how this puny island of ours defended the paramount Human Right, the Right-to Life, of 20 million people of theirs by brave khaki-clad-soldier-Angels.  Don’t act like a senile-stupid, Sam. Be honourable, be  a decent Tamil human beings. Acknowledge what these brave Khaki-angels did to your Tamil people which Includes you and your family. They gave all of  you a second chance to live.  Make it a Class Act. Speak honourably!

And you R. Sampanthan had the gall and temerity to write to UNHRC MIssion in Geneva saying Sri Lanka has not addressed post war commitments.”  Sadly enough, let me tell you Sam, you certainly won’t receive a greeting card with Blessings next Sinhalese and Tamil New Year,  from me or on your Diwali celebrations .No damn way.

R. Sampanthan,

and I want you to know that

Sri Lanka is my country

the land of ancient people

who happen to be my ancestors.

and of elephants and court jesters,

lotuses, moonstones, hills and waterfalls.

This is a magical country and nice

often called ;The Island of Paradise

grown on red kabook earth

and lately nourished with blood

by people at war.

This is where village mothers I saw

in thatched roofed adobe huts

poor and in patchwork rags

did not seek permission to weep

when their soldier sons

who had gone to war with a will

to save their country from dissection

by marauding separatist Tamil terrorists

returned home dead in plywood caskets.’

Sri Lanka, This is my country

and I say Back-off’ to anyone

who tries to hurt my Mother unfairly.

You heard me..Just “Back Off.”

Sincerely

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)

(born at 54 Mount Mary,Colombo)

and an Old Nalandian)

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොවිඩ් වසංගතයේ විනාශකාරී ප්‍රතිවිපාකවලින් පසු රට යථා තත්ත්වයට පත්වන විට අපි සියලු දෙනාටම ජාතිය යළි ගොඩනැගීම සඳහා යුතුකමක් ඇතැයි තමන් විශ්වාස කරන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවසීය.

කොළඹ බණ්ඩාරනායක අනුස්මරණ ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේ ඊයේ (15) පස්වරුවේ පැවැති ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් කොලේජ් ඔෆ් බිස්නස්”හි වාර්ෂික උපාධි ප්‍රදානෝත්සවය – 2022 ට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවති මෙම උපාධි ප්‍රදානෝත්සවයේ දී ව්‍යාපාර කළමනාකරණය සහ ව්‍යාපාර පරිපාලනය විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ උපාධි හා පශ්චාත් උපාධි ලැබූ උපාධිධාරීන් 507 දෙනෙකුට උපාධි පිරිනැමිණි.

මෙම උපාධි පාඨමාලාවන්හි විශේෂ කුසලතා දැක්වූ එස්.එල්.ජී. විජේරත්න, එස්.එල්.එම්.එම්. මෙල්වානි, ඕ.ජී.විදුරංග සේනානායක අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ සුරතින් මෙහි දී විශේෂ සම්මාන ලබාගත්හ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් කොලේජ් ඔෆ් බිස්නස්”හි වාර්ෂික උපාධි ප්‍රදානෝත්සවය 2022 අමතා කළ සම්පූර්ණ කතාව මෙසේය.

ඔබේ ජීවිතයේ ඉතා වැදගත් ජයග්‍රහණයක් සනිටුහන් කරන මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්වීමට ලැබීම ඉතා අගය කොට සළකනවා.

කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගතය හේතුවෙන් පසුගිය වසර දෙක තුළ බොහෝ උපාධිධාරීන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ උපාධි ප්‍රදානෝත්සවයට මේ අයුරින් සහභාගීවීමට හැකිවූයේ නැහැ.

ජීවිතයේ ඉතා වැදගත් හා වටිනා අවස්ථාවන් සැමරීම කොවිඩ් වසංගතය විසින් අහිම කර තිබුණා. ඒ නිසා ඔබ වැනි උපාධිධාරීන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ සාර්ථකත්වය ඔවුන්ගේ මහාචාර්යවරුන්, විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ සඟයන් සහ දෙමාපියන් සමඟ සැමරීමට නොහැකි වුණා.

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ඒ අනුව බලන විට ඔබ ඔබගේ උපාධි ප්‍රදානෝත්සවයට සහභාගි වීමට භාග්‍යවන්ත වී තිබෙනවා. වසංගත තත්ත්වයට මුහුණ දෙමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව යම් සාමාන්‍ය තත්ත්වයකට පැමිණෙමින් සිටින බවට මෙය කදිම නිදසුනක්.

ආදරණීය උපාධිධාරීනි,

අද ඔබට ඔබේ ජීවිතයේ ඉතා වැදගත් සන්ධිස්ථානයක් සනිටුහන් කරනවා.

ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් කොලේජ් ඔෆ් බිස්නස් මගින් ලබාගත් ලෝක මට්ටමේ උපාධිය සමඟ ඔබ ලෝකයේ ඕනෑම තැනක තරගකාරීව මුහුණ දිය හැකි නවීන කුසලතාවන්ගෙන් හෙබි අධ්‍යාපනයක් ලබා තිබෙනවා.

මෙම අධ්‍යාපනය සමඟ ඔබට විශාල වගකීමක් ද පැවරෙනවා. අධ්‍යාපනය යනු ලෝකය වෙනස් කිරීමට යොදාගත හැකි බලගතුම අවියයි” කියලා ලොව පිළිගත් විශිෂ්ට නායකයකු වූ නෙල්සන් මැන්ඩෙලා මහතා වරක් ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

ඒ අයුරින් ගත්තම ඔබේ අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන ගෙන යහපත් රටක් සහ යහපත් ලෝකයක් සඳහා දායක වීමට ඔබට දැන් කාලය උදාවී තිබෙනවා.

ඔබ වෘත්තීය ජීවිතයේ ඊළඟ අදියර කරා ගමන් කරන විට ලොව පුරා ඇති ඉඩ ප්‍රස්ථා ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගනිමින් වෘත්තිය දියුණුව කරා යොමුවන්නැයි ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

කෙසේ නමුත් අවසානයේ එම දැනුම, ප්‍රවීණත්වය සහ අත්දැකීම් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන එමින් අපේ සමාජයට වටිනා දායකත්වයක් ඔබ විසින් ලබා දෙනු ඇතැයි මා විශ්වාස කරනවා.

ඔබ දන්නා පරිදි ඉහළ සාක්ෂරතාවයකින් හෙබි රටක් විදියට ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් වන අපි හැමෝටම ආඩම්බර විය හැකියි. ඒ වගේම ඔබත් දැන් උගත් සහ නිපුණ ශ්‍රම බලකායක කොටස්කරුවන් වීමට සුදානමින් සිටිනවා.

කොවිඩ් වසංගතයේ විනාශකාරී ප්‍රතිවිපාකවලින් පසු අපේ රට යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් වන විට අපි සියලු දෙනාටම ජාතිය යළි ගොඩනැගීම සඳහා යුතුකමක් ඇතැයි මා විශ්වාස කරනවා.

පශ්චාත් වසංගත යුගයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නැවතත් ආර්ථිකමය වශයෙන් ප්‍රකෘතිමත් වීමේ මාවතට පැමිණීම සඳහා උපකාර කිරීමේ දී ඔබ ලබා ගත් මෙම ලෝක මට්ටමේ අධ්‍යාපනයට තීරණාත්මක කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කළ හැකියි.

ව්‍යාපාරික උපාධි සහිත උපාධිධාරීන්ගේ සාම්ප්‍රදායික වෘත්තීය මාර්ගය බොහෝ විට විධායක තනතුරු හෝ කළමනාකරුවන් ලෙස රැකියාවක් ලබා ගැනීමයි. කෙසේ වෙතත් එම සම්ප්‍රදායික වෘත්තිය මාර්ගවලින් ඔබ්බට සිතීමට කාලය පැමිණ ඇති බවයි මා විශ්වාස කරන්නෙ.

අපගේ ආර්ථික ප්‍රකෘතිය ඉලක්ක කර ගනිමින් ගෝලීය වශයෙන් තරග කිරීමට නම් පශ්චාත් වසංගතය තුළ ආර්ථික ප්‍රකෘතිය මෙහෙයවිය හැකි ව්‍යවසායකයින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අවශ්‍යවෙනවා.

එම නිසා ඔබේ නව්‍ය අදහස් නව ව්‍යවසාය බවට පරිවර්තනය කළ යුතුයි. එවිට සෙසු ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් සඳහා ඔබට රැකියා ඇතුළුව සැළකිය යුතු ආර්ථික ක්‍රියාකාරකම් උත්පාදනය කරමින් ඒවා විශාල ව්‍යාපාරික ආයතන බවට පුළුල් කළ හැකියි.

රජයක් ලෙස අප තරුණ තරුණියන්ගේ නව ව්‍යවසාය සඳහා බොහෝ අවස්ථා නිර්මාණය කරමින් සිටියි. වඩා හොඳ අනාගතයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම සහ අනෙකුත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින්ට අවස්ථාවන් හිමිකර දීමට මෙම අවස්ථා ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගන්නා ලෙස ඔබට ආරාධනා කරනවා.

එවිට අපේ රටේ ආර්ථික ප්‍රකෘතියට දායකවෙමින් සාර්ථක ව්‍යවසායකයෙකු ලෙස ඔබට ඔබේ අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන ගනිමින් තිරසාර ආදායම් මාර්ගයක් ගොඩනගා ගත හැකි වෙනවා.

උපාධිය සම්පූර්ණ කිරීම දක්වා ඔබට මෙම සාර්ථකත්වය ළඟා කර ගැනීමට උපකාර කළ පුද්ගලයින්ට හදවතේ උපහාරය පුද කිරීමටත් ඔබ මෙය අවස්ථාවක් කර ගත යුතුයි.

පළමුව සහ ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ඔබගේ සාර්ථකත්වය වෙනුවෙන් ඔබගේ දෙමාපියන් කරන ලද කැපකිරීම් ඔබ සැමවිටම සිහිපත් කළ යුතුයි.අද ඔබේ ජයග්‍රහණයේ නොසැලෙන වීරයන් වන්නේ ඔබේ දෙමාපියන්. ඔබේ දෙවන දෙමාපියන් ඔබේ ගුරුවරුන්. ඔවුන් ඔබව දැනුමෙන් සන්නද්ධ කරමින් යහපත් පුරවැසියෙකු වීමට ඔබට මඟ පෙන්වා තිබෙනවා. ඔබ අද උපාධිය ලබා ගන්නා විට,ඔබේ ජීවිතයේ ගුරුවරුන් ඔබට ලබා දුන් දැනුම සහ මග පෙන්වීම සිහිකරමින් අපි සැවොම ඊට ස්තූතිවන්ත විය යුතුයි. 

මා ඔබට දෙන අවසාන අවවාදය නම් ඔබ තෝරාගන්නා වෘත්තීය මාර්ගය කුමක් වුවත් ඔබ ඒ වෙනුවෙන් විශිෂ්ට ලෙස කැපවෙන්න. ඉගෙනීම කියන්නෙ ජීවිත කාලය පුරාම පවතින ක්‍රියාවලියක්. නිසා කවදාවත් ඉගෙනීම නවත්වන්න එපා. ඔබ සැමවිටම ඉහළ අපේක්ෂාවන් ඉෂ්ට කර ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරන්න.

අවසන් වශයෙන් ඔබ සැම ලබා ගත් සාර්ථකත්වයට සුබ පැතීමට මෙය අවස්ථාවක් කර ගන්නවා. ඔබ සැමට සුබ අනාගතයක් වේවා! යැයි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරනවා යැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා පැවසීය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් ඩේවිඩ් හොලි, ජෙනරාල් සර් ජෝන් කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කුලපති විශ්‍රාමික ජෙනරාල් ජී.එච්. ද සිල්වා, ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් කොලේජ් ඔෆ් බිස්නස් අධ්‍යක්ෂ ආචාර්ය පෙනෙලොප් හුඩ්, එක්සත් රාජධානිය හා ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාල කිහිපයක උප කුලපතිවරුන් ඇතුළු අධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානීන්, දෙමාපියන් සහ උපාධිධාරීහු ඇතුළු පිරිසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col)

නීතීඥවරුන්ට අධිකරණ භාෂාවෙන් නොවන භාෂාවකින් ඇගයීම් සිදුකරමින් විදෙස් නීති ආයතන අයුතු ලෙස ධනවත් කිරීමට ගන්නා උත්සාහය පරදවමු…!

“සංස්ථාගත නීති අධ්‍යයන සභාවේ අධිකරණ භාෂා විරෝධය පාලනය කරමු…!

2020.12.30 දිනැති අංක 2208/13 අතිවිශේෂ ගැසට්ටුවේ අධිකරණ භාෂා තහනම නිවැරදි කරමු…!

භාෂාව මත වෙනස්කම් කරන ඇගයීම් ක්‍රම හඳුන්වා දී නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනයේ නීතීඥවරුන්, නීතීඥ වෘත්තියෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට ක්‍රියා කරයිනම් එයට එරෙහිව ක්‍රියා කළ යුත්තේ ඇයි?

1) 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය අනුව අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයා ලෙස පත්වී සිටින ජනාධිපති නීතීඥ අලි සබ්‍රි සහ ජනාධිපති නීති විශාරදයන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාව අවභාව්ත කරමින් සහ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් විදෙස් රටවල අන්තවාදී නීති රටට ගෙන ඒමට ගත් උත්සාහය සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් නීති තර්ක ඉදිරිපත් කර පරාජය කිරීමට හැකි වීම ප්‍රසිද්ධ කරුණකි. ( SC/SD/24/2021 ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණය ඇති 2021 ජූලි 06 පාර්ලිමේන්තු හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තාවේ 1387-1449 දක්වා පිටුවල ඇත)

2) සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය සහ අභියාචනාධිකරණය අමතා නඩු ජයගත නොහැකිය යන තර්කය නීතිය නොදන්නවුන්ගේ බලය රැක ගැනීමට කරන තර්කයක් බවට මේ වනවිට පත් වී ඇත.

3)  ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කරමින්
ගෙනෙන වැරදි නීති තර්ක සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් නිවැරදි නීති තර්ක ගෙනවිත් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේදී පවා පැරදවිය හැකි බව මේ වන විට නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබූ නීතීඥයන් තහවුරු කර ඇත.

4) එවන් තත්ත්වයක් තුළ නීතිඥවරුන්ට ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පරීක්ෂණයකට පෙනී සිටිය යුතු බවට අගවිනිසුරු, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශය සහ නීතීඥ සංගමයේ කිහිප දෙනෙකු තීරණය කරන්නේ නම් එයට එකග විය නොහැක්කේ නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා ඇති නීතීඥවරු විදෙස් නීති අධ්‍යාපන ආයතනවල සහ පෞද්ගලික නීති ආයතනවල යැපෙන්නන් බවට ඉන් පත් කරන නිසා පමණක් නොවේ.

5) සෑම නීතීඥවරයෙකුම වසර 3කට වරක් අතිරේක නීති විභාගයකට පෙනී සිටිය යුතු බවට අදහසක් අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාශය විසින් යෝජනා කර ඇති අතර එය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දැක්වෙන පරිදි අධිකරණ භාෂාවෙන් පවත්වන විභාගයක් මිස අධිකරණ භාෂාවක් නොවන ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් පවත්වන විභාගයක් නොවිය යුතු වන්නේ මේ වනවිට 2020.12.30 දිනැති අංක 2208/13 අතිවිශේෂ ගැසට්ටුව මගින් අධිකරණ භාෂාවෙන් නීති ශිෂ්‍යන්ට විභාග පැවැත්වීම වළක්වා ඇති හෙයිනි.

6) අධිකරණ භාෂාව නොවන භාෂාවකින් නීතිඥවරුන්ට සහ නීති ශිෂ්‍යයන්ට විභාගයකට පෙනී සිටීමට යමෙක් නියම කරයි නම් එවැනි අය නිවැරදි නොවන අතර එය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ නියම කර ඇති අධිකරණ භාෂාවට එරෙහිව කරන වැරදි පෙළඹවීමක් වනවා මෙන්ම විදෙස් නීති උපාධි ආයතන අයුතු ලෙස ධනවත් කරවීමක්ද වේ.

7) ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් නීති තර්ක ගෙනෙන අයව සිංහලෙන් නීති තර්ක ගෙනවිත් පරජය කිරීමට සමත් නීතීඥවරු නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබූවන් අතරින් බිහිවී සිටියදී නීතීඥවරුන්ට හෝ නීති ශිෂ්‍යයන්ට ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් පමණක් විභාග පැවැත්වීම සාධාරණ නොවනවා මෙන්ම යුක්තියටද, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ අධිකරණ භාෂා විධිවිධානයටද, නීතිගරුක සමාජයක් බිහිකිරීමටද, තිරසර සංවර්ධනයටද පටහැනි තත්වයක් වේ.

8) භාෂාව මත වෙනස්කම් සිදුකර අධිකරණ භාෂාවෙන් නොවන භාෂාවකින් ඇගයීම් පවත්වා නීතීඥවරුන් නීතීඥ වෘත්තියෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට ක්‍රියා කරයිනම් එයට එරෙහිව අඛණ්ඩව ජනතාව දැනුවත් කරන ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම සමාජ වගකීමක් මෙන්ම යුතුකමක් වන්නේ මෙයට එරෙහිව අධිකරණ ක්‍රියා මාර්ග ගැනීම ඵලදායක නොවන හෙයිනි.

9) ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ අධිකරණ භාෂා විධිවිධානය ආරක්ෂා කරන ලෙසත් අගවිනිසුරු, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශය, නීතිපති ඇතුලු සංස්ථාගත නීති අධ්‍යයන සභාවේ සහ ජනාධිපති නීති විශාරදයන් කිහිප දෙනෙකුගේ  අධිකරණ භාෂා විරෝධය පාලනය කරන ලෙසත් ජනාධිපති ඇතුලු බලධාරීන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිම නීතිගරුක පුරවැසියන්ගේ යුතුකමකි.

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col)
නීති ග්‍රන්ථ කර්තෘ,
සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන
දුරකථන 0712063394

By Dr.Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today

“Young Love Is a Flame; Very Pretty, Often Very Hot and Fierce ” – Henry Ward Beecher

When Henry Ward Beecher scribbled two sentences: “Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce and light and flickering; the love of the older becomes disciplined as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable,” he would never imagined these quotes would become world-famous one day and slot into a specific day on 14 February, as Valentine’s Day. 

The modern world celebrates the 14 of February as Valentine’s Day, which has transformed into what is known as ‘ lovers’ day! Usually, this day fills with a series of events, predominantly for those in love. It is a day filled with fun and punctuated by sending Valentine’s cards to their admirers. Valentine’s Day is not complete unless it ends with a party or dance. Meanwhile, it’s a sad day for eligible bachelors and damsels when they find a marriage proposal is not even on the cards in the predictable future.

 Henry Ward Beecher was a social reformer, speaker, and author. He published over two hundred and seventy books, and dozens of beautiful quotes that appear on the Internet. He always said, God’s love is above everything else:  It’s easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is much better at the top.”

From time immemorial  

Steadfast lovers consistently celebrate Valentine’s Day from time immemorial. Valentine’s Day becomes Cupid (Venus) day or the child-like winged deity of the Roman Goddess’s son of love. Valentine’s Day relates to the conjoint exchange of flattery through greeting cards. Usually, Valentine’s Day relates to red roses and the red heart-shaped contours with Cupid’s figure. It usually resembles a single rose, candlelit dinners, dancing in a star hotel, and exchanging expensive trinkets or real gold rings as tokens of love. Such feelings are impossible to view even under a microscope of human reaction. It certainly is an internal emotional state in every individual’s experience. 

History 

Valentine’s Day has its different views and opinions. Some believe that Valentine’s Day originated from the Roman martyr who refused Christianity. Others believe it is the day devoted to the ‘Love Lottery’.  Emperor Claudius II, banned marriages because he thought ‘married men were substandard soldiers.’ The Roman martyr Valentine felt that was unfair and broke the rules to promote arranged marriages secretly. When Claudius II found out about valentine’s secret moves, the Emperor sent Valentine to jail and sentenced him to death. In prison, Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. When the soldiers took Valentine to the gallows, he sent a love letter through them signed ‘from Valentine’.  He died on 14 February 269 AD. Some believe it has some significance to Valentine’s Day. Many think St. Valentine, who served as a priest at a temple, was jailed during Emperor Claudius for defying Pope Gelasius, the third, and the last Bishop of Rome (492-496) in the Catholic Church. 

During the Battle of Agincourt, Duke of Orleans was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415. From prison, he wrote a few lines to his wife on a Valentine card, which is preserved in the British Library in London, as part of a manuscript collection. Several years later, King Henry V hired John Lydgate to compose a valentine message to Catherine of Valois, who was very pretty and attractive. When King Henry V finally met her, he became smitten with love. She was the daughter of Charles VI of France. She married Henry V of England and gave birth to his heir Henry VI of England.

Britain commenced celebrating Valentine’s Day during the 18 Century. It soon became so popular among lovers and led to handwritten notes. During the 18th Century, the 14 of February became popular among friends and lovers in Britain, which led to handwritten notes to friends. Printing commenced during the 18th Century in Britain that took over the printing of Valentine cards.

Commercialisation

Valentine cards have become commercialised like other popular themes such as Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Engagements and Weddings. These appear as a mega commercial hysteria throughout the world to make stationery manufacturers, shop keepers and the postal services’ wealthy. Human beings generally get impregnated with emotions. Therefore, humans tend to become sycophants often with an overdose of relationships with others, from time to time. 

One is likely to be jolly on Valentine’s Day after receiving loads of romantic cards, bouquets of red roses or boxes of chocolates, with all kinds of fancy writings on them. Those who take Valentine’s Day seriously become vulnerable and spend lavishly on candle lit dinners in five-star hotels to please their lovers. Or hit the dance floor and enjoy a bit of pelvic thrust in romantic dim lights. But let’s face it, If one focuses oneself to rely on a single day of the year to feel that ‘love is in the air and ‘happy ever after,’ one may instead look at the horizon. Haven’t we all heard of the suggestion, “to love another, one has to love oneself?

Valentine’s Day falls on the 14 of February every year – a day observed to celebrate love and care for someone lovingly. Generally, animals too love each other daily in their way. Still, Valentine’s Day for humans calls for something a little more special. Does anyone find it difficult to figure out how to wish on Valentine’s Day? Then,  pick a piece of blank notepaper and write on it any sentence with ‘fancy’ writing on it, or a Valentine card and send it to your much-loved person. 

Nowadays, it is easier to send Valentine’s Day wishes through a text message from your smartphone or emails to your fiancé and friends. One may write as follows: “I love you like crazy, baby ‘Cuz I’d go crazy without you.” (Pixie Foudre). Instead, one may scribble, there is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Priyantha Hettige Courtesy Island

Moscow has just been voted the third best city in the world to live in by the UN. But it beats all the competition in having the highest quality of life for its citizens, which includes the best medical care, the best education, attractive public spaces, public safety and, importantly, the best cultural activities.

Moscow alone has 170 concert halls and theatres, with 40 million visits annually, which means Muscovites attend an average of four concerts per year. And this is repeated in towns and cities throughout the Federation of Russia and including even the old Soviet Union.

They are benefited from their legacy of Communist rule with its policies of developing all its people and raising them up, equally as their talents allow. There are hundreds of theatres and stages throughout the towns and cities of the old Soviet Union, not to forget to mention all those great gymnasia used to train young ballet dancers, rhythmic gymnasts and even young circus performers. You can go ice skating in Russia all year round and trampoline-ing, too!

St Petersburg has the Mariinsky theatres (old and new). The old and original Mariinsky theatre is most beautiful, glamorous and historic and is where Europe’s royalty came to be amused in bygone times. Russia’s capital, Moscow has the famous Bolshoi Ballet and now, there is the newly opened hi-tech Zaryadye Park Concert Hall with its spectacular expanse of glass roof and perfect acoustics.

Note that for these many theatres they must require the services of hundreds of performers, costume designers and dress makers; make-up artists, scenery designers, and lighting experts, musicians and scriptwriters. Well, Russians have to spend their long, dreary winter nights somehow – so, why not be involved in these socially approved activities. Participation in choirs, orchestras, gymnastic teams and artistic groups is considered as worthy, Good”. As a result of this legacy from the past, one can choose to develop one’s talents in so many ways. All this expression of art and culture has resulted in both a professional and also a huge, spare-time entertainment industry based on music, dance and drama, and of course, gymnastics.

Schools are very active in this area by organising competitions and annual shows where they display their talented performers. The originality and the inspiration of these productions is amazing, if not actually stunning. Winners of competitions, and those particularly good performances are filmed and then broadcast on TV, thus providing public entertainment of good quality; in a word, uplifting. Then the whole of Russian society can see and enjoy watching this home-grown skill and wonderful talent. Some performances, perhaps the best, are loaded up to the internet, for the whole world to see and be amazed!

At the end of every competition young student participants are awarded medals and certificates and even cuddly toys as a reward. These mementos are collected and students proudly show them to relatives to admire.

Choirs and Choral music

Russia has its patriotic songs arising from their struggle to survive the many madmen and robber invasions they have endured over the centuries. These are stirring songs sung with gusto and feeling with real motivation! The famous Moscow based Gnessin School of Music is active in traditional and cultural music making, and their Moscow Boys Choir is world famous. The choir has recorded The Children’s Prayer.” This is quite heavenly to hear. Also, Igor Donilov of the Moscow Choral School, has sung Motherland” which is of stunning beauty. You have heard nothing until you hear this. These choral pieces are posted on the internet.

Russian Music Composers and

their Music

Professional song and music writing is to a high standard, and of course Tchaikovsky and the Bolshoi Ballet are the pinnacle of all this creative activity. Many Russian composers have created great amounts of good music and now the world has a most wonderful cultural heritage. It is waiting for you to explore! Thank you, Russia!

Priyantha Hettige

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

It’s the duty all parties in Sri Lanka to initiate a dialogue and come to an agreement on the report which the IMF is expected to release on Sri Lanka shortly,, Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

” The IMF according to section 4 of its mandate usually goes for a dialogue with all its member states and issue a statement on each member . A team of IMF officials visited Sri Lanka in December last year. We have received information that it will release a report next week. It essential and the duty of all political parties to come to an agreement on it, it is our duty to initiate such an exercise. We have to think of Millennials and Genz which are the younger population. These groups will blame us if we fail in our duty,” Wickremesinghe said.

” Sri Lanka has failed to resolve it’s FOREX crisis. The dollar is expected to go up to Rs. 270 and even up to Rs. 300. The population of poor in Sri Lanka is expected to increase by 500,000 while the middle class is expected to crash. All transactions pertaining to foreign currency is done according to Hawala system moving away from the banking system. The total foreign debt services Sri Lanka has to settle this year is dollars 6 billion. Sri Lanka is yet to talk to any institution such as IMF with regard to resolving the crisis” he added.(Yohan Perera)

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry says that another 1,217 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 today, as the daily count of new cases continues to rise in the country.

This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases registered in the country thus far to 631,816. 

According to official figures, 596,042 positive cases have recovered.

Following the new development, the number of virus-infected people who are undergoing treatment moved to 19,875. Meanwhile, the death toll stands at 15,899.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 25 new coronavirus-related fatalities for February 15, moving the death toll in the country from the virus to 15,899.

This includes 20 males and 05 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Six of the deceased were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 19 victims were aged 60 years and above.

By Garvin Karunaratne

It is on record that the IMF did stall development all over the Third World from the Seventies.

The colonies of the Superpowers were developing fast since they achieved independence. Seeking the help of the United Nations’ organizations- the Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO) for agriculture and livestock development, the UNIDO for industries, the ILO for employment creation- for labour, the UNESCO for education. There was all round development, new programmes were implemented fast bringing employment and incomes to people. This included industries making items that were earlier imported from the colonial masters. In the Forties the shops in Sri Lanka were full of imported food textiles and everything that was required. In order to enable people to have incomes industries were opened up and local production mounted . The Superpowers found that this development in the newly independent countries was causing unemployment and lack of income in their countries. The SAARC Report of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation, Meeting the Challenge states that the international countries are for the first time since World War II in need of markets for their products…. So they have put into effect the Structural Adjustment Programme….the Industrialized countries are pressurizing the receipients of Structural Adjustment loans to unilaterally open their economies to goods from them.”

The Structural Adjustment Programme accepted the private sector as the engine of growth and the public sector should not have anything to do with development. The countries had since reaching independence developed various development programmes to enable the march of peasants to be allieviated from poverty and become economically productive. These were all done by Government Departments. It has so happened that my eighteen years’ span in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service was totally spent handling such programmes- in developing the marketing of agricultural produce, in organizing agricultural development, in developing industries and finally, attending to the total development of people. The condition stipulated in structural adjustment loans was that the public sector cannot attend to any commercial undertakings and this meant that all the development programmes that I had laboured in had to be abandoned or deemphasized.

SriLanka had developed a special agricultural marketing scheme where the Government department engaged actively to purchase produce from farmers. Farmers brought their produce to the Fairs and the Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing( Marketing Department-MD) also purchased in competition with traders. The MD purchased vegetables and fruits and sent them direct to their Headquarters in Colombo- called Tripoli Market, where the goods were distributed to a major retail outlet at Tripoli Market and also to over fifty small sales units. The MD was not interested in making a profit. Its aim was to offer a higher price to producers to encourage them to produce more, and simultaneously offer produce at cheap prices to city dwellers-aimed at reducing inflation. The MD had officers in all producer areas who reported the prices at which private traders purchased produce and availability. Private traders that purchased at the Fairs despatched good to the Wholesale Market in Colombo from where retailers purchased goods for sale at their retail outlets. The produce went through three hands which meant three parties keeping a profit. The MD closely followed the availability of produce at the Wholesale Market and the rates at which produce was being bought and sold. The Tripoli Market fixed purchasing prices for produce at a rate higher than what was offered by the traders at the Fairs. The MD sold the produce at rock bottom prices- keeping a margin of only 15% as against a hundred percent margin kept by the private dealers at the purchasing, wholesale and retail units. This system was worked to perfection. The Commissioner of the MD would summon all Assistant Commissioners in the Districts to a conference in he first week of every month where details of produce bought and prices fixed were looked into and we Assistant Commissioners in the Districts were pulled up if we had charged a profit of over 15%. The ideal was to break even. I worked in charge of Tripoli Market controlling the entire Scheme for one full year. This is a system peculiar to Sri Lanka developed by Commissioners RH Basset and later by BLW Fernando. This proved a boon to producers as well as consumers, all achieved by eating into the profit margin kept by the private traders. The MD purchased around ten percent of the total produce but was able, both to ensure that the producers received a high price and simultaneously city dwellers got their requirements at reasonably low prices.

A further development of this was a Cannery which purchased vegetables and fruits and canned them, even building up an export market. With the establishment of the Canning Factory the MD purchased large quantities of Red Pumpking, Ash Pumpkin, Tomatoes and Pineapple that was made into jam, sauce and juice. The MD Cannery was instrumental in making Sri Lanka self sufficient in all fruit products- jam, and juice within the three years 1955 to 1958.

This MD activity was abandoned and the Cannery privatized in 1978 at the advice of the IMF. As a result all jam, sauce and Juice are now imported from as far as Cyprus, the USA and Australia. The producers do not get high prices and the city dwellers have to depend on private traders. Traders have a heyday of high incomes.

The MD also attended to purchase produce in short supply from producers at a high price under the Guaranteed Price Scheme to encourage production. This programme covered paddy, red onions, and various cereals. The purchase of paddy was developed further by handing it over to the Department of Agrarian Services and later to the Paddy Marketing Board. There were rice mills to mill the paddy and this too was the public sector dabbling in commerce and the rice mills were closed down and abandoned. Instead the Structural Adjustment Programme of the IMF saw to it that government units that sought to increase production were gradually closed down and abandoned. Consequently imports increased.

In textiles, Sri Lanka developed handlooms, power looms and Textile Mills importing yarn and this scheme, worked with a major Research Unit, called Velona at Moratuwa saw to it that Sri lanka produced all its textiles by the Seventies. This was directed by the Small Industries Department. The textile section of the Small Industries Department was closed down and this entire programme abandoned, resulting in thousands of textile workers losing their jobs and earnings and causing the country to import all textiles all done as dictated by the IMF.

Government departments like agriculture and agrarian services were crippled and the private sector was moved in to attend to agricultural extension.

Sri Lanka had a major industry making all rail coaches, buses and lorries and only chassis were imported. These coach and lorry making units were closed down and lorries and buses were imported. This caused unemployment as well as proved costly due to having to purchase built up vehicles.

This was the situation in other departments and government controlled commercial undertakings. For instance an efficiently run commuter bus organization was totally scrapped, its vast machinery sold for scrap and abandoned and sections privatized.

This effectively stalled development, caused a fall in production, leading to the country importing everything.

The IMF provided loans freely and the loans were used to fund imports- the net result was that loans coming to Sri Lanka were sent back to the multinationals with profits, all done leaving the loans as a debt saddling the country. This is the process that in the period 1977 to today led to the mounting of the foreign debt to as much as $ 56 billion today.

The private sector was also crippled in an indirect but very effective manner by the provision that the country had to follow a high interest rate policy. As detailed by me:

The IMF and the World Bank advises to follow high interest rates. It has meant that producers and manufacturers have to get loans at around 20% to 30% interest. Can they ever compete with manufacturers in Developed Countries that can get loans varying from 2% in Japan to 7% in the USA…. This is engineered to ensure that local production and manufacturing is costly and thereby raw materials we produce( Like rubber) get exported without local processing. By this method, the riches accruing from adding value to the raw product remains with the Developed Country…The high interest policy also helps foreign banks to make fantastic profits through lending in Third World countries”.(How the IMF Ruined Sri lanka033,34)

This meant that private entrepreneurs had to obtain bank loans paying interest at high rates even to the extent of 25%. Speaking to many entrepreneurs known to me, they confided in me that high interest charged on bank loans made them sell or give up their ventures. They said that it was easier to deposit their funds in deposit accounts and draw high interest than having to toil in enterprise development. The imposition of high interest rates killed the commercial enterprises done by the private sector.

This was the scene in every country that followed the IMF”s Structural Adjustment Programme. It was always stalling production and imports taking its place, also causing unemployment and increasing poverty.

The IMF advocates attracting foreign investment which too means stalling local production. One type of foreign investment is for multinationals to bring some funds initially and set up sales outlets, eateries like MacDonalds and Burger King get involved in local trade . However this eats into our foreign reserves when we allow the investors to repatriate their profits.

Another type of foreign investment advocated, detrimental to the countries because resources in the country are exploited to make a profit, where the country only benefits from the employment created is widely prevalent. In Sri Lanka: Noritake came to Sri Lanka on a tax holiday and used ceramic deposits for making porcelineware. When the tax holiday period ended it was extended. It is now realized that the clay deposits are very low. Further working on the tax holiday no taxes are paid in the country of manufacture, but the products are heavily taxed in their own country and further taxes are charged when the goods are sent to Europe and the USA where sales taxes are charged.”(From: Success in Development)

When wheat imports and flour milling was given to Prima from Singapore, Prima fixes the price of flour and profits are repatriated. Earlier the Government imported wheat and flour and no profit was kept as a Government Department attended to the task.

The IMF was not interested in creating local production. Instead the IMF encouraged SafetyNets of hands out to the poor. The aim was not to create production in the countries.

Sri Lanka though one of the countries that provided rubber, depended on the import of tyres and tubes. A Russian grant enabled the establishment of the Tyre Factory. This was the Government dabbling in commerce and the Tyre Factory was privatized. Purchased by an local entrepreneur, now the Tyre factory was purchased by a international magnate CEAT.

Indonesia had developed BULOG a government organization that attended to agricultural development. BULOG was closed down at the instance of the IMF.

.

A further method of the IMf was its advice that the countries should do no development planning. Sri Lanka had to abandon Development Planning.. Development Planning is essential to enable development and production. This was a method of stalling development.

A classic case is Pueto Rico. In my words, Luring foreign investment was the model of development that was tried out by Piuerto Rico in the Fifties. This attracted a million $ worth of investment from outside. It was found that by 1980-1986, for evey single US $ imported $ 2.40 was paid as a return on capital.(Beckford: 1989(61) It was found that companies closed down when the tax exemption period lapsed>”(From How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka)

Following the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programme from 1977 crippled all development activity in Sri Lanka and confined the administrators to the barracks.

Next week- Get the Administrators out of the barracks to work again. Can it be done?

Garvin Karunaratne, Phd Michigan State University,

Aiuthor of

How the IMF Ruined Sri lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success(Godages:2006

How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Kindle/Godages:2017

Success in Development, (Godages:2011)

Papers on the Economic Development of Sri Lanka(Godages:2012)

Howthe IMF’s Structural Adjustment Destroyed Sri Lanka, Godages; 2022

Selleing the Mother Land& Ideas for Developing Sri Lanka, Godages: 2022

14022022

MD Pathik Hasan Dhaka Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the  India’s largest trade partner in the region. Trade  Volume is increasing day by day. Even, the bilateral trade between the two countries grew at an unprecedented rate of 14 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Media reports said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade was at an unprecedented rate of 14 per cent from 9.46 billion US dollars in 2019 to 10.78 billion dollars in 2021.

Bangladesh mainly exports products including readymade garments, jute and jute-processed products, leather-processed products, plastic products, fish, soft drinks, copper and edible oil while goods including rice, raw cotton, onion, motor vehicles, boilers, machinery, milk, dairy products, electronic products and iron were imported from India. There is huge potential to increase the trade Volume between Bangladesh and Indian. There is a huge demand of Indian products in Bangladesh. On the other hand, the demand of Bangladeshi products is increasing day be day. Now Indian consumers want to consume Bangladeshi products. Border markets  are the best example to understand it.

 According to media reports,  India exports to Bangladesh was US$7.91 Billion during 2020 (United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade). In the last one year, Bangladesh-India trade has increased by 94%. At the end of the current financial year, Bangladesh’s exports to India are expected to reach 2 billion for the first time. India is keen to take this trade relationship to a new height.

Bangladesh’s stable economic development is creating new opportunities for India’s northeastern states and work on a CEPA trade agreement is ongoing. The two countries are celebrating 50 years of India-Bangladesh friendship and India’s President Ram Nath Kovind completed a successful visit to Bangladesh last year.

2021 marks the golden jubilee of the liberation of Bangladesh and fifty years of India-Bangladesh diplomatic ties. India’s President Ram Nath Kovind is currently on a three-day state visit to Bangladesh from December 15 to 17, 2021; this is his first state visit since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.

Speaking on the state of bilateral ties in November, India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh affirmed that India Bangladesh relations are going through a golden phase. As Bangladesh attains developing nation” status (upgrading from less developed country” status), India has reiterated its commitment to deepen trade and economic ties with Bangladesh as partners rather than competitors. That Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia, with a volume of over US$10 billion, is testimony to this commitment. In the same pursuit, both countries are working to finalize a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Bangladesh’s holistic development is also viewed positively by New Delhi with new opportunities arising along India’s northeast region. Bangladesh and India share a 4096-kilometer-long (2545 miles) international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, including 262 km (163 mi) in the state of Assam, 856 km (532 mi) in Tripura, 318 km (198 mi) in Mizoram, 443 km (275 mi) in Meghalaya, and 2217 km (1378 mi) in West Bengal.

Economic and commercial partnership between India and Bangladesh

According to various Indian and Bangladeshi media reports, Bangladesh may become India’s fourth largest export destination in FY22, jumping five places in two years. This comes as the economic boom of the eastern neighbour continues to fuel India’s exports growth.

Indian media outlet ‘Business Standard’ wrote last year that the first seven months of FY22, exports to Bangladesh grew 81 per cent over the same period in the preceding year to $7.7 billion. This makes it India’s fourth largest export market behind the US, UAE and China.

Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia and India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh. Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown steadily over the last decade and the exports of Bangladesh have tripled over the last decade to cross US$1 billion in 2018-19. In FY 2019-20, India’s exports to Bangladesh were US$8.2 billion and imports were US$1.26 billion.

 The two countries now should concentrate on people-to-people contact, trade, business and connectivity as the issues became increasingly important for the two sides. India could be a major supplier of yarn and cotton to the garment industry in the near future.

A deeper economic and trade engagement becomes all the more relevant, given the success of phenomenal and uninterrupted supply chains during the pandemic. An augmented connectivity infrastructure is imperative to actualize the bilateral trade and investment potential between the two countries. India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has recognized five focus areas to bolster bilateral economic ties – technology, connectivity, entrepreneurship, health, and tourism. Bangladesh is also important for aiding India’s connectivity in the Southeast Asian region through Chittagong and Mongla ports.

Indian and Bangladeshi companies signed agreements worth nearly $10 billion for Indian investment, mainly in the power and energy sectors, during a visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in April 2017.

And with Indian economic zones coming up at Mongla and Mirsarai, the amount of FDIs from the neighbouring nation is bound to increase manifold.

Both India and Bangladesh are also working towards holding the first meeting of the India Bangladesh CEOs Forum to provide policy level inputs in various areas of trade and investment and also to facilitate exchanges among the business communities of both the countries. Additionally, a bilateral textile industry forum has also been constituted to facilitate cooperation in the textile sector.

According to the data of media outlets, With Bangladesh being the central pillar of India’s Neighbourhood First policy, Dhaka is New Delhi’s largest trade partner in South Asia and bilateral trade between the two countries grew at an unprecedented rate of 14 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic. the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade was at an unprecedented rate of 14 per cent from 9.46 billion US dollars in 2019 to 10.78 billion dollars in 2021. Joint energy space is steadily emerging, India and Bangladesh’s electricity grids are interconnected from east and west with more than 1160 megawatts of powers way across from India and Bangladesh.The ₹346 crore Pipeline Project, signed in 2018, will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. The work on the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, a project that will enable the two countries to integrate their energy needs, is progressing well and could be inaugurated next year. ( The NDTV, the Hindu, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla )

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, the trade between India and Bangladesh crossed $10 billion. . India had sent over one crore COVID-19 vaccines to the country and has extended concessional credit lines of about $8 billion, the highest for any single country. India is also developing two Indian economic zones at Mirsarai and Mongla. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to 50 young entrepreneurs from Bangladesh will further augment our ties. Over 350 Indian companies are now registered in Bangladesh. The India-Bangladesh CEO Forum will meet soon for the first time, even as the two countries work towards finalising a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to deepen trade and economic ties as partners rather than competitors.

India stands shoulder to shoulder” with the country’s leadership and people in their development journey.

Noting that India-Bangladesh supply chains worked uninterrupted through the pandemic, Improving connectivity is imperative” for expanding and realising the potential for bilateral trade and investments. The two countries’ leaders have brought Delhi and Dhaka closer and can together bring economic prosperity to South Asia. ( The Hindu, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal)

India and Bangladesh have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a high-speed diesel pipeline from Nonmilitary in Assam to Parbatipur in Bangladesh, a joint venture between Numaligarh Refinery Limited and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation. As an indication of goodwill, an initial consignment of 2200 ton of diesel has already been transported from Siliguri in West Bengal to Parbatipur in 50 wagons by the Indian Railways

Furthermore, India-Bangladesh cooperation in the power sector too has become an important aspect in this bilateral relationship. Bangladesh is currently importing 1160 MW of power from India. The Joint Working Group (JWG)/Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on power provides an institutional framework to promote bilateral cooperation in cross border trade of electricity.

How is India aiding Bangladesh as a development partner ?

Presently, Bangladesh remains India’s biggest development partner. Over the past eight years, India has extended three Lines of Credits (LOC) to Bangladesh, amounting to US$8 billion for development of infrastructure in various sectors, including roads, railways, shipping, and ports. Additionally, India has also been providing grant assistance to Bangladesh for various infrastructure projects, including construction of Akhaura-Agartala rail link, dredging of inland waterways in Bangladesh, and construction of India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline.

Further, High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) also form an important part of India’s developmental assistance to Bangladesh, with India having funded 68 HICDPs, including construction of, academic buildings, cultural centers, skill development and training institutes, student hostels, and orphanages etc. in Bangladesh. 16 additional HICDPs are being implemented.

Although there is a huge trade deficit between Bangladesh and India. As a big partner, India has been enjoying the major trade volume but India should consider this with its highest sincere consideration. Bangladesh is a well trusted ally of India. India should give more duty free access of Bangladeshi products.

This growing trade and economic ties are very important for the two fraternal ties. India and Bangladesh are really eternal friends. Their bondage is based on strong neighbourly spirit. However, this growing trade and economic ties will definitely benefit the people of the two countries. India and Bangladesh can benefit from growing trade and economic ties. We hope that thus bilateral growing trade and economic ties reflects better bilateral understanding.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොළඹ හුණුපිටිය ගංගාරාම විහාරස්ථානයේ වාර්ෂික නවම් මහා පෙරහැරේ සධාතුක කරඬුව මංගල හස්තිරාජයා මත තැන්පත්කර චාරිත්‍රානුකූලව පෙරහර ආරම්භ කිරීම අද (15) සන්ධ්‍යාවේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවැත්විණි.  

ගංගාරාම විහාරාධිකාරී පුජ්‍ය ආචාර්ය කිරින්දේ අස්සජි ස්වාමීන්වහන්සේ ප්‍රමුඛ මහා සංඝරත්නයේ ආශිර්වාදය ඇතිව ගංගාරාම විහාරස්ථ දායක සභාව මෙවර පෙරහර අති උත්කර්ශවත්ව සංවිධානය කර තිබේ.

පළමුව ගංගාරාම විහාරස්ථානයේ පැවති ආගමික වතාවත්වල නිරත වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා අනතුරුව මංගල හස්ති රාජයා මත සධාතුක කරඬුව තැන්පත් කොට ඊට මල් ඉසිමින් පුෂ්පෝපහාර දැක්වීය.

පෙරහර ආරම්භයට පෙර අස්ගිරි පාර්ශවයේ අනුනායක ආණමඩුවේ ධම්මදස්සි අනුනාහිමියෝ ගංගාරාම පෙරහර ඉතිහාසය අළලා විශේෂ අනුශාසනාවක් පැවැත්වූහ.

හිටපු අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන චමල් රාජපක්ෂ, නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී හර්ෂ ද සිල්වා, මහාභාරකාර තැන්පත් ගනේශ් ධර්මවර්ධන, දායක සභාවේ සභාපති රංජිත් විජේවර්ධන මහත්වරු ඇතුළු පිරිසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවන් හා එක්ව සිටියහ.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

හේතු නො විමසා ගැටලු විසඳීම බෞද්ධ පිළිවෙත නොවේ. එහෙයින් බෞද්ධ අධිකරණ ක්‍රියාදාමය තුළ විනිශ්චයට පාත්‍රවන ආරවුල්, වියවුල් සහ වැරැදිවලට අදාළ පසුබිම් හේතු විමසීමට ප්‍රමුඛත්වයක් ලබාදිය යුතු බැව් මෙයට පෙර ලිපියෙන් අපි අවධාරණය කළෙමු. මෙම කාර්යයෙහි අරමුණ වන්නේ නැවත නැවතත් එවැනි ආරවුල්, වියවුල් සහ වැරැදි ඇතිවීම වැළැක්වීම ය. එයට අමතරව, විනිශ්චය තුළින් සාධනීය තීන්දු ලබාදීමක් ද අධිකරණ ක්‍රියාදාමය තුළින් සිදුවිය යුත්තේ ය.

රාජ්‍යයේ ස්ථාවරභාවය සහ අනන්‍යතාව ආරක්‍ෂාකිරීම, ජනතාව සුඛිත මුදිතකිරීම, යහපත් සමාජයක් ගොඩනැගීම යන ජාතික අවශ්‍යතා වෙනුවෙන් සහායවීම බෞද්ධ අධිකරණ ක්‍රියාදාමයේ අරමුණු වෙයි.  අධිකරණය විසින් ලබාදෙන තීන්දු සාධනීය ඒවා ලෙසින් සැළැකිය හැක්කේ එමගින් උක්ත අරමුණු සාක්‍ෂාත් කරගැනීමට ලැබෙන පිටුවහල ඇගැයීමෙනි.

තනි තනිව ගත්කල සමාන වශයෙන් පෙනී යා හැකි සිදුවීම් උක්ත අරමුණු සමඟ සසඳන කල්හි එකිනෙකට හාත්පසින් ම වෙනස්වීමේ ඉඩක් ද වෙයි. එහෙයින් විනිශ්චයට ලක්කරනු ලබන කාරණයට පසුබිම් වූ හේතු විමසීම මෙන් ම සාක්‍ෂි විභාගයෙන් අනතුරුව ලබාදෙන තීන්දුවලින් උක්ත ජාතික අරමුණු සාක්‍ෂාත් කරගැනීමට උපස්ථම්භක වන ආකාරය විමසා බැලීම ද ඉතා වැදගත් වෙයි.

දරුවකුගේ හිමිකම පිළිබඳ නඩු තීන්දුවක් ලබාදීමේ දී එම දරුවාගේ අනාගත යහපැවැත්ම පිළිබඳව සළකා බැලීම වර්තමාන අධිකරණ ක්‍රමය තුළ ද සිදුවෙයි. එහෙත් වෙනත් නඩු තීන්දුවල දී මෙවැනි කරුණු සළකා බැලීමක් සිදුවන්නේ නැත. නිදසුනක් වශයෙන් දේපළ නඩුවක් කෙරෙහි අපගේ අවධානය යොමු කළ හැකි ය. යම් දේපළකට උරුමකරුවන් කිහිප දෙනකු සිටින බව තහවුරු වූ විට අධිකරණය තීන්දුකරන්නේ ඒවා ඒ ඒ පාර්ශ්වකරුවන්ගේ උරුමයට ගැලැපෙන පරිදි බෙදාදීම ය. මෙවැනි බෙදීමකින් එම දේපළෙහි අනාගත පැවැත්මට අත්වන ඉරණම ගැන අධිකරණය නොතකයි.

බෙදා වෙන්කළ දේපළක් ආර්ථික වශයෙන් කිසිදු වටිනාකමක් නැති වස්තුවක් බවට පත්විය හැකි ය. මෙවැනි නඩු තීන්දුවක් නිසා කෘෂිකාර්මික ඉඩමක භාවිත වටිනාකම නැතිවන්නේ නම් ජනතාව සුඛිත මුදිතකිරීමේ ජාතික අරමුණට එයින් බාධාවක් එල්ලවෙයි. එවැනි නඩු තීන්දුවක් නිසා රාජ්‍යය සතු වගාකළ හැකි බිම් ප්‍රමාණය අඩු වී යා හැකි ය. ඉඩමක් බෙදීමේ දී ප්‍රවේශ මාර්ග සඳහා කරනු ලබන වෙන්කිරීම්, ජලය ලබාගැනීමට ඇතිවන බාධා වැනි හේතු නිසා බෙදුණු කොටස්වල ඵලදායිතාව හීනවිය හැකි ය.

එහෙයින් උරුමය පමණක් සළකා එවැනි දේපළක් බෙදාදීම සාධනීය කාර්යයක් නොවේ. දරුවකුගේ අනාගතය බලා හිමිකම තීරණය කරනු ලබන අයුරින් ම, අදාළ දේපළෙහි අනාගත භාවිතය සළකමින් තීන්දු ලබාදීම අධිකරණයේ වගකීම වෙයි. අදාළ දේපළ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගම් සභාව වැනි බිම් මට්ටමේ පාලන ආයතන විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරනු ලබන නිරීක්‍ෂණ වාර්තා, ක්‍ෂේත්‍ර නිරීක්‍ෂකයන්ගේ නිර්දේශ, කෝරළ බුද්ධි මණ්ඩලයේ නීති අංශයේ අදහස් සහ අනෙකුත් ඇගැයීම් මේ සඳහා පාදක කරගත හැකි ය.

දේපළක් හවුලේ භුක්තිවිඳීම සඳහා අනුගමනය කළ හැකි ආර්ථික මාදිලියක් මෙම ප්‍රවාදය තුළින් යෝජනා කර තිබේ. එ මෙන් ම, ජනරජයේ ඉඩම් සහ නිවාස ප්‍රතිපත්තිය සැකැසිය යුතු ආකාරය පිළිබඳ මූලික අදහස් කිහිපයක් ද මෙයින් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ. එවැනි ක්‍රම මත පදනම් වී තීන්දු ලබාදීමෙන් සියලු හිමිකරුවන්ගේ දේපළ අයිතිය තහවුරු කෙරෙන අතර ජනරජයේ ජාතික අරමුණු සාක්‍ෂාත් කරගැනීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව ද සපිරෙයි.

ජනතාවගේ සාමූහික හිමිකම් තහවුරු වන පරිදි නඩු තීන්දු ලබාදීමේ වගකීම ද අධිකරණයට වෙයි. තව ද, ජනරජයේ අනන්‍යතාව තහවුරු කෙරෙන සාමූහික හිමිකම්වලට (බුදුදහම, සිංහල භාෂාව සහ දේශීය දැනුම සඳහා) ප්‍රමුඛතාව පිරිනමා තිබෙන බැවින් එම කරුණු සළකා බලමින් නඩු තීන්දු ලබාදීම අධිකරණය විසින් කළ යුතු වෙයි. බුද්ධ ශාසනය ආරක්‍ෂා කොට පෝෂණයකිරීම ජනරජයේ ප්‍රමුඛ වගකීමක් වන බැවින් එයට අදාළ සංඝාධිකරණ වැනි විනිශ්චය සභා පිහිටුවීම ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාව විසින් කළ යුතු වෙයි. ඒ සඳහා අවැසි නිර්දේශ ලබාදීම උත්තරීතර උපදේශක සභාවේ වගකීමකි. ශාසනික ගැටලු සම්බන්ධයෙන් පොදු සමාජ අධිකරණ මැදිහත්විය යුත්තේ සංඝාධිකරණ වැනි අභ්‍යන්තර විනිශ්චය ආයතනවල තීන්දු ලබාගැනීමෙන් අනතුරුව ය.

රාජ්‍ය ආරක්‍ෂාව අරභයා මැදිහත් වන අයට ඒ සඳහා කැපැ වී ක්‍රියාකිරීමේ නිදහස නීතියෙන් තහවුරු කළ යුතු වේ. ඒ වෙනුවෙන් කැපවන අයට මුක්තියක් හිමිවිය යුතු ය. මෙම කාර්යයට අදාළ යම් ක්‍රියාවකට පදනම් වූ හේතු සහ එම ක්‍රියාවෙහි අරමුණු සළකා බලා තීන්දු ලබාදීම අධිකරණයේ වගකීම වෙයි. තම ජීවිත පරදුවට තබමින් සටන්කිරීමට යොමුවන අය දිරිගැන්වීම, එ් සඳහා අනාගත පරපුර සූදානම් කරවීම යන සාධනීය අරමුණු මෙයට අදාළ වෙයි. මුක්තියට ආවරණය වී වැරැදි සිදුකිරීම වැළැක්වීම අනිවාර්යයෙන් ම සිදුවිය යුත්තකි.

බෞද්ධ විනිසුරන් විසින් අනුගමනය කළයුත්තේ මෙම මහෞෂධ පිළිවෙතයි.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

ලංකා ගුරුසේවා සංගමය

ගරු අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය,
දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා,
අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය,
ඉසුරුපාය,
බත්තරමුල්ල.

අමාත්‍යතුමනි,
2017/2019 අධ්‍යයන වර්ෂවලට අයත් විද්‍යාපීඨ ඩිප්ලෝමාධාරීන්
4000 කගේ ගුරු පත්වීම් ප්‍රමාදවීම සම්බන්ධවයි.

2015 අ.පො.ස. උසස් පෙළ විභාගයට පෙනී සිට 2017/2019 අධ්‍යයන වර්ෂවල විද්‍යාපීඨවලට ඇතුළත්ව අධ්‍යාපන විද්‍යා ශික්ෂණ ඩිප්ලෝමාව හැදෑරු 4000 ක් පමණ වන සිසුන්ගේ අවසන් විභාග ප්‍රතිඵල ද නිකුත් කර ඇති තත්ත්වයක් තුළ එම ගුරු පත්විම් කඩිනම්ව ලබාදීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව කෙරෙහි ඔබගේ දැඩි අවධානය යොමු කරමු.
02ග 2015 අ.පො.ස. උසස් පෙළ විභාගයට පෙනී සිට වසර 07 කට ආසන්න කාලයක් ගතකර ඇති මෙම ඩිප්ලෝමාධාරීන්ගේ පත්වීම් තවදුරටත් ප්‍රමාදවීමත් දිවයින පුරා පුහුණුවලත් ගුරුවරුන්ගේ උග්‍ර ගුරු හිගයක් පැවතීමත් සැළකිල්ලට ගෙන මෙම පත්වීම් කඩිනමින් ලබාදීමට වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කිරීම අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය හා ජාතික අධ්‍යාපන ආයතනය ඇතුඵ අදාළ ආයතනවල වගකීමකි.

03ග අ.පො.ස. උසස් පෙළ විභාගය මගින් වාර්ෂිකව අධ්‍යාපන විද්‍යාපීඨවලට සිසුන් ඇතුළත් කර ගැනීමේදී පවතින ප්‍රමාදයේදීත් අභ්‍යන්තරව ඉගෙනුම ලබන සිසුන්ගේ පාඨමාලා කාලය අනවශ්‍ය ලෙස දීර්ඝ වීමේදීත් මේ වනවිට නිර්මාණය වී ඇති ගැටඵ රැසකි. එහිදී විශේෂයෙන් පසුගිය කාලසීමාව තුළ කිසිදු වගවිභාගයකින් තොරව අධ්‍යාපන විද්‍යාපීඨ කොවිඩ්-19 ප්‍රතිකාර මධ්‍යස්ථාන බවට පත්කිරීමෙන් පැවති තත්ත්වය තවත් උග්‍රවීමට හේතු වී ඇත. මෙහිදී අදාළ අධ්‍යයන වර්ෂ සදහා අයදුම්පත් ඉදිරිපත් කළ සිසුන්ගෙන් පැවති සම්මුඛ පරික්ෂණ ස`දහා සහභාගීත්වය අවම මට්ටමක පවතින බවද වාර්තා වේ.
එහෙයින් පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනයේ තීරණාත්මක කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කරන මෙම අධ්‍යාපන විද්‍යාපීඨ හා එහි පැවැත්වෙන පාඨමාලා මේ ආකාරයෙන් පිරිහීමට ඉඩ හැරීම 43 ලක‍ෂයක් වත්මන් සිසු දරුවන්ගේ මෙන්ම අනාගත සිසු දරුවන්ගේ ද ගුණාත්මක අධ්‍යාපනයට සිදු කරන බරපතළ හානියක් බැවින් කඩිනමින් මෙම පත්වීම් ලබාදිමට වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කරන ලෙසත් එය සාධාරණ කාලයක් තුළ සිදු නොවන්නේ නම් ඔවුන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් ලංකා ගුරුසේවා සංගමයට ඉදිරි ක්‍රියාමාර්ගවලට අවතීර්ණ වීමට සිදුවන බවත් මෙයින් දන්වා සිටිමු.

ස්තූතියි,
මෙයට,

මහින්ද ජයසිංහ
ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්,

Courtesy Adaderana

The health sector trade unions currently on strike have decided to temporarily call off their strike for 14 days from 8.00 a.m. tomorrow (15).

Co-convenor of the Federation of Health Professionals Ravi Kumudesh said that all 18 trade unions have decided to temporarily call of the strike from tomorrow. 

Earlier today, the Federation of Health Professionals had said that the final decision on whether or not to continue their strike action would be taken today (15).

Mr. Kumudesh had said that the minutes of the discussion held with the Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella last evening regarding their demands has been received and that thereby a decision on continuing the strike will be taken. 

The strike action launched by several health sector trade unions had continued for the ninth day today.

The Government Nursing Officers’ Association alone had decided to withdraw from the strike following an enjoining order issued by the Colombo District Court.

However, the remaining 17 trade unions had opted to continue with the strike, which had severely disrupted services and activities at hospitals across the country. 

Eighteen health sector trade unions including those affiliated with nursing, supplementary and paramedical services commenced an indefinite strike from 7.00 a.m. on February 07.

The island-wide strike was staged based on demands including transforming health professional services into closed services, increasing the special duty allowance to Rs. 10,000, eliminating parallel salary anomalies caused by eliminating only teacher salary anomalies, the establishment of a ‘Health Administration Service’ representing all health professionals and the delays in providing solutions to problems that have arisen for health professionals.

However, the strike had not taken place at cancer, maternity and pediatric hospitals, hospitals for treatment of kidney diseases as well as the central blood bank. The strike was also not extended to emergency and lifesaving services.

On February 10, the District Court of Colombo issued two enjoining orders against the Government Nursing Officers’ Association and its chairman Saman Ratnapriya calling for the immediate suspension of their trade union action.

The enjoining orders were issued after taking into account a request made by the Attorney General. He had filed action against the said union and its chairman, seeking an enjoining order from the court to immediately suspend the trade union action of the said association.

The Attorney General also appraised the court of the current deplorable conditions at hospitals due to patient care has been gravely affected.

The Government Nursing Officers’ Association decided to withdraw from the strike following the court order, however the other trade unions had decided to press forward with it.
Meanwhile on February 11, the Presidential Secretariat had issued a special gazette declaring the supply of electricity and provision of healthcare as essential services.

Thereby, electricity supply and provision of healthcare have been identified as essential services for the conduct of ordinary public life.

As per the gazette notification, the supply of electricity” and all service, work or labour, of any description whatsoever, necessary or required to be done in connection with the maintenance, and the reception, care feeding, and treatment, of patients in hospitals, nursing homes, dispensaries, and other similar institution” will now be considered essential services.

Courtesy Adaderana

He said the India-Sri Lanka partnership continues to work towards energy security of Sri Lanka.

India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay today handed over a fuel consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila.

India – a committed partner and a true friend of Sri Lanka. High Commissioner handed over 40,000 MT fuel consignment by @IndianOilcl to Hon’ble Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila today. India-Sri Lanka partnership continues to work towards energy security of Sri Lanka,” the High Commission in Colombo tweeted. 

Steps will be taken to immediately unload the consignment and hand over the fuel to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

The fuel consignment was delivered by the Oil tanker ’Swarna Pushp’ arriving from India. 

Earlier this month, Sri Lanka signed a $500 million credit line with India to import fuel, as the country seeks to stave off power cuts amid a foreign exchange crisis that has hampered purchases of diesel for power plants.

The Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM) is providing the credit line for purchasing petroleum products. 

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 30 coronavirus related deaths for February 14, pushing the country’s death toll due to the virus pandemic to 15,874.

The deaths reported today include 20 males and 10 females, according to the figures released by the Government Information Department.

Eight of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 22 are in the age group of 60 years and above. 

Meanwhile the Health Ministry reported that another 1,252 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 within today (15).

This increases the tally of Covid-19 cases registered in the country thus far to 630,599 while over 19,000 patients infected with the virus are currently undergoing treatment across the island.  

ජයන්ත හේරත්

රන්ජිත්

අප අතරින් වෙන්වී

2/16 ට 

අවුරුද්දකි

ලස්සන ජීවිතයක්

අපූරු.දක්ෂ මිනිහෙක්

බුද්ධිමත් මිනිසෙක්

කිට්ටු මිතුරෙක්

අමතක නොවන ජීවිතයක්

මහාචාර්යවරයෙක්

අවුරුදු 47 කට පෙර

අපි හමුවුණා

කැම්පස් හිදී

මුල් දවස්වලම

නව පරිගණක විද්‍යාගාරය

වාඩිලාගෙන

පස් දෙනෙකුගෙන් යුත් පර්යේෂණ පරිගණක කණ්ඩායම

ඔහු පිහිටුවා ගත්තේය

HYR

ඔහුගේ අවසන් වසරේ

සිසුන් අතලොස්සකට

එකතු වුණා

ශිෂ්‍ය වර්ජන නැතිකරන්නට 

ශිෂ්‍ය සමිති යෝජනාවන්  නොතකා

Power Systems දේශනයකට සහභාගි වුණා

විප්ලවවාදීය

උපාධිය ලැබීමෙන් පසු

අප

CEB

හා

සම්බන්ධ වි

වැඩ කළා

කැලනිතිස්ස

විදුලි බලාගාරය

අපි

දෙන්නම

CEB එකන්

ඉල්ලා අස්වි

උසස් අධ්යයන

සඳහා

ගියා

ඔහු

මොරටුව විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ

තරුන

විදුලි ඉංජිනේරුවන්

බිහි කිරීම

තෝරා ගත්තා

බිහිසුණු සමයකදී 

වරින් වර

කතා කර

ඔහු

හිනාවුනා

මම

හිනා වුණා

අපි

සිනාසුණ

පැය ගණනක්

අවුරුද්දකට  පෙර

අපි ඔහු සමඟ

Zoom

සංවාදයක්

පැවැත්වුව.

අපට

පොදු

පර්යේෂණ

උනන්දුවක් තිබුණ

අධික වේගය

ඔහු අධික

වේගයට ආදරය කළ

මමත්

අධික වේගයට

ආදරය කළා

ඔහු

අධිවේගී

රිය පැදවීම

ප්රිය කළ

අපි

හිස්

ජර්මානු ස්විස්

අධිවේගී

මාර්ගයේ

අධිවේගී රිය

පැදවීම කළ

ලස්සන මතකයන්

ඔහු මා ඉදිරියෙන්

ඉතා ඉක්මනින්

පිටව යනු ඇතැයි

කිසි විටෙකත්

බලාපොරොත්තු නොවීය

සමුගැනීම

එතරම්

පහසු නැත

නිම

නොකළ

වැඩ

ව්යාපාර

කාර්යය භාරය

සෑම

දෙයක්ම පරිපූර්ණ

යූ

ටෝ

පියා

මනෝ රජයේදී 

නැවත

නැවත

හමුවනු ඇත

නිරෝගීව සිටින්න

කරුණාකර

සෞඛ්ය පරීක්ෂණයක්

සඳහා යන්න

දිගු ආයු කාලයක්

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදී සුනිල් දයා අල්විස් මහතා  අභාවප්‍රාප්ත වූ පුවත ඇසීමෙන් මම බලවත් සංවේගයට පත්වීමි.

පැරණි ලංකාදීප පුවත්පතෙන් 70 දශකයේ දී  මාධ්‍ය වෘත්තියට පිවිසි  සුනිල් දයා අල්විස් මහතා පුවත්පත් කලාව වෙනුවෙන් දශක පහකට අධික කාලයක් කැපී පෙනෙන මෙහෙවරක නිරත වූවෙකි.

1994 වර්ෂයේ දී ලේක් හවුස් ආයතනයට විශේෂාංග ලේඛකයෙකු ලෙස එක්වන සුනිල් දයා අල්විස් මහතා කලක් සිළුමිණ ප්‍රාදේශීය ප්‍රවෘත්ති කර්තෘවරයා ලෙසත් සම කර්තෘවරයෙකු ලෙසත් ගුණාත්මක මාධ්‍ය කලාවක් වෙනුවෙන් සිය පන්හිඳ මෙහෙයවීය.

ගවේෂණාත්මක මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු වන සුනිල් දයා අල්විස් මහතා සෞඛ්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ පුවත් වාර්තාකරණයට දැක්වූයේ විශේෂ දක්ෂතාවයකි.  මාධ්‍ය වෘත්තිකයන් අතර නොමද ආදරයට හා ගෞරවයට පාත්‍ර වූ සුනිල් දයා අල්විස් මහතා නවක මාධ්‍යවේදීන් රැසකගේ ගුරුවරයෙකි.

දිවයින ආරම්භක සාමාජිකයකු ලෙසත් අමාත්‍යාංශ මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්වරයකු ලෙසත් සිය වෘත්තිය අත්දැකීම් සපුරා ගත් ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදී සුනිල් දයා අල්විස් මහතා සිය වෘත්තිය අත්දැකීම් තුළින් මෙරට ජන සමාජය වෙනුවෙන් ඉටු කළ පුවත්පත් කලා මෙහෙවර සදා මතකයේ රැඳෙනු ඇත.

අවුරුදු 75 ක් ආයුවළඳා හදිසියේ අප අතරින් වෙන්ව ගිය ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදී   සුනිල් දයා අල්විස්  මහතාට නිවන් සුව ලැබේවා! යැයි  ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරන අතර, එතුමාගේ අභාවයෙන් ශෝකයට පත් ගීතක රවිඳු අල්විස් පුතු , සුචිනි අල්විස් දියණිය ඇතුළු එම පවුලේ සියලු දෙනාටත්, ඥාති හිතමිත්‍රාදීන්ටත් මාගේ බලවත් සංවේගය මෙයින් ප්‍රකාශ කරමි.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, February 14: A survey conducted by the Colombo-based  Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) in September-October 2021, found that while the majority of Sri Lankans were wedded to the principle of elections, they were also hankering for a strong leader who is not inconvenienced by elections.”

An overwhelming majority (92.2%) were in support elections as a way of choosing the rulers. However, 75% favored a strong leader. From an ethnic perspective it was mostly respondents from the Sinhala and Tamil communities who said that there should be a strong leader who did not have to worry about elections. Up Country Tamils and Muslims  opposed the strong leader principle.

Exactly half of the respondents (50.3%) were of the opinion that more powers should be given to parliament by reducing the powers of the President.

An overwhelming majority (87.4%) said that all major decisions that concerned the country should be taken by experts rather than politicians. Nationally, a majority of respondents (60.7%) were of the view that there should be more experts as opposed to politicians in the government.

There appeared to be overwhelming support for the military as a result of its efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis in the country. However, when asked as to whether the country should be governed by the military, a substantial majority (70.8%) said no”.

There was however considerable support in the military handling public affairs at a time of crises. This view was held particularly by the Sinhala community (60.5%), as opposed to those from the minorities (Tamils 30.5%, Up Country Tamils 30.2% and Muslims 25.2%).

On giving decision-making powers to religious leaders, a majority of respondents (76.3%) disagreed that major decisions should be taken by religious leaders.

A majority of respondents (64.1%) said that it is unlikely that during its term in office, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government would lift the country from the economic crisis it has been in.

There appears to be a certain degree of skepticism about the government’s plans to bring about a new constitution. Nearly 40% were of the view that a new constitution was unlikely.

Fertilizer Question

A majority of respondents (72.1%) were of the opinion that even though chemical fertilizers are not good for one’s health, until a viable solution is found, chemical fertilizers should continue to be used to some extent. Only 23% of the respondents were of the view that chemical fertilizers must be completely stopped, immediately.  

Foreign Investment

Nearly 45% of the respondents felt that the government should allow foreign companies to invest in the country, as an increase in trade would benefit everyone. But 37.5% said that due to exploitative practices of foreign companies, the government should not allow foreign investment in the country.

On household income, a significant proportion of respondents (75.1%) indicated that their household income got worse. This is felt most among the Up Country Tamil community (63.6%) which indicated a drop in income. A significant majority of respondents (58.8%) from the Up Country Tamil community indicated that their political party affiliations resulted in their being unfairly treated when receiving government subsidies.

Ethnic Relations

Nearly 48.6% were of the view that their association with persons from other ethnic groups had remained the same when compared to what it was two years ago. Nearly 30% of the respondents claimed that it had got worse. Up Country Tamils (47.3%) and Muslims (40.5%) reported that inter-ethnic relations had got worse.

Nearly 37% of the respondents believed that freedom to criticize the President and other political leaders had decreased, whilst nearly 32% of the respondents claimed that it had remained the same. Muslims (51.9%), Up Country Tamils (51.5%) and Tamils (50.3%) claimed that there had been a decline in the level of freedom to criticize the President and other political leaders when compared to what it was during the previous government.

Muslims (50.4%) and Up Country Tamis (56.6%) and Tamils (45.3%) said that it had become difficult to criticize the military. Only 25.3% of the Sinhalese felt so.  

Whilst a majority of respondents (58.2%) were of the view that the government would maintain good foreign relations, nearly one third of the respondents indicates that the government would not. From those who indicated that the government would not maintain successful foreign relations, it was mostly respondents from the Muslim community (40.2%) who held this view.

By N SATHIYA MOORTHY Courtesy Rediff

Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla calls on Sri Lanka Foreign Minister G L Peiris in New Delhi, February 8, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

In New Delhi recently, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G L Peiris told interviewers that bilateral ties are moving from a ‘transactional’ to a ‘strategic’ phase.

It was a line drawn out from the position paper of his nation’s high commissioner, Milinda Moragoda, who has also been flagging the idea since his taking over last year.

The bilateral ties have jumped nautical miles ahead in recent months, say, beginning with the Indian private sector Adani Group getting management stakes in the West Container Terminal project in Colombo port.

Earlier, India was peeved at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government cancelling the tri-nation MoU for joint development of the port’s Eastern Container Terminal, also involving Japan, signed by the previous government of his political rivals.

Sri Lanka’s forex and economic crises have cemented bilateral ties as never before in recent years.

The steep fall in tourism, beginning with the 2019 Easter Sunday serial blasts followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also drained internal remittances from Sri Lankans employed overseas — they all had returned home — caused the forex crisis.

The economic crisis is a legacy issue and every government since Independence should take the blame.

To this, President Gota made his contribution in the form of overnight ‘organic farming’ policy, starting with import-ban on items of daily need like turmeric from Tamil Nadu.

Anti-Rajapaksa economists saw it as an honourable way of covering up the impending forex crisis, as applicable to import ban on other goods.

Sooner than later, it translated as previously-undisclosed import of ‘organic fertiliser’ from China.

Beijing’s tactless usury of demanding and obtaining $6.4 million in scarce forex after Sri Lankan farm scientists had rejected the imports as ‘sub-standard’ has made China overnight unpopular among large sections of Sri Lanka’s rural population, who are dependent on farming.

Coupled with that is the instant delivery of chemical fertiliser to save standing crops in vast, if not all the areas, has enhanced India’s image as a friend-in-deed among multiple sections.

The knowledgeable are convinced, now as always, that India’s terms won’t be usurious in any which way.

Sri Lanka could count on New Delhi to relax terms further in unforeseen circumstances such as a tsunami now and a pandemic another time.

Today, there is greater appreciation for India extending about $2.5 billion in aid than when India volunteered Covid-related medical assistance to all neighbours.

The COVID gift package had included medical kits in the early stages, followed by vaccines and oxygen.

Today’s forex-related aid includes $ 1 bn in loan for importing essentials, including food and medicines, and $500 million for importing oil to keep the Sri Lankan machinery going.

However, the greater attraction involves the hurried Sri Lankan clearance of the delayed deal for the joint development of the British era Trincomalee oil tank farms — 99 tanks, total one-million tonne capacity.

Indian expectations are that Colombo would not use motivated protests and court cases to scuttle the project on a later date — or, allot the 24 Trinco tanks retained by the public sector Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to scuttle the project on a more convenient day, as was the case with such others in the past.

Minister Udaya Gamanpilla has since told the Sri Lankan parliament that India had expressed a desire to participate in oil and gas exploration in Sri Lankan waters. Incidentally, when Norway mapped these waters for oil wealth two decades ago, Sri Lankan critics termed as their hidden agenda for playing facilitator to ethnic talks between the government and the LTTE.

The Peiris-Moragoda use of the term ‘strategic’ possibly refers to creating a joint ‘strategic oil reserve’ for both nations to benefit from.

Refurbishing the tanks is going to cost India billions, and the physical security of the farms, both from internal and external threats, on land and sea alike, can be expected to be entrusted to the Sri Lankan forces, particularly the Navy.

The nation’s armed forces had sought and got the right when the previous government handed over the southern Hamabantota port territory to China in a debt-to-equity swap-deal after the earlier government of then president Mahinda Rajapaksa — now Sri Lanka’s prime minister — had got into a usurious construction contract with the Chinese.

Minister Peiris’s maiden visit in this term as foreign minister after taking over in August was delayed by the pandemic, though he had met his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the United Nations.

Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, another brother of President Gota, visited New Delhi not very long ago, where one of his engagements was a uniquely co-hosted meeting by his counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman and Dr Jaishankar.

Incidentally, the two ministers and also High Commissioner Moragoda have also met National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval, indicating that there were other aspects of ‘strategic’ relations that the two nations were engaged in.

It had all begun with Doval’s Colombo visit of November 2020, when the two nations along with common neighbour Maldives elevated their existing yet non-operational Maritime Security Agreement into a ‘Maritime and Security Agreement’ with all its import.

After Peiris’s Delhi visit, an Indian media interview with him is now talking about preliminary talks for the purchase of two India-made Dornier fixed-wing aircraft, which New Delhi had deployed and also donated to the Maldives some time ago for maritime surveillance.

If it happens, the request-and-offer, or offer-and-acceptance as the case may be, should mark the first time New Delhi is supplying military use aircraft, though for not-exactly military purposes, after deciding not to supply lethal war material at the height of the ethnic war in Sri Lanka.

Following the end of the ethnic war in the country, Sir Lanka, since 2011, is the third arm of what originally commenced as the two-nation, bi-annual Dosti Coast Guard friendship exercises.

The last such joint exercise was conducted in Maldives in November 2021. It will be interesting to note if common Ocean neighbours, Mauritius and Seychelles are invited, and participate in the next edition of Dosti.

In between, the two nations participated as observers at the NSA-level talks, and the likelihood of their joining the Maritime and Security Arrangement, with Colombo as the secretariat, among the other three nations cannot be ruled out.

With thr US in Diego Garcia in the middle and India’s tri-Services Andamans Command and the upcoming Lakshadweep unit forming the natural flank along with French Reunion, a strong cooperative Indian Ocean Region security arrangement can blockade the mouth of the Indian Ocean for adventurous navies intent on harm.

Evaluating the emerging situation, the ministry of external affairs created a new division on the Indian Ocean Region some years back, overseeing affairs with the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Seychelles.

More recently, it expanded the Indian Ocean Region division to include western Indian Ocean nations, namely, Madagascar, Comoros and Reunion.

This does not automatically mean that these nations, especially Madagascar and Comoros, are with India on matters the Indian Ocean Region. Instead, it is India’s way of looking at the Indian Ocean Region south of its land territory as a single unit on matters of maritime development, security and consequent concerns.

In Delhi, Peiris also extended invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the BRICS Summit in Colombo next month.

If Sri Lankan media speculation comes true and Modi attends the summit — possibly with a bilateral on the sidelines — then, India would have upturned predecessor Manmohan Singh’s last-minute cancellation from the 2008 CHOGM, though the comparison should end there.

It also remains to be seen if BIMSTEC would follow the ASEAN precedent of offering the seat to Myanmar, but not to the ruling junta.

The subdued bilateral euphoria of the present is to be accompanied by the Indian vote at yet another UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka in March, after New Delhi had abstained a year ago.

Beginning last year’s Resolution 46/1, the West-initiated resolution has gone beyond the original war crimes probe to include every day violations, the likes of which deviate from the original and are also committed by other States, including some of the resolution-movers.

The West, starting with the US as prime mover, has since begun painting India with the same Sri Lankan brush, when it comes to more recent allegations of non-war crimes human rights violations.

Under Modi especially, India has been moving slowly but surely to the centre-stage on the Sri Lankan ethnic issue.

It has more to do with competitive Sri Lankan Tamil politics over the non-acceptance of the India-facilitated power devolution package under the Thirteenth Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution than New Delhi’s security concerns of the China kind.

Then, there is the irreconcilable fishermen’s dispute between the Tamil-speaking coastal population in the two nations.

It would continue to be a thorn in the flesh for both nations, but for starters, Colombo has to display a certain level of maturity in ensuring that the Sri Lanka Navy does not continually harass the Indian fishers crossing the IMBL, as it acts as a constant dampener to bilateral ties.

Non-regional diplomats posted in the two countries and also the international media are the culprit, but they should be given least opportunity in the matter.

Bilateral ties have three major impediments.

One, of course, is China, and the other two relate to the ethnic issue and the fishers’ dispute, the latter bilateral in form and content.

Colombo has since sought to address the former.

The return of institutionalised foreign policy — or the foreign policy returning to the institutional mechanism, to whatever extent possible under the circumstances — has meant that Sri Lanka is able to articulate its India-China bi-polar approach in a better way than any time in the past.

In Delhi media interviews, Peiris reiterated that they would go to India, China, Bangladesh or any other bilateral partners first to address the forex and fiscal crisis, before considering the IMF.

It’s not about the IMF’s all-American character as often inadequately understood.

Though the minister did not explain it, the left-leaning leadership in Colombo is anxious to avoid politico-electoral unpopularity attending on IMF conditionalities nearer home compared to their populism.

To this, Sri Lankan street opinion may have now added Chinese usury, which was felt in every rural home, too, after the ‘fertiliser scam’.

It was unlike the two Hambantota deals — construction and swap — and also the upcoming Colombo Port City, which were mostly urban politico-economic issues.

The China-funded projects mostly relate to urban or economic infrastructure, including the upcoming Colombo Port City and expressways that do not impact the vast rural population directly.

Over the past close to a decade, they have also been taking away Sri Lankan jobs in their millions, hence family incomes.

Colombo seems to have understood what is wrong with their China-centric economic policy, which has proved to be too costly for Beijing’s uncomplicated political and diplomatic support at the UNHRC and the UN, if and when it’s hauled up over there.

Against this, Indian projects, though infrastructure-related at present, are expected to massively boost domestic jobs and family incomes.

No one in Sri Lanka can dream of India demanding its territory in lieu of debt, or blacklisting a public sector bank for non-payment for substandard fertiliser, on the government’s advice.

The message has to be taken across, but no one in Sri Lanka has any doubt that if the present forex/economic crisis were to continue for unforeseen reasons again, India would be as mean a lender, which anyway it has never been, given the concessional terms and the comforting hope of rescheduling as has happened now with two pending debts, totalling $ 900 mn, if it came to that.

There now seems to be greater clarity and acceptance in Indian government circles that they needed to take Colombo at its words, on ‘development funds from all, strategic ties only with India’.

The coming months especially will (have to) provide evidence to this also to the Indian strategic community and to the larger world.

At some point, India also needs to re-evaluate unilateralism in defence and strategic affairs, without prior consultation or post facto information for smaller neighbours, on the nation’s extra-regional defence and security pacts — with the erstwhile Soviet Union during the Cold War and the US-led West, since.

The latest is the Quad, Indo-Pacific duo, where Sri Lanka seems to be moving closer to the EU-led Indo-Pacific, instead.

The EU initiative itself is a product of absence of prior consultation and later-day communication between the US and its European allies.

Clearly, Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, as it has been declaring through the past decade-plus-half but not as convincingly as at present.

There is a long way to travel together, but a new beginning has been made, after all!https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.498.2_en.html#goog_1561762740

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist, political analyst and author, is Distinguished Fellow and Head-Chennai Initiative, Observer Research Foundation.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

Prof.Peiris addressing armed forces and police officers at the National Defence College (NDC) (pic courtesy FM)

Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris has questioned the conduct of the British government, a member of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council, in addition to being the leader of Sri Lanka Core Group at the UNHRC, the extraordinary efforts it had made to suppress wartime dispatches from Colombo.

Prof. Peiris underscored the irrationality in the British action as they were reportedly so keen to establish the truth, pertaining to unsubstantiated war crimes allegations directed at the then political leadership and the military.

The Foreign Minister said so addressing a selected group of armed forces and police officers at the National Defence College, Kollupitiya.

Prof. Peiris addressing the officers on the invitation of Maj. Gen. Amal Karunasekara, Commandant of the NDC, Prof. Peiris explained how the British worked overtime to prevent a senior member of House of Lords Michael Wolfgang Laurence Morris from securing classified documents.

At the onset of the discourse, Prof. Peiris acknowledged that Sri Lanka was high on the Geneva agenda at the forthcoming 49th session of the UNHRC scheduled to commence just two weeks later.

The controversial dispatches authored by Lt. Colonel Anthony Gash, the then Colombo-based Defence Attaché dealt with the ground situation on the Vanni front (January to May 2009) as troops surrounded the remaining fighting cadre of the LTTE.

Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion on May 19, 2009 on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon.

Emphasising the importance of the British dispatches sent simultaneously as the fighting was taking place on the Vanni east front, Prof. Peiris asked whether the British questioned the credibility of their own employee based in Colombo.

The UK succeeded the US as the leader of Sri Lanka Core Chair in June 2018 in the wake of the then President Donald Trump quitting the UNHRC calling the UN body a cesspit of political bias. The US returned to the Geneva body in the wake of Joe Biden’s election as the President.

Prof. Peiris discussed why Lord Naseby hadn’t been able to secure the dispatches until he sought the intervention of the Information Commissioner’s Office in terms Freedom of Information Act 2000. However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (DCO), the custodian of the classified documents pertaining to the Vanni war, released a heavily censored section of them, Prof. Peiris said, questioning the British motive. The Foreign Minister emphasized that the British documents would have helped those really concerned about accountability issues to ascertain the Vanni situation.

Declaring that he had perused the heavily detracted British diplomatic cables, Prof. Peiris explained how they helped Sri Lanka to prepare its defence. A particular cable questioned the very basis of the UN allegation pertaining to the death of over 40,000 civilians during the final phase of the ground offensive.

During the course of the one-hour lecture, Prof. Peiris assured the military that in terms of international laws applicable to wars/conflict Sri Lankan personnel couldn’t be hauled up before international war crimes court under any circumstances. Twice Foreign Minister Prof. Peiris emphasized there was absolutely no danger or risk in them being subjected to such action as the international law was very clear in this regard.

Prof. Peiris served as the foreign minister during 2010-2015 President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa brought him back as the FM last August in place of Dinesh Gunawardena.

Prof. Peiris also dealt with what he called critically important work undertaken by an international Advisory Council appointed to assist the Presidential Commission to Investigate Complaints Regarding Missing Persons. The Advisory Council comprises three legal luminaries namely the late Sir Desmond de Silva (chairman), Sir Geoffrey Nice, and Prof. David Crane.

Referring to current international ‘flashpoints,’ Prof. Peiris expressed shock and dismay over the way a section of the international community had responded to the Sri Lanka accountability issue. Prof. Peiris was harsh on the creation of a special mechanism to gather information on Sri Lanka against the backdrop of UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet declaration that they have developed an information and evidence repository with nearly 120,000 individual items already held by the UN.

A resolution adopted in March 2021 allows the UN to collect, consolidate, analyze and preserve information and evidence, and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, to advocate for victims and survivors, and to support relevant judicial and other proceedings.”

Questioning the credibility of the Geneva process Prof. Peiris asked how evidence and individual items that hadn’t been subjected to examination whatsoever could be used against Sri Lanka.

How could unsubstantiated claims made under the condition of anonymity be accepted without being verified?” Prof. Peiris asked, accusing Geneva of what the academic called cynical violation of the basic law.

Reiterating Sri Lanka’s commitment to the UN processes, Prof. Peiris questioned the necessity of a special mechanism at the UN’s expense in spite of the availability of UPR (Universal Periodic Review) to inquire into the conduct of all countries. Alleging that war winning Sri Lanka had been singled out and treated unfairly, Prof. Peiris said that the human rights issue was being used as a tool to interfere in domestic affairs.

Prof. Peiris pointed out that Geneva was even interfering in the functions of the Parliament. Referring to Geneva resolutions and statements from therein, Prof. Peiris said: the devolution of power, reorganisation of the armed forces, reorganization of the police force, the balance of authority between the Central government and the Provincial Councils, the Prevention of Terrorism Act and its reforms are matters that should be decided by the Parliament and the people of Sri Lanka.

Instead of giving local mechanisms much needed support, the UNHRC was pushing to impose solutions, Prof. Peiris said, declaring such measures weren’t durable.

Prof. Peiris stressed the importance of the role played by mechanisms-namely the OMP (Office of Missing Persons), OR (Office of Reparations) and ONUR (Office of National Unity and Reconciliation) in current efforts to address accountability issues. Reference was also made by Prof. Peiris to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa while explaining the work undertaken by Commission of Inquiry (CoI)  appointed under the chairmanship of sitting Supreme Court judge Abdul Hameed Dileep Nawaz to investigate, inquire into and report, or take required actions, regarding the findings of the former Commissions, or Committees, that investigated human rights violations, serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and other such offences.

Declaring that Sri Lanka was ready to cooperate fully with UNHRC, Prof. Peiris said that Geneva couldn’t substitute the Parliament.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa will be the common opposition candidate for the next presidential elections as SJB believes that people want him to lead the nation, its National Organizer Tissa Attanayake said today.

Attanayake told a press conference that the SJB believes that people will endorse Premadasa’s candidacy and that all opposition political parties will back him. We feel that Mr. Premadasa will be the person who will be backed by all opposition political parties and the people,” he added.

Responding to the challenge given to his party by the SLPP to come for an election, Attanayake said SJB is even ready for a presidential or a general election. A Presidential election  or a general election could be held next year if the President wishes and we are ready for any elections,” he said.

Also he said the local government elections and the provincial council elections can be held this year. (Yohan Perera)

Courtesy Adaderana

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has explained and assured the Cabinet of Ministers that 11 funds including the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) will be exempted from the one-time tax surcharge of 25% proposed in the 2022 Budget.

It had been proposed in the 2022 Budget to impose a 25% Surcharge Tax on individuals or companies earning an annual taxable income of Rs. 2,000 million or more.

It is to be a one-time tax payable by high value taxpayers in 2022 for their income in the tax year of 2020/21 while the objective of this special tax was to raise the necessary revenue to finance the Government expenditure programs for the year undisturbed.  

Concerns were subsequently voiced by experts, opposition politicians as well as members of the government itself that the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) would also be subjected to this 25% surcharge tax as any fund that exceeds Rs. 2 billion taxable income would be subjected to this surcharge tax.

However, making a special statement to Ada Derana today the Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa said he assured the Cabinet during its meeting this evening that 11 funds including the EFP and the ETF will not be subjected to this surcharge tax. 

He said that clearly at the time the government expected to generate a revenue of around Rs. 100 billion from this surcharge tax and that accordingly they identified 69 companies and individuals who will be subjected to this tax.

He said that at no point did they expect to include the EPF or ETF into this tax. Rajapaksa said there are 11 funds including the EPF and ETF and that they never intended to include any of them into this tax surcharge. 

However, the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017 of the previous government has identified these 11 funds as income tax paying institutions. Therefore, there was an opinion among the public that this would be a surcharge.” 

He said that they have explained in the Cabinet meeting that all 11 funds will be exempted from this tax.

Ceylon Chambers urges govt to reconsider

Meanwhile the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce today also noted serious concerns on the provisions of the Surcharge Tax Bill that has been gazetted recently to implement the budget proposal on same.

The Chamber said it provided many alternative recommendations for the implementation of the Surcharge Tax by considering either an income tax surcharge of 10% from all taxpayers, an income tax surcharge at varying rates depending on the level of income, credit to be carried forward for paying the one-off tax or the imposition of the tax on a prospective basis. 

Any of these alternatives could have raised the targeted revenue while minimizing the burden on the private sector during this extremely challenging period in the country, it said.

Further, the Chamber in its representations, specifically requested to avoid application of the Surcharge Tax at Group level considering its unfair impact on smaller subsidiaries and minority shareholders. This method of application at the Group level could be a serious deterrent to local and foreign investors who consider entering into joint ventures with large conglomerates, it emphasized.

Therefore, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce requested the Government to reconsider some of these provisions before it is submitted for approval by Parliament and extends its support to develop alternative proposals to ensure the revenue targets are met.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry says that another 1,231 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 in Sri Lanka within today (14).

This brings the country’s official Coronavirus caseload thus far to 629,347 while presently a total of 18,158 patients infected with the virus are under medical care. 

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 36 coronavirus related deaths for February 13, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,844.

The deaths reported today includes 20 males and 16 females, according to the figures released by the Government Information Department. 

Six of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 30 are abed 60 years and above.