උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

එන ජනවාරි මාසයේ සිට තම තමන්ගේ ගෙවත්තේ කුමක් හෝ බෝග කිහිපයක් පැල කර ගන්නැයි වෙළෙඳ අමාත්‍ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා ජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියි.

දෙවන ලෝක යුද්ධ කාලයේදී පවා ආහාර හිගයක් ආ බවද ඒ මහතා සඳහන් කළේය.

ආහාර මිල ඉහල යාම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මාධ්‍යවේදීන් වෙත අදහස් පළ කරමින් ඔහු මෙසේ කියා සිටියේය.

සෑම නිවසකම වගේ මිරිස් පැල කිහිපයක්, බටු පැලයක්, නිවිති ටිකක් වගා කරගන්න. මේ වගේ කෙටි කලකින් ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගන්න පුළුවන්. අපි යෝජනා කරලා තියෙනවා කඩිනම් වගා සංග්‍රාමයක්. ජනවාරි මාසයේ සිට තම තමන්ගේ ගෙවත්තේ මොනවා හරි වගාකරගන්න. මොකද දෙවන ලෝක යුද්ධ කාලෙත් ඉතා විශාල ආහාර හිඟයක් ඇති වුණා

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry says that another 529 persons have tested positive for Covid-19.

The new cases confirmed today includes one returnee from overseas.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases registered in the country to 583,251 while presently approximately 9,252 infected patients are undergoing treatment. 

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 19 coronavirus related deaths for December 24, increasing the death toll in Sri Lanka due to the virus to 14,871.

The deaths confirmed today include 07 males and 12 females, according to the latest figures released by the Govt. Information Department. 

One of the victims is below the age of 30 years while two are between 30-59 years. The remaining 16 patients are above the age of 60 years. 

Courtesy Hiru News

It is reported that Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundara has sent a letter to the President stating that he will resign from the post of Secretary to the President after 31 January.

In that letter, Dr. Jayasundera has requested the President to release him from the post of Secretary to the President after 31 January.

It is reported that this article mentions all the difficulties faced by Dr. P.B. Jayasundara during his tenure as Secretary to the President.

Some of the decisions taken by Dr. P.B. Jayasundara as the Secretary to the President were severely criticized by various senior officials, including the Ministers and Members of the present Government.

By Rohana R. Wasala

(An opinion offered for critical examination)

Addressing a gathering of jurists in Sinhala at a function in Colombo, justice minister Ali Sabry said (December 12): To me as minister for justice, and to us all as citizens of this country, people are the most important factor. It is because of them that this (legal) profession exists; judges sit because of them. Ultimately, the interest of the people must take priority over everything (else). I don’t think I will (Ali Sabry chuckled as he said this) seek to go to parliament again…. I state this without any fear.. I will revert to my preferred occupation, that of supporting the judiciary…. We know that some laws of this country have not been updated for over a hundred years. This task (of modernising outdated laws) is our key focus… Some thirty committees are engaged in this work (at present)….”. Then the minister talked about the perennial problem of law’s delays. He claimed that even the Mahanayake Thera, when he called on him, asked him to do something about the monks having to visit courts frequently (due to the slowness of court procedures): We’ll introduce a small claims court as found in other countries; cases that involve less than (Rs) 2 million need no prolonged examination of evidence, except in special instances. A method for resolving these cases through an affidavit system will be put in place. This is to relieve pressure on the district courts”. (Explanations in parentheses are mine. I hope I have interpreted the minister’s meaning correctly. C.O.O.L in the title is a re-arranged acronym for One Country One Law) 

The present ruling alliance, the SLPP, led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa sought election on the main platform of One Country One Law. However sincerely both reached out to the Tamil and Muslim minorities,and had never practiced discrimination against them in the past, the level of support expected from them was not forthcoming.This was due to the influence that certain communalist Tamil and Muslim politicians exercise over those minorities.  It was a fact that the two brothers came to power chiefly on the strength of the SLPP-ideology-inspired Sinhala votes. But, as could be expected, they assured the minorities that their interests would not be ignored in any way; they invited all of them to participate in nation building with the majority community. Steps were taken to ensure that Tamils and Muslims are fully represented in the administration. The key ministry of justice was given by the  president to national list MP Ali Sabry. No minister in the cabinet has to do more with the implementation of One Country One Law concept than Ali Sabry. 

Surprisingly, he is now talking as if he has forgotten that all important (at least purportedly so) goal of the government, for which it got the strongest ever electoral mandate. One may think that Ali Sabry is having the last laugh! He implies that even the monks, the most vehement advocates of One Country One Law, are now only complaining about the chronic problem of law’s delays, which, of course, is not a political issue! The One Country One Law ideal involves politics, as it is opposed by a minority of communal and religious extremists.

The appointment of a whistleblower Buddhist monk, who had earned a bad reputation due to his own lack of basic self-restraint and discipline (in spite of his cause being a genuine justifiable one), as head of a presidential task force is as questionable and as irrational as the president’s later appointment of a trade union leader monk as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo; but that is a different matter. Bracketing Ali Sabry with the controversial monk could not be accidental. Though the two are handling closely allied subjects, they are diametrically opposed to each other in their education, religious beliefs, and personal attributes. Probably they were coupled together to neutralize each other, or just to make a mockery of the One Country One Law project.

But extremists are a vanishing tribe nowadays, for there are signs that indicate that these communalists will go out of circulation by the time of the next elections, replaced by the emerging progressive younger generation of Tamil and Muslim politicians, just as the old guard politicians of the two major national parties will be ousted by an alliance of smaller patriotic parties and groups led by a refurbished JVP further strengthened by the return to its fold of its earlier stalwarts,and also accompanied by a rejuvenation of its leadership. The concluding paragraph of  an article of mine entitled JVP at a crossroads” published in The Island Midweek Review on March 7, 2018 was as follows: The JVP must take a long, hard look at its wasteful past and subject itself to serious reform as a party. It must get rid of its outdated ideologies and outmoded leaders. It must not condemn the voters as idiots for not voting for them. Most important, the JVPers must find political allies with whom they can coexist and serve the nation.”

(I would now use the term ‘save’ for ‘serve’ in the last sentence.) 

I imagine that such a broad alliance will absorb emerging young political activists of all communities including Uvindu Wijeweera (son of JVP founder Rohana Wijeweera), Amith Weerasinghe, Dan Priyasad, Arun Siddhartan et al, and non-extremist ordinary young Muslim, and ex-Muslims such as Rishvin Ismath (who has fearlessly appeared on national TV channels, speaking against Islamists, risking his life for the sake of the country). Such a winning alliance must have the last laugh. The One Country One Law ideal must be left for them to realise.

That was a sort of anticipatory digression. Let me return to the Ali Sabry factor that is the subject of this piece. A retrospective survey is necessary at this point. About a year ago,

Media secretary Viraj Abeysinghe of the Ministry of Health issued a press statement warning against spreading false information allegedly concocted by certain politicians and websites regarding the subject of whether to bury or burn the bodies of persons who had succumbed to the COVID-19 infection (lankacnews-Sinhala/December 28, 2020). It notified that the Ministry was turning its attention to some ‘politically motivated fake news’ stories featuring powerful politicians connected with the government. The statement further said that for the time being (daenata) cremation alone was done on the instructions of all the expert reports received by the Ministry until then. Very much the same news was carried in Hiru TV News (9:55 pm/December 27, 2020). We felt that this, despite the provisionality expressed by ‘daenata’, was signalling an end to needlessly prolonged dilly-dallying on the part of the authorities about an issue where evidence-based science ought  to have had the last word.

Interviewed by two You Tube channels (Hari TV/Lahiru Mudalige/December 16 and Konara Vlogs/Avishka Konara/December 23, 2020) Ali Sabry PC, Minister of Justice, stressed that his struggle was to build bridges rather than walls between the communities. For over eight months by then he had been advocating burial of bodies of Muslims who had died of Covid-19, ignoring the decree of the competent authority, the DGHS (Director General of Health Services). The DGHS was acting on the advice of the local experts who knew best what was suitable for our country in the then existing context, i.e., cremation. The reputed lawyer was the legal consultant of (current president) Gotabaya Rajapaksa at least for fifteen years from the latter’s defence secretary days; he had successfully defended the latter against false charges of various kinds fabricated by political opponents. Sabry’s aim of establishing intercommunal harmony had been laudable, and he might be sincere in his efforts in that direction, but how sincere was yet to be demonstrated. This was because it was puzzling that he repeatedly warned that young Muslims were likely to be pushed towards extremism by what they’d perceive as a denial of their right to freedom of religion if the health authorities did not allow the burial of bodies of Muslims claimed by Covid-19. His totally nonsensical stand on the sensitive issue (that had to be left for science, but not religion, to resolve) was likely to give a fillip to extremists and other miscreants opposed to the government to create trouble. M.L.A,M. Hizbullah, State minister and later Eastern Provincial governor under the previous yahapalanaya, made a similar warning, which was not warranted by the then prevailing ground realities, not long before the 2019 April 21 Easter Sunday terror bombings by Islamists.

During the first interview mentioned above, Ali Sabry made the patently false claim that the Aluthgama and Digana incidents drove young Muslims to extremism, whereas the truth was the reverse of that, as borne out by evidence. (These incidents must be investigated even belatedly to discover the factual situation that then obtained. The disastrous policy of political correctness that led to the submergence of the truth on those occasions then seemed to be at work once again.) Sabry referred to how the UK responded to incidents of Islamic extremist violence as a model to follow in dealing with the same problem in Sri Lanka: the UK government reached out to the mainstream Muslim minority and acted to win their confidence and support in order to contain Islamic extremism in that country. That was a false analogy. He implied that Sri Lanka had to do the same (as if Sri Lanka has not been doing exactly that for centuries) or ‘we must kill all Muslims and put them into the sea!’ (The violent imagery in his speech was an indication of the commotion in his own mind resulting from his subliminal awareness of guilt as he felt compelled to lie in that situation for political expediency within his own community. His persistent advocacy of burial against the lawful directives of the DGHS revealed his anxiety to avoid displeasing pious Muslims who insisted on burying their dead as per strict Muslim funeral rites.) It was reported that he threatened to resign from his ministerial post on this issue, but that he was persuaded to stay on, which to the genuinely concerned sounded fishy, no doubt. 

Ali Sabry had been sounding the warning mentioned above (about possible unrest among Muslim youth over the ‘no burial only cremation’ problem since early April 2020. He apparently believed that he was undergoing a sort of public trial by being blamed by both the Muslim community on the one hand who felt aggrieved by the compulsory cremation rule imposed on all citizens by the health authorities for the safe disposal of bodies of Covid-19 victims and the numerically strong nationalist faction on the other led by the monks, who insisted] that the rule should not be relaxed to satisfy the whims of one particular group of people thereby endangering the lives of the whole population through the possible release of the still inadequately understood novel coronavirus from the interred bodies to the country’s water table, which, in many places in Sri Lanka, is not very deep, and lies close to the surface. The controversial Gnanasara Thera (who is now heading the presidential task mentioned) was an exception: he spoke up for Muslims who wanted to bury; the monk said that the Muslims’ demand for burial should be allowed. 

Ali Sabry should  know better than most that there has been no lack of reaching out to the mainstream Muslim minority either by the majority community or by the successive governments. Muslims as a community are mainly engaged in business. Seventy-five per cent of their customer base comprises Sinhalese, making it possible for Muslim businesses to thrive normally, though there’s been just condemnation, among the citizenry including the majority Sinhalese, of worsening Islamist extremism in recent years. Be that as it may, it is not simply because Sabry had served president Gotabaya in the past as his implicitly trusted personal legal service provider that he was made a national list MP by the SLPP and honoured and empowered with such a very important key portfolio. 

‘One country One law’ was the rallying cry that inspired patriotic Sri Lankans at both the presidential and parliamentary elections to vote for the SLPP, which won with the largest margins. As minister of justice Sabry has been entrusted with the task of supervising the making of a new constitution that is designed to achieve that epoch making change (namely, One Country, One Law) among other things. Gotabaya made no bones about the fact that he won the presidency almost exclusively on the strength of Sinhalese votes, as already hinted above; most Muslims and Tamils chose not to respond positively to his call for support at the presidential election. His bluntness was a reflection of his characteristic candour, which had then not been compromised by the hypocrisy of political correctness, his older brother’s blunt weapon, that fails more often than it succeeds.  But Gotabaya did not hold any grudge against those who rejected him, for in the same breath president elect Gotabaya said that he was elected as president of all the citizens of the country and that he would serve in that post without discriminating against any citizen. There is no doubt about the fact that he meant what he said. By appointing Ali Sabry to the powerful post of Minister of Justice, the president incidentally reassured the Muslims that he would not exclude them from his vision of prosperity and splendour for the nation. 

But Ali Sabry  did not budge an inch from his original unqualified opposition to the mandatory burning of bodies of Muslim victims of Covid-19 over which he expressed his disappointment in a Facebook post, something mentioned in an Al Jazeera news report/April 3, 2020, with the authorities’ decision which, he alleged, ignored the WHO guidelines that allow both burial and cremation. Were we to believe that our experts chose to overlook the WHO guidelines without a rational explanation? Sabry deliberately ignored the various reservations that clearly qualified the WHO guidelines, leaving the authorised specialists of any member country to modify those recommendations as appropriate for local conditions and ground realities. The basic assumption that he seemed to be operating on, regarding the burial problem, was wrong. For all intents and purposes, he pretended to wrongly believe that the health authorities insisted on making no exception for Muslim dead in this case because that was what the monks wanted.  Ali Sabry was the last person that rational people would expect to demand that Muslims should be allowed to bury their loved ones dead from the novel coronavirus while cremation was the only safe method ordered by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS). 

This is not a happy thing to say about arguably the most important and influential minister in the cabinet, being the closest companion of the president, next to the prime minister, who is the president’s own brother. It was inconceivable how Ali Sabry was capable of (no doubt unintentionally) justifying the berserk behaviour of some virus-infected Muslims (as seen in their show of insubordination, noncooperation, physical harassment of the health workers trying to help them including spitting at them (with the malicious intention of spreading the infection); cases were reported of some Covid-19 positive tested individuals spitting out of the windows of buses carrying them to quarantine centres in vicious attempts to spread dreaded infection). Such demonstration of unprovoked anger is based on the false pretext of alleged discrimination against them by the government in the matter of mandatory cremation of Corona dead as prescribed by the responsible health experts to prevent the escape of the deadly virus with many unknowns into the environment. The virus is no respecter of people’s religious sensitivities. If the Director General of Health determined that cremation was the only option for Sri Lanka in the prevailing emergency, all citizens were obliged to accept that and act accordingly. 

Why didn’t Ali Sabry make an effort to explain to the agitating Muslims and to the misinformed Muslim world in general, who have never been enemies of Sri Lanka, that this blown-out-of-proportion controversy over the burial or cremation issue had nothing to do with the monks or the government or the health authorities or the army and police officers (the last mentioned having been co-opted into the Covid containment operation only as ancillary personnel employed for a strictly logistical purpose to serve under the DGHS, the government appointed competent authority, who gives leadership to the whole enterprise, which involves every single citizen of the country). 

The cremation imperative was not an arbitrary decision taken by the government to spite the Muslim minority under pressure from the monks as misleadingly suggested by the hostile foreign NGO elements, Islamists, a handful of misguided Muslims, and the irresponsible SJB-led opposition. The DGHS was not acting capriciously either; his recommendations were based on a scientific rationale collectively defined by a group of experts belonging to a number of different but relevant fields of study in the best interest of all resident Sri Lankans and foreign visitors. Ali Sabry seemed to be more concerned about remaining in the good books of the handful of Islamists and their sympathisers than about the feelings of the ninety-five per cent of the population who are against them. Was he in the thrall of the five percent? The fate of the goal of One Country One Law under Ali Sabry as Minister of Justice is not difficult to guess.

(Note to Lankaweb readers: The latter two thirds of this article a timely rehash of a previous article of mine published here: Even you, Minister Ali Sabry?”. Readers, please bear with me for repeating myself.) 

MALINDA SENEVIRATN​E

The appointment of a presidential task force mandated to draft relevant legislation aimed at operationalising the ‘One Country, One Law’ concept precipitated howls of protests. The howlers weren’t exactly from those opposed in some way to a single corpus of rules; rather they by and large belonged to that small set of people who are either inclined to object to anything that any government proposes or to see demons in anything proposed by governments headed by people with the name Rajapaksa.

One has to wonder if the objectors would have been as livid had the President appointed anyone other than Rev Galabodaaththe Gnanasara Thero to head the said task force given his volatile (soft word) history. That aside, it is indeed intriguing that those who swear by secularism have issues with the notion. Moreover, it must be emphasized that the ‘One country, one law’ concept is not owned by the President. It is in fact co-owned — Sajith Premadasa as the presidential candidate of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya was in agreement with Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The numbers tell a story about the sentiments of the voting population. A total of 6.9 million voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa while Sajith Premadasa obtained 5.7 million votes. That’s 12.6 million. There were altogether 35 candidates. They either echoed this vision in their manifestos and rhetoric or were silent. In other words, at least 12.6 million people or 94.24% of the total number who cast valid votes (52.25% for Gotabaya and 41.99% for Sajith), voted for candidates who believed that Sri Lanka is a SINGLE COUNTRY and therefore should have ONE LAW for all. In fact if the other 33 candidates were asked ‘are you for or against?’ the chances are that the vast majority would say ‘for.’ We could then stop with ‘so there!’ That however would be simplistic if only because the devil would be in the details. Moreover we are talking about a nation so fractured along many lines that grief and anxiety have to be understood as key elements of the political soil in which the idea has to be planted, fertilized and tended.

Grief and anxiety are not value-free. They are infected with ideological and outcome preferences. They can and are often inflated by the allegedly aggrieved and anxious. They are also pooh-poohed by those opposed to such grievers. We have, in fact, contesting anxieties and griefs. Laws can be and ought to be dispassionate but their enactment and enforcement fuel emotion.  If the task force has as objective a set of rules that make for healing then we need to be sensitive to these emotions, political though the articulator are and pernicious though their fuelling could be.

Which community (ethnic, religious or political) in this country is free of anxiety? Is there any community that is not aggrieved? Can any community say ‘our anxieties are greater and we are more aggrieved’? Will any community admit ‘we are less aggrieved and less anxious’? Will anyone say ‘we inflicted suffering and we are responsible for grief and anxieties experienced by others’? The ‘yes’ and/or ‘no’ answers to such questions will give us some sense of the political terrain in which resolution-efforts of any kind (this one included) have to be planted. It’s not really an amazingly fertile soil that we are talking about. It is toxic and toxicity is deliberately enhanced by one and all, with the best of intentions or, as is more often the case, with vile intent.
 

To me, at some fundamental level, it is about one’s sense of belonging. Laws are controlling mechanism to which a population must submit. If the submission is done willingly (because there’s something to gain in the social contract) it’s all good. However if the law or a set of laws are discriminatory or else privilege a community other than one which you belong to (or identify with), displeasure if not anxiety and grief will ensue.

Do we need to list all the grievances and all the anxieties? When will we start recognising that we have caused grief and anxiety to others? When will we acknowledge that we have deliberately and even perniciously inflated angst and ridiculed that of others? When will selectivity be acknowledged? When will we say ‘we too are guilty of various crimes of omission and commission’?

What the Task Force is going to come up with, we cannot predict. We do know that the President appointed a committee of experts to draft a new constitution. One must assume that the committee has been busy drafting and that it has taken into account the popular sentiments of the people, the relevant histories and most importantly the fact that ‘One country, one law’ has been agreed upon by the vast majority of the voters. The Task Force ought to be in communication with this committee simply because its mandate, technically, is a sliver of the task assigned to the said committee.

The Task Force can insist, the committee can give weight but parliament and the people must in the final instance agree. That’s a process of law-formulation. On face value it seems an easy thing to do. At the end of it you’ll get new laws or you’ll have to live with what that currently exists. Either way, there’s no guarantee that the resolution desired will be obtained.

We have heard the pros and cons of this and that offered and refuted by one community or another. That’s the easy part and it’s the easy thing that we’ve done for decades. Understandable of course because that’s what politics is all about. It is hard to rise above all that. We look for ‘truth’ and talk of ‘reconciliation’ but what we end up doing is toss around half (or less) truths and insist on resolutions that sort out our anxieties and in some way alleviate our griefs, never mind what they could do to others.

So yes, we’ve talked for decades. And we’ve footnoted or erased much more than we’ve written. If Rev Gnanasara Thera and the Task Force he leads recognizes this and initiates a discussion along these lines it would be good. Indeed it would give much needed credence to the process. Even if it does not result in scripting formal rules relevant to the idea (One country, one law), it will take us quite a distance along the road to solidarities that have evaded us for too long.

malindasenevi@gmail.com

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

දේශපාලන අධිකාරියට, නායකත්වය දෙන්න පුලුවන් මතවාද හදන්න පුලුවන් හැබැයි මේක ගමේ ගිහින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න නිල වශයෙන් වගකීම හා අයිතිය තියෙන පිරිස තමයි රජයේ නිළධාරීන්,  රජයේ සේවය නැතිව අපිට මේ වැඩ කරන්න බෑ,අපි එහෙම නම් රණ්ඩු වෙලා හරියන්නේ නෑ, අපි යාලු වෙන්න ඕන, අපි යාලු වෙලා හරියන්නේ නෑ, අපි හොඳම යාලුවෝ විදිහට තවත් වැඩි සම්බන්ධතාවයක් හදාගත්තොත් තමයි මේ ගමන අපිට යන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙන්නේ. අපි හැමදාමත් රජයේ සේවකයාව ආරක්ෂා කරලා තියෙනවා, රැකලා තියෙනවා, ඒ වගේම රජයේ සේවකයා වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී ඉඳලත් තියෙනවා.ඒ නිසා අපි හැමෝම අලුත් ගමනක් යමු කියලා මතක් කරනවා යැයි රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍ය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා පැවසීය.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේ අනුරාධපුර, තිරප්පනය ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයේ ප්‍රාදේශීය සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටුවේදී දේශපාලන නියෝජිතයන් හා රාජ්‍යය නිළධාරීන්  අමතමින්ය.

තිරප්පනය ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයේ ග්‍රාමීය නිෂ්පාදන ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීම තුලින් ගෘහ ආර්ථිකය හා ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාවය තහවුරු කරමු යන මැයෙන් රාජ්‍යය නිළධාරීන් හා දේශපාලන අධිකාරිය දැනුම්වත් කිරීම මෙම විශේෂ සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටුවේදී සිදු කෙරිණි.එහිදී 2022 ජාතික අයවැය ප්‍රමුඛතා,ජීවනෝපාය මාර්ග තුලින් පවුලේ ආදයම ඉහළ නංවා ගැනීම, නිෂ්පාදන ආර්ථිකයක් සඳහා ව්‍යවසායකයන් බිහි කිරීම, සාර්ථකත්වයට පත් වූ ව්‍යවසායකයකුගේ අතදැකීම් බෙදා ගැනීම යන කරුණු 04 යටතේ නිළධාරීන් හා දේශපාලන නියෝජිතයන් දැනුම්වත් කිරීම සිදු විය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා,

1948 ඉඳන් ආණ්ඩු තිබුණට, රට හැදුවයි කියලා කිව්වට, අපි ඉබාගාතේ ගිහින් තියෙන්නේ, එකම ආණ්ඩුව තුළ අමාත්‍යංශ වලට තිබිලා තියෙන්නේ වෙනම අරමුණු, කට්ටියක් ස්වයංපෝෂිත වෙන්න හදනවා, කට්ටියක් පිටරටින් ගේන්න හදනවා.කට්ටියක් දේශීය දේ මාර්කට් කරනවා, තව කට්ටියක් පිට රට දේ අගය කරනවා.අපිට එක අරමුණක් වෙනුවෙන් රටක් විදිහට යන්න බැරි වෙලා තියෙනවා.ඒ නිසා තමයි තාමත් අපිට ආපස්සට හැරිලා බලන කොට දුක් වෙන්න සිද්ධ වෙලා තියෙන්නේ ඇයි අපිට මෙහෙම වුණේ කියලා.

සාමාන්‍යයෙන් ග්‍රාමසේවා වසමක් තුළ වැඩ කරන්න විශාල නිළධාරීන් පිරිසක් ඉන්නවා.එක පුද්ගලයෙක් වෙනුවෙන් වගකියන අමාත්‍යංශ ගණනාවක නිළධාරීන් ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාලයක් තුළ ඉන්නවා.අපි මේ ඉන්න සියලුම නිළධාරීන් ටික තම තමන්ගේ හැකියාවෙන් දක්ෂතාවයන් පාවිච්චි කලොත් විශාල වැඩ කොටසක් අපිට කරන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙනවා.ඔබතුමන්ලාගේ හයිය අපිට ඉතාමත් වටිනවා.මොකද කොතරම් දේශපාලන නායකත්වයක් කථා කලත් තේරුමක් වෙන්නේ නෑ,ඔබතුමන්ලා මේ බිමේ පණිවිඩය සහ මේ සඳහා නායකත්වය ගත්තේ නැත්නම්,ඔබතුමන්ලාත් එක්ක තමයි ඒ වගකීම හා ඒ රාජකාරිය පැවරිලා තියෙන්නේ ඔබතුමන්ලා අතේ,ඒ නිසා ඔබතුමන්ලා මේ ලබන දැනුම්වත්භාවයත් එක්ක දේශපාලන අධිකාරියේ නායකත්වයත් එක්ක ඉදිරියේදී අපිට ඔබතුමන්ලා අපි දෙගොල්ලම එකතු වෙලා මේ රට වැටිච්ච තැනින් නැගිට්ටවන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙනවා.

මේ රට මෙතනින් පල්ලහොටත් වැටුණොත් කාටහරි හිනා වෙන්න පුලුවන්ද? හිනා වෙන්න පුලුවන් හැබැයි වැටෙන්නේ අපිත් එක්කමයි, ඒ නිසා මේ රට මෙතනින් එහාට නැගිට්ටවන වැඩේ තමයි අපි කරන්න ඕනකම තියෙන්නේ.ඔබතුමන්ලාට අපිට දේශපාලන මතයන් තියෙනවා වෙන්න පුලුවන්, හැබැයි ඔබතුමන්ලාට වගකීමක් තියෙනවා රාජ්‍යය නිළධාරීන් විදිහට, රජයේ ප්‍රථිපත්තිය ශක්තිමත් කරන්න සහ රජයේ ප්‍රථිපත්ති වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින්න.ඒ නිසා තමන්ගේ දේශපාලන මතය ඡන්දයට තියා ගන්න,හැබැයි රජයේ ප්‍රථිපත්තිය ඉස්සරහට ගෙන යන්න ඔබතුමන්ලා හැමෝම ඒ ප්‍රථිපත්තිය වටා අත්වැල් බැඳ ගන්න.සමහරෙකුට ඒ ප්‍රථිපත්තිය පිලිගන්න බැරි වෙයි. හැබැයි රජයේ සේවකයෝ විදිහට ඔබතුමන්ලා බැඳිලා ඉන්නවා ඒ ප්‍රථිපත්තිය ඉස්සරහට ගෙන යන්න.ඒ නිසා තමයි ඔබතුමන්ලා මහජනතාවගෙන් එකතු කර ගන්නා බදු මුදලින් පඩියක් ලබන්නේ.ඒ නිසා විශේෂයෙන්ම සිහිපත් කරන්න ඕන, ඔබතුමන්ලා අපි දන්නේ- අදුරන්නේ නැති කට්ටිය නෙමෙයි, අපි අවුරුදු ගානක් එකට වැඩ කරපු කට්ටිය, ඒ වගේම ඔබතුමන්ලා අපිට උදව් කරපු කට්ටිය, ඒ නිසා දැන් හරි අපි හරි ගමණක් යන්න සූදානම් වුණොත් අපිට යන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙනවා අපි ප්‍රමාද නෑ,ඒ නිසා වෙනදා අපිට උදව් කලා වගේම සියලුම රජයේ නිළධාරී මහත්වරු ටික අපිට මේ රට ඉස්සරහට ගෙන යන්න හයිය ශක්තිය ලබා දෙන්න කියන ඉල්ලීම කරනවා.ඒ වගේම දේශපාලන අධිකාරිය විදිහට අපි සියලු දෙනා මොන පක්ෂයක හිටියත්,  මොන මතයක හිටියත්,අපි ඔබතුමන්ලාට ඒ ලබා දෙන්න පුලුවන් දේශපාලන නායකත්වය හරි ආකාරව නිවැරදිව අපි ලබා දෙනවා.ඒ නිසා අපි එක ගමනක් යමු.

අපිත් දැන් වෙනස් වෙලා තියෙනවා.අපිත් දැන් වෙනදා වගේ නෙමෙයි මේ රටේ අරමුණ වෙනුවෙන්, රටේ ජනතාව ශක්තිමත් කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් දේශපාලන අරමුණ පැත්තකින් තියලා, ඡන්ද අරමුණ පැත්තකින් තියලා, රටේ අනාගතය වෙනුවෙන් අපිත් වෙනස් වෙලා තියෙනවා.අපි හැමෝම මේ වෙනසත් එක්ක ඉස්සරහට අත්වැල් බැඳගත්තොත් අපිට ඉදිරි කාලය තුළ ලොකු වෙනසක් මේ රටේ ඇති කරන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙනවා.ඒ නිසා අවුරුද්දේ අන්තිමත් නිසා මම ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙනවා සියලු දෙනාටම පහුගිය කාළය පුරාවටම මේ සියලුම දේශපාලන අධිකාරියට ඔබතුමන්ලාට හා ආණ්ඩුව වෙනුවෙන් ඔබතුමන්ලා ලබා දුන්න සහයෝගයට.මොන මොන මතවාදයන් තිබුණත්, මොන මොන ප්‍රශ්න තිබුණත් අපි එකට වැඩ කලා, අපි එකට හිටියා,ඒ නිසා තමයි අපිට මේ තැනටත් එන්න පුලුවන්කම ලැබිලා තියෙන්නේ.2022 අවුරුද්ද පහුගිය අවුරුද්ද වගේ අඩුපාඩු නැති, පහුගිය අවුරුද්ද වගේ හිතේ අමාරුකම් නැති, පහුගිය අවුරුද්ද වගේ කණගාටුවක් නැති හොඳ අවුරුද්දක් බවට පත් වුණොත් අපි මේ කරන සේවයත් වැඩියෙන් හොඳට කරන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙනවා.දේශපාලන අධිකාරියට, නායකත්වය දෙන්න පුලුවන් මතවාද හදන්න පුලුවන් හැබැයි මේක ගමේ ගිහින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න නිල වශයෙන් වගකීම හා අයිතිය තියෙන පිරිස තමයි රජයේ නිළධාරීන්, ලියුමකට අත්සන් කරන්නේ ඔබතුමන්ලා, අනුමැතියක් දෙන්නේ ඔබතුමන්ලා, ඒ වගකීම ප්‍රධාන ගණන් බැලීමේ නිළධාරියා විදිහට ඉහළ ඉඳන් පහලට රජයේ සේවය නැතිව අපිට මේ වැඩ කරන්න බෑ,අපි එහෙම නම් රණ්ඩු වෙලා හරියන්නේ නෑ, අපි යාලු වෙන්න ඕන, අපි යාලු වෙලා හරියන්නේ නෑ, අපි හොඳම යාලුවෝ විදිහට තවත් වැඩි සම්බන්ධතාවයක් හදාගත්තොත් තමයි මේ ගමන අපිට යන්න පුලුවන්කම තියෙන්නේ.ඔබතුමන්ලා දන්නවා අපි හැමදාමත් රජයේ සේවකයාව ආරක්ෂා කරලා තියෙනවා, රැකලා තියෙනවා, ඒ වගේම රජයේ සේවකයා වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී ඉඳලත් තියෙනවා.ඒ නිසා අපි හැමෝම අලුත් ගමනක් යමු කියලා මතක් කරනවා.

ප්‍රාදේශීය සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටු සභාපතිවරයා විදිහට මටත් මිලියන 100 ක් හම්බෙලා තියෙනවා.මෙච්චර කාළයක් අපිත් කැමති වුණේ පාරක් හදන්න, බෝක්කුවක් දාන්න, බොරලු දාන්න, ගල් අල්ලන්න, බෝඩ් ගහන්න තමයි අපිත් කැමති වුණේ, ඕක තමයි හැමදාමත් වෙලා තිබුණේ,අපිට දුන්න මිලියන 100 සම්බන්ධ චක්‍රලේඛණ වල සඳහන් වුණා, ජීවනෝපාය සංවර්ධනය සඳහා අවමය දෙන්න පුලුවන් 40% යි කියලා, ඒ කියන්නේ 100% ක් ම වුණත් ජීවනෝපාය දාන්න පුලුවන්,මගේ මිලියන 100 ම මම දැම්මේ ජීවනෝපාය සංවර්ධන වෙනුවෙන්.ඔබතුමන්ලා දන්නවා සිතමු කාන්තා සමිති ජාලය, මම කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමති කාළයේ තමයි ලංකාවේම  සිතමු කියන අලුත් කාන්තා ව්‍යාපාරය අපි නිර්මාණය කලේ.අද විශාල කාන්තාවන් පිරිසක් ඉන්නවා, සමිති ශක්තිමත් වෙලා තියෙනවා, ව්‍යවසායිකාවන් බවට පත් වෙලා තියෙනවා.මේ පාරත් මම ලක්ෂ 500 ක් වෙන් කරලා තියෙනවා කාන්තාවන් 1000 ක් වෙනුවෙන්, එක කාන්තාවකට ඒ ගොල්ලන්ගේ දායකත්වයත් එක්ක රුපියල් 50 000 ක් දීලා, තියෙන ව්‍යාපාරයක් හෝ අලුතින් ව්‍යාපාරයක් ආරම්භ කරන්න.ඒ වගේම තවත් ලක්ෂ 300 ක් වෙන් කරලා තියෙනවා ඒත් කාන්තාවන් හා තරුණයින් වෙනුවෙන් අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ තියෙන සැලූන් සඳහා.පහුගිය කාලයේ ඒ අයට ආදායම් මාර්ග අහිමි වුණා, දියුණු කරගන්න බැරි වුණා, හැබැයි අපි දන්නවා මේකත් ගමක විශාල ව්‍යාපාරයක්.ඒ අයටත් රුපියල් 30 000 බැගින් තවත් ව්‍යවසායකයෝ 1000 ක් ශක්තිමත් කරන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.ඒ වගේම තවත් අපි මිලියන 10 බැගින් වෙන් කරලා සමූහ කිරි ගොවිපලක් නිර්මාණය කරනවා.අපි ගොවිමහත්වරු 50 බැගින් අරගෙන සමූහ කිරි ගොවිපලක් හදනවා.ඒකෙදී තණකොළ ටිකත් වවනවා,එකම ස්ථානයක තමයි කිරි හරක් ටික ඉන්නේ,කිරි ගන්න යන්ත්‍ර සූත්‍ර ලබා දීලා එවැනි සමූහ කිරි ගොවිපල දෙකක් නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලෙස එක් ගොවිපලකට ගොවිමහතුන් 50 ක් සම්බන්ධ කරගෙන අපි ක්‍රියාත්ම කරනවා යැයිද පැවසීය.

එහිදී තිරප්පනය ප්‍රාදේශීය සභාව මගින් ප්‍රදේශයේ රාජ්‍යය ආයතන වලට පැමිණෙන ජනතාව කොවිඩ් වසංගතයෙන් ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට ජනතාවගේ භාවිතය සඳහා අත්සේදීමේ උපකරණ කට්ටල රාජ්‍යය ආයතන වෙත ප්‍රදානය කිරීමද සිදු විය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ඉෂාක් රහුමාන්, හිටපු උතුරු මැද පළාත් ප්‍රධාන අමාත්‍යය එස්.එම් රංජිත් සමරකෝන්, හිටපු පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රී සරත් ඉලංගසිංහ යන මහත්වරුන් ඇතුළු ප්‍රාදේශීය දේශපාලඥයින්, තිරප්පනය ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්තුමිය ඇතුළු රාජ්‍යය නිළධාරීන් සහභාගී වූහ.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය 

සාමයේ හා ප්‍රේමයේ සළකුණ මිහිමත තැබූ උතුම් නත්තල ජේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුන් වහන්සේගේ උප්පත්තිය සිහිගන්වයි.

දෙවියන්වහන්සේගේ ප්‍රේමය සහ මානව ගරුත්වය මනුෂ්‍යත්වය පෙරදැරි සමාජයකට විශ්වාසනීය පදනමක් විය.

බෙත්ලෙහෙමේ දිළිඳු ගවලෙනක ගවඔරුවක උපන් ජේසු බිළිඳා යථාර්ථවාදීව ලෝකය දෙස බැලීමට සිය උපතේ පටන්ම ආදර්ශයක් ගෙන දුන්නේය.

අසිරිමත් හදවත් ඇත්තෝ සාමය බෙදා ගනිති. තමන්ට වෛර කරන සතුරාට ද ප්‍රේම කරති. ප්‍රේමය සාමය හා සහෝදරත්වයේ අරුත ගෙන සිය ජීවිතය පුබුදුවා ගනිති.

ජේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුන් වහන්සේ මුළු දිවියම කැප කළේ සමාජයේ පීඩාවට පත්වන ජනතාව ඉන් මුදාගෙන යහපත් සමාජයක් මෙලොව නිර්මාණය කිරීම උදෙසාය.

එම දර්ශනය  නිසි ලෙස හඳුනා ගෙන ආධ්‍යාත්මික පාරිශුද්ධත්වයෙන් ජේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුන් වහන්සේගේ ජීවන චරිතය අනුව සිය ජීවිත හැඩගස්වා ගැනීම තුළ සෑම කිතුනුවකුගේම ජීවිත ආලෝකමත් වේ.

කොවිඩ් වසංගත තත්ත්වය හමුවේ බිඳ වැටුණු ලෝකයට නව අරුතක් ගෙන ඒමට මෙන්ම බලාපොරොත්තුවේ සුබ ප්‍රාර්ථනාවන් තුළින් නත්තල අරුත් ගැන්වීම ඔබට භාරය.

‘‘තරු එළියයි, කිතු උපතයි, ලොව පුබුදයි’’ තේමාවෙන් හැඩවන මෙවර නත්තල සමස්ත ලෝකවාසී හා ශ්‍රී ලාංකික කිතුනු ජනතාවට සෑබෑ නත්තලක සිරි අසිරි විඳින අර්ථාන්විත සුබ නත්තලක් වේවා! යැයි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමි.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය 

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando 

Christmas 2021 approached with several restrictions from the Sri Lankan Health authorities due to Covid-19. Over two billion people celebrate the birth of Christ on 24 December every year. Christmas is the most joyful season in the year. Generally it’s an occasion for the family to reunite and everyone in the family joins for either lunch or dinner on Christmas: the menu is Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables. 

Other types of poultry, roast beef, or ham come to the dining table as extras. For dessert its pumpkin or apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or fruitcake. The Christmas tree a must for Christians, embellishes every home with decorations that include bells, reindeer, candles, candy canes, garland, stockings, wreaths, snow globes, and angels irrespective of their faith.

Christmas in Sri Lanka 2021

This Christmas is affected by the high cost of living: the public were spending frugally due to the sharp increase in the cost of living, the floods, and the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced the Government to shut down the country several times, the Government’s dollar reserves weakened, declining the economy critically. 

The common folk, particularly the farmers screamed about a bump on the ride, while a few privileged VIPs got their hands up and enjoyed the gallop by holidaying in Nuwara Eliya, and others by travelling abroad during the festive season. On top of everything the LP gas explosions had a damaging clout on the Government; while, a person died from the gas explosion.

Christmas arrives as usual at the end of the year to celebrate what Jesus Christ advised the mortals: 

Not to concentrate purely on accumulating wealth, but to realise that all living beings devise ideas originating within  a person’s heart  to  tarnish him unless the person’s  heart is pure, and mind is cleansed (Mark 7:21-23).”

What Jesus Christ expected

Christians, especially on Christmas, need to follow love and compassion what Jesus Christ preached.  But it is ridiculous how people globally become victims of  a commercial hype. Christmas, of course, comes but once a year, and Christians declare year on year, especially at mid-night Christmas Eve Mass, never to get bogged down in commercial extravaganzas again! Yet they forget about it after a few months. 

In that sense during the festive season, Christmas turns into a contagious disease. It becomes evidently clear with the congested traffic, shops and supermarkets and jewellery shops packed to capacity to increase their turnover. People behave so ludicrously as if the world is going to end! But this year Christmas is different with the soaring cost of everything – from vegetables to all household goods and materials in the building industry bearing an unreasonable price hike the buying spree has abated.

Foreign countries

Other countries celebrate Christmas in style, irrespective of their religious faith, and get into the festive mood with decorations. The compulsory Christmas tree adorns the home with tinsels from the beginning of the month of December and remains until seven days after Christmas. 

Another aspect of Christmas is the display of the vast amount of Christmas cards received by households as a means of exhibiting their circle of friends. Even mature folks begin to act like babies by playing alongside kids on Christmas with children’s electronic battery operated toys! The international shopping malls and streets around get illuminated with scores of electric bulbs during the festive season, akin to Vesak celebrations, spreading the splendour of Christmas.

Christmas tree

The history of the Christmas tree glittering with lights and decor goes back to ancient Egypt and Rome, which continues to date. America managed to bring the candlelit Christmas tree for the first time in 1800. 

Subsequently, the candlelit Christmas tree became fashionable in Germany. In 1846 London news-stands illustrated Queen Victoria of Britain and Prince Albert with their children around a Christmas tree.

 Before the birth of Christianity plants and trees remained green throughout the year. Many countries believed that evergreen plants kept away ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. 

Christmas started its celebrations universally since the 4th Century. Ever since, the young children were conditioned to believe in the ‘ jolly old man’, called Father Christmas, with white whiskers, wearing a red robe, and a large sack containing gifts, visiting at homes at midnight through the roof or chimney. 

The term Father Christmas originated from St. Nicholas,  the Patron Saint of schoolchildren, after the death of Jesus. During the 17th century, Dutch Protestant settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) replaced St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas) with the name of the generous magician called Santa Claus. 

Pre-Christmas

In preparation for Christmas, entrepreneurs concentrate on electronic contraptions and greeting cards printed in many forms to boost their income. 

At no other time during a year hypocrisy becomes so rampant. People spend money on Christmas presents and send Christmas cards even to immediate neighbours whom they meet daily. Sir Henry and John Horsley designed the first Christmas card with three panels – the outer two panels displayed people caring for the poor, and the centre panel displayed a family enjoying Christmas lunch. 

Currently, card manufacturers produce millions of Christmas cards throughout the world to increase their revenue. Felling down trees annually for this purpose does an irreparable harm to the environment. The mince pie is regarded as a part of the British culture for hundreds of years with Christmas lunch. Currently, over £5 million (Rs 136,000,000) worth of mince pies, along with £2 M (Rs 55,000,000) million Christmas puddings get sold out during Christmas in the UK.

Jesus was born an ordinary man and led a simple life by travelling from place to place. Despite his teachings of kindness and forbearance, evil forces are at large leading towards disorder and a chaotic situation. Christ demonstrates how to be tolerant, even during his traumatic moments on the cross by loving and forgiving the very people who sentenced him to death! Therefore, enjoyment during Christmas should not be a commercial fun fare to kill pigs and disembowel chicken and bring these as succulent dishes to the Christmas lunch table, but to decorate people’s hearts with love, compassion and human feeling for one another and to ward off the worst impending disasters that are predicted in the future. 

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, Dec 24 (AdaDerana) – The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) set a new record today (December 24) as the All Share Price Index (ASPI) surpassed 12,000 points for the first time in history.

The ASPI closed at 12,070.68 points at the end of trading today (November 16), marking an increase of 1.00% (119.45 points) from the previous day.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates from around the world

READ: India’s Enforcement Directorate to seize expensive gifts Jacqueline Fernandez received by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar

The previous highest was recorded last month when the index closed at 11,008.33 points on November 16.

More than 175 million shares were traded overall within the day and the market turnover is recorded as Rs. 2.84 billion.

Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 closed at 4,255.63 points today, up by 0.14% from the previous day.

Today’s trading session was carried on for 90 minutes and was closed at 12.30 p.m. due to the additional half-holiday declared by the CSE in view of the Christmas festival.

READ: One Country, One Law”: The Sri Lankan State’s hostility toward Muslims grows deeper

For similar articles, join our Telegram channel for the latest updates. – click here

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando 

During the past few weeks, wives, cooks at various hotels and restaurants and other family members were shocked by gas explosions originating from the domestic liquid petroleum (LP) gas cylinder. From 1 January to 5 December 2021 there were 244 explosions. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed an eight-member committee to investigate the recent report of LP gas cylinder fires and to submit their recommendations within three days. The Committee, after the initial investigation, recommended the following guidelines for the public to follow. 

The Committee’s recommendations:

(1) To ensure the gas cylinder purchased has no leaks at the point of purchase.

(2) A gas leak needs to be reported to the local police and the investigating committee by calling 011 5 811 927 or 011 5 811 929.  

(3) To refrain from using various methods that are not scientifically proven. 

(4) Leaks must only be tested by experts recognised by the committee.

(5) No gas cylinders exploded in the recent explosions.

(6) To ensure the regulator is not of inferior quality. 

(7) To ensure the regulators come under SLS W1180 and hoses SLS 1172. 

(8) A regulator’s lifetime is (maximum) five years and hoses up to two years. 

(9) To pay attention to the distinctive odour of the gas coming out of cylinders.

(10) Not to remove any accessories (such as Valves, Rubber Hoses).  

(11) To ensure there is a free flow of air around the cylinder.

Inconvenience and misery

Apart from the inconvenience caused to the public, one needs to consider the number of consumers injured directly due to gas explosions.  Three persons were wounded on 4 November. On 16 November, another explosion took place in a Ratnapura Restaurant. On 20 November, a fast-food restaurant in Colombo 7 was entirely devastated by a fire caused by a gas leak. On the 29th of November, ten separate explosions took place in Hatton, Malliappuwa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Embulpitiya, Mawanella and Matara. The Committee consisting of an eight-member panel appointed by the President should investigate these explosions and consider who is responsible for paying compensation for such incidents where the whole kitchen area became violently shattered in various places? However, State Minister Alagiyawanna assured that on the 10th-night news coverage, the Government would pay compensation.

On 5 December, Ceylon Today carried a full-page advertisement from Laugfs Holdings. They defended the recent LP Gas cylinder mishaps due to ‘Improper Handling & ‘faulty Equipment ‘.  They maintain they always follow the specifications in connection with LP gas and metal cylinders.  Laugfs Holdings state they recheck their equipment against all given Government standards to ensure the customer safety.

Their advertisement admits that a few fire incidents took place on LP gas leakages across the country in the recent past. However, the social and other Media carried misleading information on such leaks, directly accusing gas companies of the composition of LP gas filled in a cylinder. Nevertheless, Laugfs Holdings claim that the recently reported incidents did not occur due to the composition of LP gas in the cylinders. They always follow the Government’s technical data, quoting SLS 712-1998 for LP gas and SLS 1178-2013 for gas cylinders.

Gas explosions!

LP gas is resourceful, ecosystems friendly, effective and a safe way to cook. Sri Lankans have used LP domestic gas since 1970. Gas companies, namely Litro and Laugfs, were blamed for amending the percentage of Propane and Butane inside the cylinder. These companies have come out stating that 

explosions have occurred mainly due to leakages from ‘ faulty regulators and from connecting hoses from the gas cylinder to the cooker, but not the cylinder itself!”

Although gas companies and policymakers try to brush the issue under the carpet and place the entire blame on the consumer, what is relevant is that the recent explosions are far too many to ignore. Today everyone who gets near the LP gas cylinder does so in fear. Some women wear helmets when they use gas cookers! After the recent explosions, even the coconut shells used in clay ovens have rocketed in price. Are we to gradually approach the basic ancient techniques of cooking?

Nevertheless, the village folk would not mind going back to the ancient cooking methods of using the traditional hearths, commonly known as the lipa, but how can the wealthy folk who live in townships with modern facilities manage? Their only alternative is to spend the extra money and convert their cooking appliance to electricity. Here again, on the 4 December, the whole of Sri Lanka had a power outage in several areas of the country for six hours, placing the country in pitched darkness! It was allegedly due to a suspected mechanical failure or sabotage by some engineers working to rule linked to electricity unions. Under the circumstances, how could the consumer find an alternative?

Origination of LP Gas

In 1970 Sri Lanka used LP gas for the first time, with 30 per cent Propane and 70 per cent Butane. Authorities considered such a combination would be the best ratio because the mixture of Propane and Butane inside a gas cylinder would be liquid under compression. If there are leaks in the pressure system, the cylinder’s absolute pressure will exert on the cooker, resulting in a fire! Therefore, experts advise that it is not the material’s fault, thus becoming the full responsibility of the decision-makers to ensure what is the safest composition for the consumer. 

What amazes the consumer is that from 1970 onwards, LP gas was used but no one experienced explosions of this nature as seen recently within the last two months!  So far, there have been ten explosions per day. What is interesting to note is the Laugfs Company says the composition of 50 per cent of Propane and 50 per cent of Butane does not bring an additional income to the company.  One tends to raise the question as to why did the gas companies alter the original percentages of Propane and Butane? According to Media reports Litro Gas has a composition in the ratio of 20 per cent Propane and 80 per cent Butane.

Journalist receives a writ notification

A journalist who exposed these gas explosions was summoned to appear in Court. The writer points out that journalists when there is a climate of fear, have a commitment towards their vocation and their conscience to throw light on whatever injustice in the interest of the public! How can society, companies, or the Government be helped if they keep quiet?  Journalists must point out that whenever a Government or company goes off the rails to inform the public about their mistakes. They contribute to developing a moral society. Each person is socially and economically free to act. Similarly, journalists’ maintaining a voluntary silence tends to be suicidal and undermines the brotherhood of a journalistic fraternity.

LP gas importers enjoy a monopoly in deciding the percentage of Propane and Butane configuration to be used because boiling points differ in each country due to climatic conditions. Meanwhile, the Director of Engineering at the Engineering Standards Division (SLSI) states that measurements used for the quality of domestic LP Gas in Sri Lanka are outdated! There is no Standard Measurement of the composition of LPG in Sri Lanka.” Therefore, his recommendation is to take immediate action to change the existing antiquated laws and systems.

Finally, The Consumer Affairs Authority directed the two major LP gas distributors to supply new LP gas cylinders with coloured polythene seals depicting their logo in different colours. – e.g. Litro Gas with a red logo on a white seal and Laugfs with a blue on a yellow background. The consensus is the new gas cylinders need to be re-filled with fresh LP gas, but neither company has changed their colour on the gas cylinders yet.  Consumers hope the new method will be safer to use. However, the Committee observed, valves, hoses, clips, and cookers should not be substandard but recommended by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute.

The latest is the Government wants to take the two LP gas distributors, namely Litro and Laugfs, to Courts and seek a decision. Meanwhile, the Nation sits on a time bomb in a volatile situation until the Courts decision is reached.

tilakfernando@gamail.com

රංජිත් රාජපක්ෂ – හැටන් මව්බිම දැන්

ලබන වසරේ මුල් කාර්තුවේ යළිත් මේ රට තුළ එළවළු හිඟයක් ඇති වන බව සමස්ත ලංකා ඒකාබද්ධ විශේෂිත ආර්ථික මධ්‍යස්ථාන එකමුතුවේ සභාපති අරුණ ශාන්ත හෙට්ටිආරච්චි මහතා පවසයි.

අද (‍දෙසැ. 24) දින මාධ්‍යයට ප්‍රකාශයක් කරමින් ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ ය.

ලබන වසරේ මුල් මාසය තුළ ගොවීන්ට අවශ්‍ය රසායනික පොහොර ලබා දුන්න ද අස්වැන්න ලබා ගැනීමට මැයි, ජූනි මාස දක්වා බලා සිටීමට සිදු වනු ඇති බව ඔහු පැවසී ය.

ගොවීන්ට ලබා දෙන පොහොර වැඩි මිලට ලබා දෙනු ලැබුවහොත් යළිත් එළවළු මිල ඉහළ යාමේ අවදානමක් පවතින බව ද අරුණ ශාන්ත මහතා සඳහන් ‌කළේ ය.

ඔහු ප්‍රකාශ කළේ, පොහොර ගැටලුව සම්බන්ධයෙන් මාධ්‍යයෙන් විශාල කාර්ය භාරයක් ඉටු කළ නිසා වගකිය යුතු නිලධාරින්ගේ අවධානය යොමු වී යළිත් මේ රටේ ගොවියාට අවශ්‍ය රසායනික පොහොර, කෘමි නාශක සහ කෘෂි රසායනික ද්‍රව්‍ය ආනයනයට අවසර ලබා දෙන බවට රජය පැවසූ බව ය.

වෙනත් වසරවල නත්තල් කාලයේ නුවරඑළියෙන් එලවළු කිලෝ ග්‍රෑම් ලක්ෂ 2 ½ ක් පමණ ආර්ථික මධ්‍යස්ථාන වෙත යවන බව සභාපතිවරයා පැවසී ය.

ඔහු සඳහන් කළේ, මෙවර නත්තලට දිවයින පුරා ආර්ථික මධ්‍යස්ථාන වෙත යවා ඇත්තේ එළවළු කිලෝ ග්‍රෑම් අසූ දහසක් පමණක් බව ය.

වෙළඳපොළේ ඉල්ලුමට සරිලන එළවළු සැපයුමක් නොමැති වුවත් එළවළු මිල අඩු වීමට හේතුව වී ඇත්තේ පාරිභෝගිකයා එළවළු මිල දී නොගැනීම බව සභාපතිවරයා පැවසී ය.

පාරිභෝගිකයා ආර්ථික වශයෙන් පිඩාවට පත් වී සිටින ‌හෙයින් එළවළු මිල දී නොගන්නා බව ද ඔහු වැඩිදුරට ත් සඳහන් ‌‌කළේ ය.

 රංජිත් රාජපක්ෂ – හැටන්

By Seneka Abeyratne Courtesy The Island

Ruminations on Sri Lanka’s Ancient Past – Part VI

The evidence assembled by C.R. Panabokke, in ‘Evolution of the Indigenous Village Irrigation Systems of Sri Lanka’ (2010), shows the transition from rainfed to irrigated agriculture took place mainly in the 3rd century BCE. A study by Rukshan Jayawardena, ‘Ancient Irrigation and Related Settlements of the Early Historic Period’ (1997) yields useful information on the growth of irrigated agriculture during this period. There is no reliable evidence to indicate that rice was grown on the island during the ‘pre-Vijayan’ period. First came the village tank. Then came ‘irrigated’ rice cultivation in the field below the tank. By the beginning of the 2^nd century BCE, the village tank had become an integral feature of the undulating terrain of the dry zone (Nicholas, C.W. History of Ceylon, Vol. 1, 1959).

Low-humic gleys

As in the past the soils now used for rice cultivation are mainly the poorly-drained low-humic gleys (LHGs), which occupy the valley bottoms and can be puddled. Since the well-drained reddish brown earths (RBEs), which occupy the mid and upper slopes of the dry zone landscape, cannot be puddled like the LHGs, they are unsuited to rice cultivation. In Sri Lanka the valley bottoms are called lowlands, whereas the mid and upper slopes of the undulating topography are called uplands. There is no hard evidence of rice having been grown under rainfed conditions in the dry zone uplands (RBEs) in the protohistoric period.

The evolution and spread of small village irrigation systems in Sri Lanka could be viewed as an internal development that occurred over a long period of time in response to the distinctive agro-ecological features of the dry zone, which were by no means uniform. As noted above, it was the lack of any form of shallow groundwater that necessitated the surface storage of water in the north-central dry zone – the cradle of civilization in Sri Lanka.

A typical village in the NCP consists of the village tank and a paddy field below it. Many experts, including Panabokke, have stated that without artificial storage of water, human existence in the NCP would have been impossible. The village tank provided water for multiple uses during the prolonged dry season, including agriculture. It enabled farmers to combine cultivation of kurakkan, gingelly and other seasonal food crops in the ‘rainfed’ uplands during the Maha season with rice cultivation in the ‘irrigated’ lowlands during the Yala season. This was a major technological breakthrough that greatly enhanced the food production potential of the north-central dry zone in the 3^rd century BCE.

Nuwan Abeywardana, R.L. Brohier, R.A.L.H. Gunawardana, R.W. Levers, Rukshan Jayawardena, Madduma Bandara, C.W. Nicholas, C.R. Panabokke, Henry Parker, A.M.P. Senanayake, Sudharshana Seneviratne, M.U.A. Tennakoon, and many others, through their scholarly research, have deepened our understanding of how and why the tank village emerged as the basic unit of settlement in the dry zone in ancient times. Even today, these settlements dotting the hard rock basement terrain of the dry zone continue to play a vital role in preserving its economic integrity and cultural identity. A recent study indicates there are about 10,000 functional village tanks originating from the ancient water-harvesting system in the island (Abeywardana, Nuwan; Bebermeier, Wiebke; and Schutt, Brigitta, Ancient Water Management and Governance until Abandonment, and the Influence of Colonial Politics during Reclamation, 2018).

Tank Cascade System

A tank cascade system could be defined as a chain of small tanks organized within a micro-catchment of the dry zone in Sri Lanka. The tanks in the upper catchment store water from a seasonal stream and convey it to other tanks downstream. The village tank is the lynchpin as it collects water from all the other tanks in the cascade system. The water stored in this manner is used for agriculture as well as other community activities. The proper functioning of the village tank therefore depends critically on the condition of all the other interconnected tanks which drain into it. When they fall into a state of disrepair, the system breaks down.

The number of cascade systems varies significantly from one river basin to another. For example, the Mee Oya river basin has only one associated cascade system. The Malwathu Oya river basin, on the other hand, has 179 associated cascade systems (IUCN Sri Lanka, , 2016). High priority should be given to ensuring the sustainability of the village tank settlements as they have been the backbone of civilization in the dry zone since the 3^rd century BCE. Most of the entrenched problems pertaining to management and organization of small tanks identified in a report by Saleha Begum (Minor Tank Water Management in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, 1987) continue to remain unresolved.

The narrow inland valley systems carved out on the basement rock terrain is a distinctive feature of the areas comprising Sri Lanka’s dry zone, especially the North-central and North-western provinces. The small tank cascade system is found mainly in these regions, where the undulating landscape is crisscrossed by these inland valleys. This is a good example of the skill-level reached by the local ‘scientific’ community in such areas, in the form of irrigation engineering, soil and water management, and agronomy in the 3^rd century BCE.

It is important to note that this development did not occur suddenly; rather, it was an ‘evolutionary’ process that occurred over a long period of time. A key feature of this process is that it produced the kinds of innovations that were suited to the various environmental conditions in the dry zone. Clearly, adaptation and sustainable development were concepts that were not only well understood but also practiced by the pioneers of small-scale irrigation and water management in Sri Lanka.

Due to the sustainable management structure set up within society, the small tank systems existed intact for more than two millennia…Different layers of management strategies were implemented, blending centralized larger irrigation schemes with locally controlled small irrigation systems. Buddhist temporalities were used to link the hinterland with the main settlements…” (Abeywardana et al, 2018).

Tamil Nadu also boasts of a modest small-tank cascade system, but whether it borrowed the technology from Sri Lanka or vice versa is not clear. An overview of this system is provided in a report by Krishnaveni, M.; Sankari, Siva; and Rajeswari A. (Rehabilitation of Irrigation Tank Cascade System Using Remote Sensing GIS and GPS, 2011). The physical and cultural landscape of Sri Lanka differs significantly from that of Tamil Nadu. Hence, in terms of future research, a study that compares the historical evolution and organizational structure of the tank cascade systems in these two regions would be a useful activity to undertake.

Caption Pic 1:

Tank cascade system. (Image courtesy: Paranage, K. [2018]. ‘Understanding the Relationship between Water Infrastructure and Socio-Political Configurations: A Case Study from Sri Lanka’)

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) has called for a thorough inquiry into the conduct of sacked Agriculture Secretary Senior Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe by Auditor General W.P.C. Wickramaratne and other relevant authorities.

Matale District lawmaker Rohini Kaviratne on behalf of the SJB said that the truth couldn’t be suppressed by sacking Prof. Jayasinghe. Accusing Prof. Jayasinghe of importing liquid nano urea from India at a cost very much higher than in the Indian market in the wake of a stock of Chinese carbonic fertiliser being rejected, MP Kaviratne alleged that the sacked official was the main culprit.

Prof. Jayasinghe said that he was quite surprised by the SJB’s allegations. I have absolutely no idea why the Opposition directed a spate of accusations at me,” Prof. Jayasinghe said, adding that he, too, wanted to know what he did wrong and why. When pointed out the SJB held him responsible for ruination of the agriculture sector, Prof. Jayasinghe said that he would like to know how he achieved that in less than six months.

Prof. Jayasinghe was appointed the Agriculture Ministry Secretary in early June this year. At the time he received the appointment, Prof. Jayasinghe served as the Vice Chancellor of the Wayamba University. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa replaced Prof. Jayasinghe with D.M.L.D. Bandaranayake this week.

The former UNPer said that the government should explain the appointment of five Secretaries to the Agriculture Ministry since the last presidential election in Nov 2019.

Making a reference to the Secretary of another ministry owning property in Australia, lawmaker Kaviratne said that the government couldn’t address the issue by sacking the Agriculture Ministry Secretary.

MP Kaviratne said that Prof. Jayasinghe questioned the role played by Ven. Atureliye Rathana and President of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya in promoting carbonic fertilizer though he was actually the main person who promoted the interests of those private companies engaged in fertilizer imports.

MP Kaviratne pointed out that having declared in May 2021 what the government called a green agriculture development strategy, the Agriculture Ministry in June 2021 called for global bidding for organic fertiliser. Subsequently, on August 11, 2021 the Agriculture Ministry named the Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. as the supplier of 99,000 metric tons of carbonic fertilizer to Sri Lanka, MP Kaviratne said.

Responding to another query, MP Kaviratne emphasized that the government couldn’t absolve itself of the responsibility for the opening of a Letter of Credit and the immediate shipping of the first consignment even before the National Plant Quarantine Centre (NPQC) cleared the test samples. Referring to a statement issued by the Chinese company dated Oct 26, 2021 that dealt with the fertliser crisis, MP Kaviratne said that the supplier quite clearly acknowledged that the NPQC received product samples the same day (Sept 23, 2021) China shipped the organic fertilizer.

MP Kaviratne said that a wider investigation was required to expose all those who had profited immensely at the expense of the country. The outspoken MP said that China went to the extent of blacklisting People’s Bank in the wake of the issuance of an enjoying order by the Commercial High Court of Colombo in respect of the payment for the rejected stock of fertilizer.

The SJB MP urged those responsible to investigate why over a month after the government did away with the ban on agro-chemicals not a single product had been imported. Who got the Registrar of Pesticides removed and why, MP Kaviratne asked, warning the government that once President Gotabaya Rajapaksa opened the new session of Parliament on January 18 the Opposition intended to raise that issue.

The ruination of the agriculture sector couldn’t be blamed on the recently sacked Secretary alone, the MP said. She pointed out that the prorogation of the Parliament soon after the passage of the Budget for 2022 had been influenced by the devastation in the agriculture sector as a result of hasty abolition of agro-chemical use, the Yugadanavi betrayal, the deteriorating balance of payments crisis and the rising cost of living.

Having promised political stability and security, the incumbent dispensation had mercilessly destroyed every sector, MP Kaviratne said, the political leadership should accept the blame for the fertliser crisis.

The MP alleged that an Acting appointment had been made after the removal of the Registrar of Pesticides Dr. J.A. Sumith to pave the way for a certain company to receive the agro-chemicals tender. The SJB lawmaker urged the government to come clean on the issues at hand.

Responding to questions, MP Kaviratne said that the government couldn’t divert public attention from the CID recording statements from several persons, including the Editor of ‘Aruna’ Mahinda Illeperuma regarding the accusations directed at Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the President as regards the opening of an account at a particular branch of the People’s Bank to pave the way for nano urea imports from India. She pointed out that Gamini Senarath, Secretary to the Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, too, issued a statement following various allegations made pertaining to carbonic fertiliser imports from China.

The MP pointed out that the government had so far refrained from giving any specific reasons for Prof. Jayasinghe’s removal.

Courtesy The Island

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said on Wednesday that measures being taken at present would ensure that by end of 2021, official reserves would remain above US dollars 3 billion. Thus the government and the Central Bank remain confident that expected inflows will materialise and the reserve position will remain at comfortable level throughout the year 2022.

The full text of the CBSL statement is as follows.

Despite the headwinds of the economic impact of COVID-19 and challenges posed by adverse developments in the external sector, the Sri Lankan economy showed resilience throughout 2021.

Also, Sri Lanka successfully met its debt obligations by repaying foreign loans, including the payments of the International Sovereign Bonds. Since the beginning of the year both the Central Bank and the Government have been actively pursuing possible avenues to replenish official reserves, with an emphasis on encouraging non-debt flows, so that the existing foreign debt could be managed in a sustainable manner. These efforts were accelerated since October 2021 with the announcement of the Six-Month Road Map for Ensuring Macroeconomic and Financial System Stability, which set out envisaged targets for build up of official reserves in the near term.

As articulated in the Six-Month Road Map, number of foreign exchange inflows are envisaged in the very near term. Major foreign exchange inflows to the Central Bank include SWAP facilities with Middle Eastern and other regional central banks amounting to about US dollars 2.0 billion.

The government is also in the process of securing government to government financing, syndicated loans as well as loans from multilateral organisations. In addition, the expected foreign exchange facilities that were negotiated during the high-level visits abroad made by authorities are also progressing well.

Further, the interventions made by the Central Bank on several facets of the foreign exchange market, such as incentive scheme introduced for workers’ remittances, and the repatriation and conversion requirements on account of exports proceeds will improve the liquidity in the domestic market, thereby enabling the Central Bank to build up official reserves further.

With the recent rise in departures for foreign employment and exponential growth observed in tourist arrivals, the external sector is expected to recover well in the period ahead and the pressures observed at present are expected to moderate with increased inflows to the economy.

****

CBSL extends additional incentives for inward workers’ remittances

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), having considered the requests made by Sri Lankans

working abroad, has decided to continue the payment of additional Rs. 8.00 per US dollar for

worker remittances, paid in addition to the incentive of Rs. 2.00 per US dollar under Incentive Scheme on Inward Workers’ Remittances”, for such workers’ remittances channelled through Licensed Banks and other formal channels and converted into Sri Lankan rupees, until 31.01.2022.

The decision to continue this additional incentive of Rs. 10.00 per US dollar is in response to the favourable developments observed in workers’ remittances so far during December 2021.

Further, CBSL has also decided to bear the transaction cost incurred by Sri Lankans working

abroad up to a defined limit when remitting their money to Sri Lanka through exchange houses and / or banks.

Accordingly, a large segment of Sri Lankans working abroad would now be able to remit their money to Sri Lanka without any charges. The operating instructions in this regard including the date of commencement will be issued by CBSL in due course. -CBSL

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka had not sought financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during a just concluded staff team visit to Colombo. 

IMF’s mission chief for Sri Lanka, Masahiro Nozaki told Daily Mirror via email that the staff is still ready to discuss the option if requested. 

Nozaki said a staff team from the IMF visited Colombo from December 7–20 to conduct the 2021 Article IV consultation with Sri Lanka.   

Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds regular bilateral discussions with all member countries to review economic developments and policies. 

Following approval by IMF Management the IMF’s Executive Board discusses a Staff Report based on these discussions, Nozaki said.  

The Cabinet had this week discussed an IMF bailout but had not reached a decision if to seek financial support from the global agency. 

The Government is, so far, refusing to accept the conditions put forward by the IMF for a bailout package.(Easwaran Rutnam)

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is on a two-day spiritual visit to India, on Friday offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala in India’s Andhra Pradesh along with his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa.

PM Rajapaksa came to India on Thursday to pay his visit to the temple city of Tirupati.

He was accorded a warm welcome by the joint executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Veerabrahmam and chief vigilance and security officer Gopinath Jatti as he arrived at the temple gate.

After darshan, the priests performed a ritual associated with seeking blessings of Lord Shiva at the Ranganayakula Mandapam.

Andhra Pradesh’s deputy chief minister Narayana Swamy was also present during the Lankan prime minister’s Tirumala temple visit.

While taking a tour of the temple, PM Rajapaksa also deposited money into the ‘Hundi’ and the couple was presented with a memento, New Year calendar and diaries by authorities.

PM Rajapaksa visited the temple in February 2020 when a special ‘pooja’ was performed at the Devasthanam on the first anniversary of his current term.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry reports that 573 new cases of coronavirus have been detected in the country within today (24).

This includes two persons who had arrived from overseas, the Govt. Information Department said in a release. 

Meanwhile this brings the tally of Covid-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka thus far to 582,722.

Presently approximately 9,020 patients infected with the virus are undergoing treatment across the island. 

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 20 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 23, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,832.

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 12 males and 08 females.

Six of the patients are between the ages of 30-59 years. The remaining 14 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage has assured that there would not be a food shortage in the country next year.

He says certain statements warning about a looming food shortage cannot be accepted as 90 to 95 percent of paddy fields in each district have already been cultivated now.

The minister’s remarks came after a statement made by Udith K. Jayasinghe, the former Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry sparked controversy.

Mr. Jayasinghe was subsequently removed as the agriculture secretary and Mr. D.M.L.D. Bandaranayake was appointed to the post.

Speaking to the media later, Mr. Jayasinghe said he is not aware of a specific reason for his sacking and that he is yet to be notified in writing of the move.

Meanwhile, SJB Parliamentarian J.C. Alawathuwala says the subject ministers should be sacked from their posts instead of ministerial secretaries, in order to resolve the prevailing issues.

Courtesy Hiru News

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe stated that there was a fraud in importing nano fertilizer at a higher price.

He pointed out that a bottle of nano liquid fertilizer, which could have been bought for USD 5.25, has been bought for USD 10.

Meanwhile, farmers are still complaining that their crops are being destroyed due to the substandard fertilizer that was provided by the government.

Farmers in Welikanda, Susirigama, and Malinda villages in the Mahaweli B zone in the Polonnaruwa district have been affected in this manner.

This is due to the fact that the paddy cultivations cultivated under the Maha season this year have turned yellow, and the growth has slowed down.

Farmers in these areas have cultivated paddy in an area of ​​nearly 1000 acres.

Although the government provides organic liquid fertilizer for these crops, farmers refuse to use them due to their substandard quality.

Meanwhile, the National Agrarian Union today (24) responded to the statement made by Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage that there will be no food shortage in the country.

Senaka Weeraratna Vice – President Justice for Animals and Nature

A man preaches peace. He is world renown as ‘Prince of Peace’. Yet, ironically his birthday anniversary is celebrated worldwide with unlimited bloodshed of defenseless animals.

Turkeys, cattle, pigs, goats, lambs, rabbits, and bird kinds such as ducks, hens, roosters, fowls are all lined up and forced to lay down their precious lives for human feasts on account of the ‘Prince of Peace’ – Jesus Christ.  

Shame on followers of Jesus Christ. Their idol deserves better than blood shed of innocent animals as a gift for his birthday anniversary.

Killing for Christmas

No Merry Christmas for poor animals. In fact, Christmas is the worst period in the calendar year for them. It is a sad reflection on humanity if the purpose of Christmas is seen as to give Joy for humans to feast on animal flesh, and in contrast, total misery for animals to suffer and die for the sake of feeding humans. Christmas is hardly a win – win religious festival vis a vis, say, for example, Vesak, where no animal is forced to sacrifice its precious life to celebrate a religious festival. Buddhism is a life – affirming religion.

Nevertheless, Christmas is an apt time for reflection on our civilizational values because it is the season where hundreds of thousands of innocent animals undergo extreme suffering, exploitation, and death. Millions of turkeys are slaughtered for Christmas dinner, along with ducks, geese, pigs, lambs, and chickens. In western countries, puppies and kittens are given away as presents, then often neglected or discarded by new owners when the novelty has worn off.  Rabbits and foxes have their fur stripped from them to be turned into clothing and accessories.

The undeclared war that is being waged everyday against countless millions of non-human animals all over the world with hardly any opposition from the Abrahamic religions, takes on an aggravated turn during the Christmas season. These practices are deeply unsettling to anyone who values compassion and respect for the life of others. We cannot remain silent.

  A human being is an animal, a part of nature. But we single ourselves out from the rest of nature. We classify other animals and living beings as nature, as if we ourselves are not part of it. Then we pose the question, How should I deal with Nature?” We should deal with nature the way we deal with ourselves. . . ! Harming nature is harming ourselves, and vice versa.” (Thích Nhất Hạnh )

The greatest moral challenge faced at Christmas being a religion-based festival is to make it slaughter – free. Violence towards innocent animals on a mass scale is not an ethically correct way to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the founder of a religion renowned as the ‘Prince of Peace’.

Why does not the Christian Clergy give voice to the suffering of animals? Why are they deaf to the screams of animals inside slaughter – houses?

We in Sri Lanka can set an example to the rest of the world by making Christmas a slaughter-free day. The biggest beneficiaries would be the innocent animals. 

To remain mute in the face of mass murder of animals to celebrate Christmas makes the silent crowd complicit in this horror event.

Extend the spirit of goodwill to animals this Christmas by avoiding meat altogether on Christmas Day. That will be a unique and truly noble gesture.

Senaka Weeraratna

සුදත් ගුණසේකර මහනුවර

22.12. 2021 දින  ලන්කාවෙභි ඉහත මැය යටතේ පලවූ ලිපියට තව එකතු කිරීම් කීපයක්.

ජනාධිපති තුමනි

1 ඉහත ලිපියේ සඳහන් 60 දැනා දැනටමත් දිවයිනෙන් බැහරව ගොස් ඇත්නම් ඒ සියලු  දෙනාම වහාම ආපසු කැඳවන්න.

2 මේ ගමන් සඳහා ගුවන් ටිකට් පත් සහ වෙනත්  දීමනා සඳහා වැය කොට ඇත්තේ රජයේ මුදල් නම් එම මුදල් වහාම ආපසු ගෙවන මෙන් ඔවුන්ට දන්වන්ට

3 මේ අතර අමති හා රාජ්ය ඇමතීන්සිටිත්නම් ඔබ සහ රජය අපකීර්හියට පත්කිරීම හේතුව මත වහාම අදාල තනතුරුවලින් ඔවුන් පහ කරන්න

4 අනාගහයේ කිසිම දිනක මොවුන්ට ඔබ පක්ශයෙන් පාර්ලිමෙන්තුවට හෝ වෙනත් කිසිම මැතිවරණයකට නාමයොජනා නොදි කිසිම රාජ්ය අයතනයක් යටතේ කිසිම තනතුරකට නුසුදුස්සන් වශයෙන් අසාදු. ලෙකන ගත කරන්න. එවිට  මින් පසු සියලුම මහජන නියෝජිතයින් ආදර්ශවත් ලෙස කටයුතු කරනවාට  කිසිම සැකයක් නැත.

ජනාධිපති තුමනි, දේශපාලණයේ පමණක් නොව සමස්ත රාජ්යසේවයේම මෙවැනි විනයක් ඇතිනොකට මේ රටේ කිසිදාක යහපාලනයක් ඇතිකළ නොහැක.

MD Pathik Hasan

Bangladesh is now one of the world’s developing economies. In 2015, Bangladesh graduated from Least Developed Countries (LDC) status and became a low-middle-income country. Many Asian, European and American economists are positive that soon Bangladesh will become one of the middle-income countries in the world. Today, Bangladesh is moving forward at a good pace in various indicators of the economy.

The country, once infamously labeled a bottomless basket case” in 1972 by then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, is rapidly advancing in national growth, per capita national income, export income, foreign exchange reserves, electricity, communication, economic and social infrastructure which are essential for development. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and even Afghanistan can follow Bangladesh’s economic growth model.

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, the per capita national income of Bangladesh is positive. According to various local and international media outlets, in the fiscal year 2019-2020, the per capita income of Bangladesh was USD 2064. And in the fiscal year 2020-2021, it went up to USD  2228. In the fiscal year 2018-2019, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of Bangladesh was 8.15 percent. And in the2019-2020 fiscal, this growth has been 5.24 percent. According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, in the 2020-2021 and 2021-22 fiscal year, this growth is expected to be 6.8 percent and 7.2 percent respectively even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is on the highway of development today. Bangladesh has fulfilled the various conditions of the United Nations and is qualified to enter the list of developing nations. According to a 2020 survey, Bangladesh is the 41st largest economy in the world and one of the 11 countries being considered emerging for future development.

According to the Center for Economic and Business Research (CIBR), a British economic research institute, Bangladesh will be the 34th largest economy by 2025, 26th by 2030 and 25th by 2035 if its economy continues to grow and develop like it is now,

Growth of exports, remittances

While the global economy is in the grip of coronavirus and stagnant, Bangladesh’s economy is moving forward, albeit at a relatively slow pace. And one of the strong factors behind this move is the growth of Bangladesh’s overall export earnings, the growing inflow of remittances and the positive flow of per capita national income. The other South Asian economies can follow the Bangladesh model of quickly overcoming economic stagflation during the Covid-19 period.

According to a survey by the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund the Global Knowledge Partnership and Development, Bangladesh ranks 8th among the top ten countries in the world in terms of remittance flows by 2020. At present, Bangladesh’s remittance reserves are over USD 45 billion and it ranks 45th in the world in terms of remittances. According to an EPP statistic, in the first ten months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Bangladesh’s export earnings were USD 32.07 billion, an increase of 8.75 percent over the same period last year.

This rise and progress of Bangladesh’s economy is now a surprise to the whole world. People all over the world are now amazed at the progress Bangladesh has achieved.. State thinkers, economists and the mainstream media of various countries are now praising Bangladesh. They are monitoring the country’s economic development strategy. Some countries are also considering whether this development strategy can be followed or implemented in their countries.

Another US daily, the Wal-Mart Journal, recently wrote that Bangladesh’s economy is now the ‘fastest horse’ in South Asia. Mike Hard, a commentator for the Washington Post, writes that at one time South Korea was cited as an example of development. Now Bangladesh has occupied that slot.

Praise from India

The remarkable economic successes that Bangladesh has achieved are reflected in various reports published by national and international news outlets. Before presenting the 2021-2022 budget, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in February that there was a lot to learn from Bangladesh on increasing export earnings in certain sectors.

The Economic Survey presented by her commented, ‘Bangladesh has emerged as an important exporter in the international arena. Between 2011 and 2019, the country’s compound annual growth rate was 7.8 percent, 0.9% higher than India and 0.4% higher than the rest of the world.”

India has also been attracted to the growing per capita national income of the people of Bangladesh. By end of 2020, the IMF had forecast that Bangladesh would surpass India in terms of per capita national income. Towards the end of 2020, the IMF predicted that Bangladesh would surpass India in terms of per capita national income. And that has happened. On June 1, Blumberg headlined, “South Asia now needs to look at the region’s stars.” Needless to say, this star is Bangladesh. ‘

According to a report in the Indian online journal The Print on May 26, Bangladesh has built up deep ties with its neighbors, from sending India Covid-19 epidemic relief supplies to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis through loan assistance.

Moreover, Bangladesh is one of the 40 countries that sent relief twice in the second wave of coronavirus to India. On May 8, Bangladesh sent 10,000 medicines to India. Later on, on May 16, Bangladesh also sent 2,072 boxes of antiviral drugs and Covid protection materials to India.

It may be noted that Bangladesh recently agreed to exchange USD 200 million with Sri Lanka. This money will go a long way in strengthening the Sri Lankan economy. The currency exchange process will also help Colombo overcome the huge debt crisis. Through this initiative, it is clear to the outside world that Bangladesh is currently on a strong economic footing.

Praise from Pakistan

The rise and development of Bangladesh’s economy have also attracted the attention of Pakistani intellectuals. Abid Hassan, a former adviser to the World Bank’s Pakistan program, compared the situation in Pakistan with Bangladesh’s economic accomplishments in an article in the leading Pakistani daily The News International. He said even 20 years ago, it was unthinkable that by 2020, Bangladesh’s per capita GDP would be higher than Pakistan’s. He felt if Pakistan maintains its disappointing performance, it may have to seek aid from Bangladesh by 2030.

If Bangladesh can pay USD 20 million to Sri Lanka, waive the IMF’s Bangladeshi share of money from Somalia and Sudan, help Indonesia with Covid-19 medical equipment, shelter a large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, it can also extend financial help to Pakistan. This requires a change in Pakistan’s mentality.

The Canada-based think tank International Forum for Rights and Security recently published a report on Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has been shown there that Bangladesh is ahead in all areas of the index.

So, it is expected that if the Bangladesh government can continue to handle the Covid-19 epidemic in the same way as it has done in the past, then in 2035 Bangladesh will be the 25th largest economy in the world and in 2041 emerge as a developed and prosperous country, fulfilling the dream of its founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan even Afghanistan are very close to Bangladesh geographically. The nature and trends of socio-economic factors in Bangladesh and other South Asian states are almost alike,  although Bangladesh is an overpopulated country. There is also the burden of the Rohingya refugees on Bangladesh. Bangladesh is developing despite having many other problems such as Covid-19, climate change, etc. The other South Asian countries would be the gainer if they follow the Bangladeshi approach and model of economic management and system. 

Laksiri Warnakula 

The Head of the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka Malcolm Cardinal Ranjiths’ proposal to keep the shops closed that sell the spirits of cheer (supposedly) during Christmas has met with stiff criticism coming from many members of the public

Well on its own, it is always a sensible thing to do: to keep the consumption of spirits down to a possible minimum, even during festivals such as Christmas.  After all, we Sri Lankans are said to be amongst the top that drink their guts out, who cannot be easily out drunk by even the world’s top drinkers, say Russians, for example.

Now there are some customs and habits, be them cultural, religeous, social or other that can become so ingrained in the collective mentality of people, who belong to a particular creed, it is not easy, to ask them to stop it and forget the spirits but still stick to the  cheer. And if the time of the year is also synonymous with a specific custom, where it is practised with gay abandon, even if going past the point of moderation often, it is still not fair by many, who do enjoy a ‘drink’ not because they are alcoholics,  but sticking to a tradition going back for many years. 

So let us try our best, drink moderately in celebration of the ‘Birth of Jesus’, while not forgeting the ‘have nots’, who cannot afford to have a decent meal, let alone a ‘drink’ that you and I the ‘haves’ can afford.

Merry Christmas!

Laksiri Warnakula 

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොළඹ සහ ගල්කිස්ස කාල්ටන් පෙර පාසල් දූ දරුවන්ගේ වාර්ෂික නත්තල් කැරොල් ගී ප්‍රසංගය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් ඊයේ (22) පස්වරුවේ මාලිගාවත්ත කාල්ටන් පෙර පාසලේ දී අති උත්කර්ෂවත් අයුරින් පැවැත්විණි.

කොළඹ මාලිගාවත්ත සහ ගල්කිස්ස කාල්ටන් පෙර පාසල්වල දරු දැරියෝ මෙහි දී කැරොල් ගී ගායනා කරමින් සිය හැකියාවන් පිළිඹිබු කළහ.

නත්තල් මිහිර විදහාපාමින්  පෙර පාසල් දරු දැරියෝ ප්‍රසංගය විචිත්‍රවත් කළහ.  අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා දරුවන් ගේ හැකියාවන් අගය කරමින් කැරොල් ගී මිහිර විඳ ගත්තේය.

කාල්ටන් පෙර පාසල් සමූහයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂිකා සහ විදුහල්පතිනි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආර්යා ශිරන්ති වික්‍රමසිංහ රාජපක්ෂ මහත්මිය ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා සමඟ ප්‍රසංගය නැරඹුවාය.

ප්‍රසංගය අවසානයේ දූ දරුවන්ට ත්‍යාග පිරිනැමිණි.

කැරොල් ගී ගයමින් නත්තල් සිරිය කැන්දන කාල්ටන් පෙර පාසල් දූ දරුවන්ගේ දක්ෂතා දැක බලා ගැනීමට ජනාධිපති ආර්යා අයෝමා රාජපක්ෂ මහත්මිය, මහා මාර්ග අමාත්‍ය ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු, තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය සනත් නිශාන්ත මහත්වරු සහ ඉන්දුනීසියාව, ජපානය, දකුණු කොරියාව, අමෙරිකාව, මියන්මාරය සහ ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව නියෝජනය කරමින් තානාපති බිරින්දෑවරු සහ නියෝජිතවරියෝ රැසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

High Commission of Sri Lanka New Delhi.

Sri Lanka and India discussed ways in which the two countries could further enhance bilateral cultural relations when Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda met with Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture of India Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi.

The meeting between the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka and the Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture of India was held in a very cordial manner. The discussion focused on further enhancing bilateral cultural relations, in particular through promoting Theri Sanghamitta and Sita of Ramayana, the two iconic figures who played unique roles in the relations between India and Sri Lanka.

Both dignitaries noted that Theri Sanghamitta and Sita of Ramayana were two extraordinary historical figures that have contributed much to Indo-Lanka relations and agreed to explore ways and means to promote modern bilateral cultural ties revolving around them.

Collaboration possibilities between Sri Lanka and the National Museum of New Delhi and the National Gallery of Modern Art were also discussed at this meeting. High Commissioner Moragoda invited State Minister Meenakashi Lekhi to undertake a visit to Sri Lanka as well.

High Commissioner Moragoda also shared a copy of his policy document, the “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India 2021/2023”, which includes a detailed road map for bilateral cultural cooperation, and a copy of the Hindi version of the booklet “The History of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya”, published by the Anagarika Dharmapala Trust, to the State Minister. 

High Commission of Sri Lanka New Delhi.

Courtesy Radio Free Europe

Iran has agreed to accept Ceylon tea in exchange for some $251 million in oil debt from the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka, Iranian media report.

Alireza Peyman-Pak, the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, said on December 23 that “in recent negotiations, we reached a written deal to reimburse Iran’s debt and interest on it in the form of a monthly shipment of tea produced in Sri Lanka.”

According to Iranian media, Peyman-Pak said a deal was reached in which Sri Lanka will export tea to Iran every month “to settle a $251 million debt for Iranian oil supplied to Sri Lanka nine years ago.”

Sri Lanka, an island nation of some 22 million people, was formerly known as Ceylon.

Peyman-Pak said the deal will save Iran from having to use scarce hard currency to pay for imports of the widely consumed product.

Iran has been hit hard since the United States pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and began reimposing crippling financial sanctions against Tehran.

Sri Lankan Plantation Industries Minister Ramesh Pathirana emphasized that the arrangement will not violate international sanctions as tea is exempt due to it being categorized as a food item.

Iranian banks that have been blacklisted under U.S. sanctions will not be involved in the transaction, he added.

Sir Lanka has also been experiencing severe financial difficulties, including a severe shortage of foreign currency. National reserves have declined to just $1.6 billion, leaving the government hard-pressed to meet payments for oil and food imports.

Central Bank Sri Lanka

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka wishes to inform the general public that the measures being taken at present will ensure that by end of 2021 official reserves will remain above US dollars 3 billion.

Despite the headwinds of the economic impact of COVID-19 and challenges posed by adverse developments in the external sector, the Sri Lankan economy showed resilience throughout 2021. Also, Sri Lanka successfully met its debt obligations by repaying foreign loans, including the payments of the International Sovereign Bonds. Since the beginning of the year both the Central Bank and the Government have been actively pursuing possible avenues to replenish official reserves, with an emphasis on encouraging non-debt flows, so that the existing foreign debt could be managed in a sustainable manner. These efforts were accelerated since October 2021 with the announcement of the Six-Month Road Map for Ensuring Macroeconomic and Financial System Stability, which set out envisaged targets for build up of official reserves in the near term.

As articulated in the Six-Month Road Map, number of foreign exchange inflows are envisaged in the very near term. Major foreign exchange inflows to the Central Bank include SWAP facilities with Middle Eastern and other regional central banks amounting to about US dollars 2.0 billion. The Government is also in the process of securing Government to Government financing, syndicated loans as well as loans from multilateral organisations. In addition, the expected foreign exchange facilities that were negotiated during the high-level visits abroad made by authorities are also progressing well. Further, the interventions made by the Central Bank on several facets of the foreign exchange market, such as incentive scheme introduced for workers’ remittances, and the repatriation and conversion requirements on account of exports proceeds will improve the liquidity in the domestic market, thereby enabling the Central Bank to build up official reserves further. With the recent rise in departures for foreign employment and exponential growth observed in tourist arrivals, the external sector is expected to recover well in the period ahead and the pressures observed at present are expected to moderate with increased inflows to the economy. The Government and the Central Bank remain confident that these expected inflows will materialise and the reserve position will remain at comfortable level throughout the year 2022.

 
 – Central Bank

N Sathiya Moorthy Courtesy First Post

The Sinhalas do not want to trust New Delhi on its word, and their competitive political leaderships keep packaging it differently, but to the same end as far as India relations go

File image of Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Reuters

Once again, much has been written about the recently reported upheaval in Sri Lanka’s China relations and the nation’s strategic tilt towards the larger Indian neighbour. Going by Colombo’s track record even of the short-span 21^st century, independent of the party or leadership in power, it would continue to try and balance India and China relations. In geopolitical terms, it is often described as playing China and India against each other, leveraging on Sri Lanka’s locational advantage.

Sri Lanka’s relations with China is long, though it cannot be described as equal to the umbilical cord relations that geography first and history since had established centuries before the Cold War and post-Cold War geostrategic, geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics began dictating intra-regional relations in South Asia, extending into the shared Indian Ocean, where there are other partners, players and claimants. Muscle-power and money-power dictate the second and direct the last one.

China argues, rather forcefully, that South China and East China Seas are its backwaters to the exclusion of other nation-states in the region, and extra-regional powers like the US, even more. If Beijing suffers from the US and the rest, who argue the case of ‘freedom of navigation’, citing UN legislations and resolutions, it’s only because it suits China in its hour of economic expansionism and dominance. It does not want to extend the courtesy or logic to India, viz Indian Ocean, for reasons whose history is less than a century old.

In this background, Sri Lanka’s India equations, especially of the majority Sinhala-South have at best been Yo-Yo relations at best. They will talk about how India gave them Buddhism, and in the same vein recall Rajaraja Chola’s invasion of the island a thousand years ago. They recall how a younger southern Sinhala king, Dutugamnu trounced septuagenarian Tamil ruler, Ellara, and simultaneously a millennium prior to Rajaraja but would jump two millennia to claim how LTTE’s Prabhakaran choice of Tiger/Tigers as the emblem and name for his terror-outfit drew from the Chola standard and how all of it found reflection in contemporary Indian state’s approach to the ‘ethnic issue’ in their midst.

Yo-yo relations

To speculate on contemporary triangular relations, particularly in the context of the recent Colombo decision to reject infected organic fertiliser and China black-listing the Sri Lankan public bank payment-guarantor for not clearing their bills of its exporter, is a little too far-fetched. In a way, it reflects the yo-yo nature of the triangular relationship. Otherwise, it, in essence, sums up the Indian strategic thinking about Sri Lanka, which has always been predicated on the nation’s regional/global adversary of the time, namely, the US during the Cold War, China post-Cold War and Pakistan, since the nation’s creation.

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The Hambantota port deal is a case study of Sri Lanka’s disposition towards China. Indian strategic community blamed and those in government continue to blame the ruling Rajapaksas of the period, and also at present, for the Hambantota construction-cum-concession deal, and not revoking the same despite a poll promise in 2019. They either forget or conveniently side-step how the predecessor government of president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with the latter in greater parliamentary control, converted such a contract into a 99-year-lease, purportedly blaming the earlier regime of president Mahinda Rajapaksa for pushing the nation into a China-centric debt-trap. It was a trap of an argument in which the international community / strategic community, starting with the all-knowing Indians, comfortably got themselves trapped.

In a nutshell, Sri Lanka as a nation decides what it thinks suits best for itself. There is a kind of national consensus over it, barring of course the minority Tamil community that has been fighting for ethnic equality for decades now. Even here, the Sinhala-Buddhists believe that the Tamils want to restore their ethnic superiority, which they would not accept. They leverage their numbers in a nation where electoral democracy made its beginning in these parts of the world, as far back as 1931. This has led to war, violence and the LTTE brand of terrorism, but with nothing achieved.

All this, the tactically-superior Sinhala-Buddhist polity have proved to their constituency, was India-inspired, or at least India-aided. Against this, the Tamil minority, which had benefited from the Indian political and strategic initiatives in the past decades, are a divided lot when it came to backing New Delhi to the hilt, in domestic politics. The LTTE thought otherwise and acted otherwise. To date, there is unanimity in the matter, as India is still wedded to the idea of ‘Tamil equality within a united Sri Lanka’. The Sinhalas do not want to trust New Delhi on its word, and their competitive political leaderships keep packaging it differently, but to the same end as far as India relations go.

Under the present circumstances prevailing in Sri Lanka, it suited China’s strategic intent to let Indians believe that the other two were caught in a political fight over Beijing’s supply of organic fertilisers to the island nation, and the latter denying/delaying payment, citing poor quality. It is anybody’s guess if Sri Lanka had named the barred microbes that should not be present in the Chinese exports, to be able to win an international arbitration.

That apart, by giving the impression that it was distancing from Sri Lanka in its hour of dire economic crisis, and counter-acting the ground realities by demanding payment for the fertiliser that Colombo would not accept, Beijing might have created an illusion for Indians to believe. It has only used the arm-twisting to gain greater strategic concessions than ever in the past viz India, including the past. The more recent Jaffna visit of China’s Sri Lankan envoy, Amb Qi Zhenhong, when he offered worship at the famed Nallur Murugan temple of the Tamil-Hindu community in the North, visited the iconic Jaffna Library, which Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinists imported from Colombo gutted in 1991, distributed $100,000 worth of assistance to local fishers affected by ‘poaching’ by Indian counterparts, took a boat-ride closer to the IMBL between the two South Asian neighbours and flew drones into the sea-skies in those parts, all have to be seen in this context.

Especially the latter ones, which is both unprecedented and provocative vis-à-vis India, and for which the Sri Lankan government had granted permission and facilitated, by letting the Chinese delegation use the navy’s speed-boat(s)!

The writer is Distinguished Fellow and Head-Chennai Initiative, Observer Research Foundation, the multi-disciplinary Indian public policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi. Views expressed are personal.​

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

රට තුළ පවතින තත්ත්වය තුල ඉදිරියේ දී ආහාර හිඟයක් ඇතිවීම ස්ථිර බව කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යාංශයේ හිටපු ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය උදිත් ජයසිංහ ප්‍රකාශ කළා.

ඒ හිරු ප්‍රවෘත්ති සමග විශේෂ සාකච්ජාවකට එක්වෙමින්.

Courtesy Adaderana

Udith K. Jayasinghe, the former Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry, says he is disappointed by the dismissal even after dedicating his time, labour and knowledge to serve in the post.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Jayasinghe said he is not aware of a specific reason for his sacking and that he is yet to be notified in writing of the move.

He was removed as the Agriculture Secretary not long after he sparked debate with a warning about an imminent food shortage due to the existing crisis in the country.

When asked if it was his remarks that led to his dismissal, Mr. Jayasinghe said this statement is ‘controversial’ to those who do not have a complete understanding of the prevailing situation.

He opined that the country can overcome the food crisis if we act on a scientific warning and forethought. Speaking up about a looming food shortage is not a violation of the government’s policy, the ex-agriculture secretary went on.

Further, Mr. Jayasinghe noted that the switch from chemical to organic fertiliser is not 100 percent possible.