Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka would not be defaulting on its debt repayment, says Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, who addressed a special media briefing convened by the Finance Ministry on Saturday (November 13).

During the press conference, he addressed an array of questions on the budget proposals tabled in Parliament the day before.

With regard to the country’s foreign reserves crisis and debt servicing, the lawmaker said various solutions including the halt of vehicle imports but these have failed to yield a clear solution.

We think that this issue will persist next year as well, but we expect to resolve this issue without obtaining loans.”

Sri Lanka has to pay USD 500 million in debt in January and USD 1 billion in July next year, according to the finance minister who assured that the island nation would definitely meet both payments.

By 2027, the country expects to have foreign reserves of USD 10 billion of the country’s own money. From next year, we expect to contribute USD 1 billion of our own money annually towards forex reserves. So, for the first time by 2024, we will be able to take the external budget into positive territory after many years.”

Further, the finance minister said the state sector service has become bloated to the point that the country cannot sustain it anymore.

I think we don’t need to appease them [public servants] with sweets any further,” the finance minister said adding that the government is not in a position to allocate more public funds for the state service for another year.

One of the chief accusations levelled by the Opposition is the lack of price reduction of goods via Budget 2022, which was tabled in parliament on Friday.

In response, the finance minister said, There are no short-term solutions. This government and other governments in the world got into difficulty by attempting to do so.”

The only solution is to increase the production, he added. Amid the existing COVID pandemic, I don’t think the price imported goods will come down within the next year.”

When asked of the relief measures for the tourism sector, the finance minister gave an honest answer: More than enough relief measures have been given to the people in this sector. The biggest relief the tourism sector can be given is making the country safe by vaccination, so tourists can visit without fear.”

Minister Rajapaksa stated that the government is doing everything it can to ensure that. As the finance minister, I say that the tax from the tourism sector goes to the tourist board and not to the government. The government gets income tax from all other sectors, but they independently collect the revenue and spent it.

Courtesy Adaderana

The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 716 today (November 13) as 204 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 549,500.

As many as 523,503 recoveries and 13,972 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the COVID-19 outbreak.

More than 12,000 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 22 new coronavirus-related deaths for November 12, pushing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 13,972.

The deaths confirmed today include 18 males and 04 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Five of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years while another is aged below 30 years. The remaining 17 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

Chandre Dharmawardana, writing from Canada

Sri Lanka is heading towards an agricultural disaster similar to that created by Stalin who was guided by a so-called Dialectical Materialist” version of agricultural science announced by Lysenko, a party scientist”. Sri Lanka’s leaders also have ideologues who have various scientific and medical backgrounds and are ready to present justifications” for the push for 100% organic agriculture. Here we trace this pseudo-science movement back to some of its roots and discuss some of the pseudo-science that is being presented as science”.

Dr. Jayasumana and Dr. Sanath Gunatilleke confronting a farmer in an unequal discussion.

Not so long ago, Hon. Champika Ranavaka championed a hair-brained project known as Polipto” to make petrol from waste polythene. Mr. Ranawaka also pushed the Toxin-Free Nation” program and one of his university mates ran a project with the acronym SEMA. It championed the new vision” from the presidential secretariat itself. A questionable and ineffective bio-film” fertilizer was sold to unwitting farmers via this program. The then president Maithripala Sirisena had banned glyphosate as a part of the Toxin-Free” project popularized by Ven. Ratana, Hon. Ranawaka, Dr. Jayasumana, Dr. Sanath Gunatilleke (California), the clairvoyant (late) Ms. Senanayake and others. Its effect on agriculture led to a financial loss estimated to exceed three times the loss from the so-called bond scam”. No one has been taken to task for these economic crimes so far.

Today’s 100% organic ­policy is the reductio ad absurdum of that Toxin-free project. It has the support of many senior politicians like Hon. Chamal Rajapaksa, and juniors like Channa Jayasumana.  Influential monks like Ven. BenamaNalaka, Ven. Dharmaratana of Bellanwila and others who have backed it with their chintanaya”. Political academics like Nalin de Silva, famous for his  Patta-Pal-Boru-Science (that science is a chronic lie), trained a generation of people like Dr. Channa Jayasumana to reject evidence-based science and to rely on commutations from God Natha regarding environmental matters and food safety.

The public has been indoctrinated into the belief that organic is the way forward”. Dr. Laksiri Fernando, a well-known Humanities academic writing in the Island on 5^th November, 2021 says:

There is no question that high quality organic fertilizer is better for the environment and people’s health. However, that transition requires much time, planning, raising of awareness among farmers, and necessary arrangements to be made to produce (or import) reliable organic fertilizer”.

We have but persistently argue that this commonly held organic is good” view is false. The production and use of organic fertilizer is certainly not environmentally friendly, and the famines and malnutrition that will follow the widespread use of organic agriculture is NOT good for the people’s health.

That such false views are common is not surprising because, at a more sophisticated level, these supporters of organic agriculture come up with seemingly scientific” proposals that confuse even the initiated. A false one-sided picture of the green revolution” as the source of all chronic illnesses has been successfully propagated, amplifying the message of the anti-GMO lunatic fringe in the West.  A strong innuendo of conspiracy is added to this narrative, with the question, Why hasn’t the Dept. of Agriculture (DOA) implemented all this”? Are agricultural scientists who back conventional scientific agriculture part of the fertilizer mafia”?

Farming in Sri Lanka is a private business, and if the farmers and plantations have not adopted the methods pushed hard by SEMA, MONLAR, and the chintanaya” ideologues as well as Buddhist monks owning much temple land, then something besides conspiracy theories are needed.  Their methods, or the call to return to traditional agriculture of the ancient kings”, have not been adopted by the private sector as it does not want to committee suicide.

But now the government has legislated their suicide. Dr. Roshan Rajadurai, a veteran tea planter has discussed the current situation in an Island newspaper posting on the 19^th of November, 2021: https://island.lk/sri-lankan-teas-current-crisis-only-reinforces-the-value-of-productivity-linked-wages/

The seemingly scientific but false proposals confuse even the professionals. So we hear of various scientists uttering on TV that organic agriculture is indeed the Holy Grail, but that the hasty approach used by this government is at fault. This belief is patently false, as 100% organic agriculture even at its best CANNOT feed even a half of the current population of Sri Lanka. It will lead to enormous environmental degradation and dire famine, as discussed in detail in reply to Adrian Mueller of the Swiss Institute of Organic Agriculture:  http://dh-web.org/place.names/posts/CD-Mueller-OrganicL.pdf .

Here we examine some of these seemingly scientific but inadequate or unworkable proposals.

1. Plant a legume crop like Mung beans (Vigna radiata L) that takes 45 days to harvest. The Mung being fixes nitrogen and will provide the needed N for the rice that should be planted after the Mung harvest. Some have even claimed that the Mung will produce 200-300% more N than what is needed by the paddy.

What is blithely claimed above is factually incorrect, and no reliable field trials exist. Even short term Mung varieties need 60-70 days, harvested in 90-100 days. Although Mung bean fixes nitrogen, it is NOT ENOUGH even for the mung bean itself to produce a good crop. Read the research: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206285

So it is usual to add N:P:K in the ratio 5:12:5 PLUS  4-5 TONNES of farmyard manure (compost) to avoid needing more fertilizer.  Pendimihlelin and Nitrophen are used as pesticides in India.

Cost of Mung bean farming is some Rs 95,000 to 100,000 per hectare. The Mung bean can be sold profitably. Instead of harvesting the mung growth, it can be ploughed to provide soil nitrogen. Unfortunately, even with N fixation, the most amount of N that one obtains is 4% of the DRY weight of the mung growth, and woefully inadequate for the rice.

However, as Rahaman et al (2014) have shown, crop rotation together with urea can improve agronomic efficiency. A basic amount of urea, as well as standard P, K are needed. The environmental problems from urea can be largely mitigated using slow-release urea, but NOT nano-urea which poses a serious health danger (see Island 29-10-2021 https://island.lk/human-health-and-nano-fertilizers-where-is-the-safety-clothing/ )

In growing mung beans, instead of adding N via the 5:12:5 NPK fertilizer, one may attempt to benefit from biological nitrogen fixation with native rhizobia inhabiting nodule micro-organisms, but at the risk of increased microbial CO2 generation. These possibilities are still being researched, as may be seen from very recent work on the topic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7835340/

Hence it is plain nonsense to ask farmers to adopt a technology which is still on the drawing boards.

2. Another proposal that has been bandied about since the 1970s is that cyanobacterial algal N-fixation can be used to provide a large part of the N-fertilizer needed.

Long-term urea application degrades the soil, water, and air quality, producing global warming. So there is a biotechnological interest in using nitrogen-fixing microorganisms to enhance crop growth without using urea since current poor practices lead to much waste. The wasteful practice of using water to control weeds in paddy fields where even 60% of the urea applied may get washed away should be stopped, as it also leads to soil erosion. Growing rice without any more water than for any pasture grasses will be the norm when global warming reduces water availability.

If water logging is to be used even in the short term, then N-fixing algae can be considered but this is NOT an optimal solution. Dr. Kulasooriya, then working at the Institute of Fundamental Studies (Kandy), and others elsewhere have reported studies relevant to this proposal.  However, even a 2021 research publication merely mentions that there is potential but no standardized farm protocol available. See:  https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/10/4628/htm

1. It has been claimed that fast growing N-fixing aquatic ferns like Azolla Pinnata with 20-25% protein content can be used to make N-fertilizer. It is known to double in size every two days if adequate nutrient is provided. So, it is proposed to grow it in lakes and tanks and harvested to produce organic N fertilizer.

This is a complete myth although at first sight the suggestion is plausible. The invasive plant, Azolla Pinnata grows exponentially but then exponential amounts of P, K must be supplied, e.g., as phosphate fertilizer, until its growth saturates the water surface. If it acquires 25% protein during its growth, its nitrogen content would be 4% and no better than from Salvinia Molesta which is already widely present. In practice, naturally growing Azolla or Salvinia do not acquire more than 2-3% of Nitrogen. It is not cost effective to pull it out from the water and dry it to make fertilizers. Any such effort also adds a high green-house gas emission load. I have discussed both Salvinia Molesta and Azolla Pinnata in my plant website:

https://dh-web.org/place.names/bot2sinhala.html

More details, including that fact that both A. Pinnata and Salvinia also accumulate heavy-metal toxins during their rapid growth are given there.

1. It has been claimed that when scientifically fertilized paddy fields were grown with zero fertilizer, it was only in the 4th year that the yield dropped to 45%, and that from then on two tonnes per hectare were assured!

One has to only look at the annual reports of the DOA in the 1940s, 1950s to get decades of data (on harvests from traditional fields without modern agrochemicals) to show that such magical claims may require the intervention of God Natha. Even the ancients knew that after every three or four years it was necessary to burn a forest and make a new chena”, even to get one or one and a half tonnes  of rice per hectare. There is no way to cut through the gullibility of those who are faithful to an ideology.

1. The work of Dr. Premakumar of the ITI, and Dr. Roshan Perera of Kothelawala Defence Academy have been cited for isolating many soil micro-organisms that can enhance nutrient delivery to plants. So, has the fertilizer mafia” prevented its use in farming!

The micro-organisms that enhance nutrient delivery by various mechanisms also enhance the uptake of heavy metal toxins like cadmium, lead etc., by plants, making any water insoluble (i.e., non-bio-available) forms of heavy metals soluble in water. Such methods may upset the microbial balance of the soil and spawn new toxic microbial forms as happens in eutrophic systems.  Enhanced microbial action leads to enhanced green-house gas emission of CO2 and reactive Nitrogen. Long term research is needed before such methods can be adopted in the farm.

Those who ask this kind of question know that we can use bovine DNA in a nutrient vat and create beef without cattle and slaughter houses. Why is that DNA technology not being widely adopted? There can be decades between a laboratory result and farm applications. It is this lack of understanding and judgment that propelled the ban on glyphosate, or the100% organic policy, in the belief that there ARE practical alternatives suppressed by big agri-business.

1. It has been suggested that modern pesticides are not needed to control weeds and insect or mold infestations as simple crop rotation and the use of traditional pesticides based on plants like Kohombha” (Neem) or Maduruthala (a type of Basil) can be used. Thus, when the Khapra Beetle epidemic arrived in Sri Lanka, Ven. Ratana is said to have given a press conference claiming that the beetle can be eliminated using traditional herbal pesticides”.

Other suggestions, e.g., using   biodynamic and telluric forces” to fight pests have been made.  Rudof Steiner, the father of Western-style organic Farming” was a great believer in telluric forces”. The claim that kem”, i.e., using incantations, blessings and special plant parts, a part of traditional agricultural practice”, can be used to avert pests has also been made by some toxin-free nation” activists.

Some of the Colombo elites in Sri Lanka have uncritically lapped many of these beliefs, and become warriors of the local Green movement”. Plants and pests evolve mechanisms to resist all pesticides and even beat methods based on crop rotation, or leaving the land fallow for a season etc.

Traditional herbal pesticides have been used for centuries and today’s pests and weeds are resistant to them. So, just as with the corona virus, agricultural scientists have to continually make NEW pesticides.

We will not address our discussion to those who believe in the efficacy of magical” portions, kem” , or those who believe that the molecular structure of water changes and retain a memory when holy texts from Pirith” or from the Bible are chanted to the water.

1. Another typical question is why biochar and other carbon remediation methods had not been used as a soil conditioner in the plantations where soil quality has grossly deteriorated, especially in tea. Sri Lanka’s tea harvest per hectare has now fallen to almost half of its potential due to improper maintenance of tea soils.

Soil deterioration became increasingly acute after the nationalization of the estates when many of the standard maintenance practices were short-circuited by new managers. Many of the experienced mangers left for South Africa and other countries that began to grow tea. The TRI is currently conducting field trials on biochar usage and soil remediation, working in collaboration with local scientists like Ben Basnayake. Improved soils will also mean improved soil micro-organisms that help to generate and retain soil fertility.

However, even if N-fixation microbes could be inducted into the soil, given the harvesting and removal of  some 1500-2600 kg/ha of tea per annum, all the nitrogen, phosphorous etc., removed from the land need to be replenished, and this is what we mean by adding fertilizer. The most efficient method of doing this is to use N,P,K fertilizer and that is an operation independent of soil remediation which ensures that the soil has enough carbon in it. So, banning mineral fertilizers is the sound the death knell of the famed Ceylon Tea” industry.

Those who ask these questions should note that this is not the only thing neglected since the 1970s.  Neglect of most maintenance protocols, be they for tanks and rivers and their de-silting, or due collection of garbage, or control of noxious fumes from vehicle traffic and increase in submicron particles etc., can be mentioned.

While submicron particles are probably the biggest environmental danger to health, the unproven danger of there being a few parts per billion of glyphosate in the environment, and the unsubstantiated claim that local glyphosate contains more toxic additives than used in Europe led two medical doctors to demand the ban of glyphosate on the basis of the precautionary principle”!

Why didn’t these doctors demand a ban on sugar, a proven toxin which causes more diabetes and chronic kidney disease than any other toxin?

***************

ALSO, NOTE the career and professional details re Professor Chandre Dharmawardana

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandre_Dharma-wardana
• https://peoplepill.com/people/chandre-dharma-wardana
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4Q5mxT2CGg
• https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-gmoa-guns-glyphosate-misses-a-milestone-study-on-90000-people/

ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ව්‍යවහාරික පීඨයේ මහාචාර්ය මෙත්තිකා විතානගේ  උපුටාගැණීම ලංකාදීප

යටත්විජිත තත්ත්වයෙන් නිදහස් වෙද්දී අපේ රට සමග සමපාතව සිටි රටවල් රැසක් අද අපේ රටට වඩා ඉදිරියට ගොස් ඇත. නිදසුනකට සිංගප්පූරුව, කොරියාව, බංගලාදේශය හා ඉන්දියාව වුවත් අපට වඩා ගව් ගණනාවක් ඉදිරියෙන් ඇත. මීට ප්‍රධාන හේතුව නම් ලංකාවට ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති වෙනුවට දේශපාලන පක්ෂ හා බද්ධ වූ ප්‍රතිපත්ති මාලාවක් තිබීමය. පෙර සඳහන් කළ සියලු රටවල් වර්තමාන දියුණුව අත්පත් කරගත්තේ තමන්ගේම වූ ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති මත ක්‍රියා කිරීමෙනි.

ආණ්ඩුකරණයේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂය වෙනස් වූවද ඔවුන්ගේ ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති වෙනස් වූයේ නැත. එහෙත් අපේ රටේ තත්ත්වය වෙනස්ය. සෑම වසර පහකටම වරක් ජාතික යැයි කියන ප්‍රතිපත්ති වෙනස් වේ. එවිට ලියුම් කවරයේ සිට ලිපි ශීර්ෂ දක්වා සියල්ල වෙනස් වේ. එසේ වෙද්දී රටකට පැවැත්මක් සෙවීම කොහොමටත් දුෂ්කරය. රටක් සැබෑ දියුණුවක් ලබාගැනීමට නම් නිසැකයෙන්ම අධ්‍යාපනයට, සෞඛ්‍යයට, කෘෂිකර්මයට, කර්මාන්තවලට යනාදී වශයෙන් ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති තිබිය යුතුය. විද්‍යාත්මක පදනමකින් ගොඩනැගිය යුතු මෙම ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති වෙනස් කිරීමට දේශපාලන පක්ෂ කටයුතු නොකළ යුතුය. මන්දයත් ඒවා කෙටිකාලීන, මධ්‍යකාලීන හා දිගුකාලීන වශයෙන් කාලානුරූපව රටේ දියුණුව සඳහා සකසා ඇති බැවිනි. එහෙත් අවාසනාවට අපේ රටේදී ජාතික යැයි කියන ප්‍රතිපත්ති ආණ්ඩු අනුව පමණක් නොව ඒ ඒ ආණ්ඩුවල ඇමැති මාරුවේදී පවා යළි වෙනස්වේ. 

යම්කිසි දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් බලයට පත්වන්නේම රටේ තත්ත්වය දැනගෙනය. රටේ ආදායම වියදම ණය බර ආදිය ගැන ඔවුහු හොඳින් දනිති. ඒ නිසා රටක් පාලනය කිරීමට පත්වන ආණ්ඩුවකට ඒ රට පරීක්ෂණාගාරයක් හැටියට භාවිත කළ නොහැකිය. එහෙත් අවාසනාවට ලංකාවේදී බලයට පත්වන බොහෝ පිරිස් ආණ්ඩුකරණයේ බොහෝ දේ අත්හදාබැලීමට භාවිත කරන්නේ රට හා ජනතාවයි.
මේ ආණ්ඩුව එසේ අත්හදාබැලීමට භාවිත කළේ රටේ ජීවනාලිය බඳු කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයයි.

මෙය ඉතා භයානක ක්‍රීඩාවකි. කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය යනු ලංකාවට අදාළව ගත්කල අතිශය සංවේදී විෂයකි. ඒ ගැන තීන්දුවක් ගන්නේ නම් එය කළයුත්තේ සංයුක්තව සිතා බලා දූරදර්ශී ලෙසිනි. නොඑසේව හීනෙන් අවදි වූවන් ලෙසින් කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයට අදාළව තීන්දු ගත නොහැකිය.

ලංකාවේ කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය යනු වසර හැත්තෑවක් පමණ දිගු කාලයක් තිස්සේ කෘත්‍රිම පොහොර මත යැපෙන කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයකි. ඊට හේතු සාධක ද ඇත. මේ මුළුලොවම රසායනික පොහොරවල නැඹුරු වූයේ හරිත විප්ලවය හෙවත් කෘෂිකාර්මික විප්ලවයත් සමගය.

ඊට හේතුවූයේ ලොව ජනගහනය ඉතා වේගයෙන් වැඩිවෙද්දී ඊට සාපේක්ෂව ඔවුන්ගේ ආහාර අවශ්‍යතාව සම්පූර්ණ කළ යුතු වීමය. මෙය ලංකාවට ද අදාළය. මුළුමනින් කාබනික කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයකට යන්නට හැකි නම් මුළු ලොවම ඊට කැමැති වනු ඇත. එසේ නම් අප විමසිය යුත්තේ එවැන්නකට යථාර්ථයේදී ඉඩක් තිබේද කියාය.

කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතයේදී එක්වරම පසට අයන පෝෂණය නිදහස් කරන්නේ නැත. කාබනික පොහොරෙන් ඒවා නිදහස් කරන්නේ ඉතාම මන්දගාමීවය.

ගසකට කාබනික පොහොර යෙදූ විට ඒවා පාංශු ජලය ඔස්සේ උරාගන්නා අතර ඊට මාස තුනක් වැනි සැලකිය යුතු කාලයක් ගතවේ. එය කිසිසේත් කෙටිකාලීන බෝගවලට ගැළපෙන්නේ නැත.

එසේ වුවහොත් අප වෙනස ආරම්භ කළයුත්තේ බීජවල සිටමය. මගේ විද්‍යාත්මක දැනීම හා අත්දැකීම අනුව නම් එසේ නොවුවහොත් සිදුවන්නේ සමස්ත කෘෂිකාර්මික පද්ධතියම බිඳවැටීමයි. අද වනවිට එම ඛේදනීය තත්ත්වයට රට ඇද දමා තිබේ. ඊට හේතුව නම් කෘෂිකර්මයෙහි භාවිත පොහොර ගැන ඉදිරිපත් කළ කුප්‍රකට තර්කයි. 

මේ අමුතු තර්ක ඉදිරිපත් කළ පිරිස කියන ආකාරයට පොහොරවලින් පසට බැර ලෝහ විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් පැමිණ තිබේ. එනිසා පොහොර හා ඒවායේ සංයුතිය ගැන යම් දළ අදහසක් ඇතිකරගැනීම සාමාන්‍ය ජනයාට ද වටී. කෘත්‍රිම පොහොර හැටියට අප ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන්ම යොදන්නේ එන්.පී.කේ. ය. නයිට්‍රජන් සඳහා යූරියාත් පොස්පරස් සඳහා පොස්පරස් පොහොරත් පොටෑසියම් සඳහා පොටෑසියම් ක්ලෝරයිඩ් හෝ ඊට අන්තර්ගත කළ වෙන යම් ලවණයකි.

යූරියා යනු කෘත්‍රිමව පර් යේෂණාගාරයේ නිපදවන්නකි. මෙසේ කෘත්‍රිමව නිෂ්පාදනය කරන පොහොරේ කිසිදු අවස්ථාවක බැර ලෝහ අඩංගු වන්නේ නැත. බැර ලෝහ අඩංගුවීමට නම් එය ස්වාභාවික පරිසරයෙන් ගත් එකක් විය යුතුය. බැර ලෝහ යනු ස්වාභාවික පසේ තිබෙන දෙයකි. එසේ ස්වාභාවික ලෙස බැර ලෝහ නිෂ්පාදනය වන්නේ කෙසේද? පස නිර්මාණය වන්නේ පාෂාණවලිනි. නැතහොත් පාෂාණ ජීර්ණයවීමෙනි. පාෂාණ ජීර්ණය වෙද්දී නොයෙකුත් බැර ලෝහ සහ අකාබනික මූලද්‍රව්‍ය විවිධ සාන්ද්‍රණවලින් පවතී.

පාෂාණය ජීර්ණයවීමත් සමග ඒ සංයුතීන් ද ස්වාභාවිකවම පසට ලැබේ. එය ස්වාභාවික ක්‍රියාවලියකි. ජපානය වැනි රටවල පස්වල බැර ලෝහ සාන්ද්‍රණය වැඩිය. මේ බැර ලෝහ පැමිණෙන්නේ නිතර ඇතිවන භූමිකම්පා හා ගිනි කඳු මගින් එන කැඩ්මාවලිනි. එසේ බලද්දී ජපානයේ පසෙහි බැර ලෝහ අන්තර්ගතය ලංකාවේ පසට වඩා කීප ගුණයකින් වැඩිය. එසේය කියා ජපන් වැසියන්ට අපට මෙන් වකුගඩු රෝග තිබේද? නැත. එසේනම් මේ කුප්‍රකට තර්කවලින් මෙතෙක් කර ඇත්තේ මහජනයා මුළා කිරීමය. මේ අයුරින්ම පොහොර සඳහා පොටෑසියම් ක්ලෝරයිඩ් ගන්නේ නිධිවලිනි. එය ලවණයකි. ලවණවල බැර ලෝහ අඩුය. බැර ලෝහ පැමිණිය හැකි යැයි සිතිය හැකි පොහොරක් වන්නේ පොස්පේට් පොහොරය. ලංකාවේ එප්පාවල පොස්පේට් නිධියේ බැර ලෝහ කිසියම් ප්‍රමාණයක් ඇත. එහෙත් එසේ බැර ලෝහ තිබුණේ යැයි කියා ද එම අන්තර්ගතයන්ගෙන් නිෂ්පාදනය කෙරෙන පොහොරෙන් පසට බලපෑමක් වන්නේ නැත. 

මිනිස් සිරුරක් රෝගී වීමට කොපමණ බැර ලෝහ ප්‍රමාණයක් ඇතුළත් විය යුතුදැයි මේ වනවිට විද්‍යාඥයෝ ගණනය කර ඇත්තාහ. නිදසුනකට එකවරම ආසනික් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් මිනිස් සිරුරට ඇතුළු කළහොත් පුද්ගලයා මිය යයි. ඉතාම සුළු සාන්ද්‍රණයකින් වසර ගණනක් තිස්සේ භාවිත කිරීමෙන් ද මිනිසකු මරණයට පත්විය හැකිය.

නිදසුනකට බංගලාදේශයේ පසේ ආසනික් සාන්ද්‍රණය ඉතා අධිකය. ඉන්දියාවේ, පාකිස්ථානයේ, තායිලන්තයේ, වියට්නාමයේ ඇතැම් ප්‍රදේශ ඇතුළු වී වගා කරන රටවල් රැසක්ම මෙසේ පසේ ආසනික් සාන්ද්‍රණය වැඩි ස්ථානවලට නිදසුන් ලෙස දැක්විය හැකිය.

ඊට බලපා ඇති භූවිද්‍යාත්මක හේතු ගණනාවක් ද ඇත. එවිට එම පස්වල වගා කරන වී වල නිරන්තරයෙන්ම ආසනික් සාන්ද්‍රණය අධිකය. මෙසේ ආසනික් සාන්ද්‍රණය වැඩි නිසා බංගලාදේශයේ මිනිසුන් ලක්ෂ ගණනකට පිළිකා හටගෙන ඇත. එහෙත් පිළිකා යැයි කී විට ද අප තේරුම් ගත යුතු කරුණක් තිබේ. එනම් පියයුරු පිළිකා, මොළේ පිළිකා, පෙණහලු පිළිකා, බඩවැල් පිළිකා ආදී වශයෙන් පිළිකා වර්ග ද ගණනක් ඇත. 

ආසනික් වැඩිවීමෙන් හටගන්නේ ආසාපෝසික් නමැති සමේ පිළිකාය. මෙම පිළිකාව ලංකාවේ කිසිම තැනක දකින්නට ලැබී නැත. එහෙත් බංගලාදේශයේ ලක්ෂ ගණනක් මිනිසුන්ට මෙම පිළිකාව හටගෙන ඇත. ඊට හේතුව ආසනික් සහිත ජලය පානය හා ආසනික් සහිත සහල් පරිභෝජනයයි. 

ලංකාවේ අපි කෘත්‍රිමව නිර්මාණය කරගත් ප්‍රශ්නය නිසා නම් දැන් මුහුණදීමට සිදුවන්නේ උත්ප්‍රාසජනක ඉරණමකටය. කාබනික වගාවට යනවා යැයි කියා අනුගමනය කළ පියවරවලින් සිදුවූයේ අස්වැන්න අඩුවීමය. දේශීය පරිභෝජනයටත් සහල් අඩු වූ විට යළිත් කරන්නේ විදේශවලින් සහල් ආනයනය කිරීමයි. එසේ ආනයනය කරන සහල් වගා කළේ කාබනික පොහොරවලින්ද? ඒ ආනයනික සහල් වගා කර ඇත්තේ ආසනික් සාන්ද්‍රණය අධික පසකදැයි අප දන්නවාද? මේ ආදී වශයෙන් ගත්විට අප විසින් කරනු ලැබ ඇත්තේ බලෙන් ප්‍රශ්න රැසක් නිර්මාණය කරගැනීමය.

කුප්‍රකට උගතුන් කී පරිදි පොහොරෙන් බැර ලෝහ පැමිණියේ නම් අවුරුදු හැත්තෑවක් තිස්සේ දේශීය ගොවිතැනට යෙදූ පොහොරවලින් කොපමණ විශාල බැර ලෝහ ප්‍රමාණයක් ලක් පොළවේ තිබිය යුතුද? වෙනත් රටවල පස්වලත් කොපමණ විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් බැර ලෝහ තිබිය යුතුද? පොහොරවලින් මේ කියන පරිදි බැර ලෝහ පාංශුගත වන බවට ඔප්පු කිරීමට ලොව කිසිම තැනක කළ විද්‍යාත්මක පරීක්ෂණයක් නැත. මේවා අමූලික බොරුය.

මෙහි වේදනාව බොහෝදුරට අත්විඳින්නට අපට සිදුවන්නේ ලබන වසරේදීය. දැනටමත් වගාවේ නිරත ගොවීහු සිටින්නේ අතිදුෂ්කර අඩියකය. මේ ඇතැම් ගොවීහු වකුගඩු රෝගවලින් පෙළෙන්නෝය. ඔවුන්ට පානය කිරීමට පිරිසුදු ජලයවත් නැත. පීඩිතයෝය. එහෙත් දියුණු රටවල නම් ගොවීහු වනාහි සුඛෝපභෝගී රථ වාහනවලින් යනෙන දියුණු ආර්ථික ජීවිත හිමි පිරිසකි.

ඊට හේතුව නම් ඒ රටවල ප්‍රතිපත්ති සකසන්නන් විසින් සිය ගොවියා ව්‍යවසායකයකු දක්වා වර්ධනය කරනු ලැබීමය. අවාසනාවට දේශීය ගොවියා මේ අසරණ අඩියට තල්ලු කරනු ලැබ තිබෙන්නේ ද දේශපාලකයන් විසින්මය. එක කන්නයක් වගා නොකළහොත් ඊළඟ කන්නයේදී ජීවත්වෙන්නටවත් ලංකාවේ ගොවියාට නොහැකිය. දැන් බෙල්ලෙන් අල්ලන්නට හදන්නේ ඒ ගොවියාගේය. 

රසායනික පොහොර නිසා බැර ලෝහ එන්නේ යැයි මොහොතකට සිතමු. එවිට ඔවුන් ඊට විකල්පය ලෙස යෝජනා කරන්නේ කාබනික පොහොරයි.

කාබනික පොහොර යනු මොනවාද? දියර පොහොර, කොම්පෝස්ට්, වසුරු කාබනික පොහොර වර්ග කීපයකි. මේවායේ වස විස නැද්ද? මගේ එක් පර් යේෂණ ක්ෂේත්‍රයක් නම් කසළ කඳුවලින් සිදුවන පරිසර දූෂණයයි. මගේ පර් යේෂණවලදී දුටු දෙයක් නම් මේ කසළ කඳුවලින් ගලා යන ජලයේ බැර ලෝහ අනන්තවත් ඇති බවය.

ලංකාවේ කසළ කඳු 260කට අධික සංඛ්‍යාවක් ඇති අතර සෞඛ්‍යාරක්ෂිත ක්‍රමවේද අනුව පවත්වාගෙන යන්නේ ඉන් දෙකක් පමණි. කොම්පෝස්ට් සැකසීමට මේ කසළ කඳුද භාවිත කරයි. කොම්පෝස්ට් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මා කළ පර් යේෂණවේදී දැකගැනීමට හැකිවුණේ ඒවායේ මයික්‍රොප්ලාස්ටික් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් අන්තර්ගත බවයි. මයික්‍රොප්ලාස්ටික්වලටත් අමතරව මේ කොම්පෝස්ට්වල බැර ලෝහ ඉතා අධික සාන්ද්‍රණවලින් පවතී. කසළ කඳුවලින් සැකසූ මේ කොම්පෝස්ට්වලින් ඇත්තටම කෙරෙන්නේ කුණු ගොඩේ පවතින බැරලෝහ ගොවිබිමට මුහු කිරීමය.

ලංකාවේ කසළවලින් සකසන කොම්පෝස්ට්වල බැර ලෝහ තිබේ නම් චීනයෙන් ගෙනෙන කොම්පෝස්ට්වල ද අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම තිබිය යුතුය. තවද මයික්‍රොප්ලාස්ටික් හා බැඳුණු ටැලේට් වැනි විෂ කාබනික සංයෝග ද මේ හරහා ගොවිබිමට පැමිණේ. (පොලිතින් හා ප්ලාස්ටික්වල නම්‍යශීලීත්වය වර්ධනය කරනු ලබන්නේ ටැලේට් විසිනි.) මේවා ගැන කවුරුවත් කතා කරන්නේ නැත. ඌරු හා කුකුල් කොටුවලින් ගන්නා වසුරු පොහොරවල කතාව ද මීට වෙනස් නැත. මේ සත්ව ගොවිපොළවලදී හෝමෝන හා ප්‍රතිජීවක යනු නිතර භාවිතයට ගන්නා දේය.

මේ සතුන්ගේ වසුරුවල අදාළ හෝමෝන හා ප්‍රතිජීවක අධිසාන්ද්‍රණවලින් තිබේ. පරීක්ෂණ මගින් අප ඒ බව සොයාගෙන ද ඇත. මේ වසුරු පොහොර කුඹුරට එකතු කළ විට පෙර කී හෝමෝන හා ප්‍රතිජීවක ජලය මගින් වී පැළයට උරාගන්නා අතර ඒවායේ අවසාන නැවතුම මිනිස් සිරුරයි. මෙසේ ආහාරයෙන් ප්‍රතිජීවක සිරුරට පැමිණීමේ අවුල නම් රෝගයක් වැළඳුණු අවස්ථාවක ඖෂධයක් හැටියට අප ගන්නා ප්‍රතිජීවකවලින් අපට ඵලක් නොවීමයි. කාබනික කෘෂිකර්මයක් ගැන කතා කරන්නෝ මේවා ගැන සොයා තිබේද?  

මට හිතෙන හැටියට නම් රට මේ තැනට වැටීමට අප සියලුදෙනාම වගකිව යුතුය. නිදසුනකට අතීතයේදී අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම්වරයකු යනු පරිපාලනය පිළිබඳ කප්පිත්තෙකි. ඒ කප්පිත්තා තීන්දු ගැනීමට අදාළ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සැකසුම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් විෂය භාර ඇමැතිවරයා දැනුවත් කරයි. එහෙත් දැන් තත්ත්වය තිබෙන්නේ කනපිට පෙරළිලාය. තනතුරුවලට පැමිණෙන්නෝ එක්කෝ ඇමැතිගේ හෙංචයියෙකි. නැත්නම් පක්ෂයේ හෙංචයියෙකි. මෙයින් සිදුවන්නේ එම තනතුරේ වගකීම ඉටු නොවීමය. මේ නිසා අද වනවිට ලංකාවේ ජනප්‍රිය කර ඇති වැරැදි මත ප්‍රචාර රැවටීම් රැසකි. ඒවාට කිසිදු විද්‍යාත්මකභාවයක් නැති අතර ඇත්තේ හුදු දේශපාලනයම පමණි.

රජරට ජලයේ ආසනික් ඇතැයි නාථ දෙවියන් කළ අනාවරණය ඊට එක් කුප්‍රකට උදාහරණයකි. පර් යේෂණ කිරීමට ලොව පිළිගත් විද්‍යාත්මක ක්‍රමවේදයක් පවතී. නාථ දෙවියන් හෝ කතරගම දෙවියන් කීවා යැයි කෙරෙන පර් යේෂණ ගැන අපි නම් දන්නේ නැත. සාමාන්‍ය ජනයා මෙවැනි විප්‍රකාරවලින් රැවටීම පසුපස ඇත්තේ ද දේශපාලනයයි. ඒ දේශපාලනයේ ඇත්තේ කොමිස්, තනතුරු, වරදාන, වරප්‍රසාද මිස ජනතා සේවයක් නම් නොවේ. ඉතින් මා සිතන්නේ මෙවැනි අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වයක් යනු සාමාන්‍ය ජනයාට මේ දුර්මත ගැන ඇත්ත කීමට ප්‍රාමාණිකයන් පෙරට පැමිණිය යුතු අවස්ථාවක් බවය. 

සමාජයට දේශපාලනයට විද්‍යාවට අදාළ විෂය රැසකි. ඒවායේ ප්‍රාමාණිකයෝ වනාහි ඒ ඒ විෂයෙහි දැනුම ප්‍රතිනිෂ්පාදනය කරමින් අත්දැකීම් ලැබුවෝය. එවිට තමන්ට අදාළ නොවන විෂය ගැන තීරණාත්මක මැදිහත්වීම් කිරීම රටකට අදාළව ගත්විට ව්‍යසනකාරී තත්ත්වයක් දක්වා වුව පාර කැපිය හැකිය. 

අප වෛද්‍යවරුන්ගේ කාරිය කරන්නට ගියහොත් සිදුවන්නේ මහා විනාශයකි. මේ තර්කය කෘෂිකර්මයටත් පොදුය. මේ රටේ කෘෂි විද්‍යාඥයන්, ස්වාභාවික සම්පත් පිළිබඳ විද්‍යාඥයන්, පාංශු විද්‍යාඥයන්, පරිසරය පිළිබඳ විද්‍යාඥයන් සිටින්නේ ඒ පිළිබඳ කතා කිරීමටය. පොහොරෙන් බැර ලෝහ එන බවට තර්ක කරමින් කාබනික කෘෂිකර්මයට යන්නට වැරැදි තර්ක හැදුවෝ අයත්වන්නේ ද මේ විෂය පටලවාගත් ගොඩටය. මේ තර්කයෙන් සිදුවූයේ සාමාන්‍ය ජනයා මුළා කිරීම පමණි. ඒ අර්ථයෙන් බලද්දී මෙතෙක් අපෙන් ඉටු නොවූ වගකීම ඉටු කිරීමට අපට එළඹී ඇත්තේ ද ස්වර්ණමය අවස්ථාවකි. නාථ දෙවියන්ගෙන් ආසනික් මතුවීමත් පොහොරවලින් බැර ලෝහ මතුවීමත් යන නාටකීය දේශපාලනයේ ඇත්තේ එකම පදනමකි. එහි නිරුවත් ඇත්ත ජනයා හමුවේ හෙළිදරව් කිරීම සෑම විෂය ප්‍රාමාණිකයකුගේම වගකීමකි.

ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ව්‍යවහාරික පීඨයේ මහාචාර්ය මෙත්තිකා විතානගේ

සංවාද සටහන බිඟුන් මේනක ගමගේ

MD Pathik Hasan

There are many ongoing developmental projects in Cambodia. The council for The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has been declaring and approving these developmental projects. These projects can create jobs amongst locales. Cambodia could more benefit from utilizing these projects if they follow the ‘Bangladesh’s Thriving Through Mega Projects’ model. Bangladesh is a role model in case of implementing the mega projects in the whole world.

For example, according to Cambodian media reports, the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has approved five investment projects with an accumulated investment capital of $1.299billion on March, two new investment projects worth a total of $10.6 million in June, 75 investment projects approved in first eight months this year, Seven more investment projects worth $94.9 million have been approved, according to a press release of the Council for the Development of Cambodia issued on Oct. 22. The CDC okayed 70 projects valued at more than $2.42 billion in January-June. In October alone, the Council for the Development of Cambodia approved 12 investment projects worth $112 million. These mega projects should be implemented properly for ensuring the greater interest of Cambodian people. Cambodia can learn from Bangladesh how to handle the projects utilizing its best outcome. Bangladesh can be an exemplary example for Cambodia.

The pandemic hit numerous sectors of the Cambodian economy. Travel restrictions imposed due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawbacks in the economic activities due to investors’ lack of confidence to invest, restrictions on international trade as well as limitations on allocation of funds due to fluctuation of exchange rates remained as major challenges for the implementation of development projects in Cambodia in 2021. The economy has been affected by the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially the February 20 Community Event, which has put a lot of pressure on main sectors of Cambodia’s economic growth.

When implementation of mega projects in Cambodia during the first wave to third wave of Covid-19 was nearly at slow motion in Cambodia, the implementation of mega projects in Bangladesh was and is being continued even in this covid-19 pandemic situation.

The Bangladesh’s economic thriving through the mega projects during the Covid-19 period helps Bangladesh to revive its economy. Cambodia could take lessons from Bangladesh how to revive the economy through the mega projects amidst the Corona epidemic. Cambodian government could and should follow the ‘Bangladesh’s model of economic revival during the Pandemic’.

Basically, this model of economic revival helped Bangladesh to recovery from inflation and economic stagflation to boost up its economic wheel for the people. As a South East Asian neighbors, Cambodia could follow the strategies and tactics of Bangladesh.

People worked hard to implement these projects in Bangladesh. The projects are being implemented by the foreign fund and loan. Bangladesh has been utilizing the maximum outcome of these foreign loan. As a result, it is going to be South Asian Economic miracle. Its inflation is tolerable than that of other countries in South Asia.  Its estimated growth rate by ADB, World Bank and IMF is comparatively satisfied with other countries in the region.

Basically, the implementation of 10 fast trac projects during the Covid-19 helps Bangladesh much to be an economic capable. Now people of Bangladesh are going to benefit from those projects.  Cambodia could learn a lot from Bangladesh’s approach.

There are many projects in Cambodia. Foreign funded (FDI) projects are being implemented in Cambodia. If the authority of Cambodia saw the approach of Bangladesh, the projects of Cambodia would be completed. To some extent Cambodia would be capable to revive its economy.

Bangladesh has written its name in the list of middle-income countries.  Development partners have also been informed about the capacity of its internal resources by implementing large projects like the Padma Bridge with their own funds. Besides, construction work of Metro Rail, Karnaphuli Tunnel, Bay Terminal, Ruppur Nuclear Power Station, Dhaka Elevated Expressway, Bus Rapid Transit, and Third Terminal of the airport is also going ahead in the Corona epidemic.

The workers and engineers are working day and night in compliance with the hygiene rules. Bangladesh is going to rise to a unique height in terms of foreign lending with loans from the reserves.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s economy is showing its potential where many countries of the developed world are affected by the Corona epidemic. After managing the first wave, it is now handling the second and third waves. Government officials and experts say that if these mega projects can be implemented, Bangladesh’s status in the world court will increase a lot. It will bring radical change in the communication and infrastructure sector.

 It is learned that after the overwhelming victory in the ninth parliamentary elections and the formation of the government in early 2009, massive development activities started all over the country. As the government remained unchanged in the second term, the development activities gained more momentum. Development activities started in important sectors including roads, infrastructure, power and energy of the whole country including Dhaka.

Unprecedented success in the power and energy sector comes after overcoming long-standing obstacles. Following this, the Awami League formed the government after winning the 11th national election for the third time in a row. Earlier, at the beginning of the second term, the government started work of about a dozen large projects on priority basis in the related sectors including communication, power and energy, with the aim of creating employment and achieving rapid economic growth. Going forward quite fast.

 Significant progress has been made in the work of Metrorail Line-6 has been 67.63 percent. The progress of the Padma Bridge project has been more than 93 percent. It is hoped that the Padma Bridge will be opened to traffic within the stipulated time. The construction of Bangladesh’s first tunnel under the Karnaphuli River has not stopped even during the second wave of the Corona epidemic.

The construction work of Karnafuli Tunnel is going on despite various obstacles including labor crisis and disruption in the supply of construction materials during the Corona epidemic. Although the pace of work is a bit slower than usual, the project participants are optimistic about making it suitable for traffic within the stipulated time. In the meantime, the overall work progress of the mega project has been 70 percent.

According to Bangladeshi media outlets, work is not progressing as usual in the second wave of the corona. Necessary construction materials are not arriving on time due to corona. All in all, the pace of work has slowed down a bit. However, efforts are being made to complete the project quickly.

The overall progress of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is about 35 percent till September. The Planning Commission of Bangladesh has approved the extension of the project till June, 2022. Besides, overall assistance is being provided to the Roads and Highways Department for revising the DPP of the project, according to the bridge department. Construction of Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway project has also been delayed.

Bangladesh is a role model for many countries in the world in terms of economic development and poverty alleviation. As a result, if these mega projects are completed, the image of the country will be much brighter to the outside world; many Bangladeshi Economists think that this will take Bangladesh to a seat of unique dignity.

Meanwhile, after a long wait, the proposed Bangabandhu Railway Bridge is finally seeing the light of day. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to lay the foundation stone of this project. If the project is implemented, the pressure on the Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna River will be reduced. The risk of Bangabandhu Bridge will also be reduced.

At the same time, transportation of goods from North Bengal will be easier. Cost of transporting goods will be reduced bringing positive changes in the economic situation and social life of the region.

The average progress of the nine projects till December is 56.31 percent. When implemented, it will add about two percent growth to the country’s economy.

Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has also termed the projects as Transformational projects. By 2025, Bangladesh will reach its dream through the implementation of these projects.

Apart from this, construction of single line dual gauge track from Cox’s Bazar via Dohazari-Ramu and Ghundhum near Ramu-Myanmar, LNG terminal, Payra deep seaport and Matarbari power project. Communication development and economy will be integrated. It will make the movement of products and people much easier. Will ensure sustainable power generation. This will result in massive investment and increase in employment.

And all the mega projects together will add about two percent growth to the country’s GDP. Because of this, the goal of the Eighth Five-Year Plan – to achieve 7.50 percent GDP growth by 2025 – will be easy to meet.

These mega projects are helping Bangladesh revive and transform its economy in South Asia, Bangladesh is going to be a South Asian economic miracle. Bangladesh has proved already that it is a rising economic super star. Many countries in the world can take lesson from Bangladesh. Every country including Cambodia can follow the economic model and utilize the approach to revive its economy averting the all-stagnant economic situation for ensuring sustainable economic growth.

Bangladesh shows the path to all South Asian and South East Asian countries.  Cambodia can follow the same path of Bangladesh model. For example, the Cambodian government is working to transform Sihanoukville province, also known as Preah Sihanouk province, into a multi-purpose special economic zone (SEZ) after the province received the designation earlier this year.

On June 9, 2021, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a sub-decree that will make Sihanoukville province a multi-purpose SEZ. The designation stands to give Sihanoukville province more latitude in structuring development initiatives and investment incentives into a wider array of areas.

Japan and Cambodia signed a grant aid and loans worth approximately $72 million to implement six projects on October. The six projects are in the areas of water supply, mine action, construction materials, cadastral surveys, human resource development and manufacturing. The Australian government announced an aid package of approximately $65 million to Cambodia for its five-year development programme.

The key BRI projects in Cambodia such as the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville expressway, new international airports in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, ADB’s Road Network Improvement Project (Phase 2) need to be implemented as soon as possible.

There are some developmental projects including SEZ such as Sihanoukville SEZ, Svay Rieng Giga Resource SEZ, Manhattan (Svay Rieng) SEZ etc. which need to be implemented as soon as possible. The authority of Cambodia can implement the projects following in the line of ‘Implementation of Bangladesh’s mega projects model’. Ultimately Cambodia would benefit.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය,ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය ආමාත්‍යාංශය.

පීපල්ස් ලීසිං ඇන්ඩ් ෆිනෑන්ස් සමාගම (People’s Leasing & Finance PLC) ‘PLC Touch’ නමින් ත්‍රයිභාෂික ජංගම යෙදුම (Mobile app)  හඳුන්වා දීමේ අවස්ථාවට එක් වෙමින් තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ අමාත්‍ය හා ඩිජිටල් ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා  අද (11) දින කොළඹ ෂැංග්‍රිලා (Shangri-La) හෝටලයේ දී  මේ බව පැවසීය.

පීපල්ස් ලීසිං ඇන්ඩ් ෆිනෑන්ස් සමාගම යනු රජයේ හිමිකාරීත්වය යටතේ පවතින, මෙරට ප්‍රමුඛතම බැංකු නොවන මූල්‍ය ආයතනයකි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මෙම වර්ගයේ යෙදුමකට මුල්ම වරට ඇතුළත් වන රක්ෂණාවරණ සබැඳි විශේෂාංග රැසක් ඇතුළුව සුවිශේෂී අංග රාශියක් ‘PLC Touch’ යෙදුමට ඇතුළත් වේ.

පීපල්ස් ලීසිං ඇන්ඩ් ෆිනෑන්ස් සමාගමේ ඉතුරුම් ගිණුමකට අමතරව වෙනත් ඕනෑම බැංකුවක ඇති ඕනෑම ඉතුරුම් ගිණුමක් ‘PLC Touch’ යෙදුමට ඇතූලත්කර ගැනීම (mapping) මඟින් එම ඕනෑම ගිණුමක් ඔස්සේ QR කේත ක්‍රමය පදනම් කරගත් ගෙවීම්, උපයෝගීතා බිල්පත් (utility bills) ගෙවීම් සහ එම ඕනෑම බැංකු ගිණුමක් භාවිතයෙන් පීපල්ස් ලීසිං ඇන්ඩ් ෆිනෑන්ස් සමාගමේ ණය හා ලීසිං සම්බන්ධ ගෙවීම් සිදුකිරීම වැනි සේවාවන් රාශියක් PLC Touch App ඔස්සේ ලබාගත හැකි වේ.

එමෙන්ම මෙමගින් ලිපිලේඛන කටයුතු වලට කාලය වැයකිරීමෙන් තොරව විනාඩි ගණනක් තුළ නව රක්ෂණයක් ලබාගත හැකි අතර, ‘Call & Go’ ක්‍රමවේදය මගින් රථවාහන රක්ෂණ වලට අදාළ හිමිකම් මුදල් ලබාගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියද සරල කරයි.

බැංකු නොවන මූල්‍ය ආයතන ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ නවෝත්පාදන පුරෝගාමියෙකු වශයෙන් පීපල්ස් ලීසිං ඇන්ඩ් ෆිනෑන්ස් සමාගම ‘Self-e-Cash’ සේවාවක් හඳුන්වා දීම සඳහා මීට පෙර කටයුතු කළේ ය. මෙහිදී පාරිභෝගිකයන්ට තම ස්ථාවර තැන්පතු ඇපයට තබා ක්ෂණික ණයක් ලබාගත හැකි අතර, අදාළ මුදල ATM යන්ත්‍රයකින් ලබාගත හැකි වේ.

මෙම සේවාව දැන් PLC Touch App ඔස්සේද ලබාගත හැකි අතර, QR හා බිල්පත් ගෙවීමේ සේවාවන් සහ ගිණුම් අතර මුදල් හුවමාරු කිරීම ඇතුළු තවත් සේවාවන් රැසක්ද මීට ඇතුළත් කර ඇත.

එහිදී අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ පැවසීය.

‘‘ඩිජිටල්කරණය හරහා ඔබේ ගණුදෙනු කරුවන් තවත් සමීප කරගන්න ගත්තා වූ උත්සාහය පිළිබදව පීපල්ස් ලීසිං සමාගමට ප්‍රථමයෙන් මම සුබ පතනවා.

තම ක්‍රියාවලි වඩාත් සරල කරමින් පාරිභෝගිකයන්ට හා සේවාදායකයන්ට වඩාත් විශිෂ්ට අත්දැකීමක් ලබාදීම සඳහා රාජ්‍ය හා පෞද්ගලික යන අංශ දෙකෙහිම ආයතන නවීන තාක්ෂණය භාවිතා කරනු දැකීම සතුටට කරුණක්.

අපගේ ඉදිරි ගමන රඳා පවතින්නේ ඩිජිටල්කරණය මත බව දැන් අපට හොඳින්ම පැහැදිලියි.  කොවිඩ් 19 රෝග ව්‍යාප්තිය නිසා, ඩිජිටල්කරණයේ අසීමිත හැකියාවන් හොඳින් වටහා ගැනීමට අපට හැකියාව ලැබුණා.

තම නිෂ්පාදන හා සේවාවන් පිළිබඳව අලුතින් සිතාබලා, ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණය ඔස්සේ ඒවා වැඩිදියුණු කරන මෙන් මා අනෙකුත් සමාගම් හා ආයතන වලිනුත් ඉල්ලා සිටීමට කැමතියි.

මෙය යථාර්තයක් බවට පත් වෙන්නේ ප්‍රායෝගිකව ගම තුල ජනතාව මේ හරහා ගණුදෙනු කරන්න පුලුවන් අවකාශයක් නිර්මාණය වුවහොත් පමණයි. කොවිඩ් 19 වසංගතයෙන් එළියට එනකොට අපි ලෝකය සමග ගණුදෙනු කරන්න සූදානමින් සිටිය යුතුය.

ලෝකයේ සෑම රටක්ම දැඩි ආර්ථික අවපාතයකට පස්සේ ඉතාමත් සීමිත වර්ධනයකට යොමු වුණා. අපි විශේෂ අවධානයක් යොමු කරලා තිබෙනවා කුඩා හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන ව්‍යාපාරිකයින් නැවත ගොඩනැංවීම පිළිබදව.

තව නොබෝ දිනකින් අය වැය ඉදිරිපත් කරනවා එහිදී ඔබට දැක ගන්නට ලැබේවි කුඩා හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන ව්‍යාපාර වලට අපි කෙතරම් ආයෝජනයක් කරන්න සූදානම්ද කියන කාරණය පිළිබදව.

පීපල්ස් ලීසිං සමාගම කුඩා හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාණ ව්‍යාපාරිකයින් සමග බැදිච්ච ආයතනයක්. අපි විස්වාශ කරනවා මෙවැනි තාක්ෂණය හරහා ඒ අයට තවත් වැඩි වැඩියෙන් සේවය සපයන්න හැකි වේවි කියන කාරණය.

ඉදිරි කාල සීමාව තුල අපි, ඔබ සහ ඔබේ ගණුදෙනුකරුවන් අතර තිබෙන සම්බන්ධතාවය වඩාත් ශක්තිමත් කර ගනිමින් විශේෂයෙන් කුඩා හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාණ ගණුදෙනු කරුවන්ට තවත් හොද සේවාවක් සපයන්න මේ ආයතනයට හැකියාව ලැබේවි.

අද එළිදක්වපු මෙම ඇප් එක හරහා එම ගමණ යන්න තවත් පහසු වේවි යැයි මම විස්වාස  කරනවා. භාෂා තුනෙන්ම හැසිරවන්න හැකි නිසා ඔබට මේ පිළිබදව ගමේ ජනතාව දැනුවත් කරන්න අවස්ථාව ලැබෙයි.

ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ අනෙකුත් අයටත් ආරාධනා කරනවා මේ විදියට ඩිජිටල්කරණයට එක් වෙන්න කියලා. එය ඉතාමත් පහසුවෙන් අපේ රටේ ස්ථාපනය වේවි.

හැදුනුම්පත ඩිජිටල් කරලා සියලු තොරතුරු අන්තර්ගත කරලා කොපමණ ඩිජිටල්කරණය කිරීමට උත්සාහා කළත් ඒ හැදුනුම්පතට මුල්‍යමය ගණුදෙනු සදහා පහසුකම් එකතු කරන්න බැරි වුවහොත් එහි ප්‍රයෝජනයක් නැහැ.

ඩිජිටල් හදුනුම්පතට එදිනෙදා වැඩ කටයුුතු සදහා භාවිතා කිරීමේ පහසුකම් අන්තර්ගතව නැතිනම් එය ප්‍රායෝගිකව බිම් මට්ටමින් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ නැහැ.

මම විස්වාස කරනවා ලබන වසරේ මුල ගෙන එ්මට නියමිත ඩිජිටල් ස්මාර්ට් ජාතික හැදුනුම්පත සමාජගත කරන්න මෙන්ම එ සදහා අවශ්‍ය තාක්ෂණය හා ඩිජිටල්කරණය ගමට ගෙන යන දායකත්වය ඔබ සැමට භාරකරන්න හැකි වේවි කියලා.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට පීපල්ස් ලීසිං ඇන්ඩ් ෆිනෑන්ස් සමාගමේ තොරතුරු හා සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණ සමූහ අංශයේ නියෝජ්‍ය සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරී  ප්‍රභාත් ගුණසේන මහතා,  PLC Touch App නිර්මාණය මෙහෙයවු තොරතුරු හා සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණ සමූහ අංශයේ නිළධාරීන් පිරිසක් ද සහභාගී වූහ.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය,ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය ආමාත්‍යාංශය.

Tom Fowdy is a British writer and analyst of politics and international relations with a primary focus on East Asia.

Washington has highlighted ‘corruption’ as justification for a new array of sanctions against Phnom Penh, but in reality this bullying manoeuvre is another step in its ongoing efforts to contain China.

Earlier this week, the United States slapped a series of sanctions on Cambodia, blacklisting officials and military leaders whom they accuse of corruption and issuing an advisory, warning businesses to be mindful of interactions with entities in corrupt business practices, criminal activities and human rights abuses.”

Washington has more threats lined up, too, warning it would review Cambodia’s trade benefits under its ‘Generalized System of Preferences’ for developing countries. 

But, let’s be clear, corruption isn’t America’s real issue here – it is the fact that the US is being denied access to a Cambodian naval base which it believes is being used by China. This has resulted in a series of ultimatums from the US over the past few months that Cambodia must show transparency by allowing it to inspect the base, or effectively face the consequences. Now it would appear those consequences have arrived.

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To nobody’s surprise, the US – whose cheerleaders tediously pen op-eds accusing China of being a bully” – is effectively coercing a small country of 16 million people to give the US unrestricted access to its own facilities. 

Does anyone seriously believe that Washington would allow China or Russia into its own naval facilities? How do you think the media would respond if either Moscow or Beijing made those demands against a third country? 

Hypocrisy aside, it is absolutely clear that the US is intent on turning the heat up on Phnom Penh, because it sees it as an important chess piece in the game against China. Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country which is more loyal to China than others in the region, but one that has less strategic clout than some of the others. It’s obvious that until it reorients itself more towards Washington, America will ratchet up the pressure to try to force it to change. 

When the US calibrates its foreign policy towards regions of strategic interest – which it is currently doing with the so-called Indo-Pacific – it carefully selects which countries it can work with and which ones represent an obstruction to its goals. Out of the associated countries, it then selects a number of partners to work with and build up from the former category, while it develops punitive strategies against the latter.

History shows these can consist of seeking to contain them (if they are significantly sized), or, if they are weak enough, to attempt to change them by some forceful means, including the use of sanctions, regime change or even war. In the Middle East, it seeks to contain Iran in partnership with Israel and Saudi Arabia, while also trying to topple regimes Tehran supports, such as in Syria and Lebanon.

Placing this model of US foreign policy into the geopolitical layout of Southeast Asia, there are several countries which, irrespective of their governments, have overlapping strategic interests that complement the US to some degree, providing some space for Washington to work with them – for example, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. 

Cambodia is a different case. As a small state whose foreign policy has consistently been geared towards avoiding the local dominance of Vietnam, it is currently the most exclusively pro-Beijing state in the region and heavily reliant upon it across multiple areas. Despite having only a small coastline, it could potentially influence the balance of power in the South China Sea in Beijing’s favour, and so is seen as a strategic liability by the US.

READ MOREEU Parliament’s posturing over Taiwan only proves how pointless an institution it is

As a result, the knives are out for Cambodia in Washington. The strategic interest of the US dictates that it is now time to exert pressure in an attempt to prevent Beijing from gaining a military monopoly over it. The suggestion that corruption is a problem is simply a front for America’s obvious discontent over the naval base.

The evidence? The global Corruption Perceptions Index shows Cambodia has similar levels of corruption to most countries in Southeast Asia. Why would corruption in a smaller country be of concern to the US, but not the larger states around it? The opportunism is obvious.

The real problem from Cambodia’s point of view is that it has few options in dealing with this new problem other than to cave in. It has a poor economy, and does not have much leverage to negotiate on an equal footing with the US in the same way as countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, who use this geostrategic advantage to also court Beijing and essentially try to keep both America and China happy. 

Phnom Penh is an easy target, and in the long run, the US may be looking to seek to dislodge the longstanding rule of Hun Sen and restore the country to democracy, giving it an ideological foothold as well – backing up the Indo-Pacific strategy, which has been as much about spreading democracy” as a means to contain Beijing as military considerations. Yet this should not distract us from the reality that the US is exerting coercion over a small country.

In conclusion, the US has always had a very selective response when it comes to dealing with corruption. While it never openly encourages it, in practice all over the world America has backed up astonishingly corrupt regimes, with the one which recently collapsed in Afghanistan a prime example. Yet now it is using corruption as a reason to target a nation that is not complying with its ‘free and open’ Indo-Pacific strategy. 

This makes the situation painfully obvious: the US sees Cambodia as a troublesome player in the game, and in line with its well-established pattern of seeking to crush countries who stand in its way, it’s now ramping up the pressure on Phnom Penh. But rest assured, if Cambodia does decide to give concessions, this sudden problem of corruption will magically be forgotten about.

බරපතළ වංචා සහ දූෂණ සෙවීමේ ජනාධිපති කොමිසමේ හිටපු ලේකම් ලැසිල් ද සිල්වා. Lacille de Silva, former Secretary to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Serious Acts of Fraud and Corruption On Truth with Chamuditha

Courtesy Colombo Today

එක රටක් එක නීතියක්” ජනාධිපති කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය පත් කිරීම සඳහා ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අති විශේෂ ගැසට් පත්‍රය නිකුත් කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව එම කාර්ය සාධක බලකායේ සභාපති පූජ්‍ය ගලගොඩ අත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමි ඉලක්ක කරගෙන පක්ෂ විපක්ෂ දේශපාලකයන් මෙන්ම සිංහලයාගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් දිනාගැනීම සඳහා යැයි පවසමින් පෙනී සිටි සංවිධාන දැඩි ලෙස පහර ගැසීමට පටන් ගෙන ඇත.

ඒ අතර ආණ්ඩුව සහ විපක්ෂය නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්‍රීවරු, රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධාන ක්‍රියාකරුවන්, තමන් දේශප්‍රේමින්යැයි පවසමින් විදෙස් බුද්ධි අංශ සඳහා ඔත්තු ලබාදෙන පුද්ගලයින්, මඩ මාධ්‍ය බලකායන් ඇතුළු කුහකයන් විශාල පිරිසක් සිටියි.

කෙසේවෙතත් ජාත්‍යන්තර මාධ්‍යයද ඥානසාර හිමියන් ඉලක්ක කරගෙන පළකර ඇති පුවත් සඳහා තම අදහස් පළකර ඇති විදේශීය සාමාන්‍ය ජනතාව ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ මෙම ක්‍රියාව සඳහා සුභපැතුම් එක්කර ඇත.

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Daily News

Colombo, November 12: Considering that half of the world’s container ships, one-third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments traverse through the Indian Ocean, the importance of peace and security of the ocean cannot be overestimated. Furthermore, maritime transport and logistics are a major component of the Blue Economy, which is the future hope for the economies hit by the pandemic and recession.

Sri Lanka’s ardent wish as an island strategically located at the centre of the Indian Ocean is peace in the ocean in which the country is an important hub that connects the East and the West. Sri Lanka has no desire to get caught in a power game between the global and regional powers for supremacy or to choose between power blocs. Today, Sri Lanka has an outstanding port infrastructure that can facilitate transhipment and provide world-class services even for the largest container ships. It can contribute greatly towards maintaining maritime security in this region, helping protect vital sea lines of communication on behalf of all nations.

All littoral nations of the Indian Ocean hold deliberations from time to time on ocean security issues in different forums.Earlier this week, peace and security issues were discussed at the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC)-2021 held in Goa in Western India. Navy Chiefs and Heads of Maritime Forces from 12 Indian Ocean littorals, including Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand took part in the two-day Conclave.

Interestingly, all the nations represented at the Conclave are members of either the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) or of Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi Sectorial Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Hence, the participating countries displayed their strong focus on maritime security at the Goa Conclave as they have been emphatic at other forums.

Collective Effort

Addressing the Conclave on Monday, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne pointed out that it is commonly accepted that a single country cannot ensure the freedom of the seas and emphasized the need for a collective effort.

Emerging unorthodox, unprecedented threats from the sea demand sharing intelligence among nations. The Navy’s role in active engagement in the maritime operations in collaboration with other interested nations without antagonizing their national interests is a huge challenge ahead of us,” he said and added, Therefore, we should be determined to maintain progressive and positive relations with all the concerned stakeholders in maritime operations linear with our own national interests.”

The Indian Government initiated the Goa Maritime Conclave with the stated objective of bringing together regional stakeholders and discussing joint implementation strategies in addressing contemporary maritime security concerns, with the IOR being a focal point of the 21st Century strategic landscape.

Initiating the dialogue, Vice Admiral AK Chawla, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Indian Southern Naval Command, highlighted the importance of the maritime domain and the Indian Navy’s commitment towards ensuring safety, security, and inclusive growth in the IOR.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that countries of the Indian Ocean Region inhabit a particular contemporary geopolitical and geo-economic reality. We are a part of the greater Indo-Pacific space. This is a construct that has, for very good reason, attracted much diplomatic and strategic attention. It is at the centre of a defining strategic event of our time – an ongoing rebalancing.”

The Indian Foreign Secretary also said that domain awareness is central to any preventive security strategy. The joint coastal radar surveillance systems that India has worked on with Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles; the India-Bangladesh MoU on coastal radars; information fusion centres and multilateral maritime coordination centres in India, in Abu Dhabi, Seychelles and in Madagascar; and, White Shipping Information Exchange agreements, have, we can agree, improve not just domain awareness, but also the security situation,” Shringla said.

Global Economic Centre

The rapid growth of Asia’s share in global output, the business prowess of Asian companies and the growing Asian technological abilities are driving the global economic centre of gravity to the East. Changes of this nature are bound to have geopolitical and geo-economic consequences and generate a power transition. The transition is manifest in the waning of the unipolar moment following the end of the Cold War and in the emergence of a multipolar world.

Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne said the Indian Ocean figures prominently not only in the lives of people in the littorals, but also of the people of distant lands. This recognition has been accompanied by growing militarization throughout the area, which has included a naval build-up both by littoral states and the great powers of the world.

The Navy Commander lamented that outsiders often forget that the Indian Ocean, far from dividing lands, has been one of the strongest unifying factors in history. For centuries, it is the waters of this ocean which have carried religions, cultures, languages, traditions, and people, across thousands of miles from one shore to another.”

Today, the main activities in Indian Ocean Region can be characterized by extensive trade, energy exchanges and a spectrum that ranges from political turmoil at one end, to threats from piracy, terrorism and transnational crime on the other. Transnational Organised Crimes (TOC) such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, weapons smuggling, financial fraud, illegal immigration and piracy are the major threats common to the key and the peripheral States in IOR.

In addition, other non-traditional security issues such as natural disasters, Climate Change and maritime pollution cannot be ruled out. Recent incidents of fire onboard MV New Diamond and MV X-Press Pearl in Sri Lankan waters certainly opened the forum to think differently on these issues.

Vice Admiral Ulugetenne said maritime security must address a broad spectrum of concerns and situations, not only with respect to these traditional friction points, but the many natural and human threats that we face today.

We all have a greater obligation to prevent criminal activities, piracy, arms smuggling, and other illegal activities in our waters and beyond it,” he told fellow maritime and Navy Chiefs of the Indian Ocean nations. Emerging unorthodox and unprecedented threats from the sea demands the need for sharing intelligence among the nations. We should determine to maintain progressive, positive relations with all the concerned stakeholders in maritime operations linear with our own national interests.”

The Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said that maritime security and economic prosperity are inter-related and inter-dependent from time immemorial. He also highlighted India’s engagement and continued efforts towards reaching out to the nations in the region bilaterally and under the framework of IONS, IORA, BIMSTEC, Colombo Security Conclave and other structures.

The Defence Secretary emphasised that India will work with all willing nations for peace in the region. Standing for a rules-bound world, he said that India will continue to oppose attempts of aggression and to deter them on land and the sea.

The Maritime domain is so vast and challenges are so diverse that going alone is not an option for practically any country. We welcome all nations which respect rules and shun aggression, to collaborate in our region,” he said.

Bilateral discussions

In the sidelines of Goa Conclave, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh held bilateral discussions with the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne. They discussed modalities for further enhancing mutual support and interoperability and maritime cooperation on information sharing.

Vice Admiral Ulugetenne said in his concluding remarks that the seas do not just make us all neighbours, they also provide unlimited opportunities for us to work together in a common cause; certainly in good times, but even more so when our neighbours need help. We must develop capabilities and linkages to work with partners from within and outside the region for the common good of our people”.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The acquisition by Reliance ensured that amanté would benefit from Reliance’s scale and retail expertise, and that the brand we created and our employees in India and Sri Lanka will continue to benefit from being a part of a well-established retail company”

Colombo, Nov 12 – MAS Holdings announced that one of its subsidiaries, MAS Brands, which owns and operates the retail lingerie business under the brand amanté, was acquired by Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of the Ambani-owned Reliance Industries. The amanté business, which was established by MAS in 2007/8, engages in the retail and wholesale distribution of premium lingerie brands amanté, Ultimo and every dé by amanté. The company sells its product through its own stores and multi-brand outlets, as well as through its e-commerce channels across India and Sri Lanka.

In 2018, MAS Holdings completed an assignment with a leading global consultancy to develop a long-term stra- tegic plan for the conglomerate, which identified areas of growth based on its core competencies. Furthermore, the strategy prescribed that MAS source strategic partners for businesses outside of MAS’ core competency. The divestiture of amanté was an outcome of this plan, with MAS intent on finding the right partner to invest in the business enabling it to grow.

This is a significant foreign investment in a Sri Lankan-owned lingerie business by a retail giant, which in turn, is owned by one of India’s leading and diversified conglomerates, Reliance Industries. Reliance Retail will continue to invest and develop the business both in India and Sri Lanka.

READ: Nykaa’s founder becomes India’s wealthiest self-made female billionaire

A transaction of this nature and the ability to attract the largest retailer in India during these times of uncer- tainty is a testament to the strength of the business that MAS and the management team of amanté have built over the past decade.

The acquisition by Reliance ensured that amanté would benefit from Reliance’s scale and retail expertise, and that the brand we created and our employees in India and Sri Lanka will continue to benefit from being a part of a well-established retail company” stated Mahesh Amalean, Chairman MAS Holdings. This was a business MAS built from the ground up, leveraging on years of expertise in the lingerie business, so we are excited to see it transition to new shareholders and a parent organisation that, without doubt, will enable the brand and the company to thrive” added MAS Co-Founder Ajay Amalean, who was directly responsible for overseeing the amanté business from its inception.

Ms. Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, said, At Reliance, we pride ourselves in offering the best and enhancing choices to our customers and we are proud to bring high quality and design led products of ‘amante’. MAS is a well-recognized product innovator and manufacturer for some of the iconic global brands in this segment, the partnership and collaboration we build together with them will offer Indian customers world- class product quality and greater choices in this segment.”

The teams at MAS Brands are excited at the new opportunities and prospects that this acquisition brings about, and are anticipating the strategic advantages and new learning that will come from working as part of a retail giant such as Reliance” said Vivek Mehta, the CEO of MAS Brands.

Courtesy Channel News Asia

COLOMBO :The Sri Lankan government will reduce the budget deficit to around 8.8per cent of gross domestic product in 2022, finance minister Basil Rajapaksa said in his budget speech on Friday, though it missed its deficit target for 2021.

The government will also roll out a goods and services tax announced in the 2021 budget from January 2022, the minister said.

“We are living through history’s most challenging period in terms of people’s lives, livelihoods, sources of income, and job security,” said Rajapaksa, whose brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is the island nation’s president.

“I strongly believe that, even amidst these challenges, we are equipped with all the necessary strengths to manage the economy and to overcome such challenges.”

The new projected 11.1per cent budget deficit for 2021 is higher than the 9.5per cent target set by the government in June which itself was revised up from 8.9per cent.

“This budget is a credit positive,” Dimantha Mathew, Head of Research for First Capital told Reuters.

“There is a significant amount of taxes coming in and the government is looking to increase revenue by 46per cent next year while expenditure is expected to rise only by 16per cent. So the fiscal concerns are being addressed.”

However, he warned that there could be some tightening of the economy due to public and capital expenditure cuts that could see consumer spending being hit. Sri Lanka has a large public sector that makes up about 2 million of the 21 million population.

Sri Lanka’s central bank announced in October that it would keep its 2021 target of 5per cent growth unchanged. Growth numbers for next year are yet to be announced by the government and no projections were included in the budget speech.

The budget also included support because of the COVID-19 pandemic for specific sectors such as tourism, apparel, plantations, and agriculture as the government looks to boost growth.

In late October, Moody’s downgraded Sri Lanka to Caa1 from Caa2 on debt sustainability concerns and a challenging external environment. Moody’s estimates that revenue will remain around 10per cent of GDP over the next few years while interest payments will continue to absorb around 60-70per cent of revenue.

Sri Lanka has to repay US$4.3 billion in debt in 2022 and reserves dipped to US$2.6 billion at the end of October.

(US$1 = 201.0000 Sri Lankan rupees)

By Hussain Shazzad* Courtesy Eurasiareview

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and China PM Li Keqiang in Beijing, China. Photo Credit: VOA video screenshot

Bangladesh, the second highest recipient of China’s investment in South Asia after Pakistan, imports the highest volume of goods from China making it Bangladesh’s largest trading partner. This is the beginning of the story where China offers Bangladesh financial assistance and development experience for its ‘big-ticket megaprojects’ to fulfill its vision-2041– a well-crafted dream to be a developed country. The overwhelming funding from China makes the critics pessimistic to ask a question, citing the example of Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Is China trying to bait Bangladesh with its ‘debt-trap’ diplomacy?”

‘Debt-Trap Diplomacy’, a widely used narrative against China, is thought to be originated from ‘infrastructure war’ between China and Western Allies.  It’s an apple of discord if China really has any ‘Machiavellian Strategy’ as Chinese projects in Bangladesh are too fragmented to achieve such cunning strategic objectives.  Once ‘The Sleeping Giant’ now the ‘Second Economic Superpower’, China follows ‘socialist ideology’ in political affairs but adopts ‘open market policy’ with the name ‘market socialism’. The historical data demonstrates that China always has strong affiliation with South Asian countries because of the region’s ‘Big Bazar’. The geo-political eminence & commercial noteworthiness of Bangladesh has made China pay special heed to catch this money-making market.

To utilize the potential of becoming ‘economic hub’ of South Asia, Bangladesh needs external funding for its ‘flagship development programs’ financing of which goes beyond domestic affordability. This leads Bangladesh to look for external funding options with conducive conditions. Bangladesh’s loss of substantial financial assistance from global lenders in the recent years e.g., World Bank’s rejection to finance the Padma Bridge, and the attractive nature of China’s investment created a gateway for China to step into Bangladesh’s economy. On the other hand, China, as a part of its external orientation, comes closer to Bangladesh by affiliating the country with different China-led regional platforms e.g., AIIB, BRI etc. 

Sino-Bangladesh relations, started in 1976, were limited to trade deals until the first decade of the 21st century. The bilateral relations have experienced two different phases before and after the initiation of the BRI. The cozy relations turned into strategic partnership after 2010 when the countries signed a number of trade, transit and defense procurement agreements. Both countries are working to alleviate the huge trade-deficit by establishing the ‘Free Trade Zones’. China is trying to prove itself as Bangladesh’s ‘time-tested friend’ by entwining diplomatic, defense and economic ties. 

Though China and Bangladesh have distinct political and social status quo but collaborativeefforts brought them closer. China’s non-intervention principle to the domestic affairs of its partners leads Dhaka to welcome more and more investment from Beijing. As an emerging economy, Bangladesh requires ‘hefty investment’ to tackle its socio-economic problems which is clinched by China.  On the other hand, Bangladesh is all-important in China’s strategic calculus since it can connect the southeastern landlocked province of China. Besides, the cheap workforce of Bangladesh offers China an opportunity to relocate its ‘sunset industries’. Yet, critics give a contentious look on this relationship by denouncing China’s role in resolving Rohingya crisis.

According to the World Bank and IMF, that a country will cross the danger mark if its external debts exceed 40% of GDP ensures Bangladesh is in ‘safe zone’ as its total foreign loan is less than 15% of GDP. ‘Flow of External Resources into Bangladesh’, a publication of the Ministry of Finance, reported total foreign loan outstanding of the country was $4409.51 crore depicting per capita loan is around $278 in 2019-20 fiscal year. This shows clearly how reality begs to differ from the misconception that Bangladesh is overburdened with external debts. Another misreading that Bangladesh is going to be a victim of ‘China’s debt trap’ pointing finger to the growing Chinese investment also doesn’t reflect the ground reality. Bangladesh’s total external debt, in the fiscal year 2019-20, consists of 38% from WB, 24.5% from ADB, 17% from JICA, 6.81% from China, 6.14% from Russia and 1.3% from India. This self-explanatory data shows that Bangladesh is travelling along the right trajectory in contrast to aforementioned misconceptions.

The strategic advantage of cross-border trade tilted Bangladesh exponentially towards China which leads critics say that too much reliance on China’s money will make the country beholden to China. But Bangladesh’s diplomatic maneuvers of the last few decades demonstrate that the country has been striking a fine balance among the donors. By pumping money to Bangladesh, China is actually trying to take the longstanding relations to a new height. Albeit, there is a narrative that Bangladesh is going to be a victim of ‘payday loan diplomacy’, but the counter narrative explains how Chinese ‘soft-loan’ reduces the pressure of western donors for economic and political reforms. 

Bangladesh perceives Chinese investment as a welcome addition to existing sources along with creating a competitive environment. Before reaching to foregone conclusion by tagging China’s debt trap  with Bangladesh, it needs to be kept in mind that the funding options for Bangladesh are very limited. Besides, a loan becomes burden if it is not optimally utilized. To date, all the Chinese-funded projects in Bangladesh have been proved to be financially viable. There is no such instance where Bangladesh has accepted all the diktats, while signing financial agreement, blindfolded.

The current stronger position of Bangladesh, in terms of external debt from China, will alter with the rise of Chinese investment, but long-run return will be more attractive if funds are effectively utilized. Bangladesh needs to negotiate carefully before inking any financial agreement, focus more on soft-loan and ensure timely implementation of projects. Along with taking funds for infrastructural boost, Bangladesh may also leverage the development experience of China to create win-win situation. Not to mention, the macro-economic management policy of Bangladesh is prudent enough to avoid China’s ‘Debt-Trap’, even if there is any.

*Writer’s Bio: Hussain Shazzad, a strategic affairs and foreign policy analyst, completed his M.B.A from the Department of International Business, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at pksf.shazzad@gmail.com

Courtesy MailOnline

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said vehicle accidents will be taxed under new revenue proposals

Sri Lanka slapped a tax on road accidents in a drastic austerity budget unveiled Friday as the country faces a major foreign exchange crisis.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said vehicle accidents will be taxed under new revenue proposals to keep the budget deficit at 8.8 percent of GDP in 2022, down from 11.1 percent this year.

“It is proposed to impose a fee on vehicles meeting with accidents,” Rajapaksa told parliament. “Through this initiative, it is expected to reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents.”

He did not give details of the crash tax.

Sri Lanka’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world with over 3,000 traffic fatalities and some 25,000 seriously injured every year.

Rajapaksa admitted that the country was facing a serious crisis with foreign reserves at $2.3 billion, down from $7.5 billion when his brother Gotabaya took over as president two years ago.

“We have to accept that the increase in prices is due to a shortage of goods, the imposition of import restrictions, the overreliance on imports, the depreciation of the rupee together with the failure to adequately encourage manufacturers,” he said.

There were no measures to ease the import ban on a host of goods, including vehicles, spares, tiles and even some essential food imports, imposed in March last year.

However, Rajapaksa increased taxes on cigarettes, liquor and slapped a one-off tax on companies earning profits of over 2,000 million rupees ($10 million) and raised the VAT on financial services from 15 to 18 percent.

He also announced raising the retirement age of public servants from 60 to 65 years, a move that will delay the payment of terminal benefits to thousands of employees and thereby reduce government spending for the next five years.

The budget deficit of 1,628 billion rupees ($8.14 billion) will be bridged with borrowings, including $5.08 billion in foreign borrowings, according to official figures.

Central Bank officials have said the country is facing its worst foreign exchange crisis since the advent of a free economy in 1978.

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Sri Lanka’s foreign debt rating last month.

The decision was fuelled by the absence of “comprehensive financing” to make looming debt repayments, according to Moody’s.

Sri Lanka’s economy shrank a record 3.6 percent last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The central bank expects growth of 4-5 percent this year with the gradual reopening of the economy and the roll-out of a vaccine programme.

[By Dr. Chulanee Attanayake] Courtesy The Maritime Executive

Adani’s multimillion-dollar investment in Colombo not only makes commercial sense, it’s a strategic game-changer, too.

On September 30, Adani Group, India’s largest private port operator, signed what has been reported as a $700 million agreement to build a new container terminal in Sri Lanka. The deal to jointly develop the Colombo West International Container Terminal (CWICT) with Sri Lanka’s largest listed company, John Keells Holdings and the Sri Lankan Ports Authority, will function under a build-operate-transfer” arrangement for 35 years. Adani Ports will hold a 51 per cent stake in the terminal partnership, while John Keells will hold 34 per cent and the SLPA 15 per cent.

As the first-ever Indian port operator in Sri Lanka, and the largest foreign investment in Sri Lanka’s port industry, the deal has geopolitical significance. Even though Colombo Port was a regional hub that primarily served the Indian market, no Indian investor had been interested in investing in Sri Lanka’s port industry. That was, until the Chinese came in.

Sri Lanka has now become a prominent battleground for India’s competition with China in South Asia. Port investments are the latest manifestation.

According to Adani, the CWICT will be developed to have a quay length of 1400 meters and an alongside depth of 20 meters, allowing the new terminal to dock ultra large container vessels. The aim is to process some 3.5 million containers per year.

The investment comes a decade after China Merchant Ports (CM Ports) and Sri Lankan conglomerate Aitken Spence signed a 35-year concession agreement in 2011 with the Sri Lankan Ports Authority to operate the southern terminal, known as the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), also under a build-operate-transfer model.

The entry of CM Ports was the turning point that transformed Colombo Port’s destiny. With a presence in over 40 ports globally, CM Ports is among the top ten terminal operators in the world. Its global experience and efficiency improved the competitiveness of the Colombo Port. Aitken Spence sold its stake in 2012, leaving CM Ports with an 85 per cent share in the southern terminal. The Colombo Port grew multi-fold, making it the world’s fastest-growing port in the first half of 2018. It handled 7.2 million containers in 2019, of which the CICT handled over 40 per cent.

Moreover, in 2017, CM Ports also took over the Hambantota Port on the southern coast of the island under a 99-year lease that quickly proved controversial.

Amid growing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka’s port industry and misleading narratives about China’s debt-trap diplomacy, Adani’s investment in the western terminal is viewed as a game-changer. New Delhi had become wary of Beijing’s massive investments in Sri Lanka’s ports, believing these had strategic designs. China’s involvement in building and later operating Hambantota Port drew special concern, despite India having rejected the chance to build the port in the first place.

India and Sri Lanka have regularly experienced strained relations, yet the new agreement with Adani is seen as commercially and strategically valuable for all parties involved.

Commercially, more than 70 per cent of the transshipment business from Colombo Port is linked with the Indian market – much of it with Adani port terminals, according to available statistics – so a partner from India is a welcome development to build new relationships in the Indian maritime and logistics sector. Adani Group is also the operator of what the company boasts as India’s fastest-growing port, Mundra. While the Mundra port has experienced rapid growth over the past few years, it lags behind Colombo, mainly because the Colombo Port benefits from India’s cabotage restrictions, which means only Indian-registered ships are permitted to ply on local routes. As Indian states gradually review these restrictions, Colombo will face greater competition.

Strategically, Sri Lanka’s location along one of the world’s busiest shipping routes carries benefits for the country when collaborating with foreign companies, port operators and logistics companies. For India, the Adani investment has the advantage of sitting alongside China’s activity in Colombo Port, allowing it to keep close watch. A Chinese submarine docked at CICT in 2014, leading many observers in India to raise security concerns. While the new deal will not prevent the Chinese activities, monitoring them closely will ease their worries. It also adds to India’s policy of investing in strategically critical commercial ports, as it has done in Chabahar port in Iran and Sohar Port in Oman.

India also demonstrated its continued ability to influence its neighbour to realise its interests. Ports are increasingly viewed more as strategic assets than mere commercial assets. Control over and easy access to essential ports allow countries to project their power, influence, and forward defence capabilities without owning and spending a fortune on an overseas military base. Adani investment in Sri Lanka has provided this strategic advantage for India.

Dr. Chulanee Attanayake is a Research Fellow at the NUS Institute of South Asian Studies. Her research focus is on China and its policies in South Asia, geopolitics in the Indian Ocean, and Sri Lanka’s foreign relations. Formerly she was at the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Finance has published the full budget speech delivered by the Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa at Parliament today (12).

Basil Rajapaksa delivered his maiden budget speech as the Minister of Finance today. It is the 76th Budget of the independent Sri Lanka and the second budget of the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The annual state expenditure for next year will be Rs. 3,192 billion and the total revenue will be Rs. 2,284.

According to the minister, the budget deficit for the financial year 2022 is Rs. 1,628 billion which is 8.8 as a percentage. 

Minister Basil Rajapaksa said the government will make every effort to reduce the budget deficit to 8.8% in 2022, 6.1% in 2024, and 4.8% in 2025. We expect a balanced budget in 2028.” 

He said that in order to reduce the budget deficit measures for, solid expenditure management, increasing government revenue, and restructuring loss-making public enterprises are needed.

Read the full budget speech delivered by the minister below:

Finance Minister’s Full Budget Speech – 2022 by Ada Derana on Scribd

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 23 new coronavirus-related deaths for November 11, pushing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 13,950.

The deaths confirmed today include 11 males and 12 females. One of the victims is between the ages 30-59 years while another is aged below 30 years. The remaining 21 are in the age group of 60 years and above. 

The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 723 today (November 12) as 191 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 548,784.

As many as 523,122 recoveries and 13,950 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the COVID-19 outbreak.

More than 11,700 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

Courtesy Hiru News

Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Finance, presented the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2022 in Parliament today (12).

The Bill was introduced in Parliament by the Minister of Finance on 07 October.

This Appropriation Bill was published in the Gazette on 29 September 2021 for matters relating to obtaining service expenses for the financial year 2022 from the Consolidated Fund or any other suitable fund with provisions and obtaining loans within or outside Sri Lanka

Senaka Weeraratna

Christianity is the defining characteristic of Europe. The European Union is a set of countries bonded by Christian culture, heritage, and values. It is Christianity that gives the collective identity of Europe.

Islam is the defining characteristic of 57 countries that call themselves Islamic countries and thereby have acquired membership of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).   Islam has been written into the Constitution of each of these countries. Islam is the State Religion of these Muslim countries but other religions may be followed provided it is done in harmony with Islam (see Malaysian Constitution)  

Hinduism is the defining religion of India with over a 7, 500-year-old history of Sanatana Dharma. The latter is a Hindu appellation for Hinduism itself which translates as “the eternal dharma.”

Almost every aspect of Indian Culture is permeated by Hinduism. Hindus of India have every right to rename modern India in step with Hindu culture and tradition just as much as Muslims have exercised that privilege to rename the breakaway Muslim nation as Pakistan. The monumental lapse of Gandhi and Nehru in not calling the remaining part of Mother India after Pakistan broke away, as a Hindu country can still be undone. Hindus of India have a right to separate identity and nationhood.

So do Buddhists in any country if and when they are in a majority. 

Buddhism is the defining characteristic of Sri Lanka, which has a track record of the longest period of uninterrupted Buddhism (over 2, 300 years) in the world.

Senaka Weeraratna

Nava Thakuria

Geneva: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, expresses serious concern over the relentless murder of scribes, citizen journalists and digital media users in Pakistan for exposing anomalies in the government, administration, and society through various media outlets and demands fair probes into all those assassinations.

Local media outlets reported that one more active Pakistani social media user named Muhammad Zada was killed by two gunmen on 8 November

2021 at his residence in Sakhakot area of Malakand locality under Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Zada (35) ran a digital platform titled Citizen Journalist PK, where he used to post socially relevant issues relating to his home district of  Malakand.

The outspoken social activist always took his stand against the illegal drug mafia and expressed his concern about the new generation, who are seemingly under the grip of such consumption. Zada remained critical against the corrupt politicians, government officials and some local leaders, who were making money from the illegal business with impunity.

As Zada became popular in his locality, he earned enmity from some influential personalities including a few police officers. He claimed that a Malakand district police officer was harassing and threatening him for his activities. Zada was asked to stop putting posts in the social media and otherwise face the consequence. But he was not scared while putting inputs against local criminal groups, who often enjoy support from the administration.

It is shocking that Pakistan loses one more socially responsible media activist after the murder of Nazim Samwal Jokhio, a videographer in western Sindh province, on 4 November. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan must take the brutal murder of Muhammad Zada seriously and assure that the culprits will not enjoy the impunity,”

said Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC (https://pressemblem.ch/pec-news.shtml).

Nazim Jokhio, a local journalist, was allegedly tortured to death at the farmhouse of accused PPP MPA for trying to prevent his foreign guests from illegal hunting of endangered houbara bustard. An autopsy found severe torture marks and bruises all over the body of the deceased. MPA Sindh Assembly Jam Owais has been remanded to police custody. Nazim Jokhio was tortured to death for recording the MPA’s hunting expedition of the highly rare bird species along with Arab hunters.

The troubled south Asian nation earlier lost five professional journalists namely Ajay Laalwani (18 March, Sindh), Waseem Alam (10 April, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdul Wahid Raisani (24 April, Balochistan), Kashif Hussain (10 August, Punjab) and Shahid Zehri (10 October, Balochistan) to assailants since 1 January 2021, revealed PEC’s south Asia representative Nava Thakuria adding that India and Bangladesh have witnessed the murder of five and two scribes respectively this year till date.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

නවීන තාක්ෂණික පහසුකම් සහිතව සිවු මහල්ව ඉදි කළ ගීතාංජලී අමරසූරිය විශාඛා සියවස් සමරු පුස්තකාලය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ සුරතින් අද (11) පෙරවරුවේ විවෘත විය.

විශාඛා විද්‍යාලයීය පාසල් සංවර්ධන සමිතිය සහ අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශය එක්ව රුපියල් මිලියන 96.5ක මූල්‍ය දායකත්වයකින් යුතුව මෙම නව සුහුරු පුස්තකාලය ඉදිකර තිබේ.

විශාඛා විද්‍යාලයේ විදුහල්පතිනි සඳමාලි අවිරුප්පොල මහත්මිය ඇතුළු විශාඛා දියණිවරු සියවස් සමරු පුස්තකාලය විවෘත කිරීමට පැමිණි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඇතුළු සම්භාවනීය අමුත්තන් පිළිගත්හ.

අනතුරුව නව සුහුරු පුස්තකාලය විවෘත කිරීම සංකේතවත් කරමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඒ වෙනුවෙන් වූ සමරු ඵලකය නිරාවරණය කළේය.

පීත්ත පටිය කපා පළමු මහළට ඇතුළු වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා පුස්තකාල කටයුතු ආරම්භ කරමින් විශාඛා දියණියකට පළමු පොත බැහැරලීම සංකේතවත් කළේය.

විශාඛා විදුහල්පතිනිය විසින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට මෙහි දී සමරු තිලිණයක් ප්‍රදානය කළාය.

1967 අගෝස්තු මස 20 වැනිදා විවෘත කළ ගීතාංජලී අමරසූරිය සමරු පුස්තකාලය සිවු මහල්ව ඉදිකළ නව ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ වර්ග අඩි 15000කට ආසන්න ඉඩ ප්‍රමාණයකින් යුක්තය.

කොවිඩ් වසංගතය හමුවේ පැවැති දුෂ්කරතා ද මගහරවා ගනිමින් පාසල් සංවර්ධන සමිතිය සහ අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශය නව පුස්තකාලය විශාඛා දියණියන්ට තිලිණ කිරීමට වෙහෙස වී ඇත.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය මහාචාර්ය ජී.එල් පීරිස් මහතා සහ එම මහත්මිය, ජාතික පාසල් අධ්‍යක්ෂ කිත්සිරි ලියනගමගේ මහතා, විශාඛා විද්‍යාලයේ විදුහල්පතිනි සඳමාලි අවිරුප්පොල මහත්මිය, විශාඛා විද්‍යාලයේ නියෝජ්‍ය විදුහල්පතිනියන් ඇතුළු ආචාර්ය මණ්ඩලය සහ විශාඛා දියණියන්, දෙමාපියන් හා  පාසල් සංවර්ධන සමිතියේ නිලධාරි මහත්ම මහත්මීහු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

C. Wijeyawickrema

It appears that even the minister of justice and the Bar Association have not properly understood the meaning of the above concept.. Boy TNA parliamentarian  Rasamannikam thinks  one law means applying law equally to all. I am writing a series of essays on this subject in Sinhala now appearing on the Lankaweb website.

The essay attached was written 31 years ago, and I hope it will be a good reference  item for all those handling the “law” in Sri Lanka.  I believe this essay has points that could be developed as several masters theses. Law faculty members are flocking to do research on human rights etc as a lucrative, politically correct area which is unfortunate.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, Nov 11 (DailyMirror) – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, today at an event questioned the public as to why they elect politicians who they had once chased away and urged them to look for new people without electing the same set of people.

He said after governing for 5 years, the opposition had failed in their performance which is why he was elected, but now after two years, the opposition behaved like they had never governed the country.

Even if myself or the ministers in my government don’t meet your expectations, don’t elect the same set of people. Look for new people. This system has to change,” the President said.

READ: Colombo, Gampaha goes on alert over COVID-19 again

There is no point in electing the same group of people into power if they fail to meet the people’s expectations. I don’t know how it could be done but that is the reality,” the President said. 

Once you chase us away, again you elect us. What’s the point in that ?” he further questioned. 

READ: Lack of consultations has led to Lankan government’s taking inappropriate and unpopular decisions

By Uditha Jayasinghe Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Dekatana, Sri Lanka, November 10 (Reuters): Knee deep in mud and sprinkling rice seeds over two acres of land in Sri Lanka late last month, D.M. Rupasinghe said he was worried about his crop following a government decision to ban imports of chemical fertilisers.

The ban on chemical fertilisers, as well as pesticides and herbicides, was introduced by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government in May for environmental reasons but it has plunged the sector into crisis.

Rupasinghe, 57, said the government had told farmers to switch to organic farming but he said that was difficult and expensive. Instead, many farmers were just planting less rather than risking investing the resources in planting when they weren’t sure of the outcome.

The government should have talked to farmers before introducing this policy,” Rupasinghe told Reuters. Organic is harder, more labour intensive and more expensive. Everyone is so confused.”

So we decided to plant a small quantity of seed paddy and wait,” he said.

That reduced planting is being repeated across the island and could bring down Sri Lanka’s annual paddy yield by about 40%, according to a prominent agricultural economist and a farmers’ association.

Normally some two million Sri Lankan farmers cultivate about 700,000 hectares of paddy between October and March. Nearly two thirds of the country’s 22 million people are dependent on agriculture, which accounts for 7% of its $80 billion gross domestic product (GDP).

Jeevika Weerahewa, an agricultural economist at Sri Lanka’s Peradeniya University, said paddy output could fall by as much as 43% but it was not just paddy that would be hit by the ban.

It will affect key exports like rubber, coconut and tea exports, with the latter expected to reduce 40%,” Weerahewa said.

The worst impact will be on the poor.”

The government has said that the ban was part of efforts to promote healthier agricultural practices and make farming more sustainable.

A farmer shows paddy seeds at a paddy field in Colombo, Sri Lanka September 19, 2018.

The challenge facing us now is to use modern scientific techniques and practices to enhance agricultural production without causing environmental degradation,” Rajapaksa said at COP26 U.N. climate conference this month.

‘TOO QUICKLY’

Farmers have staged protest marches and burnt effigies of the agriculture minister, calling for a resumption of chemical fertiliser imports.

In response, the government has imported limited amounts of potassium chloride and liquid nano nitrogen bottles – both used during the rice-growing season – from India since October.

Namal Karunaratne of the All Ceylon Farmers Federation, the country’s largest farmers group that is associated with an opposition party, said the government had failed to provide an alternative to chemical fertilisers.

Many farmers have decided not to cultivate paddy fearing financial losses,” Karunaratne said.

Agriculture Secretary Udith K. Jayasinghe said the government would compensate farmers for any crop losses, despite a ballooning budget deficit.

Plans are being made to purchase the harvest at higher prices, thereby eliminating any negative impact the farmers may face,” he said.

In a letter to Rajapakse earlier in the year, the Sri Lanka Agricultural Economics Association said a reduction in average agricultural productivity by 20% could cause a 3.05% decrease in GDP.

Mohideen Ismail, chairman of the Kadayanthalawa Farmer’s Association in the major paddy-growing district of Ampara, said that farmers were not against a switch to organic fertilisers.

But they are worried it is happening too quickly, without inputs and proper awareness,” he told Reuters. This policy should have been implemented across multiple seasons.”

Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal, Robert Birsel

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ලබන වසරේ මෙරට පොහොර අවශ්‍යතාවයෙන් 50% ක ප්‍රමාණයක් යූරියා ලබාදීම සඳහා තමන් ජනාධිපතිවරයාගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කරන බව ඉඩම් ඇමති එස්.එම්. චන්ද්‍රසේන මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

ඉන්පසු ක්‍රමිකව එම පොහොර ගෙන්වීම නතර කර දැමීමට තමන් ඉල්ලා සිටින බවද ඔහු පැවසීය.

පොස්පරස් සහ පොටෑසියම් පොහොර මෙරට නිෂ්පාදනය කර ගත හැකි බවද පැවසූ ඔහු පොහොර ගැටළුව ගැන ජනාධිපතිවරයා සමග සාකච්ඡා කර සහනයක් ලබා ගැනීමට කටයුතු කරන බවත් අමාත්‍යවරයා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී කියා සිටියේය.

මීලග කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට මෙම යෝජනා තමන් විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන බත් ඔහු එහිදී පැවසීය.

By Adam Douty, AccuWeather,

Residents evacuate an elderly woman to a safer place through a flooded neighborhood during incessant heavy rains, in Chennai, India, on Thursday. Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA-EFE

Rounds of heavy rain that inundated parts of Sri Lanka and southeastern India this week caused severe flooding and mudslides that are being blamed for at least 41 deaths across the region.

Parts of Sri Lanka were drenched with heavy rain from last weekend into early this week with over 4 inches reported in some areas. The heaviest rain has since moved out of the country, but some showers and thunderstorms could stick around through the weekend, AccuWeather forecasters say.

As India’s northeast monsoon gets into full swing, heavy rain also fell in southern India across the state of Tamil Nadu this week. Flooding killed at least 16 in the state, according to the State Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran.

India’s northeast monsoon is an annual occurrence that pumps moisture from the Bay of Bengal into southeastern India during the autumn and early winter which can result in heavy rain and flooding, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist and lead international forecaster Jason Nicholls.

D.C., Philly and NYC may see 1st snowflakes of season

It is also not uncommon for tropical cyclones to develop across the southern Bay of Bengal and move into southeastern India during the northeast monsoon.

This is what happened this week as a tropical depression formed in the Bay of Bengal and moved inland across Tamil Nadu on Thursday, bringing another dose of heavy rain and gusty winds.

India’s Meteorological Department issued a red alert for the heavy rain across portions of Tamil Nadu on Thursday. A red alert is the highest warning level that the IMD issues, and it indicates a significant risk to life is possible.

RELATEDStudy: Rising greenhouse gases, ice melt caused by humans drive climate change

From Sunday to Thursday, 12 inches of rain fell across Chennai leading to significant flooding. About 6 inches fell from Wednesday into Thursday alone as the tropical depression moved onshore. Photos showed some pedestrians being forced to carry bikes through deep water on flooded roads around the city.

The heavy rain caused damage to about 1,300 houses across Tamil Nadu and inundated more than 100,000 acres of croplands, according to CNN.

In addition to all of the rain, strong winds halted landings at Chennai’s airport for nearly five hours on Thursday, but departures were still permitted. Wind gusts at the airport approached 50 mph.RELATEDWeather changes influence prevalence of bacterial diseases in bee colonies

Due to the flooding and gusty winds, Sun News reported that 61,700 residents were without power on Thursday in Chennai.

“Rainfall will wind down in southern India on Friday, but scattered lighter rains will continue through the weekend,” according to Nicholls.

However, AccuWeather meteorologists say residents should not let their guard down yet.

Conditions look favorable for another tropical depression to form across the Bay of Bengal next week and move into southeastern India by late in the week, according to Nicholls. This could bring another round of heavy rain, flooding and gusty winds to the region.

“This time of year is the second peak for tropical development in the northern Indian Ocean,” said Nicholls. “The northern Indian Ocean is different from other basins that typically only have one peak in tropical activity. The first peak in tropical activity across the northern Indian Ocean happens from April to June while the second peak is October to December.”

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

An Extraordinary Gazette has issued making it mandatory to obtain prior approval of Director General of Health Services for gatherings, activities, events or similar places of meetings.

According to the Gazette, the guidelines, circulars, directions, instructions or terms and conditions issued, given by the Director General of Health Services supersede the guidelines, circulars, dirctions, instructions or terms and conditions issued, given or specified by other authorities.

The regulation has been made by Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella under sections 2 and 3 of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa will present the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill for the financial year 2022 in Parliament tomorrow (12). 

The budget speech will commence at 02.00 pm. This is the 76th budget of an independent Sri Lanka. It is the second budget of the incumbent government and the first presented by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

The 2022 Appropriation Bill was introduced in Parliament by the Minister of Finance on the 07th of October.

This Appropriation Bill was published in the Gazette on 29th September 2021 for matters relating to obtaining service expenses for the financial year 2022 from the Consolidated Fund or any other suitable fund with provisions and obtaining loans within or outside Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, for service expenses during the period from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022, approval is to be obtained for recurrent and capital expenditure related to Government Expenditure amounting to rupees two thousand five hundred and five billion three hundred and forty-six million five hundred and fifty-eight thousand.

Chapter xvii of the Constitution gives Parliament full control over public finances and requires the approval of Parliament on matters including taxation, consolidation of funds or any other appropriate fund with provisions.

The second reading debate of the budget will be held for seven days from Saturday, November 13th to Monday, November 22nd. The vote on the second reading of the budget will take place on Monday, November 22 at 5.00 pm.

The Committee Stage Debate will commence on Tuesday, November 23rd and will continue for 16 days, including Saturday, until Friday, December 10th. The third reading vote will be held on December 10th at 5.00 pm.

Arrangements have been made to present this year’s budget debate in sign language on behalf of the hearing-impaired community. Accordingly, a Sign Language Window will be telecast simultaneously with the live telecast during the budget debate.

Arrangements have been made to hold sittings in Parliament in accordance with all health guidelines and regulations during the entire period of the budget debate starting from tomorrow (12), the presenting of the budget statement to Parliament.

The Public Gallery will not be open to the public during the budget debate and only a limited number of government officials will be allowed to attend the Budget Committee session.

The Gallery for Special Guest and Invited Foreign Diplomatic Ambassadors and High Commissioners will be opened tomorrow.

The budget being presented tomorrow is the second budget of the Government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the seventh Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. 

Following the budget speech, the Minister of Finance will host the traditional tea party. However, it will be limited to MPs, ministers, foreign ambassadors and invitees.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry has confirmed that another 188 persons have tested positive for coronavirus, increasing the daily count of new cases to 715. 

This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases identified in the country to 548,061 while over 11,000 patients infected with the virus are currently being treated across Sri Lanka.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 19 coronavirus related deaths for November 10, pushing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 13,927.

The deaths confirmed today include 11 males and 08 females while four of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years. The remaining 15 are in the age group of 60 years and above.