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Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardane has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the ninth Member of Parliament to be tested Covid-19 positive within this month, the minister confirmed.
Sri Lanka has extended the current island-wide quarantine curfew orders by a week, in a bid to curb the soaring COVID-19 figures in the country prompted by the rapid spread of the Delta variant.
Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella tweeted that the extended quarantine curfew orders are effective until 4.00 am on the 06th of September (Monday).
He urged the members of the public to continue to work from home and to abide by the curfew orders while refraining from unnecessary travel.
The current #COVID19SL curfew will continue till Monday 4am (06/09). Following an observation that #lka citizens have not taken the curfew to heart, in order for this to be effective, I implore again to refrain from unnecessary travel, work from home & abide by the curfew.”
The decision was taken during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control convened under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning (August 27).
On August 20, Sri Lanka imposed a ten-day island-wide quarantine curfew and it was set to be lifted at 04.00 am on August 30.
Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong has called on Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Thursday (Aug. 26).
During the meeting held at the Speaker’s official residence, the Chinese Ambassador reiterated that the Chinese Government would continue to extend its full support to the Government of Sri Lanka for the control of COVID-19 situation at a time when both countries are working with utmost commitment to control the current Covid-19 situation.
They also discussed economic and financial cooperation between the two countries as well as the strengthening of inter-parliamentary relations.
The Speaker also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Government for its continuous support as a long standing friend of Sri Lanka.
The total number people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka soared yet again as a record high of 214 new fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Thursday (August 26).
This is the highest number of deaths reported within a day since the beginning of the pandemic and the second consecutive day the daily fatalities count crossed the grim milestone of 200.
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 8,371.
According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 120 males and 94 females.
As many as 151 deaths were reported among the elderly people who are aged above 60 years.
In addition, 58 individuals aged between 30-59 years and five people below the age of 30 years have also succumbed to the virus infection.
Daily COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka exceeded 4,000 for the sixth consecutive day today (August 27) as 779 more people were tested positive for the virus.
According to official data, 4,591 novel coronavirus infections in total were detected within the day.
The Government Information Department stated that 4,561 of the latest cases were associated with the New Year Cluster and the remaining 30 have been identified as arrivals from foreign countries.
The new development brought Sri Lanka’s confirmed COVID-19 cases tally to 416,961.
At present, 55,399 active cases are receiving medical care at hospitals, treatment centres and their respective homes.
Meanwhile, the number of total recoveries has reached 353,191 and the death toll now stands at 8,371.
The world needs an Emperor with full clothing to counter the increasing stridency of China. Unfortunately, the US has been progressively shedding its clothes beginning perhaps with the defeat in Vietnam. The many military incursions that followed, all basically abject failures in improving the lives of the people of the countries so invaded, has shown that US objectives have been flawed, and the execution of such objectives, even worse.
One wonders however whether there is a dichotomy when it comes to these objectives. Were they meant to help the countries so invaded, were they purely to serve US interests, or were they to serve the interests of a powerful lobby within the US which has profited hugely on account of these futile military adventures. The latter wants conflict, war, instability, corruption at the highest levels in the countries invaded in order to beget even more conflict and war.
If the invasions were for the benefit of the countries invaded, then during the time of occupation, the people of the countries would have had an improved economy, improved livelihoods for the people, a better health system, a more modernised education system, infrastructure, political and democratic freedoms. It is highly debateable whether any of the countries invaded passed muster on these key fronts.
Afghanistan today is nearly 100% dependent on foreign aid to run the country, as it was 20 years ago. Reports say that Healthcare in Afghanistan is provided by over 3,000 health facilities found throughout the country. The decades of war and neglect by the world community has destroyed Afghanistan’s already-poor healthcare system. In recent years, however, the country had somewhat improved its healthcare system. Life expectancy rates are among the lowest in the world and 25% of children die before their fifth birthday. In 2019, life expectancy at birth for women in Afghanistan was about 66.39 years, while life expectancy at birth for men was about 63.38 years on average. Lack of basic health care and malnutrition contribute to the high death rates. Afghanistan has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world”.
UNESCO says that Currently, over 10 million youth and adults in Afghanistan are illiterate. However, it also says that since 2016, the country has made significant progress. While in 2016/17 the literacy rate was at 34.8 per cent, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics recently confirmed that is has now increased to 43 per cent. However, other reports say it’s around 28.1%. (https://www.infoplease.com/world/country-statistics/lowest-literacy-rates)
As regards the economy of Afghanistan, Wikipedia says that while there have been improvements over the last few years, it is still described as follows Despite holding over $1 trillion in proven untapped mineral deposits, Afghanistan remains one of the least developed countries in the world. Its unemployment rate is over 23% and about half of its population lives below the poverty line. Many of the unemployed men join the foreign-funded militant groups or the world of crime, particularly as smugglers. The Afghan government has long sought foreign investment in order to improve Afghanistan’s economy”
The statements made by the US and its allies that they invaded Afghanistan to prevent it from becoming a haven for the Al Qaeda terrorist movement and not for the benefit of the Afghan people seems clear when one looks at the above statistics. A question can be asked legitimately by the people of Afghanistan whether the price they paid for a decision they had no input or a say, was worth it, in getting the Taliban out of Afghanistan and for them to come back 20 years later, reportedly after spending some 2 trillion dollars over this period with not much to show as an improvement to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Afghans.
No doubt corruption and mismanagement has been one of the biggest contributors to the lack of trust and confidence the people of the country had with their politicians and government officials. So called war lords from provinces entered Parliament and some became ministers.
A corrupt government becoming more and more distant to the people, many of whom were in poverty, and the US and allies seen as protecting the corrupt, provided ample ammunition to the Taliban to establish themselves throughout the country.
Although there was increasing freedom for women during the past 20 years, in a country with high illiteracy, it is possible that many Afghan men may have been supportive of the Taliban as they too were not culturally supportive of freedom for women. The younger, more educated, urban based men may have been supportive, but they were a minority. The US, its allies and the Afghan government they propped, were not succeeding in winning the hearts and minds of people, and it was a matter of time before the Taliban took over.
The issue before the US, NATO and Allies and what is called the free world”, is not just Afghanistan. It is the situation where this group has shown its impotency in being able to halt the march of the not so free world of Islamic extremists, terrorist groups intent on achieving their objectives via violent means on the one hand, and the rising belligerence of China on the other hand.
In Buddhist philosophy, the doctrine of dependent origination or Patticca Samuppada” underpins ongoing human existence. It is about cyclical consequential thoughts and action that follows from present thoughts and action. This is a very simplified statement, but it is just that simplicity that has a bearing on some of the reasons for conflicts arising out of the battles between the free world” and the not so free world”.
While the value of democracy, freedom and justice, and law and order existing or should exist in a society that has the fundamentals mentioned is not in question, it is perhaps pertinent to ask whether such societies have been as inclusive as they have been portrayed to the world. It is also equally pertinent to ask whether social and societal inequities and inequalities, exploitation of the less fortunate by the more fortunate does or does not occur in such countries, and what consequential actions follow as a result of it. Do the structures and systems in such countries have avenues for the less fortunate, affected people to overcome feelings of helplessness?
People who are affected, and who do not feel the systems are able to address their situation, could react in many different ways. Some may just accept it, some may strive to find ways and means of overcoming such situations, and some may do so using methods that are not conventional and outside the norms of the societies they live in. Amongst these different groups, there would be fertile ground for extremist leaders, using tools such as extremist religious interpretations, to recruit such disgruntled people. These could be consequential actions arising from the mental state of some people facing helplessness and hopelessness in societies. Poverty is rife in many democratic countries and contributes significantly to the rise of extremism.
GSDC Applied Knowledge Services in a working paper from Stanford University’s Centre on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law suggests that the obstacles to the elimination of poverty are largely political. Poverty is generated and reproduced by power disparity and abuse. The enduring reduction of poverty requires a broad context of good governance, beyond the narrow arena of free and fair elections. The deepest root cause of development failure is bad governance – the inability or unwillingness to apply public resources effectively to generate public goods. Good governance involves the capacity and commitment to act in pursuit of the public good, transparency, accountability, citizen participation and the rule of law. Bad governance prevents the accumulation of the financial, physical, social and political capital necessary for development.
The paper goes on to say that Democracy should provide a corrective to bad governance by holding corrupt, unresponsive or ineffectual leaders to account and enabling citizens to participate in making policy. The evidence on the relationship between democracy and development is ambiguous, however. While authoritarian rule offers poor prospects for sustained poverty reduction, democracy does not offer any guarantee of good governance. The effectiveness of democracy in reducing poverty depends to a great extent on the type and degree of democracy. Democracy can be seen as having three dimensions: electoral competition, civil liberties and responsible and accountable government” https://gsdrc.org/document-library/moving-on-up-out-of-poverty-what-does-democracy-have-to-do-with-it/.
Two things are clear from this paper that firstly, democracy could be a very loose term and it doesn’t necessarily serve all people with equal measure when it comes to inequity, inequality, opportunity and it provides safeguards to the less fortunate when through natural occurrences or deliberate acts, the less fortunate and the marginalised are left behind, and secondly, the democratisation experiment of Afghanistan did not work as it was not culturally attuned and facile at best.
The lesson hopefully for the free world” is to examine how these consequential situations occur, before they occur, and see how they can be avoided or mitigated. These need to be done within historical and cultural contexts in different societies as one rule does not fit all. This is probably the single biggest reason for the failure of US policy of successive regimes as cultural contexts have been rarely recognised by policy makers.
The Emperor cannot wear more transparent clothes to cover its nakedness. The Emperor needs not just different clothes but more importantly, a different mindset to realise it cannot continue to walk around pretending there is no nakedness. This approach must be firstly and lastly, based on giving a helping hand to countries in need of assistance to overcome poverty, to improve their health services, improve education and helping them to stand on their own feet to improve their economies, but within their cultural contexts. Democratisation has to be a progressive exercise and based on conviction, and not introduced allowing corrupt individuals to further their personal nests. Placing military boots, guns and bombs in countries on the pretext of helping them has to stop, as recent history in Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, and now in Afghanistan, has proven beyond any doubt.
The writer is confident that readers may have seen the picture of ‘praying hands’ umpteen times, mainly hung on Christian homes, but wonders how the story originated! As narrated initially by Ranjit Seneviratne, some time ago, the story was about a family in Nuremberg, West Germany, in the fifteenth century. Dürer’s was a large family with eighteen children.
The children’s father was a professional goldsmith. Because he had to provide food for so many children, the father had to work overtime up to eighteen hours a day. Despite their hopeless financial situation, one of two of the elder children, Albrecht once had a dream about becoming rich by following his father’s talent. He discussed his dream with Albert, his brother. But in real life, they were quite convinced that their father would never allow them to do so, however much they were financially miserable.
The father’s wish was to send both boys to the Nuremberg Academy to become professionals. Their dream was discussed in the night, in their crowded bed. After a lengthy discussion in their packed bed in the night, the two boys reached an agreement to toss a coin. The loser would go to the local mines or do sales and earn to support his other brother who attended the University. The brother who won the toss had to participate in the academy and engage in studies diligently. So, they tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after returning from the Church and Albert lost the agreement, which opened the opportunity for Albrecht to go to the Nuremberg Academy. Albrecht Durer, as per agreement, between the two brothers, went off to Nuremberg to attend studies at the academy.
Consequence of the Dream
Meanwhile, Albert Durer had to go down the dangerous mines for four years devotedly to finance his brother, whose work at the academy was a sensation to him. Albrecht’s progress of producing etched plates and objects, his woodcuts, and his oils at the Nuremberg Academy was far superior to his professors’. After the graduation, he was able to earn substantially. When the young, qualified sculptor returned home, his parents, and the rest of his (Durer) family held a grand dinner on their lawn to celebrate and welcome Albrecht’s success.
At the Dinner Party
After a memorable dinner, with beer to the galore, Albrecht stood up from his chair and raised his glass to drink together in honour of his beloved brother’s (Albert) for his four years of dedicated sacrifice, which made him (Albrecht Durer) fulfil his ambition successfully.
Holding the glass and with loving words, he made an emotional speech that touched every one who attended the dinner and the family. At the end of his speech, he raised his glass again and said: Now, Albert, you, are my blessed brother, who scarified your life for four years on account of me to qualify at the academy, it is now your turn to go to Nuremberg Academy to pursue the dream. On my part, I can take care of all your expenses at the academy.”
All heads turned towards the far end of the table where Albert was sitting. His eyes were wet with emotion, and his face looked pale . In a tottering voice, he lowered his head from side to side and sobbed with sentiment and repeated the words, saying, “No! No!!…. No….!!! Finally, Albert Durer rose and wiped the tears and glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, said softly, “No, No!! Brother, I cannot go to Nuremberg Academy, look at my hands.”
Thank you, brother, for the kind gesture, but it is too late for me. See what has happened to my hands for the past four years having to work at the mines! The bones of all the fingers were smashed at least once. Of late, I was suffering from arthritis so very badly, in my right hand, that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast! No, brother . It’s too late for me. I am so sorry. Thank you very much for your sacrifice. I love you so much.”
In Loving Memory
Later, in loving memory of his beloved brother Albrecht Durer crafted a masterful portrait as a reminder of his brother’s dedication, which helped him to become a professional craftsman. It was done in pen and silver point sketches, watercolours, corals, woodcuts, and copper engravings, all of it as a total dedication to his beloved brother Albert, who sacrificed in the mines for four consecutive years, which enabled Albrecht to master his father’s job in a much wider sense.
Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together, and thin fingers stretched skyward to pay homage to Albert for all he had sacrificed. He called his powerful drawing simply ‘Hands. But the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love as “The Praying Hands.” It was over many centuries ago that the emotional story took place.
Yet, masterful portraits, woodcuts, and even copper engravings are available today about the two hands as a commemoration of Albert’s sore hands created by hissbrother Albrecht Durer, as paying compensation to his brother. Albert kept to his word and helped his brother to study and graduate at the Nuremberg Academy. Albrecht Durer’s masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolours, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world even today.
But many buy them as a religious observation , without knowing the real story behind the emergence of an invaluable piece of craft created by Albrecht Durer. Currently there are so many reproductions hanging in your homes or offices .
Next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second and look sharply. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one – no one – ever makes it alone!
tilakfermando@gmail.com
© Provided by Daily Mail MailOnline logo
A large majority of COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized during last winter’s surge still have not fully recovered, a new study finds.
Researchers from the University of Michigan analyzed 253 patients who were hospitalized towards the end of fall 2020 and winter 2021.
Nearly 85 percent of the patients reported that they had still not made a full recovery at least six months later.
Around 55 percent of patients reported a new heart or lung condition as well.
© Provided by Daily Mail Researchers found that nearly 85 percent of COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized during late fall and winter 2020 still feel symptoms of the virus months later. Pictured: A nurse at a Jonesboro, Arkansas, hospital checks on a patient in the COVID-19 ward
‘These people have substantially worse problems after hospitalization than clinicians would have expected,’ said Dr Jack Iwashyna, co-lead author and a physician at the Michigan Department of Internal Medicine, in a statement.
The median age of patients in the study, which was published last week in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, was 60 years old, and the average hospitalization time was five days.
In total, 84.2 percent of participants reported having symptoms months after hospitalization and not feeling ‘fully back to their pre-COVID-19 level of functioning.’
Around 56 percent of patients, or 139, reported having a new or worsened cardiopulmonary symptoms.
Almost a quarter of participants, 57 out of the 253, said they have a frequent cough now, and early 20 percent have a rapid or irregular heartbeat.
Some reported more serious symptoms.
Nearly 16 percent said they now have to use a home oxygen machine or have difficultly getting around the house due to chest troubles.
Gallery: 20 diseases much more common than we think (Espresso)
Ten percent reporting having to sleep sitting up to deal with potential issues.
In total, 50 percent of patients reported that their daily life is now limited in some way due to their post-Covid symptoms.
Over a quarter of the patients said that they now have three or more limitations to their daily life that did not previously exist.
‘This isn’t patients saying: “I can’t run quite as far as I used to”,’ said Dr Terri Hough, professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Oregon Health & Science University.
‘This is them saying: “I can’t walk, I can’t cook, I can’t shower.” The effects are devastating.
‘Unfortunately, we saw this even among patients with quite short hospital stays.’
The cause for these long term symptoms is not yet known.
‘Long Covid’, the name given to the condition where people feel symptoms of the virus long after recovery.
Anywhere from one-third to two-thirds of COVID-19 patients will develop some form of the condition.
It can appear in anyone, even in relatively healthy people who contract the virus and do not experience serious symptoms while they are hospitalized.
© Provided by Daily Mail
© Provided by Daily Mail
Researchers of the Michigan study hope that identifying more potential symptoms of ‘long Covid’ can help physicians develop treatments to the conditions.
‘As we continue, we’re excited that this study will link the biology of initial hospitalizations for COVID-19 to long-term patient-centered outcomes, and thereby help us find treatments to decrease the burden of recovery from COVID-19,’ said Hough.
The team also hopes that long Covid patients are not forgotten as the world plans to eventually move past the pandemic.
‘While much attention has focused on deaths from COVID, these findings highlight the long-term consequences in survivors of COVID-19 and shed light on the public health crisis resulting from the disability and economic loss among COVID survivors,’ said Dr James Kiley, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Division of Lung Diseases.
© Provided by Daily Mail
Since the election of Mr.Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the president of Sri Lanka at the end of 2019, people expected from him he will launch Sri Lanka in an era of new policy implementation. People expected the eminence of the political administration compared to previous presidents. The excellent feature of his administration is a halcyon approach to issues and a focus on result-oriented reforms and supervision. The best example is the approach on the COVID-19 issue that needs the wide support of people without a political difference.
The owned styles of administration had been shown by political leaders of Sri Lanka since King Vijaya, and King Senkadagala Rajasinghe was the best the example of the calm approach of administration. He investigated many issues himself rather than listening words of others in a way like opening soda bottles. The facet of the Gotabaya administration is given priority for results examining that the results breed from policy outcomes. The way of King Vijebahu was a secret investigation in the community walking in the night. The nature of Mr. Gotabhaya’s administration shows he adapts to historical kings, and it shows the excellence of Rajapaksa policy above Mr. Sajith Premadasa and Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe. Many people don’t quickly understand the way of handling issues, because the approach of Mr.Gotabhaya Rajapaksa concerns achieving broader outcomes rather than hanging on narrow indulgence.
When Mr.Gotabaya was addressing before the new lockdown decision, he clearly explained people the potential impact of the lockdown, and his explanation was clear to people. He expected unitedly working rather than too much talking. The world has been adapted to working collectively than distancing on political reasons. The COVID-19 has been promoting social distancing that is against the way all religions promoting. Mr.Gotabhaya Rajapaksa directed unity in working to eliminate the virus than political-based collectivism.
The most significant point that he mentioned in the address was the requirement of unity to control covid and his fundamental view is Sri Lanka wants political unity than the concept of the Queen’s opposition, which divulged that the opposition is the alternative government of Queen by Ivor Jennings. Religious leaders and elders of the country have been preaching this view since 1956, but it was unsuccessful because an underhand element worked against the unity. When Mr. Rajapaksa was working against the LTTE, he had in mind that unity was an essential condition, but Mr.Ranil Wickramasinghe had ignored the unity might be under the advice of foreign powers. If he agreed with the unity, he could have shared the victory with the government. It was the major reason to backward UNP in 2020. The policy eminence of Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is strong trusts the unity of people to eradicate problems in Sri Lanka.
The political divisions are being the poison that entered political administration in Sri Lanka. Democracy began in the early 1930s and since then, people have misunderstood the concept and many politicians have misused the concept. With these democratic reforms, the concept of unity has gone away and people attempted to achieve various outcomes in divided ways. People expect Mr.Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will change the misunderstanding in a way that is appropriate to Sri Lanka.
What is the policy eminence of Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa?
The outcomes of policies cannot be seen overnight. It will take a minimum of ten years and people in Sri Lanka are not calm and struggle to show results. The era of Mr.Gotabhaya needs to change society. Free and education from mother-tongue have made radical changes, but the current situation is people need education from three media and people to need to be conversant in three languages. Although education was free, it was not offered equally and disparities created a class that secretly promote feudal society promoting the use of the English language. This could be changed by offering three languages to all in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Martin Wickramasinghe had been enthusiastically talking about the brahmin caste that influences society. The brahmin class was conversing in the English language. Changes in the economy, especially land reforms and distribution of education in rural areas, contributed to change. However, now there is called a posh society, people in the posh society are not well educated and capable in English communication. They are in an artificial society and they are less respected for values. Mr.Gotabhaya Rajapaksa needs to focus on changing the concept of posh society to achieve equity and justice.
Image source: Internet
Bangladesh and Bhutan are situated in South Asia geographically. They share a common regional platform such as BIMTEC, SAARC. There are some harmonies between Bangladesh and Bhutan in sphere of mutual interest, shared history, culture.
On December 6, 1971, Bhutan and India became the first countries to recognize the independence of Bangladesh. Bangladesh will never the Bhutanese support and contribution during the liberation war in 1971. Relations between Bangladesh and Bhutan started to deep from this period.
Bangladesh and Bhutan have common identity in the world. Both are peace lovers and peace keepers. The peace loving people of Bhutan and Bangladesh shared similar views on many regional issues. Bangladesh is a humanitarian democratic country in South Asia. Bhutan is also a democratic country in the world. Bhutan and Bangladesh have many potentials to work with each other for the better promotion of democracy, peace keeping, regional stability, betterment of People etc.
The entire region have a huge potential for development. To ensure that the leadership of both countries have since exchanged many state visits. In 2016, the President of Bangladesh addressed the Parliament of Bhutan. On 6 December 2020, both countries signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with provisions for free trade in certain goods. The signing of the PTA was witnessed by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Prime Minister of Bhutan. Bhutanese PM came Bangladesh to mark the birth centenary of the founder of Bangladesh Father of the nation Bangabandhu and 50 years of Bangladesh indepence. It is very pertinent to mention that PM Lote Tshering studied in My mymensingh medical college. He can speak in Bangla. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina is also very interested to strengthen the ties.
This is the first PTA Bangladesh has signed with any country in the world. The PTA aims to establish a preferential trading arrangement, explore all appropriate measures to facilitate and promote bilateral trade. The PTA is expected to build upon the existing friendly relations and strengthen the mutual cooperation in the field of trade and commerce between the two countries.
With the signing of the PTA, 16 more products from Bhutan will enjoy duty free access to Bangladesh, in addition to the existing 18 products. Likewise, 10 more products from Bangladesh will enjoy duty free access to Bhutan in addition to the existing 90 products.
However, Under the PTA 100 Bangladeshi products will get duty free access to Bhutan. At the same time, 34 items from Bhutan will get duty free access into Bangladesh. Further items can be added in the list later on the basis of discussion between the two countries.
Goods like Jute and Jute products, baby clothes and accessories, men’s trousers, jackets and blazers are among the 100 items from Bangladesh which will get duty free access to Bhutan. On the other hand fruit juice, natural honey, wheat flour jams, jellies and lime stone, quartzite etc from Bhutan will have duty free access to Bangladesh.
The trade volume between the two countries is approximately 50 million dollars with 7.56 million of export and 42.09 million import into Bangladesh.
The areas of between Bangladesh and Bhutan are many, including trade, tourism, hydro-power, climate change impacts, health, protection of bio-diversity, agro-processing, agriculture, ICT, education, water resource management and much more.
Both have many other ways in where Bangladesh and Bhutan can cooperate and they are always ready to do it. Bhutan can use the water ways. Bangldesh’s water ways link already has started. Bangladesh is developing Chilmari port. Chilmari port, Narayanganj and Pangaoni can be opened for Bhutan. Not only that, three ports Chittagong, Mongla, Payra can use it. Sayedpur airport is being developed as a regional airport. So, for Bhutan, it is open. Bhutan can use that airport too. In the sector of railway connectivity, Chilahati railway project can be another opportunity for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Bangladesh and Bhutan have already established extraordinary relations even more meaningful for mutual benefits and for the overall development and well-being of both citizens. It is in this spirit that we have signed today the Bangladesh-Bhutan PTA. Under this Agreement, a wide range of products from Bangladesh and Bhutan can find duty-free entry into each other’s markets. The agreement also has provision for including an additional list of products through mutual consensus.
Once the agreement comes into force, more people in Bangladesh will get the access to have good apple and orange from Bhutan and other fruits and other vegetables and other thing. And also from Bangladesh the fashion conscious people Bhutan can choose from more varieties of quality apparels from Bangladesh.
Infrastructure projects in Bangladesh can further benefit from boulder stones from Bhutan, while Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals can enhance contribution to the health sector in Bhutan. Bhutan is today democratic, modern and progressive country. Bhutan’s concept of ‘Gross National Happiness’ has won the admiration of the world.
Bangladeshi NGOs can participate in the development process in Bhutan. Bhutan can utilize more the human resource of Bangladesh to serve it’s own interest. This PTA will ensure mutual benefit for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Bangladesh and Bhutan’s aim is similar and that is to strengthen democracy, achieve economic growth and make their citizen happy individuals of a hunger-poverty-free developed-prosperous countries.
Bangladesh’s Vision 2021 and Vision 2041 are guided by the dream of Golden Bangladesh as envisioned by the Father of the Nation Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Already significant progresses have been made on food and energy security, education, poverty alleviation, empowerment of women, social welfare, and development with sustained economic growth. As we endeavor to reach the goals, Bangladesh want valuable cooperation of it’s friends and neighbors to strengthen it’s government’s initiatives, including regional connectivity designed to make all in the region prosperous. Bangladesh has shared excellent cooperation with Bhutan and other South Asian neighbors and beyond. Stronger regional and international cooperation is necessary in the coming days for mitigating the impact of the pandemic and for the rebuilding phase.
Bangladesh is going to be a rising South Asian economic super star. Bangladesh would like play a significant a vital role to tackle some regional problems. Bhutan and Bangladesh can work together in these sectors. Bhutan can also play in Bangladesh to tackle the covid-19 pandemic using it’s well known strategy.
Writer: MD Pathik Hasan
Minister Namal Rajapaksa to Deliver Keynote Address on “Digital Inclusion and Transformation in South Asia”
The State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development Hon. Namal Rajapaksa will be delivering the keynote address on the theme “Digital Inclusion and Transformation in South Asia” at a virtual event that will take place on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, at 2 p.m.
The event, organized jointly by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) of India, Colombo Initiative in Sri Lanka and the Sappani Foundation in Canada, aims to promote engagements between Sri Lanka, India and other nations in the region, which also aligns with Minister Rajapaksa’s vision to elevate Sri Lanka as a global hub for digital technology and commerce.
Both India and Sri Lanka have leveraged their digital tools to help their populations through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital technologies have been crucial for the continuity of governments and industries and for social resilience during the pandemic, and they will also be key to post-pandemic economic recovery. The “pandemic push” also accelerated the adoption of services in the realms of e-commerce, digital payments and online education.
The pandemic has accelerated the need to create digital inclusion in developing countries, in order to cope with the “new normal.” In such a context, Minister Rajapaksa will be outlining the progress Sri Lanka has made in terms of establishing digital inclusion during the pandemic. Further, the keynote address will also present the Government’s plan to achieve truly inclusive” digital growth in Sri Lanka, in the post-pandemic era.
Register for the Event: https://www.orfonline.org/research/digital-inclusion-and-transformation-in-south-asia/
CI LINKEDIN POST
Colombo Initiative (CI), in collaboration with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) of India and the Sappani Foundation in Canada, is delighted to launch a series of discussions and high-level engagements on the Sri Lanka—India bilateral relationship and the larger region.
The inaugural panel discussion under the theme “Digital Inclusion and Transformation in South Asia,” which will take place virtually on Friday, August 27, 2021 at 2 p.m. The event will commence with a keynote address by Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development, and will be followed by the panel discussion that will include leaders from the digital sector in Sri Lanka and India:
Anna Roy
Senior Advisor, NITI Aayoh, India
Mahinda B. Herath
CEO, Information and Communication Technology Agency, Sri Lanka
Deena Jacob
Co-founder & Chief Financial Officer, Open India
Jayomi Lokuliyana
Co-founder/CEO of zMessenger & DigitalX, Founder of MyMed International and Chairperson of the Women’s Chamber for Digital Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
Nisha Holla (Moderator)
Visiting Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, India
With access to digital technologies becoming central to government/private sector approaches to social, economic and quality of life challenges, this panel brings together prominent stakeholders in the digital arena from India and Sri Lanka to discuss key questions.
Join the discussion: https://www.orfonline.org/research/digital-inclusion-and-transformation-in-south-asia/
Media Unit,
Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Development Coordination and Supervision,State Ministry of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development.
Bangladesh and Nepal are situated in South Asia geographically. They share a common regional platform such as BIMTEC, SAARC. There are some harmonies between Bangladesh and Bhutan in sphere of mutual interest, shared history, culture.
Nepal recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign state in 1971. Then Bangladesh Built up ties with Nepal. The bondage and relations between Bangladesh and Nepalese started from that time. Bangladesh was and is very interested regarding Nepalese culture, their trends of agricultural development, extraction of stone, production of hydro electricity, tourism etc
The first Bangla poetry ( Charjapad) was discovered in the library of Nepal’s King by a famous linguistic Harproshad Shastri. From the poetry, we able to know that Nepal-Bengal ties is eternal. Connection was started by the Buddhist priests who was known as Charjaguru. It is proved that Bangladesh-Nepal’s historical linkage was opened up.
Now Nepal is a known South Asian modern state as a whole. The distance between Nepal and Bangladesh was very short and Indian Chicken Neck ( Siliguri corridor) divided Bangladesh and Nepal geographically. But both are united spiritually.
There are many potentials waiting for Bangladesh and Nepal. Bangladesh’ economy is booming day by day. It is going to be a South Asian super star. Current ruling party, Bangladesh Awami league is trying to develop the country. By 2041, Bangladesh would be developed. It is confirmed.
Nepal is also a prosperous country. It’s people are peace lover and peace keeper, hard worker. The people of Bangladesh share the same characteristics. Bangladesh and Nepal both can play to develop the standard of their people by connecting with each other.
Nepal is a huge source of hydro electricity. Nepal can provide it Bangladesh to fulfill the demands of Bangladesh. Bangladesh needs more electricity to move it’s factories. Bangladesh is a power hungry. There are many industries and factories in Bangladesh. The have need electricity. So Nepal can play the role to boost up the economic strength of Bangladesh. Nepal will be also benefitted. It’s electricity market would grow up. For this, the transmission line of electricity is needed. Bangladesh-Nepal- India have to work to start it as soon as possible. India will be benefitted. On other hands, as a South Asian big brother, it should play it’s role to boost up Nepal-Bangladesh ties and trades. Trilateral trades scheme can be initiated along the border markets to ensure the trilateral mutual interest. Bangladesh will be able to export its ‘surplus’ electricity to Nepal during the dry season.
In June, Bangladesh’s state minister for energy said that Bangladesh has decided to import around 700 megawatts (MW) of hydropower from Nepal to meet its future electricity demand. It’s Foreign Minister stated that Bangladesh, Nepal and India are on the final stage of a deal allowing Bangladesh to import hydropower from the Himalayan state during the Visit of Nepal’s president to Bangladesh in March to mark the birth centenary of Bangladesh’ founder father Bangabandhu and Bangladesh’s 50th anniversary of it’s independence from Pakistan. However, we expect that the hydropower exchange will be able to meet the demands of both parts people.
According to Bangladeshi Media, Bangladesh signed an MoU with Nepal in 2018 to oversee investment, development and trade in hydroelectricity between the two countries. Under this arrangement, Bangladesh will import up to 9,000 MW of hydropower from Nepal by 2040. Bangladesh has also been in favor of investing in Nepal’s hydropower sector.
Bangladesh can export it’s apparel and fertilizer to Nepal. Some Nepalese media reported few days ago, A total of 52 thousand metric tonnes of urea imported fertiliser from Bangladesh arrived in Nepal in July.
Tourism, tackling Covid-19 , counter terrorism approach, microfinance of Bangladesh in Nepal, exchange of expertise for training, education sectors are some sectors in which there have chance to work Bangladesh and Nepal both can utilize these sector with each other. Agro products and medicine of Bangladesh can be exported to Nepal.
Bangladesh’s Walton company is working in Nepal. International NGO, Brac and other NGos can play role to develop the mass education and health sectors in Nepal.
Bangladesh signed Preferential Trade Agreement with Bhutan on December 06, 2920. Now for Nepal case, Preferential Trade Agreement is also at the final stage and is likely to be signed soon to get duty free access of product of both parties for the welfare of people As an addition to the Protocol of the Nepal-Bangladesh Transit Agreement signed in 1976, a letter of exchange has been signed between the two countries to include Rohanpur-Singhabad Rail Link.
Nepal is also interested in using Chattogram, Mongla and Paira Sea ports because it is a landlocked country. Bangladesh has agreed to work on the modalities for this during the visit of Nepali President. India has to play it’s role as a regional giant to mediate Bangladesh-Nepal relation for the trilateral interest.
Nepal has also expressed its interest to use inland waterways of Bangladesh. Besides, Nepal is also interested in using the Saidpur Airport for direct flights with Viratnagar. Bangladesh is open to it. We want to facilitate connectivity.
Bangladesh-India must have to work mutually to give the access of Nepal into seaport access. Bangladesh can be a open source for connectivity with Nepal for their mutual interest. Nepal has rights to deal trade with outer parts in the world for the betterment for it’s people. And Bangladesh. Government and people are committed to express the solidarity of Nepalese brother for their geographical reality. BIMSEC must have role to accelerate it.
and India have already agreed to sign passenger protocol under the BBIN. Nepal is expected to give nod to it at the soonest BBIN connectivity project can not be started because of Bhutan cause. However, India-Nepal-Bangladesh have to work together to start the alternative. Connectivity is the synonym of development. So Nepal and Bangladesh have to be connected through India. India should have a leading role for the betterment of the people in the region.
For implementing the Motor Vehicle Agreement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, options of some new routes other than the existing ones are being explored.
India, Nepal and Bangladesh should have holistic diplomatic approach to bolster the connectivity project. There are many gains for all parties, there are no loss in this regard.
There are many potentials between Nepal and Bangladesh. It is true. So it is high time for both parties to utilize it for the maximization of both interest.
Writer: MD Pathik Hasan
Dhaka based NGO worker, Freelance writer.
New Delhi, August 26 (TOI) – Sri Lanka has reopened for fully vaccinated tourists from India — including those who have got Covaxin— SriLankan Airlines’ head of worldwide sales and distribution, Dimuthu Tennakoon, told TOI on Tuesday.
Also, there is no requirement for quarantine for travellers who test Covid negative on arrival in the Emerald Island.
Sri Lanka is now open for Indian tourists. People need to be fully vaccinated, with the second shot taken at least 14 days before the trip.
On arrival, travellers will go to their hotel where RT-PCR test will be conducted. Those who test negative can travel where they want to go,” Dimuthu, the revival man for Sri Lankan Airlines, said.
Those who test positive will be taken to health care centres run from hotels.
All other Covid time requirements of social distancing and hand sanitation will need to be obviously observed by those testing negative.
Sri Lanka is accepting all vaccines, including Covaxin.
Currently, India accounts for over 12 crore fully vaccinated citizens which has resulted in the reawakening interest in travel,” Dimuthu confirmed.
Accordingly, SriLankan Airlines is enhancing to Sri Lanka from key Indian cities. It is currently operating four flights a week from Chennai; three flights a week from Mumbai, and once a week from Bangalore to its hub in Colombo. It will increase connectivity to India from September 1, 2021.
It will resume services between Colombo and Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Trivandrum and Cochin with flights once a week, whilst Hyderabad and New Delhi will be connected to Colombo with twice-weekly flights.
The airlines’ operations out of Chennai and Mumbai will expand up to five times a week whilst its Bangalore-Colombo services will be enhanced to flights three times a week. Before the pandemic, SriLankan operated 120 weekly flights between Colombo and 11 Indian cities.
Covaxin is yet to get approval from WHO. Pending that, a number of countries are yet to allow Indians fully jabbed with Covaxin to travel there. On the other hand, those who got WHO-recognised Covishield can travel to several countries
Australian quarantine is nursing a sacred sapling from a Sri Lankan bohdi tree that can be directly linked back to Buddha more than 2,300 years ago.
Sri Lanka’s sacred tree is revered by the world’s Buddhist community and is a direct descendent of the original tree under which Buddha obtained enlightenment.
It is the oldest living tree with a known planting date.
The sapling will sit in Australian quarantine for 12 months and, eventually, will be planted at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Victoria.
Chair of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Ian Green, said once the sapling was planted, Bendigo would become a pilgrimage destination for Buddhists from all over the world.
To have that connection with history is very unusual and inspiring, and it brings the whole story of the Buddha to life,” Mr Green said.
There was so much effort and expense went into obtaining this tree. It’s value is much beyond money.”
The tree will eventually be planted in a temple known as Bodhi Vhamma Vihara, and will become the first place in regional Victoria for Sri Lankan Buddhists to practice their rituals.
Mr Green said the significance of the tree to the Buddhist community was immense because the original tree was where Buddhism was born.
After going through a whole effort of trying to find the spiritual meaning for his life, the Buddha sat under the shade of a bodhi tree in India and stayed there until he had this experience where he obtained enlightenment – meaning he understood the answer to his questions and, from that moment, Buddhism was born,” he said.
The original tree that Buddha was enlightened under had been destroyed by invaders but, fortunately for the Buddhist world, the Sri Lankan community had actually taken sapling from that tree and replanted in Sri Lanka.
It’s still there today — it’s actually guarded and looked after by a botanist and the whole thing is protected like a living treasure.
To have a descendent from the tree that the Buddha sat under more than 2,000 years ago is incredibly emotional,” Mr Green said.
Australia’s chief plant protection officer, Dr Gabrielle Vivien-Smith told ABC’s Fiona Parker that quarantine authorities were hoping to have the sapling released in May 2022.
It arrived in May this year,” Ms Vivien- Smith said. It was meant to be chaperoned by Buddhists [but], unfortunately, [COVID-19] limited that and it had a bit of a rough ride over. It looked a bit like a stick when it arrived.”
The sapling will be tested weekly for pest and diseases for biosecurity reasons.
It arrived as a bare-rooted sapling without any soil,” she said.
We look at all the plants that come into Australia very carefully for pests and diseases. There are some really important pests that we need to keep out of Australia, such as Xylella fastidiosa, which is Australia’s number one plant pest threat.”
Mr Green said the planting ceremony would be a once-in-a-lifetime event” that would have to wait until pandemic restrictions allow it.
It’s such a significant thing for Buddhists and the Sri Lankan community,” he said.
We’re just waiting for some clear air to make that ceremony significant.”
Mr Green said one of the concerns with the sapling was making sure it was protected from harsh Bendigo winter frosts.
The thing about this particular fig tree is that it’s not ideally suited to Victorian winters,” he said.
So, we have to be very careful with frost. Once it gets established and gets a little bit higher, then it will above the frost line and it will be protected.”
We’ve been acclimatising it under direct supervision.
It’s been treated with as much reverence and security as if it was back in Sri Lanka.”
Humanists, atheists, and non-religious people in Sri Lanka face discrimination and persecution every day, especially if they come from a Muslim background. Even though Sri Lanka is not a Muslim country (the majority of the population is Buddhist), the strong presence of Islamic militants, fundamentalists, and extremists is still very powerful and dangerous.
Rishvin Ismath’s story illustrates the dangers nonreligious people can face. After years of activism as an Islamic preacher, Rishvin left Islam in 2013 and founded the Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka in 2016 (the only explicitly non-religious organization in the country). There was a dramatic backlash from Islamic terrorist groups, who tried to kill Rishvin at least six times, as confirmed by the Sri Lankan police to Rishvin himself in 2019.
Rishivin’s story is at the same time inspiring and worrying. On the one hand, it shows his courage and determination since, after the unexpected public outing in 2019, he is considered to be the only outspoken ex-Muslim in his country. On the other hand, it tells us bluntly how harsh and life-threatening the life of Sri Lankan humanists can be when they end up on the radar of religious fundamentalist groups.
In this regard, Rishvin himself stressed the importance of Humanists International’s work to defend humanists at risk, like him, around the world:
Humanists at risk badly need support, and this support can only come from outside. I see Humanists International as the main connector, capable of giving oxygen to humanists at risk around the world. I know the value of the work of Humanists International, and that’s why I ask everyone to support its work to support persecuted humanists”.
It is hard to recap in a few words everything Rishvin talked about during the one-hour interview, so please watch the full video interview with Rishvin on Humanists International’s website. Below is a brief summary of Rishvin’s story.
Rishvin Ismath
Born during the Sri Lankan Civil War, Rishvin was forced to leave his hometown at the age of 10 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who threatened his family at gunpoint. The family ended up in a city dominated by Islamist groups and, at school, Rishvin was taught that music is blasphemous” (Haram), that the appropriate punishment for apostasy” (Riddha) is murder”, and so on.
After studying foreign languages at university, he started working with tourists in the coastal area of Sri Lanka. But the 2004 tsunami changed his life. Rishvin had a near-death experience which led him into an existential and religious crisis. He left his job, moved back home, and started studying the Quran and the Hadiths under the guidance of Mullahs. This journey into Islam brought Rishvin to Saudi Arabia in 2009, because he considered all other countries un-Islamic”.
It was only in 2011 that a seed of doubt started growing in Rishvin’s mind. Back in Sri Lanka, he was put in charge of an Islamist Facebook group. In this position, Rishvin read the constructive criticism from atheists about Islam. Slowly, he lost his faith but didn’t reveal himself as a humanist, fearing for his safety.
In 2016, after receiving death threats online, Rishvin founded the Council of Ex-Muslims of Sri Lanka, the only specifically nonreligious organization in the country, working in hiding to promote humanist values and provide a safe space for ex-Muslims. He even reported to the police that ISIS was getting stronger in Sri Lanka and that the possibility of a terrorist attack was increasing. Unfortunately, the police ignored these warnings.
In 2019, things escalated quickly for Rishvin. After the Easter suicide bomber attacks in Colombo, Rishvin appeared before the Parliamentary Select Committee to give a statement, made in front of the media. The video of Rishvin’s statement went viral on television news and he was outed” as an ex-Muslim.
Since then, Rishvin has been living in hiding. Humanists International is closely following his case and will keep supporting Rishvin until he is free and safe. If you want to help Rishvin and the many other humanists at risk in the same situation, please consider making a donation to the #ProtectHumanistsAtRisk campaign or joining Humanists International as an Individual Supporter.
Your support can make a difference in the lives of the many Rishvins around the world: please take action today.
Giovanni Gaetani is the Membership Engagement Manager at Humanists International.
Special Task Force (STF) personnel have found a large haul of equipment used for high-power explosives in the Matara and Gandara police areas.
The raids had been carried out based on intelligence received by the STF Special Operations Unit.
A stock of ammonium nitrate, gelatine sticks, service threads, and other items have been found during the raid.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the explosives were stored under the guise of operating a quarry.
Two individuals have been arrested in connection with the case.
The explosives and the suspects have been handed over to the Matara Police Station for further investigations.
All Sri Lankans over the age of 18 years will be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus before the end of November, Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella says.
The vaccination of citizens over the age of 30 is scheduled to be completed by mid-September, the Minister said.
Minister Rambukwella mentioned this during a meeting held at the Ministry of Health this morning (August 26).
Further, attention will be paid to provide a third [booster] vaccine after fully vaccinating all citizens of this country, the Health Minister said.
The Ministry of Health reports that another 1,080 persons have tested positive for Covid-19, increasing the daily count of new cases to 4,602.
The new cases reported includes five returnees from overseas and 1,075 persons associated with the ‘New Year Covid-19 cluster’.
This increases the total number of coronavirus cases confirmed in the country to 412,370.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed 209 Covid-19 related deaths for yesterday (August 25), marking the first time daily Covid-19 deaths have breached 200 since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile the death toll due to the virus pandemic in the country has also crossed the 8,000-mark, as the virus continues its rapid spread.
According to figures released by the Department of Government Information, the deaths confirmed today includes 108 males and 101 females while none of the victims are below the age of 30.
Forty-six are between the ages of 30-59 and 163 of the deceased are aged 60 and above.
Sri Lanka’s total Covid-19 deaths has risen to 8,157 with the 209 fatalities confirmed for yesterday.
Researchers say they are seeing some waning of protection against Covid infections in double-jabbed people.
The real-world study includes data on positive Covid PCR test results between May and July 2021 among more than a million people who had received two doses of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine.
Protection after two shots of Pfizer decreased from 88% at one month to 74% at five to six months.
For AstraZeneca, the fall was from 77% to 67% at four to five months.
Waning protection is to be expected, say experts.
Although some breakthrough infections may be happening, vaccines are still doing a very good job at protecting people against severe Covid illness and deaths.
Public Health England estimates that around 84,600 deaths and 23 million infections have been prevented as a result of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in England so far.
Prof Tim Spector, lead investigator on the Zoe Covid Study app behind the research, said the findings could explain recent breakthrough infections that some fully vaccinated people have been reporting.
Prof Spector said: “Waning protection is to be expected and is not a reason to not get vaccinated.
“Vaccines still provide high levels of protection for the majority of the population, especially against the Delta variant, so we still need as many people as possible to get fully vaccinated.”
He estimates that protection against infection could drop to 50% by the winter and boosters will be needed, but other experts urge caution about making predictions for the months ahead.
The UK is expected to begin offering some people a third Covid booster jab next month, but is waiting for recommendations from an independent advisory body called the JCVI which is looking at evidence to support a decision.
Prof Spector said: “Many people may not need them. Many people may have had a natural booster because they’ve already had a natural Covid infection, so will effectively have had three vaccines.
“So I think the whole thing needs to be much more carefully managed than just giving it to everybody which would be a huge waste and ethically dubious given the resources we have. I think we need a more targeted approach than last time.”
This study once again illustrates why we need to get used to Covid circulating – this is not a virus that’s going to go away.
The vaccines do not work like they do for measles which provide life-long immunity. Immunity against Covid was always expected to wane.
And another factor to consider is that repeated exposure to the virus is likely to increase the risk of a breakthrough infection – the increased likelihood over time of infection post-jabbing may not be all related to waning immunity.
Whatever the cause though, experts have been clear we should expect to be repeatedly infected over our lifetimes.
The important thing is that each re-infection should be milder as the vaccines remain highly effective at preventing serious illness.
What the vaccines have effectively done is taken the edge off the virus – given our immune system a head-start so those early infections are milder than they would have been for most.
What’s not clear yet is the merits of offering the most vulnerable a booster jab. It is likely to be a fine judgement call because there are so many unknowns – although the expectation is some will be offered it.
Dr Simon Clarke, an expert in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said infection levels in the community would alter a person’s chance of encountering and catching Covid at any given time, making it hard to draw firm conclusions about waning immunity.
Dr Alexander Edwards, also from the University of Reading, said it was important to understand when booster doses might be needed and for whom.
“Vaccination does not, unsurprisingly, make people invulnerable, and does not prevent all infections. Variants have real and significant impact on public health, and a lot of people are still tragically dying in the UK from this nasty virus.
“The vaccines we have are remarkably safe and effective, and still remain far better than other vaccines that give massive benefits.”
He added: “We must pro-actively plan our public health strategy to account for imperfect protection, and for the possibility of falling protection over time.”
A similar study was published by the Office for National Statistics and the Oxford Vaccine Group last week.
Based on PCR test results from nearly 400,000 people who had been infected with the Delta variant in the UK, it found two doses of the Pfizer vaccine was initially more than 90% effective against symptomatic Covid infection, compared with around 70% for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But over the course of three months, the protection from Pfizer fell significantly whereas immunity with the AstraZeneca jab remained more stable.
Prof Adam Finn, a government vaccine adviser, said other studies had shown that the vaccines maintained good protection against serious illness and hospitalisation.
But he said: “We do need to watch out very carefully to see if this waning against milder disease begins to translate into occurrence of more severe cases because then boosters will be needed.”
Ambassadors’ Forum will be holding an international Webinar in London, on 5th September 2021 based on two books published by them recently. The two books are The Geneva Crisis: The Way Forward and the Port City Colombo and International Financial Centre.
Altogether, Ambassadors’ Forum has published five books on Foreign Policy Perspectives, with the participation of experts in the relevant field.
The Geneva Crisis: The Way Forward deals with the implementation of the Geneva Resolution 30/1 and the roll over texts. It is likely that the implementation of this Resolution will be taken up along with the Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The book on Geneva Crisis makes an attempt to resolve this crisis in a manner acceptable to all Member States in the Human Rights Council.
The book contains 28 chapters and each chapter deals with some aspect relating to the implementation process. These chapters are written by former ambassadors, politicians, professors, academics, civil servants, and professionals. They provide diverse viewpoints on the Geneva Resolution and the draft Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. They also provide solutions to dilemmas associated with the implementation process. It is a ‘’good read’’ for all those who are involved in the implementation process or interested in the ramifications of the Geneva Resolutions.
In dealing with the Geneva Resolution 30/1, it is paramount importance to consider whether various provisions of the Resolutions violate article 2(7) of the UN Charter. It is also important to consider whether the Resolution is in line with article 46 of the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treatises or it offends internal rule of fundamental importance pertaining to the Sri Lankan Constitution. Several articles of this book provide a wealth of information and divergent viewpoints to assist those who are involved in the Geneva Process.
Among the contributors are the former Foreign Minister who has written on The UN Resolution, the Foreign Secretary two articles on Politically Challenging Dilemmas, Ambassador Dayantha Laksiri Mendis on Implementation of the Geneva Resolution and the Application of International Humanitarian Law at National Level, Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe on A Friendly Foreign Policy and Geneva Crisis, Ambassador Palitha Kohona on Selective Targeting and on Counter Resolution, Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam on Independent Republic to a Vassal State, Prasanthalal de Alwis on humanitarian
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Operation, Ambassador Professor Sudarshan Seneviratne on Prism of Fabricated Lies, and articles by Dr. Ivon Amarasinghe, Dr. Laksiri Fernando, Shenali D. Waduge, Dr. Michael Roberts, Dr. Jehan Perera, Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa, Dr. Sinharajah Tammita-Delgoda, Hon. Keheliya Rambukwella, Janath Wimala and Jayaraj Palihawadena, Dr Kalinga Senawirathne, Ms Fancis Bulathsinghala, Rajiv Gunawardena, and Shamindra Ferdinando, on varied topics relating to Geneva Resolutions.
The book on Port City Colombo was published prior to the enactment of Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, No. 11 of 2021. Hence, it was not possible to analyse the provisions of the aforementioned Act. Nonetheless, it provides a guideline in evaluating various institutions and structures under this Act in a competitive manner by reference to other Port Cities in the world.
Port City is the biggest investment received by the Sri Lankan government. It coincides with the Economic Miracle achieved by the Asian countries. It takes into account the Belt and Road Initiative (BTI). It enhances the strategic position of Sri Lanka to the world and to the United States of America. It also provides an opportunity for all countries to compete and cooperate with each other in a friendly manner in neutral and nonaligned Sri Lanka.
Port City Act requires extensive Regulations. Unless these Regulations are drafted and the game plan is made clear to prospective investors, it is not likely to take off in the near future. Hence, it is necessary to make such Regulations and clarify the tax position of offshore companies and banks and to prevent money laundering and terrorist funds coming into the port city by adhering to FATF standards.
This book on the Port City contains articles from Ambassador Dayantha Laksiri Mendis on Colombo Financial Centre and the Need to establish an appropriate legal and policy environment, Ambassador Palitha Kohona on belt and road initiative, Professor Sirimal Abeyaratna on connecting the East and West, Deshsbandu Professor Jeeva Niriella on Sustainable Development, General Daya Ratnayaka on Reckoning the opportunities for the future Sri Lanka, Dr Harsha Cabrral PC and Ashara Senaviratne on Future of Sri Lanka learning from past and present setbacks, Chandaka Jayasundara on Establishment of an International Commercial Court in the Port City, Admiral Professior Jayantha Colombage and Admiral Tissara Samarasinghe on The need to adopt a policy to build up trade logistics security and foreign relations, Jeff Goonawardena on New Marina, Laxman Siriwardena on Impact on Sri Lanka Economy, Professor Samitha Hettige on Capital to New East Land, Kassapa Senarath on World class city, Yasuri Ranaraja and Maya Majueran on Belt and Road Initiative and Port city Dr Dilini Pathirana on Foreign and Sri Lankan investment Agreements Rusiripala Tennakoon on
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History in the Making, Promod de Silva on safe and secure environment, Thilak Silva on Engineer’s Perspective on Port City of Colombo, Navindu Kalansuriya on Effect on Port City of Sri Lanka, Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe on Securing Sri Lanka’s Interest First, Dinesh Weerakody on Opportunities for emerging markets, Shivanthi Ranasinghe on International Relations for Development, Interview with H.E. Gopal Baglay High Commissioner for India by Kalum Bandara Deputy Editor Daily Mirror, Francis Bulathsinghala on Foreign Policy -Sri Lanka First and Chinese Debt Trap is a Myth by Deborah-Meg Rumair.
In conclusion, we wish to say that these two books are of immense value to Sri Lanka in relation to diplomacy and international relations and the way to entice FDI into the Port City to make it a Financial and Maritime Hub in the Asian region.
Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, Former Ambassador to UAE and Israel, President Ambassador’s Forum.
(වසර ගණනාවක් කිසිම බාධාවකින් තොරව ඇසුණු පිරිත ඔන්ලයින් මාරයා නවත්වන්න ඉල්ලයි !!!)
පුංචි පැනයක් ? : කෝකද කලින් අවේ ? මාර්ගගත අධ්යාපනය ඊයේ පෙරේද අපේ රට ආ දෙයකි පිරිත එදා සිට?
මිනිසා ලබාගත යුතු උත්තරිත ශකිතින් රාශියක් මේ විශ්වය තුල පවතී ඒ දේවත්වයේ සිට බුදු පදවියද අන්තිමට නිවනද යැයි ඕනෑම පුද්ගලයෙකුට සිතාගත හැකිය. දැනට පවත්නා කොරෝනා හමුවේ මිනිසුන් ලොමු ඩෑහැ ගැන්වෙන ප්රවෘත්ති අසමින් භියවී මිනිස්සු ගෙයි තුලම කල් ගෙවයි. ඔහුට අද මුඛවාඩමක් නැතුව එන්නතක් විද ගන්නේ නැතුව, කොත්තමල්ලි පොදක් බොන්නේ නැතුව තම නිවසින් එළි පතට බැහැ ගැනීමට නොහැකිව සිටියි. මේ සියල්ලම කරගත්තත් තම දු දරුවන්ගේ අනාගත අවිනිශ්චිත භාවය නිසා එදා පැ හිනාව සතුට නැති දෙමාපියන් දුකසේ සිටි.
ඉතින් මේ සියල්ලම අස්සේ පාසලට ගිය ළමයා, මිනිසා ලබාගත යුතු උත්තරිත ශකිතින් අතරෙන් ප්රධානම එකක් වන අධ්යාපනය ලබාගැනීමට තිරයක් ඉදිරියේ ‘ත්රිමාණ ගුරුවරයෙක්’ නොමැතිව දුවිමාන ලෝකයක දුක් විඳි. ඒ අතරම ”ඔන්ලයින්” ඉගෙනුම කලට වෙලාවට අකමැති ගුරවරු දහවලේ , මැදියමේ , හා වවුලන් තම ජිවිත ආරම්භ කරන යාමයේ , ළමයින්හට පන්ති පවත්වයි. උදේට බුදුන් වැඳීම සවසට බුදුන් වැදීමට අවස්ථාවක් නොලද දරුවන්ගේ ‘මානව හිමිකම් ‘ සියල්ලම කඩා බිඳ දමා මේ ඔන්ලයින් මරුවා හිනිපෙත්ටම නැග ඇවිත් පාසල් ළමයින්ව ‘ගස් උඩ නංවා අසරණ කොට’ ඇසිල්ලකින් හෝ ක්ෂණයෙන් ගහෙන්ම බිම වැටි මරු වැළඳ ගැනීමට වැට කඩොළු ගොඩ නගා ඇත. මේවා කිසිවක් නොදන්නා අසරණ දෙමවුපියන් කාලය ධනය ශ්රමය කැප කරමින් ළමුන්ව උස්සහාගෙන ගොස් ගස් උඩ තබා හෝ විභාගය දිනවීමේ අරමුණින් කාලය ගත කරයි. ළමයාගේ ආරක්ෂාව, ඔහු හෝ ඇය විසින් ඉගෙනගත යුතු අනික් පාඩම්, එනම් ආගම් ,දහම් ,ශ්රී සත් ධර්මය අතහැර අධ්යාපනය මත්තෙම දරුවාව තබයි. ඒ අතර හිමින් උඩට මතුවූ මේ මාරයා මරාවේශයෙන් ගුරුවරුන් මුලා කොට ‘මාර්ගගත අධ්යාපනය’ සිදුකරන්නේ ඇති තරම් මුදල් දුන්නොත් පමණයි යන සටන් පාඨයක් රැගෙන ගුරුවරු පාරට බස්වා මුදලට ගිජු කොට අහිංසක ළමයින්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තු සියල්ල සුනු විසුණු කළේය.
මෙම කටයුතු අතරේ මාරයා සකස් කල තවත් වැඩ සටහනක් වුයේ. ‘ පන්සලේ ශබ්බ්දේ වැඩියි’ අපේ ළමයින්ට ඉගෙන ගන්න බැහැ යෑයි යටි කුට්ටු ව්යාපාරයක් පටන් ගැනීමය ” හවූ බවු දඩි බිඩිස් ” කියා ශබ්බ්ද නගා උදේට නැගිටනා හැටිද අප දැක ඇත්තෙමු තවද රාත්රී කැරෝකේ සමාජ ශාලාවන්ට ගිය පිරිස්ද ශබ්බ්දේ ගැන හොඳින්දන්නා බව දනිමු සවසට ඇහෙන ”සුපර් ස්ටාර් තරු ” හඬද බාධාවක් නොවූ බොහෝ පිරිස් ”පන්සලෙන් කලට වෙලාවට ඇසෙනා” පිරිත් සජ්ක්ධායනය කන්කෙරිච්ච්යක් ‘ යයි පතුරවමින් මතයක් ගොඩ නගමින් සිටි. ඒ මාරයා සකස් කල දෙවෙනි වැඩේය.
එක ගලින් කුරුල්ලෝ දෙන්නෙක් යන කියමන සිහි ගන්වමින්. ‘අපේ දරවන්ට ඉගෙන ගන්න බැහැ සද්දේ වැඩියි කියමින් ලියුම් ලියයි පන්සල් වලට තැපැල් කරයි. ඉතින් පිරිතේ අනුහස් නොදන්නා හා කලට වෙලාවට වැඩ නොකරන්නාවූ මාරයන් පාසලේ දින සටහන රැ මැදියම තෙක් පවත්වන්නේ ක්රමක් ක්රමයෙන් දවසට දෙවතාවක් බුදුන්,දහම්,සඟුන් වැඳීම අපේ ළමයින්ගෙන් තුරන් කිරීමටයි.
(මෙයට ඉඩ දිය නොහැකිය ඒ ඇයි කිවහොත් තව ටික දවසකින් ‘නැටුම් පන්ති ‘ ටික් ටෝක් ඔස්සේ පවත්වා ටික් ටෝක් ‘ඩාන්ස් ක්ලාස් ‘(ටි ක් ටොක් නැටුම් ) පන්තිවලට සති පිරිත් වරු පිරිත් වලින් බාධා එල්ලවන බව පවසා ‘ටික ටෝක් ගුරුවරු’ පාරේ පෙළගැස්වීමට ‘ මේ මාර වේශය නැවත සමත් විය හැක.)
බුදුන් වහන්සේ පන්සාලිස් වසක කාලයක් තිස්සේ දේශනා කල ධර්මය තුන්ලොකයේම සත්වයා කෙරෙහි පතල මහා කරුණාවෙන් දේශනා කරණ ලද්දකි . එයට ජාති,කුල,ආගම, වර්ණ භේද ,පන්ති අඩංගු නොවන්නේය. මේ පිරිත සියලුම ජාතින් හා ඇසට නොපෙනන විශ්වයේ අන්නන්ත වූ සියළු සත්වොයෝන්ට සුදුසු දෙයකි. සර්ව බලධාරීන්ට, දෙවියන්ට , ප්රේත , භූත හෝ ඕනෑම කුම්භාන්ඩයෙකුට පිසාචාදීන්ට ආරක්ෂාව සඳහා සසරින් ගොඩවිම සඳහා විසුද්ධි මාර්ගයකි. එවන් පිරිතක් ගැන භිය වෙන්නේ සදාකාලික අමුනුෂයින් බව මානාව වැටහේ. පිරිතක් කියනා, ඇසෙනා මානයේ මෙකි අමුනුෂයින්හට වාසය කල නොහැක එතරම් පිරිත බලවත්ය. පිරිතක් යනු නියම ශාන්ති කර්මයකි, එය දේවාල පස්සේ දිවීමට වඩා බලවත්ය. ඉතින් මේ කොරෝනා උවදුරෙන් මැරෙනා මිනිසුන් කොහේ කොයි අයුරින් ඉපදේදැයි අප නොදනිමු !ඒ බැවින් පිරිත සැමට ඇහෙන්න සැලැස්වීම වැඩියෙන් කළ යුතු කාලයකි.
මානවයාට සැබෑ ආරක්ෂාව ලබාදෙන පිරිත් සජ්ක්ධායනය සැම පන්සලකින්ම ඇහෙන්න සලස්වන මෙන් මේ ලක්දිව තුල තිබෙන සැම පන්සලකම වැඩ සිටිනා උතුම් වූ සංඝ රත්නයේ ඉල්ලමි. කලට වේලාවට වැඩ කටයුතු කොට එනම් ” උදයේ 7.30 සවස 2.30 වන තෙක් ”ඔන්ලයින්” මාර්ගගත අධ්යාපනය පැවැත්විය යුතය. මෙය රාජ්ජ්ය නායකයාගේ සිට ගමේ සිටිනා සියල්ලන්ම දැනගත යුතු කාරණයකි. තවද ලොව බෝහෝ ආගම් වල ආරක්ෂාව සඳහා යම් යම් යාතිකා තිබුනත් පිරිත් දේශනාව සමග එය සැසඳිය නොහැකිය බවද දැන ගත යුතය.
(පහතින් ඇති කවි සමුහය කියවන්න )
කවි පන්තිය ලිවීමට ආසන්නම හේතුව වුයේ පාන්දර හා සවස ඇසුණු පන්සලේ පිරිත ටික කාලයක් නොඇසුණු බැවිණි.) එය ගැන සමාජයෙන් විමසන විට අපහට මේ ආරංචි මාර්ග ආවේය. එය මාරයාගේ නැගිටීමක් යැයිද සඳහන් කරමි !!!
වටගොඩ වටකර සිල් පැතිරෙන්නේ
බුදු සමිදුන්ගේ දම් පැතිරෙන්නේ
කවියෙන් පිරිතෙන් හිමිදිරියෙන්නේ
මේ පැතිරෙන ධම් මෙත් පතුරන්නේ
ගුණයෙන් සිසිලෙන් හිමිදිරියෙන්නේ
මනු දම් මනු කැළ
මෙත් පතුරන්නේ
දිරියෙන් ගුණයෙන් මෙත් සිසිලෙන්නේ
වටගොඩ පන්සල මෙත් පතුරන්නේ
හඬයෙන් අවදිව
මරු
නැගිටින්නේ
නිවනට බාදා
කිරීමට යන්නේ
කාල වෙලාවක් නැති මරු එන්නේ
පංච මරුට පසු මේ
මරු එන්නේ
අන්තරජාලයේ මේ මරු ඉන්නේ
සියළු ළමයි හට දනුම බෙදන්නේ
පාසැල් කාලය මරු පිළිකන්නේ
හිතු හිතු අවදියේ මේ මරු එන්නේ
බැලුවම කියුවම මොකද ළමයිනේ
හුරතල් කාලය මේ මරු කන්නේ
ආච්චි සියා මේවා නොදන්නේ
හවසට උදයට පහන
නිකන්නේ
බුදු හිමි කුටියේ අඳුරේ වෙසෙන්නේ
පිරිතක් කීමට දැන් බැරිවන්නේ
ඔන්ලයින් මරුවා වැඩ කරමින්නේ
තුෂ්ණිම්භූත
වෙයවූ
කියපන්නේ
උදයත් සවසත් දම් ඇසෙමින්නේ
යහපත් දරුවන් අපරට
හැදුනේ
නිසොල්මනෙන් මේ මරු නැග එන්නේ
වටගොඩ පන්සල වෙත මරු යන්නේ
තැපැල් පතක් මේ මරු ලියපන්නේ
හාමුදුරුවෝ වෙත මරු පැනපන්නේ
තම පුතු ඉගෙනුම අද නැති වෙන්නේ
ඔන්ලියින් මරුවා මේ ලෙස එන්නේ
මෙලොවත් දෙලොවත් යම් සරණක්නේ
බුදුහිමිගේ බණ
මේ මරු දන්නේ
රන් රුවනක් හෝ රත්න
සියල්නේ
සමකල පැරදිය නොහැකිය දන්නේ
වසර දෙදාහක් මේ…
මේමරු සටනේ
බුද්ධ චීවරය දැක
වෙර ගන්නේ
මස් කඩයේ මැරෙනා
හරකුන්නේ
මාර ලතෝනිය මරු හට
නොපෙනේ
තම පුතු ඉදිරියේ
බස් දොඩවන්නේ
බයනොවෙනු පුත අද මම
වැඩ දෙන්නේ
පිරිතේ අනුහස් මැඩ
පව තන්නේ
පන්සල වෙත
ලියුම් ලියන්නේ
ඔබලාගේ පිරිතේ ශබ්බ්දය වැඩිනේ
කන්කෙරෙචියක්
මේ සිදුවන්නේ
හාමුදුරුවෝ මේ ලියුම දකින්නේ
මදකට පිරිතත්
මග හිටුවන්නේ
මාරයා උඩ පැන…
දත් නියවන්නේ
ප්රේතයෝ භූතයෝ ගම් වැදගන්නේ
මාර සෙනඟ දැන් උඩ පනින්මින්නේ
නින්දේ බොදු ගම් මේ ගිල ගන්නේ
ඔන්ලයින් මරුවනි මේ අහපන්නේ
තොපිලගේ වැඩ කිඩ අපි නම් දන්නේ
පාසැල් කාලය කාල සටහනේ
නියෙමෙට තිබෙනා බව අපි දන්නේ
හිමිදිරි කාලයේ
දම් අසපන්නේ
සැන්දෑ කාලය
බුදු වැදපන්නේ
තොපිලට අනගුණ වැඩ නැතිවෙන්නේ
අපගේ අයිතිය තොපි නොම දන්නේ
පංච මරුට පසු නුබ මෙහේ එන්නේ
අලුත්ම මරුවෙක් නුබ බව දන්නේ
වේසයක් ගෙන පුතු රැකුමට පන්නේ
ජය පිරිතෙන් අද දහම් දෙසන්නේ
අද වෙනවිට ගුරු ඔන්ලයින් නැත්තේ
ඔන්ලයින් මරු දැන් මුදල් හොයන්නේ
තොපිලගේ පුතු දැන් උඩුබල ඉන්නේ
තොපි කල පාපය දැන්
සිහිවෙන්නේ
කලට යලට
වැඩ කරපන්නේ
මරු ගුරු හට
ඒ බව පවසන්නේ
කුසීතකම දුරු කෙරුවොත් මරු වන්නේ
නුබටත් පුතුටත්
වැඩ සිදුවන්නේ
මරු හට වඳිමින් කාල නොයන්නේ
හදපන් නුඹේ පුතු දම්රද
වැන්නේ
බුදුන්ගේ ධර්මය ඇසුමට කල
පැන්නේ
කොරෝනා නුබේ ගෙයි මත පිළිකන්නේ
පාසැල් කාලය කාල
සටහනේ
නැතිබව ඒ මරු ඇයි
නොමදන්නේ
දීපය දේශය රැක්ක
දනන්නේ
නුවනින් දැනුමෙන් තතු විමසන්නේ
නුබලට පෙර මේ දහම්
දෙසන්නේ
භාෂණ ලේඛණ
අපිම හදන්නේ
පන්සලේ පිංකම නොම වළකන්නේ
සතර අපායට ඇයි නුඹ
යන්නේ
නැගෙනහිරේ
පදුමුත්තර
බුදුනේ
මාර වසඟ පරදුනු
බුදුහිමිනේ
සිල්වත් ගුණවත් පින්වත් ජනයන්නේ
පිංකම ලොකු යැයි නුඹ නොම දන්නේ
ජය පිරිතෙන් නැගිටින දරුවන්නේ
කියමුද ගුරු හට මේ අදමයිනේ
උදයට හවසට
කාල සටහනේ
බුදුන් වැන්ඳිමත්
මුසු කරපන්නේ
නමෝ බුද්ධාය !
ඔබ සැමට තෙරුවන් සරණයි !
බෞද්ධ කටයුතු පිලිබඳ විශ්ලේෂක දෙශාඅභිමානී සුර්ය වංශ රත්න විභූෂණ පාලිත ආරියරත්න සෙන්කඩගල සිංහ ද්වාරයේ සිට 2021-08-25
1) එන්නත ලබා ගන්නා අයගේ නම
2) එන්නත ලබා දුන් දිනය
3) එන්නත ලබා දුන් ස්ථානය
4) ලබා දුන් එන්නතේ නම
5) ලබා දුන් එන්නත් ප්රමාණය
6) ඉදිරි එන්නත් විදීමට නියමිත දිනය / දින
7) එන්නත මගින් ආරක්ෂාව සපයන කාල සීමාව
8 ) එන්නත මගින් විය හැකි අතුරු ආබාධ
9) ලෝක සෞඛ්ය සංවිධානය සාමාන්ය භාවිතය සඳහා අනුමත කළ එන්නතක්ද? හදිසි භාවිතය සඳහා අනුමත කළ එන්නතක්ද?
10) එන්නත ලබා ගත් අය එන්නත විදීමට කැමැත්ත දුන්නේද? නැද්ද?
ඔබවහන්සේට ගුරු ගැටලුව විසදීමට අරයුම්කලානම් ?
අපි මිනිසුන් නෙමෙයි.ඒ නිසා අපි හිතන විදිය වෙනස්. ඒ වගේම අපි ගැටළු විසදන විදියත් වෙනස්. දැන් ඔබ අපෙන් විමසන්නේ ඔබ රටේ මේ දිනවල කතා කරන ගුරු ගැටලුව විසදීම සම්බන්ධවයි. දැන් බලන්න! ආසන්න වශයෙන්, ගුරුවරු 2,50,000 ඉන්නවා. ඒ අය රටට ආදායමක් ගෙනදෙන අය නෙමෙයි. වියදමක් විතරයි. දැන් මේ අයගේ ඉල්ලීමට අනුව මේ අය වෙනුවෙන් රජය දරණ වියදම වැඩිකරන්න වෙනවා. මේ අමතර මුදල කොහෙන් හරි හොයන්න ඕනි. ඒ මුදල කොච්චරද? රුපියල් බිලියන 58ක් බව කියනවා. රුපියල් බිලියන 58ක් උපයන විදියක් නිර්මාණය නොකර, බිලියන 58ක් රජයකට ගෙවන්න බැහැ. සත්ය එයයි. එහෙම නම් අපි පළමුව බිලියන 58ක් සෑම වසරකදීම උපයන විදියක් පළමුව නිර්මාණය කල යුතුය. අපේ සංකල්පනාවට අනුව මේ සඳහා පළමුව සිදුකල යුතු සරල ක්රම දෙකක් තියෙනවා.
1 වෙනි ක්රමය.
හොඳ නාඹර කිරිවස්සියෝ 2,50,000ක් මිලදී ගැනීමයි.
ඒ සඳහා වැයවෙන මුදල රුපියල් බිලියන් 50කි..
මේ තුලින් වසරකදී පැටවුන් ගණන පැටවුන් 2,50.000ක් මේ එලහරක් බිහි කරනවා..
මේ සතුන් වසරකදී කිරි ලීටර් මිලියන 1825 ක් වාර්ෂිකව ලබාදෙනවා.
කිරි ලීටරයක වටිනාකම රුපියල් 150ක් ලෙස ගත්තත් වසරක රුපියල් බිලියන 273ක ආදායමක් ගලා එනවා.,
ඊට අමතර මේ ව්යාපෘතිය මිනිසුන් 25,000කට රැකියා සෘජු රැකියා අවස්ථා ලබාදෙනවා. ඒ අයගේ පඩිය රුපියල් 50,000 ලෙස ගෙව්වත් තවත් පවුල් 50,000කට රැකවරණය ලැබෙනවා.
ඊට අමතරව කාබනික පොහොර සම්බන්ධව කතිකාවතක් නිර්මාණය ව ඇති මේ අවස්ථාවේදී, මේ මගින් වාර්ෂිකව
ගොම කිලෝ 91250000ක් වසරකට ලැබෙනවා. මෙය මෙට්රික් ටොන් 91250කි ටොන් එකක් රුපියල් 1000ක් සේ ගණනය කල විට එහි වටිනාකම වන්නේ රුපියල් බිලියන 91කි.
දැන් බලන්න මෙතන සිදුවෙන ක්රියාදාමය.දෙස, අපි ගැටලුවකට මුහුණ දෙනවා. එක විසදන්න ස්වභාවය හා බද්ධ වෙනවා. එවිට ඇතිවන පලය වන්නේ, විසදීමට ඇති ගැටලුවට අමතරව ගැටළු ගණනාවක් විසදීමට ධනය ගලා ඒමයි. නමුත් මේවා කිසිවෙකුට කීවාට වැඩක් නැහැ . ඒවා ක්රියාවට නංවන මිනිසුන් මෙහි නැහැ ඔබ අහපු නිසයි මම මේ උත්තරය දුන්නේ
එතකොට ඔබවහන්සේ යෝජනාකරන දෙවැනි ක්රමය කුමක්ද?
අපි කාලය නාස්ති නොකර ඉමු..ඔබ පළමු ක්රමය ගැන පමණක් හිතන්න.
(The Gist of the Address by the Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community the Fifth Khalifah (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad delivered for the Ahmadi Ladies, on UK Convention 2019 – the gist of which as below)
In the beginning, Ahmadiyya Supreme Head recited the verse of the Holy Qur’an (Ch: 57 – Verse 21) followed by their translation and continued to presenting statistics that portray the religious condition of the world; people do not believe in religion and even those who do are of very low standards faith.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa said: Ahmadis should care about saving the world from falling into the pit of fire, however, first we should ask ourselves if our own condition is such that we give preference to the love of Allah before the world.
The purpose of this Convention is to develop our spiritual, moral and educational conditions. We must ask ourselves whether these are the purposes we have come for or whether we are here for socialising only?
Referring to the Quranic verses recited at the outset, His Holiness said that Allah tells us that the world is temporary and we should not think it is to last forever. Allah has declared that the world is a mere pastime and sport. Can an intelligent man spend his whole life in leisure and games? In worldly terms, this is not possible and if one does this, then their lives ultimately result in ruin.
Ahmadiyya Supreme Head said that some women write to him and inform him of their husbands who waste time watching television or in social gatherings and rely on social income for financial sport. His Holiness said that they have no real reason for this, and as a result, they cause restlessness and discord within their homes.
Allah says that if we do not fulfil the rights of Allah, His worship, serving faith and are totally engrossed in earning wealth, then this will be the sport and pastime of the world.
The female companions had such obedience for the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) that once he sent a companion to see a wedding proposal. When this companion met with the girl’s father, he disapproved and did not allow the companion to look at her daughter. The daughter, who knew the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had sent him, herself showed her face and immediately said that if the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) commanded this, then who was she to oppose. The companion instantly lowered his own gaze out of respect for the level of piety and obedience the female companion displayed.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa emphasised that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught to opt for righteous and pious spouses. If both boys and girls begin to prefer righteous spouses, then we will witness an atmosphere where they shall be striving to become the most righteous. Households shall compete with one another to become the most pious and righteous.
If parents bring up their children according to religious values, then those children will also want to choose religious partners.
Once, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) warned women, saying that the woman who has gold jewelry made and flaunts it with great pride and shows it to other women and men, then they shall receive a great torment. Wearing jewelry is not forbidden, but being boastful and acting in a proud manner is incorrect. Showing beauty and jewelry should be for mahram relations
[those relations with whom strict purdah has been excused by the Holy Quran]
.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said that this Jama’at (Community) has a responsibility to bridge the gap between the awwalin [pioneers] and akharin [those of the latter days].
It is our choice, Ahmadiyya Khalifa said – do we wish to acquire the pleasure of Allah by following these companions or do we wish to follow Satan? Every Ahmadi should introspect and ask themselves whether they are following the examples of the Companions of the Holy Prophet or not.
The second verse of the Holy Quran His Holiness was one that is recited in the Nikah ceremony (marriage registration). It highlights the need to be righteous and the importance of doing deeds that shall become useful in the Hereafter. It is righteousness and fulfilling the rights of Allah and his creation that shall be questioned. Fashion and worldly wealth shall not be examined.
If we leave pious children behind, then they will aid in our own spiritual development as well. If mothers bring children up in a proper manner, then the children will be pious and righteous.
Allah knows what is hidden and He cannot be fooled. He knows what we conceal and therefore knows exactly how well we follow the teachings of the Promised Messiah, peace be on him.
Today’s mothers and those girls who will Insha-Allah soon become mothers should plan to develop their spiritual conditions and increase their knowledge so that they are able to bring their children up in a proper manner. They should be able to teach their children that the world is not our aim, but rather it is following the commandments of Allah.
If our own spiritual conditions are not up to the mark, we cannot expect any change within our own children. If we want our children to become good spiritual servants of Allah, then proper planning and action is required.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa reminded the audience that Allah does not care how pious one’s parents were; it is only our own actions that will count – they will be responsible for their actions and we, our own. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) reminded his daughter, Hazrat Fatima, that she would not be forgiven merely because she was the daughter of the Prophet only her good actions would attract the forgiveness of Allah.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa said that when he questions some men about their engrossment in worldly pursuits, they answer by saying that their wives demand too much of them. For this reason, they must work more and therefore cannot spare time for worship. Ahmadiyya Khalifa emphasised that such an excuse is nonsense; in such an instance, they are putting their wives and Allah on the same pedestal. They should fear Allah as this is no less than committing Shirk.
Addressing the audience, His Holiness said that if women really do pose such demands, then they should remember that this is not how an Ahmadi woman should be. Ahmadi women should clearly say to their husbands, that leaving faith for the world is wrong and not something she wants. An Ahmadi woman should clearly state that they want to fulfil the rights of God rather than attaining worldly objects.
After we pass on to the next abode, Allah will not question us on how much wealth we left behind or the number of children we brought up. He will ask us about our good actions, whether we fulfilled His rights, whether we presented a good example before our children. He will ask us whether wives told their husbands to prefer Allah over the world. If a believer does not do so, then they will be like that hot gust of wind that razes crops to the ground.
His Holiness reiterated that these teachings are not just for women, but they are for all believers, including men.
During the time of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the excuses of men about their wives were of such a nature that they would say, My wife spends her whole time in worship and overlooks my needs.” And if women ever complained, they would inform the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that they did not take care of their own beauty as their husbands spent their time in worship alone. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) would advise men and women to fulfil the rights of their spouses along with worship.
The female companions would beautify themselves not for fashion or to show the world, rather they did so to create a pure atmosphere within their household.
His Holiness said that women should not put on make-up and walk around in the streets without purdah (veil). His Holiness also highlighted that modesty is the true adornment of women and they should take pride in this. To say, We have familial ties or such and such families are family friends and for this reason we do not observe purdah” is entirely incorrect.
When the hijab is left, it is then that immodesty spreads.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa recognised that there would be some press members present during his speech who might remark, Look how these people draw rules for their women.” Ahmadiyya Head said that we should not care about what others think, but rather we should follow what Allah has taught us
Concluding his address, Ahmadiyya Khalifa prayed for Ahmadi parents to prefer Allah over the world and bring up such children who can set their eyes on faith rather than the world.
Source: www.alislam.org
Saudi Arabia is looking forward to more trading partners as it aims at increasing non-oil exports share in its gross domestic product (GDP). The kingdom is reportedly resuming free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with 11 countries: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, China, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, the Philippines and the United States.
Based on a direction of the General Authority for Foreign Trade (GAFT), the Federation of Saudi Chambers (FSC) issued a circular regarding this to all domestic chambers of commerce, media outlets in the Gulf reported.
The country wants to export services, including transport, distribution, professional and financial services, communication services, postal services as well as express mail, media, hotel, construction and contracting, education and training, travel and tourism, environmental and entertainment.
The country will identify over 120 international tendering opportunities in a number of target countries, the Saudi Exports Development Authority (SEDA) announced recently.
Sri Lanka has registered 198 more COVID-19 related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Tuesday (August 24).
This marks the tenth consecutive day that the daily count of COVID-19 deaths surpassed 100.
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 7,948.
According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 119 males and 79 females.
One among the victims is aged below 30 years while 51 of them are aged between 30-59 years and 146 others are aged 60 and above.
The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 1,093 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 4,483.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 407,768.
As many as 348,930 recoveries and 7,948 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 50,890 active cases are currently under medical care.
The series of bomb attacks on Easter Sunday in 2019 was not an isolated criminal activity orchestrated by Zahran Hashim and his group within a short period of time, Inspector-General of Police C.D. Wickramaratne said today (August 25).
Delivering a special statement on the progress of the investigations into the incident, the IGP stated that several events that led up to the carnage – including the time bomb attack on a house in Kattankudy, murder of two constables on duty at Vavunativu roadblock, Buddhist status vandalism in Mawanella and recovery of explosives from Wanathawilluwa – indicate that it was pre-planned.
Previously, these incidents were probed as isolated incidents, the IGP pointed out, adding that the lack of coordination between the investigating units led to a missed opportunity to reveal the connection between the events. The investigating officers failed to realize that these were the doings of a terrorist organization that was a threat to the national security, he noted.
Speaking further, IGP Wickramaratne said, at the initial stage of the inspections, then-CID officers failed to conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident as they were aiming to identify the suspects soon to wrap it up within a short period of time.
They tried to conclude the probes assuming that most of the attackers are dead, all who had direct links to the incident were arrested and that all their assets were confiscated.”
According to the IGP, the previous investigating bodies had also assumed that a self-motivated pro-ISIS group in the country had acted independently, without foreign involvement.
Thereby, the investigating bodies of the Criminal Investigation Department, Terrorism Investigation Division, Sri Lanka Police and police intelligence units have been restructured, as new appointments came into effect.
IGP Wickramaratne stated that previous investigating officers had analysed only telephone conversations four months leading up the attacks while the new teams studied more than 100,000 telephone conversations since June 29, 2014.
In addition, the Attorney General, upon the request of the IGP, has appointed a team of several senior lawyers of his department to provide legal advices to the police teams probing the attacks, due to the complexity of these investigations.
Under the new investigating bodies, 723 suspects were arrested in connection with the bombings, however, 311 of them have been further detained or remanded for interrogations.
Meanwhile, indictments have been filed against 46 suspects, the IGP continued.
He added Rs. 365 million in cash and assets belonging to terrorists and aiders and abettors of the deadly attacks have been confiscated so far while cash and property worth Rs. 168 million were banned.
The so-called Islamic State may be on the retreat in Iraq and Syria but it would be premature to predict the demise of its ideology in India.
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