HEINEKEN LANKA today announced the commencement of local brewing operations of its flagship beer brand – Heineken® in Sri Lanka. With this, Sri Lanka joins an elite group of 60 countries that have the license and approvals from its global parent for local manufacturing operations. This move signifies the importance of the Sri Lankan market to the Dutch international brewer and comes at a time when the country needs it the most.
Marking its largest investment into the country to date, HEINEKEN will ensure that all locally manufactured beer is produced on par with international standards under the guidance of a Heineken® appointed Brewing Expert. Made with 100% Pure Malt, Heineken® is all about great social connections & enjoyment of life.
This move to manufacture Heineken® locally is in line with the Sri Lankan government’s vision to reduce imports, thus saving on much needed foreign exchange and to offer discerning Sri Lankan consumers’ access to premium, world class brews at significantly more cost-effective prices. Furthermore, this will also bring about greater consumer choice in the market. We believe Sri Lanka has the potential to be a key player for HEINEKEN in the Asia Pacific region and look forward to seeing its success along with equitable market conditions. Maud Meijboom van-Wel, Managing Director of HEINEKEN Lanka Limited
Today, HEINEKEN is the world’s most international brewer and is the leading developer and marketer of premium beer and cider brands across the globe. Led by the Heineken® brand, the Group boasts a portfolio of over 300 brands, a global presence in more than 190 countries and is committed to further increasing its exposure in emerging markets.
About Heineken Lanka
Heineken Lanka Limited is the second largest manufacturer and distributor of beer in Sri Lanka. Heineken Lanka operates a brewery in Mawathagama, Kurunegala, which has been in continuous operation for the past 20+ years. The company has a staff strength of 200 permanent employees and is home to a brand portfolio of 6 iconic beers.
Courtesy INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Sri Lanka will mandate a 70 percent renewable energy share by 2030 forcing state-run Ceylon Electricity Board to prepare a long term generation plan to that effect, renewable energy minister Duminda Dissanayake said.
We have decided to produce 70 percent of the electricity from renewable energy by 2030,” State Minister for Renewable Energy Duminda Dissanayake told parliament.
The balance 30 percent will be from other sources. After 2030 the balance will also be from renewable sources and we will go to 100 percent.”
The first thing we have to do is for the Honorable (Cabinet) Minister to gazette the 70 percent for the CEB to make their long term generation expansion plan (LTGEP).”
The Sustainable Energy Authority has prepared a plan on how to go to 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and given it to the minister.
Sri Lankan authorities tightened coronavirus restrictions Friday as reports emerged of Covid patients dying while awaiting admission to overcrowded hospitals.
The government said state ceremonies and public gatherings were banned until September 1 because of the growing health crisis.
Public servants had previously been asked to return to work from Monday but that order has now been revoked and bosses told to decide who should report for duty on-site.
The fresh curbs come after the number of coronavirus deaths and infections in the last week doubled from a month ago.
Sri Lankan television anchor Thilakshani Maduwanthi shared images online of the state-run Colombo South hospital that showed three patients sharing a single bed.
She said two patients died in front of her and overworked staff were treating people under trees as the hospital could not cope with the influx.
“What we reported about India where people died outside overcrowded hospitals a few months ago is now happening right before my eyes,” she said in a widely shared Facebook post.
Other posts on social media showed bodies piling up at two hospitals outside the capital.
Private gatherings have not been banned but the government has increased restrictions on attendance.
Only 25 mourners will be allowed at funerals, down from 150, and weddings will be cut to 150 people from 500.
Sri Lanka eased Covid restrictions last month as the government stepped up a vaccination rollout.
Just over 10 million people out of the population of 21 million have been given at least one jab, while 2.67 million had received both as of Thursday.
Despite the vaccination campaign, the number of infections has more than doubled to a daily average of about 2,500, with the daily death toll above 80.
Sri Lanka has recorded 4,817 coronavirus deaths to date and almost 325,000 infections, according to official data.
But experts say the true figure is much higher.
The new wave comes after the government relaxed restrictions in April to allow celebrations for the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Regulations were tightened once more in May and eased again on July 10.
Most Lankans would by now have forgotten the poorest prime minister the world ever had, the late Dr W. Dahanayake. W” was a poor man’s politician. When he lost his Galle seat as prime minister in the 1960 elections, he packed his suitcase and asked his Secretary, Mr. Bradman Weerakoon, to drop him off at the Fort Railway Station to take a train to Galle. Bradman told him that it was his responsibility, to see that he got home safely and provided him with a ‘pool’ vehicle in which the former PM drove to Galle where he lived with his twin brother K. Dahanayake. He had no vehicle of his own, nor did he have a house, and it was his twin brother K” who provided him free accommodation with an office room in front.
W. Dahanayake commenced his political career with local politics becoming the first Mayor of Galle in 1939. Later he contested the State Council seat of Bibile in 1944 and won. But he returned to contest his home constituency of Galle at the first Parliamentary election of 1947. His opponent was businessman and planter H.W.Amarasuriya, one of the richest men in the South, spending a lot of money on his campaign. At his political meetings W, said in Sinhala I’ll shake the money tree. Pick up what falls and vote for me”. In Sinhala ” Mama Salli Gaha hollanawa. Sahodarawaruni, vetena salli ahulagena mata chande denna”.
In 1956 he was reelected to Galle from the MEP, headed by the late Mr. S.W.R.D Bandaranaike, who chose him as Minister of Education in the new Government. As Minister he provided a free bun to all school children, earning the nick name Bunis Mama”. In 1957 W” was invited as the chief guest for the Richmond College annual prize giving and I recall the Principal Mr E.R. de Silva saying in his welcome speech ’The two Dahnayakes ( including his twin brother K”) were one class lower than I, but when I reached the Senior Cambridge form they had already passed the exam as both were brilliant students who had earned double promotions.”
As Prime Minister in 1960 he lost to bus magnate W.D.S. Abeygunawardena (Patti Mahattaya) but returned to Parliament a few months later at the election which followed the then government losing the vote on the Throne Speech . In 1965 he became the Minister of Home Affairs. He was always the poor man’s politician. Anyone could walk into his office at Richmond Hill Road, Galle, and meet him to discuss their problems and obtain relief. Any number of free calls were permitted on his official phone with no questions asked. He was present at any funeral, wedding or public function in Galle even if uninvited. He traveled by bus and train. Once I met him in a bus to Imaduwa and he asked e where I was going. I told him I was going for the funeral of an old teacher in my village school at Imaduwa. He said he too was going there and asked me what I knew of the teacher as he wanted to make a speech at the funeral. He did that, delivering an oration in good Sinhala using the information I had provided.
He had no wealth but had a big heart. Whether rich or poor, a high a government servant or day labourer, anybody with a problem who sought his help was always assisted. A man with great values, he lived by them everyday and did what he could for all who came to him. His values had nothing to do with the outcome of his good deeds, wealth or position of the beneficiary, but in accordance with the standards he lived by – service to the public, honesty, accountability, fairness, independence, dependability, loyalty and other noble principles .
He goes into history as the only Government Minister who never went abroad, never leaving these shores during his long political career which must surely be a world record. My cousin Gerald De Alwis who served as a senior public servant in the Galle Kachcheri (later retired as Director Land Reforms Commission) has this to say : ” The GA Galle. Mr Navaratnarajah one day asked Daha, ” Sir, how is it that you being one of the most senior politicians never went abroad?” His prompt response was Socrates never left Athens”.
During Mrs. Bandaranaike’s 1970-77 regime there were severe controls on sale of textiles. In protest he walked into Parliament in a span-cloth (Amude”). He will also go down in history as the politician who made the longest speech in Parliament extending over 13 hours. My cousin Gerald in his Memoirs sums up Daha’s career thus : He was a shining star in the galaxy of politicians and added lustre to his vocation.” He was a statesman par- excellence, whose dedication to service to the common man was sometimes misunderstood by many public servants, a man who used poditricks” in politics.
Srilanka can be proud of politicians of his caliber rather than talk about Presidents of other countries, like Uruguay. Whilst today some politicians make use of their positions to amass wealth for generations to come, especially in our country, he would remain a shining example and a role model to all budding politicians.
Richmond College Galle can be proud of this politician who was poor and humble and never sought high positions , but preferred to abide by his principles and live with a clear conscience. Daha was a good listener. He was a polite person who listened with care to ensure that he respects the thoughts, feelings and ideas of others, whatever their status or skills.
It is my belief that he never sought approval but always did what he thought was right. He had immense confidence in himself and did not care whether anybody liked him or not, but was happy to serve all even if they disliked him.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the Health Minister and health authorities to formulate a mechanism to prevent Covid patients from being inconvenienced in Hospitals.
He directed the Health Minister, State Health Ministers and health officials to directly involve in the matter, the Presidential Media Division (PMD) said.
He made this direction at the COVID meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning.
The President has stressed the need to refer symptomatic patients to intermediate treatment centres and admit them to hospitals after assessing their condition.
Intelligence services have pointed out that there had been 120 protests during the last month and that at least 1,500 people had participated in each protest, the PMD said.
They have also observed that these mass gatherings without following health guidelines have resulted in the spread of the disease. (AS)
Jamila Husain and Dharshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Posts claiming that there is a bomb threat in two leading five-star hotels in Colombo and in places in Bambalapitiya, Wellawatta, Mirihana, Nugegoda, Mount Lavinia and Dehiwala are completely false and people have been urged not to panic, the Police told Daily Mirror a short while ago.
Army Commander General Shavendra Silva also confirmed that these reports were false and the panic had spread as a result of a post, which had circulated on social media, soon after the Easter attacks in 2019, being re-edited and circulated once again.
Police said an investigation had already been launched into the incident.
As Sri Lanka’s daily COVID-19 cases count continues to soar, the Ministry of Health has decided to triage the virus-infected patients for hospitalization on priority basis.
Accordingly, a set of guidelines has been issued by the ministry on providing home-based care for asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients.
These low-risk patients will be allowed to home-quarantine at their own discretion.
As per the guidelines:
01. MOH in the area is responsible for triaging the virus-infected individuals who need home-based care and institutional health care.
02. The patients eligible for home-based care; – Should be aged between 02 – 65 years – Should be isolated in a separate room with sanitary facilities and adequate ventilation allocated for them – Should not have uncontrolled comorbidities such as morbid obesity (BMI>30), diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart/lung/renal diseases or other medical conditions – Should not be suffering from immunocompromised status or not on long-term immunosuppressive therapy – Should have adequate self-care or caregiver support at home – Should have proper communication facilities and the ability to communicate (patient or caregiver) – Should have given informed consent – *in the case of a pregnant woman, the gestational period should be less than 24 weeks
03. The MOH of the area should register the low-risk patients in the Patient Home Isolation and Management System (PHIMS). The MOH will then hand over the responsibility of the patient to the Call Centre and the Medical Care Team through the PHIMS.
04. These teams will be supervised by the Consultant Family Physicians in coordination with the other specialists in relative specialities.
05. The call centre will coordinate with the patient and a medical care team assigned for home-care management. An assigned medical officer in the medical care team will conduct an initial assessment and daily monitoring of the patient.
06. This remote assessment and daily monitoring care carried out through the telephone consultations by the Standardized Screening Tool and the findings will be recorded in the PHIMS. Subsequent remote assessment will be done daily or more frequently as required.
07. Following parameters will be assessed and recorded in the PHIMS by the medical care team: – PCR/RAT positive date or date of initial symptoms – Fever – Breathing difficulty on rest or mild exertion – Feeling unwell or any other significant symptoms – Symptoms of dehydration – Symptoms of uncontrolled underlying comorbidities
08. Following red flag symptoms will be considered for immediate admission to a hospital: – Progressive worsening of persisting symptoms – Difficulty in breathing at rest or after mild exertion – SpO2 at rest is below 96% or less than 94% after mild exertion (if pulse oximeter is available) – Persistent chest pain or heaviness – Symptoms of dehydration – Altered mental state (confusion/drowsiness.irritability)
09. Patients in the PHIMS requiring hospitalization will be identified early by a medical care team supervised by a Consultant Family Physician and will be handed over to a Specialist Medical Officer/Medical Officer nominated by the Regional Director of Health Services. This medical officer will arrange the patient’s transportation to the hospital in coordination with the relevant hospitals which have appropriate facilities.
10. The patients who are in the home-based management will be given the following instructions: – Reassurance – Advice on important non-pharmacological management (rest, fluid and balanced diet) – Advice on pharmacological management for symptoms – Encourage for proper monitoring and control of comorbidities and continuation of optimized treatment – NOT take any NSAIDs or Systemic Steroids – If a patient is on long-term steroids, it should be continued and specialised opinions need to be taken. – If a caregiver provides services to a patient, she/he should wear personal protective equipment and take other hygienic measures – Any caregiver should avoid contact with potentially contaminated items (such as towels, clothes) and hand hygiene should be maintained – Advise the patient to contact the call centre through 1390 if any emergency arises
11. Appropriate waste disposal should be ensured by the Public Health Inspector (PHI) of the area to prevent spread of infection within the household.
12. The home-quarantined patient can be discharged on the 14th day of illness. If symptoms persist, the patient will be monitored until the symptoms resolve.
13. Patients who violate health instructions during the home care management will be admitted to ICC or hospital by the MOH. If a patient refuses to get admitted, the MOH can evacuate the patient without any consent and take legal action according to the Quarantine Ordinance. The MOH could seek the assistance of the police in the area if required.
14. Duration of home-quarantine period for other household members of the patient is 14 days from the positive PCR date of index case. However, if a household member becomes a first contact of the patient during the period of quarantine, he or she should undergo an extended period of quarantine for 14 days from the date of becoming the first contact. Exit RAT should be done for the negative members at the end of quarantined period.
15. Symptoms of possible post COVID syndrome should be advised to every patient on discharge from home-based care and the patient should be asked to report to the MOH of the area without any delay if such symptom appears.
A misleading post on an impending explosion in Mirihana, Nugegoda, Mount Lavinia, Dehiwala, Wellawatta and Bambalapitiya areas is circulating in social media, says the police spokesman.
Probes carried out into the matter have uncovered that a certain individual had created the relevant post on April 25, 2019, Senior DIG Ajith Rohana stated further.
According to him, this same person had recirculated the post recently.
There is no cause for panic,” the police spokesman said in a statement.
Further investigations in this regard are being carried out under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Mount Lavinia.
Sri Lanka has registered 98 more COVID-19 related fatalities confirmed by the Director General of Health Services on Thursday (August 05).
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 4,919.
According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims confirmed today include 54 males and 44 females.
As many as 70 deaths have been reported among the elderly people who are aged above 60 years. In addition, one youth and 27 people aged between 30-59 years are also among the new victims.
A total of 884 more people were tested positive for COVID-19 today (August 06), increasing the daily count of positive cases to 2,794.
According to the Government Information Department, 2,792 of the new cases reported today have been associated with the New Year cluster.
The new development has brought Sri Lanka’s confirmed coronavirus cases tally to 324,223.
Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that as many as 288,307 patients who were infected with the virus have regained health so far. Meanwhile, the death toll now stands at 4,919.
More than 31,000 active cases are currently under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres across the country
People
have followed ideologies and their leaders but there has been no party that has
been this disruptive & destructive of a country’s progress. While everyone
has every right to choose their political ideology/principles etc, when a party
infiltrates and influences the cream of the future, it is cause for concern.
Just as we question these mischief makers, we are also pointing fingers at
successive governments & the university system for not dealing with the issue
for the betterment of the nation.
Why
has our university education deteriorated over the years?
Why
are our university students more interested in demonstrating & protesting?
What
have they given back to the nation for the free education they have received?
How
many of these protestors and mischief makers are employed as lecturers within
the university system & underground fueling the chaos?
How
much of this ideological influence has penetrated to university education
ultimately dissolving the talents of the talented that enter?
How
many non-JVP end up JVP because of no choice?
How
many of them have destroyed their future taking a path that has led them
nowhere?
The
JVP is the richest political party in Sri Lanka – how a presumed Marxist party
can become the richest political party collecting money from tin cans is
everybody’s question, but it also clearly identifies JVP as the hired
Man-Friday during elections. The funds suffice for political parties to use the
JVP underground systems and people to do the campaign for the likely winning
contender or likely opposition contender. All depends on the auction. There is
little to argue against this notion as JVP role in helping every government
that has come to power is clear in its own campaign slogans & statements of
its leaders. However, people who earn their own living have every right to
choose the political party & ideology they wish to follow.
The
same yardstick, however cannot be applied to university students – 90% coming
from rural homes and entering a new environment & habitat foreign from the
humble lifestyles they led and the simple lives they lived. Enveloping these
ignorant and innocent have been peanuts even to some lecturers whose characters
are best left for another topic altogether.
In
the face of these opportunists and influencers the life of a talented flower
ends up going waste and the child ends up nothing that his/her parents aspired
them to become. No parent overjoyed that their child has entered university
wishes to see them picketing on the streets when there are many more things to
demand within the university premises.
We
know how many innocent students fell victim to ragging – the type of ragging
taking place cannot be written. Hiring houses for ragging, physical and sexual
humiliation are just some of the ghastly ordeals students have had to endure
all in the name of ‘welcoming’ the new batches. Any student who wants to
torture can get a transfer to the prison. Any student abusing the rights of
another student should be dismissed. The university authorities must define and
make clear what is ACCEPTABLE RAGGING and anyone indulging in any acts beyond
this has to be immediately expelled or transferred to a Raggers University
where the state can have these raggers have a go at each other and do no harm
to innocent students! Obviously these miscreants know they will not get
employment in any corporate sector and state sector may also find them taboo
unless under influence they get a job – so what is their future likely to be –
joining the JVP political wing? This circular curse cannot continue.
We
do not need to tell the university apparatus how simple it is to catch the
culprits who abuse & indulge in ragging and torture – it does not require
gazettes or Parliamentary Bills. Why are the culprits not thrown out? Why are
these culprits in university for years holding positions and not passing out?
Throwing out the mischief makers no sooner they are found guilty of malpractice
is the easiest way to drain the swamp and the university can easily create the
conducive environment for studies enabling the students to find their talents
& infuse a mentality of not learning to demand only. The JVP infiltration
in the university has created a bunch of university pass-outs who think jobs
have to be offered no sooner they pass, pensionable salaries must be given and
the state has to continue to molly-cuddle them. This mentality has to change
and the university system is tasked not just to lecture but to create students
who are keen to apply what they learn to raising the nation and in turn raising
themselves. It is when a student is able to showcase his/her ability, that
people become aware of his/her talents and necessary funding or assistance is
given. Simply shouting on street corners and demanding only, is not going to
get them anywhere.
Having
come from rural homes, these students must realize that it is the scoring
system that has enabled them to get an edge over other students from urban
areas who not only sat the same exam but scored higher than them. While these
high mark scorers are not able to enter universities, low scoring students from
rural areas are given the chance to enter. They should not spoil this chance.
It is also noteworthy that these students may lack the finesse that is
generally accepted for work environments, however there are plenty of
corporate, state and even voluntary assistance to help these students with soft
skills. More are likely to come forward if the university system get rid of the
JVP and its branches operating inside the universities ruining the lives of
tomorrow’s future generations. With JVP forced out and the universities given
room to bring out the talents of students, more people are likely to come
forward to assist these students for they know that the soft skill services
offered by them will not go in vain and end up as a street protest.
So
the biggest question is why are every government not taking the bull by the
horns?
Why
are they approaching this issue in a knee-jerk attitude?
Firstly,
the government must realize that the assets of the nation are the children and
its young adults. No nation wants to see a bunch of ruffians brainwashed to
picket. We cannot watch until the JVP finds space even inside schools.
Therefore, the government must come up with a national plan which doesn’t
gather dust after elections and lies at the bottom of the files of the
Education Minister and the University big wigs. Is it that none of them are
interested to resolve this problem or do they wish it to continue? Do they not
want to see our talented youth go far. We are yet to have a R&D se up in
Sri Lanka brought to the level of foreign universities that can present annual
papers for different issues prevailing in Sri Lanka. There is so much that the
universities and the students can do and there are enough and more talented
youth able to do – the problem is a bunch of rascals are not allowing them to.
What
ails the universities in Sri Lanka? we all know the answer
Is
the problem unsolvable? No
Why
is it not being solved? Who knows?
Should
it be solved? Of course
When
will it be solved? Anyone’s guess
But
the clock is ticking and we should not idle any longer, unless we want to see a
bunch of rioters everyday extending even to schools!
There
are many lessons to learn from history. A look back in time will reveal
occasions that companies forced governments to invade or create regime change
in nations because government policies were impacting their profit &
presence in countries. US corporates in South America, assassination of Iran’s
Mossadegh are just a handful of examples that come to mind. The important point
is that corporates have silently been influencing governments to the point of
even dislodging governments. Today, corporates (nowhere near squeaky clean) are
even taking governments to court. With the corporate owned media carrying on a
systematic campaign to showcase the inefficiency of governments & their
apparatus – we should wonder what they are up to now!
Many
of the global companies relocate to third world nations, not to do any favor to
them but because these countries are advantageous to them – they pay fewer
taxes, they can employ cheap labor and there is less regulations while they can
easily exploit local conditions. This is the haven and heaven away from home
where most likely the opposite prevails. So if Western companies are relocating
to third world nations, there is a good reason for them to do so and it isn’t
out of any heart wrenching desire to help the Third World. That is likely
to come at the bottom of their priority list. Accenture is a good example – it
has relocated to various parts of the world & operates its franchises via a
Swiss holding company incorporates in Bermuda – it has close to 400,000
employees working in 55 countries/200 cities. These are virtually
STATELESS COMPANIES or METANATIONALS.
https://fee.org/articles/do-big-corporations-control-america/notice
how increasing numbers of politicians & public servants are joining big
corporates no sooner they retire! How much conflict of interest have they been
privy to while in office in favor of these corporates!
Essentially
what it means is that their heart is not in any one nation leave alone their
birthhome and they wish to only profit from wherever they are located in. Their
loyalty in essence is to none but themselves. This is quite the opposite from
the General Motors theme ‘what was good fo our country was good for General
Motors’. All of the global companies fish for countries to relocate depending
on how ‘friendly’ and ‘free’ regulations are. Their pals in the international
monetary agencies help them via demands upon governments to make their nation
‘investor friendly’ and building up a mythical scenario amongst citizens that
government apparatus is not friendly for the foreign investors & more
‘liberalizations’ are required. Plenty of locals are co-opted easily to parrot
this requirement. These are the supposed ‘experts’ to whom governments have to
listen as they are the ‘policy makers’.
These
metanational corporates are very sleazy – they are virtually above the law.
They ensure they register in a country that gives them legal protection, they
have their corporate management in a country that suits the upper echelons,
they have their financial assets where they know no one can touch and spread
staff as they see fit. How else do corporates big guns hold trillions of
dollars in tax-free offshore accounts? Can we call this ‘stateless income’?
President Obama called them ‘Corporate deserters’ for hoarding money (article
by Parag Khanna) The 10 biggest banks is said to control almost 50% of assets
worldwide.
Companies
use the strength of their balance sheets to borrow money from banks and then
use the cash to buy their own shares from the stock market This inflates the
value of the remaining stock, consequently increasing the net worth of the
largest shareholders.
Bigpharma
is owned by investment funds. Institutional investors are holding our health –
connected through their shareholders! What an investment the covid vaccines
are!
Public
companies too are owned by large institutional investors & this in turn
will create many ownership links to create virtual common ownerships!
Common
shareholders are said to own 50% of a company while they also hold stakes in
rival pharma companies. Bayer the makers of Asprin was collectively owned by
Swiss-based Novartis& German-Bayer (50% each)
Pfizer,
J&J & Merck hold shares in Vanguard, SSGA & BlackRock investment
companies. Pfizer & AstraZeneca are also connected. Together they control
drug prices – nothing that customers can complain about as they are all one big
cartel & buy over generic brands, where they cannot they refuse to share
patents. Health is unfortunately a money making machine.
It
would be good if governments woke up to ground realities.
The
sovereignty of nations today is interlinked to supply chains & demand &
supply. When countries have failed in self-sufficiency their dependency for
import-export makes them reliant on global institutes/companies and this in
turn gives upper edge for metanational corporates to enter as ‘foreign
investors’ but in reality more than they give to a nation – they take away,
unseen, unnoticed and unaware to the government & the populace as no one is
really bothered to monitor what the foreign investor has really given against
what he is annually taking away out of the country. A mental scenario of taboo
to question them is circulated amongst the populace. With everything becoming
‘virtual’ and reliance on computer systems – will governance be from the
‘clouds’!
how
enticing are these PPP deals or is it simply an interim-maneuver until
corporates can take control over state enterprises and state assets. The Made
in ….. will become just a tag-line for a final lproduct will have parts
sourced from all corners of the world. There nothing ‘British’ in anything
‘British’ nowadays!
If
international companies are increasingly becoming ‘divorced’ from the
nation-state they started out their enterprise having relocated to various
countries around the world & profiting from each, those they employ
invariably encapsulates the same mentality. With this notion gaining currency,
is this a subtle alternate way to burying the nation-state system as we know
these very global corporates are pushing for the one-world governance under
their control. The end objective is to have rulers & the ruled.
When
companies smell the power they can yield over governments and countries – it is
dangerous. They have no affinity nor is there any legal hold over them.
They essentially control the food we eat, the medicines we take and the supply
chain that dictates our existence. All that corporates do not have are standing
armies. But, let’s not forget for bananas governments have been overthrown in
South America and Africa, for oil leaders have been assassinated or regimes
overthrown, to pilfer diamonds and resources, dictators have been propped to
power – there is nothing that corporates cannot get governments to do. Look at
how games have fallen prey to corporates & their sponsorships. No longer is
a cricket a game & players are just pawns of brands that own them. What
happens if a country-owned company starts buying ports in different countries
similar to Dubai Ports World acquiring the British company that operated ports
in US? The nationality of corporates should remain national and not
international for national-sovereignty to prevail.
Governments/Politicians
and the Political system may not be perfect but it is based on some form of
people representation which demands the People to correct its flaws &
nuances. However, corporate control largely for personal/shareholder profit is
rarely concerned about equitable distribution or welfare of the masses.
Corporates are not squeaky clean either & there is no international
mechanism to rope them for their white-collar crimes too – many of these crimes
often get ignored & overlooked based on the power they yield over the
propaganda communicated about them (which they control) & the strength of
their influence over the systems that accuse them.
Corporates
can have key roles but they cannot be allowed to take over & control the
nation-state!
By A. Abdul Aziz,Press Secretary,Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.
According to our Press Department U.K.,
thousands of British Muslims will gather together for the first time since the
start of the COVID-19 pandemic for the UK’s longest running Islamic conference.
Ahmadi Muslims from across the UK will
descend on the 200-acre Oakland Farm in Hampshire for three days of worship and
gathering at the event known as the ‘Jalsa Salana’.
Prior to last year’s global pandemic,
well over 35,000 people from all over the world attended the last Convention
(Jalsa), held in 2019. This year, only UK residents who have been double
vaccinated were permitted to enter the ballot to attend this gathering.
Roughly 4,000 of those lucky enough to
have been selected in the ballot will attend one of the three-days of the event
amid strict social distancing measures at the pop-up tent village from 6 to 8
August.
All attendees will need to show proof of
double vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result in order to gain entry.
Face masks will be mandatory in all enclosed spaces, including the two
marquees, each able to accommodate thousands of worshippers.
The highlight of the event will be the
attendance of the global Islamic Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His
Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who will deliver an address to attendees
on each of the three days of the Convention. The objective of the event is to highlight
the true peaceful teachings of Islam and to enable the participants to increase
their knowledge and understanding of Islamic teachings and practices.
Abid Khan, Press Secretary of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community said:
This is the first time since the
pandemic started that our members from across the UK have been able to meet and
worship together with our Caliph. So, whilst we are sad that due to social
distancing measures it is still not possible for everyone to be here or for
guests from abroad to attend, unquestionably this is a wonderful and joyous
occasion for our community. As for those who can’t attend in person, I am sure
they will be watching on TV both here in the UK and across the world and so in
that sense it is a truly international event.”
The event will also be broadcast online
and on the Community’s worldwide television station, Muslim Television
Ahmadiyya (Sky 731), across its 19 television channels. Those unable to attend
in person will gather to watch the proceedings together at Ahmadi Muslim
mosques up and down the UK. This includes London’s first purpose-built mosque,
The Fazl Mosque in Wandsworth, and the UK’s largest Mosque, Baitul-Futuh in
Merton.
Colombo, August 5 (Daily Mirror): The Supreme Court on Thursday issued an Interim Order suspending the operation of Prevention of Terrorism (De-radicalization from holding violent extremist religious ideology) Regulations No. 01 of 2021, which was published by way of a gazette notification on 12 March, 2021.
This Interim Order will be effective until August 24, the next hearing date.
Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Justice Murdu Fernando, Justice Yasantha Kodagoda and Justice Shiran Gooneratna issued this order pursuant to three Fundamental Rights petitions challenging the legality of the Deradicalization Regulations were taken up for support.
Journalists and human rights activists Ruwan Laknath Jayakody, Kavindya Christopher Thomas, Centre for Policy Alternative and its Executive Director Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu and Shreen Saroor had filed Fundamental Rights petitions seeking a declaration that the Deradicalization Regulations is not legally valid.
The petitioners further sought a declaration that Deradicalization Regulations would permit room for the continuous or imminent infringement of fundamental rights guaranteed to surrenders, arrestees or detainees under Articles 10, 11 , 12(1), 12(2), 13(1) , 13(2) , 13(3) , 13(4) , 13(5) , 13(6) , 14(1)(a) , 14(1)(b), 14(1)(c) and/or 17 of the Constitution.
The Petitioners stated that the President had made regulations titled Prevention of Terrorism (De-radicalization from holding violent extremist religious ideology) Regulations No. 01 of 2021 issued under Section 27 of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA).
The petitioners stated that individuals arrested in terms of these Regulations could be subjected to executive or administrative detention camouflaged as rehabilitation, without proper judicial evaluation of the evidence against the individuals arrested, surrenders or detainees.
They further alleged that Deradicalization Regulations run counter to the fundamental safeguards in the Constitution, international human rights norms, and interferes with the judicial power of the People.
Petitioners further alleged that they are yet unaware whether the Deradicalization Regulations have been placed before Parliament and duly approved as required by the PTA.
Senior Counsel Viran Corea with counsel Suren Fernando, Pulasthi Hewamanna and Manjula Balasooriya appeared for the petitioners. Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle with Senior State Counsel Awanthi Perera appeared for the Attorney General.
Everyone shouted as if they were cheering for their own country’s athlete. Some of them watched him in awe with their eyes shining with tears.
In 1964, an unknown Olympian from a foreign country took Japan’s breath away.
The Olympian became known in Japan as Uniform Number 67,” the runner from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) who didn’t abandon the race despite coming last in the men’s 10,000 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
His story touched so many hearts that it was later included in Japanese elementary school textbooks. Fifty-seven years after the race, the runner’s granddaughter is now working in Japan, the host country of the Summer Olympics for the second time.
Japan is my second homeland. Maybe this is fate,” she says. She was cheering for the men in the 10,000 meters on the evening of July 30 through her TV, with the image of her grandfather’s heroic figure in her mind’s eye.
Oshadi Nuwanthika Halpe, 29, is a care worker at an elderly care facility in Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture. Oshadi’s mother would tell her stories about her grandfather as she grew up, about why he had been handed down as a hero in his home country of Sri Lanka.
I was told that he was devoted to housekeeping and his children. His mantra was, ‘You must finish what you started.’”
Oshadi Nuwanthika Halpe, the granddaughter of Sri Lankan Olympian Ranatunge Karunananda.
Uniform Number 67
Her grandfather’s name was Ranatunge Karunananda. On October 14, 1964, Karunananda stood in front of 70,000 spectators at the Japan National Stadium as the Olympian who held Ceylon’s national record for the men’s 10,000 meters.
Karunananda’s story was published under the title Uniform Number 67” in the textbook New Japanese for Fourth Grade of Elementary School by Mitsumura Tosho Publishing, which begins like this.
It was 4:05 pm. The roar died down to a mumble, and the spectators turned their eyes to the thirty-eight runners who were lined up at the starting line. The pistol sounded, and the runners took off at once.”
The race, in which Japan’s Kokichi Tsuburaya finished in 6th place, was a grueling 25 laps around a 400-meter track. Nine of the 38 runners had to give up halfway through the race. When the runner who was thought to be last crossed the finish line, everybody assumed that the race was over.
But Uniform Number 67 didn’t stop running. Under the jeers and boos of the crowd, Karunananda kept pushing himself, one lap behind the others. He was in great agony, holding his side as he ran, but the jeers and boos soon turned into cheers.
Everyone shouted as if they were cheering for their own country’s athlete. Some of them watched him in awe with their eyes shining with tears.
Karunananda was showered with applause as he crossed the finish line.
Ranatunge Karunananda
He afterwards said, I have a little daughter back home. When she grows up, I will tell her that her father went to the Tokyo Olympics and ran till the end even though he lost the race.”
Despite being ill for about a week before the race, Karunananda didn’t give up, no matter how much he lagged behind. The reason behind his determination was that his home country Ceylon was suffering from a bad economy, and it put a huge strain on the country’s financial resources to send athletes to the Olympics.
Uniform Number 67” appeared in Japanese language textbooks in 1971 and from 1974 to 1976. The publisher had a 50% market share at the time. An English translation of the text has also been available in junior high school English textbooks since 2016.
Ten years after the Olympics, Karunananda died in a water accident at the age of 38. In Sri Lanka, the story of his legendary race has been retold by the media before every Summer Olympics for 57 years.
Inspiring the Granddaughter He Never Knew
Oshadi is the daughter of Karunananda’s little daughter.” She studied geography at the University of Colombo, then came to Japan in the spring of 2016 to study disaster prevention at graduate school. She was surprised to learn that her grandfather’s legacy still lived on in the hearts of the Japanese people.
It’s as if my grandfather is still alive in Japan,” she says.
Oshadi studied at a Japanese language school in Gunma Prefecture but felt her vocabulary was too lacking to study at graduate school. Although she graduated in the spring of 2018, she felt lost about her future. Oshadi was beginning to consider returning to Sri Lanka when a friend sent her an online video of her grandfather running.
You must finish what you started.” Her grandfather’s words started to make sense when she saw the video. She had chosen to become a care worker because of her grandmother (Karunananda’s wife), who was bedridden in her hometown.
Oshadi studied for another two years at a college which specializes in health care skills in Shibukawa City. In the spring of 2020, she began working as a care worker at an elderly care facility (where she currently works). She married a Japanese man she met there.
Her dream is to acquire nursing skills in Japan and pass them on to future generations in Sri Lanka, where specialist long-term care is still in short supply. I don’t know how many years it will take, but I want to go back one day to pass on what I have learned. I think it’s my grandfather’s way of teaching me how to give back to my country.”
Olympic Dreams Live On
The coronavirus pandemic has been a big concern for the Tokyo Olympics. Oshadi had considered going to the Japan National Stadium to experience the atmosphere of the Games. But she decided instead to cheer for the athletes on TV because she knew the weight of the responsibility of taking care of the elderly as a care worker.
One day, I hope to see the place where my grandfather ran with my own eyes. My mother also says she wants to visit at least once before she dies, so I’d like to go with her then.”
The men’s 10,000 meters, the race Karunananda bravely lost, was held at the newly reconstructed Japan National Stadium on the evening of July 30. The last runner to complete the race was Kieran Tuntivate of Thailand, who also finished what he started.
(Read The Sankei Shimbun story in Japanese at this link.)
Author: Keiji Morita, staff reporter, The Sankei Shimbun
COLOMBO – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is supporting the Government of Sri Lanka with food items and funding to provide school children with take-home rations in lieu of in-school meals.
The emergence of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka required swift school closures as a preventive measure. While this played a critical role in minimizing the spread of the virus, it means that children are unable to benefit from the nutritious meal they normally receive in school. In response to a request from the Government, WFP stepped in to ensure school children of vulnerable families receive much-needed food assistance.
For many children from low-income families, the food they receive in school is often the only substantial, nutritious meal they have in a day,” says Andrea Berardo, Deputy Country Director of WFP in Sri Lanka. COVID-19 related job losses and reduced incomes are making it harder for families to feed themselves. We want to help ensure that children continue to receive healthy food during these challenging times.”
The Government of Canada redirected US$200,000 (approximately LKR40 million) from its planned projects to assist WFP and the Government of Sri Lanka in procuring one month’s worth of rations for 41,000 school children. The Government of Japan redirected 189 MT of canned fish which was initially donated for the in-school meals and will now be included in the ration packs for 220,000 families, providing children with vital protein in their diet.
Upholding the health and safety of school children has been our foremost priority throughout our COVID-19 mitigation efforts,” says State Minister of Women and Child Development, Pre-school and Primary Education, School Infrastructure and Education Services, Piyal Nishantha de Silva. While measures have been put in place to ensure school children have continued access to education, we want to also ensure that they have access to nutritious food. We thank WFP and the Governments of Canada and Japan for helping us reach families when they are in most dire need.”
WFP has been supporting the National School Meal Programme since 2003 as part of its broader efforts to improve child nutrition. In 2020, WFP augmented its support through the launch of the Home Grown School Feeding project. The on-going project links smallholder farmers with the School Meal Programme and aims to ensure that students receive fresh, nutritious food while smallholder farmers have improved food security through a steady source of income.
# # #
The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @WFPSriLanka
Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday walked back the lifting of an import ban on most chemical fertilisers over fears of a political fallout, despite warnings from farmers of food shortages and severe damage to the massive tea industry.
The South Asian nation has been struggling with a cash crunch worsened by the pandemic, with the central bank imposing sweeping import bans since March last year to reduce the outflow of foreign currency.
The ban on chemical fertilisers — widely used in the tea and rice industries — was opposed by farmers who staged protests after reporting failing vegetable crops as existing stocks began to run out in recent weeks.
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had lifted the ban on Tuesday.
The president had earlier touted the policy, including on the international stage, as helping Sri Lankan agriculture become “100-percent organic”.
In a briefing to reporters in Colombo, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Udith Jayasinghe, said there had actually been “no change in the government policy shift to organic fertiliser”.
“Some plant nutrients rich in nitrogen will be allowed under strict licensing.”
Urea fertiliser, which will remain banned, is widely used in the $1.25 billion tea industry — the country’s biggest export — as well as in the farming of rice, the staple food.
Jayasinghe said farmers would have to use organic substitutes.
Sri Lanka is among the world’s largest exporters of tea. Ceylon tea is valued for its high quality and flavour.
A report by a group of experts warned last month of substantial crop losses and food shortages unless chemical fertiliser was provided urgently.
A member of a presidential committee that studied the transition from chemical to organic fertiliser, Herman Gunaratne, said the sudden shift could have catastrophic consequences, especially for tea.
“We risk losing our international markets for tea,” Gunaratne told AFP.
Tea plantation executive Sanath Gurunada told AFP over the weekend that the shortages would be felt fully by October.
“For the moment we have stocks (of fertiliser), but it would run out in about a month or two. After that we will not get the crop that we used to harvest,” he told AFP at his Hidellana tea factory in the country’s south.
“With a decline in crop, our foreign exchange earnings will also go down.”
IANSThe health authorities announced on Wednesday that 82 deaths were reported with 4,727 new cases.
With the new figure, Sri Lanka’s overall caseload and death toll stood at 3,18,775 and 4,727, respectively.
With the outbreak of the Delta variant and overflow of patients, the Ratnapura General Hospital and Karapitiya Teaching Hospital have declared emergencies.
Due to the unabated spread of the Delta variant and also an exponential rise in oxygen demand, medical experts have urged the Sri Lankan government to reconsider its decision to lift Covid-19 restrictions.
The Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) requested the government to revisit the curfew-style travel restrictions imposed in May and June to control the fast spreading pandemic as the sector’s capacity to treat the growing number of patients has “virtually reached its tipping point” In a statement, the AMS also warned that it’s a matter of days till the demand for oxygen exceeds supply.
“The lack of oxygen, or more importantly the lack of an oxygen delivery mechanism to patients’ bedsides could cause deaths,” the experts warned.
They said further relaxation of Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 restrictions against this backdrop is like adding fuel to the fire.
On Tuesday, international health experts warned that Sri Lanka was going to face the worst-ever outbreak in the months ahead.
Professor Malik Peiris, Head of Virology at the University of Hong Kong said “the Delta variant, which played havoc in India, I’m afraid I have to say it is going to have a major impact on Sri Lanka in the coming weeks”.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 has been found to be spreading ultrafast in the Colombo area, medical experts pointed out.
According to Director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, 75% of the COVID cases detected in Colombo during the last week of the month of July were individuals infected with the Delta variant.
However, it was recorded in the first week of July as 13%. He said this was detected in lab tests carried out on COVID-19 variants.
The Delta variant was first detected in the Dematagoda area. A number of cases were detected thereafter in several areas of the country.
According to health experts, the Delta variant would become the predominant strain in Sri Lanka in the near future pushing infections and mortality to higher numbers. (Sheain Fernandopulle)
The Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health reports that another 784 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 today, pushing the daily count of new cases to 2,669.
This brings the tally of confirmed cases of coronavirus identified in the country to 321,429.
Sri Lanka’s total recoveries stands at 286,365 while over 30,000 covid positive patients are currently being treated at hospitals.
The death toll in Sri Lanka due to the virus is 4,821.
The Director General of Health Services today confirmed another 94 coronavirus related deaths for August 04, increasing the death toll in Sri Lanka due to the virus to 4,821.
Forty-nine of the victims are reportedly males while the remaining 45 are females. Two female victims are below the age of 30.
Nineteen are between 30-59 years of age while 73 of the Covid-19 deaths are persons aged 60 and above.
Both the World Bank and the IMF were founded in 1944 at the
Bretton Woods conference. The World Bank is tasked to aid developing nations in
reducing poverty and increasing their well-being. The IMF’s main purpose is to
stabilize the international monetary system and oversee the world’s currencies.
The World Bank offers financing, policy advice, and technical assistance to
governments, and also focuses on strengthening the private sector in developing
countries. The IMF keeps track of the economy globally and in member countries,
lends to countries with balance of payment difficulties, and gives practical
help to members.” Thus IMF & World Bank are the left & right hands of
the Western economies – the former colonial rulers that inadvertently control
world systems via international entities they indirectly control &
manipulate. Since 1944 how many decolonized
developing countries has IMF transformed into successful economies via their
self-claimed success blueprints & policy decisions or better still how many
countries have become economic disasters after taking IMF advice?
IMF
is NOT a LOAN AGENCY. All loans given by IMF are CONDITIONAL. Countries taking
IMF loans MUST implement its Structural Adjustment Programs & have to pay
back what is borrowed with INTEREST. As of April 2018 IMF member funding
totaled $692billion. This money did not fall from the sky. All money is created
and printed. What gives or who has given certain countries and certain monetary
entities to dictate and determine how much should be given, when &
conditions for its use and deadline for return.
IMF
is funded by quota subscriptions paid by member states. The size of the quota
is determined by the size of the country’s economy. The country having the
larger economies will give bigger quota and will also have a bigger say in the
IMF. So there is no equality in the IMF similar to that seen in the UN where
one country has one vote whatever the size. The US contributes 17.44%
($54billion) to the IMF. Seychelles contributes just 0.005%.
Further
favoritism within the IMF is given to major European economies & the US who
have the bigger say when it comes to voting.
155
smaller members combined have just 36.8% say
The
powerful 28 EU countries get 32% say
US
has 17.4% say & China the most populace country has just 3.7% say
Sri
Lanka has 0.1% say.
Majority
of IMF loans come from the IMF’s General Resources Account funded by
subscription charges of member states.
While
the size of a country determines its weight, the size also decides how much
membership it gives and how much it takes. Bigger the country – bigger the
membership quota but able to take bigger loans! Smaller countries give less and
will get less too! Bigger the country – decision powers within IMF are greater
as well. The quota is calculated by GDO (50%) openness of countries (30%)
economic variability (15%) international reserves (5) – this is known as
Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
Since
1944 IMF has been giving loans almost all of the 195 countries in the world –
the only countries that IMF has not been able to give loans or advice to is –
Cuba, North Korea.
Surely
IMF template should have brought countries out of debt including the major
powers who are in debt – making them the top 10 countries in debt!
What type of loans does IMF
give?
Stand-by-Arrangement (SBA) short term financing of balance
payments (12-24months & not more than 36 months)
Extended Fund Facility (EFF) medium-term financing arrangement
allowing countries to borrow a certain amount over 4-10years. The EFF adopts
structural measures and promotes privatization of public enterprises.
Poverty Reduction & Growth Facility (PRGF) gives loans at
low interest rates & aims to reduce poverty & lay foundation for
economic development
IMF Technical Assistanceaims
to transition economies – change from centrally controlled to market-run
privatized economies.
IMF Emergency Fundsoffers
loans to collapsed economies ex: South Korea in 1997
While
IMF is not an AID agency and all loans have CONDITIONS while the money taken
with interest have to be returned – IMF is nothing but a LOAN SHARK no
different to an ordinary person begging to a lending ‘mudalali’ who happily
gives the amount asked but places a set of conditions if the money given is not
returned! It’s no similar to taking a car lease – inability to pay lease may
result in confiscating one’s car! Govts have no choice in rolling out various
conditions which are always targeting the poor & middle classes only.
Countries
that go to IMF or countries that IMF lobby are already in financial
difficulties – how moral is it to provide a presumable ‘relief’ in form of a
IMF loan which has ‘STRINGS attached’ ultimately landing that country in
greater difficulty? Eventually countries in debt to IMF end up having to
sacrifice benefits to citizens to satisfy IMF demands!
What are the IMF demands?
To
open up local economies for foreign investments, to give greater access to
national resources, to privatize public enterprises, to cut government spending
on health and education to the general public and all this while the IMF main
sharks strategically get their ‘investors’ ready to descend and tap into the
resources, cheap labor, disregard environmental concerns after the IMF do all
the dirty work! The governments of these countries have no power o handle the
situation having committed to the SAPs in taking loans. Thus, Governments end
up becoming unpopular among the citizens having to make up various lies to
cover the agreements made behind closed doors with the IMF.
When
IMF gives a loan IMF self-mandates itself to monitor a country’s economy and
recommends policy changes. IMF visits countries, holds discussions with
Government & others. IMF research teams provide the technical assistance
and training to draft policy changes as per IMF desires. Politicians end up
parroting what the IMF tells them.
Sri Lanka joined IMF on 29
August 1950 – Sri Lanka was IMF’s 50thmember. Sri Lanka’s SDR quota is approximately
$800million. Since 1950 – Sri Lanka has taken 16 IMF loans. On 6 occasions the
full agreed amount was not released citing non-compliance to conditions by Sri
Lanka. Countries like Sri Lanka often get caught in the template and formula
spells of the IMF which is like the insurance covers – the smallest ignored
prints carry the deadliest clauses!
IMF came to play a bigger role
after 1977, Yet,how did Sri Lanka manage development projects (Gal Oya
Development scheme, roads, towns etc done with own funds in 3-4 years) WITHOUT
falling into debt prior to 1977? How
did foreign debt which was $750m in 1977 end up $47307m almost 45 years later?
Is
it correct to say that the decisions the successive governments had to take having
fallen for the IMF trap has brought Sri Lanka to its knees?
Did the IMF decide how Sri Lanka was to use its foreign
exchange, usurping the decision taking handled pre-1977 by local policy makers
with foreign exchange used only for essential suppliers)
Did the IMF task foreign exchange to the banks & based on
exchange rates decided by foreign banks?
Did IMF’s tasking foreign exchange decisions to foreign banks
result in a high interest rate, reduction in import tariffs, abolishing of
subsidies? Is this how IMF sabotaged development in Sri Lanka & other
developing countries?
Did IMF virtually ‘bribe’ our leaders with long grace periods to
take IMF loans & encouraged lavish spending as they knew that the leaders
who took the loans would not be in power when loans had to be paid! It was a
good understanding for the giver & takers of all countries who fell for the
trap!
If Sri Lanka could earn foreign exchange from exports before
1977 – why is it impossible now?
If dollars from tourist arrivals were encashed & pooled to
firstly import essential goods – why can’t a similar methodology be applied
now?
If imports were strictly monitored but satisfied the needs of
the local industrialists prior to 1977 can’t these good practices be worth
repeating?
If pre-1977 government objective was to make Sri Lanka
self-sufficient in textiles who put a stop to that objective?
If the government had set up research and training units to
guide industrialists for this purpose before 1977, why was it stopped and close
to 100,000 handloomers whose products were better than ones overseas were
impacted? Did this not happen on the advice of the IMF – IMF advice being to spend foreign exchange lavishly, import
anything & everything & cover shortage with LOANS & long grace
periods to pay luring politicians with various IMF inducements
This
is how Sri Lanka landed in this soup!
We
are insane to take more advice from the very entity that brought us to our
plight.
Former
GA Gavin Karunaratna proposes that Sri Lanka continue the method that was a
success pre-1977 handling foreign exchange to buy firstly essentials &
secondly to import as per requirement of industrialists & thirdly to
consider applicants for foreign travel etc. To come out of this mess, we have
to adopt some drastic measures but ones that we create and not those imposed
forcibly by foreign lenders.
Should IMF continue to advice
Third World?
It
is good for every country that has become a victim of IMF policy and structural
programs to review where they have gone wrong against what they were previously
doing right. It could be just possible that these global economic institutes do
not wish countries to come out of the woods and wish countries to remain in the
economic ICU/ventilator forever – braindead!
The
question is how many countries has IMF taken out of debt or put into debt? Who
can answer!
Abrogation
of the articles 370 and 35-A in Indian illegally Occupied Kashmir has altogether
changed the demography of the Jammu Kashmir Valley. The helpless people of the
Jammu Kashmir valley, who were already in trouble at the hands of the Indian
troops, now are in a state of more pain and more agony. They are deprived of
their liberty as well as of their identity. The article 370 allowed the state
of Jammu Kashmir a certain amount of autonomy – its own constitution, a
separate flag and freedom to make laws. Foreign affairs defence and
communications remained the preserve of the central government. This article
allowed the people of the valley to make their own rules relating to permanent
residency, ownership of property and fundamental rights. The article 370 also
barred Indians alien to the state from purchasing property or settling there. Most
of the Kashmiris are of the opinion that the BJP ultimately wants to change the
demographic character of the Muslim-majority region by allowing non-Kashmiris
to buy land there. BBC said in an analysis, Kashmir will no longer have a
separate constitution but will have to abide by the Indian constitution much
like any other state. All Indian laws will be automatically applicable to
Kashmiris, and people from outside the state will be able to buy property
there.” The government on the other hand has an altogether different point of
view that this step has been taken in benefit of the people of the valley and
it will bring a lot of development to the region.
When
the Article 35A was in practice, it allowed the legislature of
Indian-administered Kashmir to define the state’s permanent residents. It was
applied to all of Illegally Indian-Occupied Kashmir, including Jammu and
Ladakh, says a report. All identified residents were issued a permanent resident
certificate, which entitled them to special benefits related to employment,
scholarships and other privileges. But the biggest advantage for permanent
residents was that only they had the right to buy and own property in the
state. Both these laws were formulated somewhere in May 1954 and it was decided
that all those who were living in the state that time and those who have lived
in the state for 10 years anytime since, would be ranked as permanent residents. In short this special
status of Jammu and Kashmir had been a continuous pain in the neck of BJP since
long. The BJP leadership was
all time planning to snatch away that special status from the distressed people
of Kashmir; so ultimately the ‘leadership’ did it. Situation after revocation
of these articles is so horrible that no one from the outside world even can
guess the severity.
NDTV’s
correspondent Nazir Masoodi said in a report expressing his feelings of fear
and uncertainty a night before revocation of these articles. It was the most
tense and uncertain night of our life. Troops were in every nook and cranny to
impose a tough curfew. Before midnight, a complete communication blockade was
enforced. Mobile phones, the internet and even landlines were snapped. All the
security measures were in place to quell any public revolt. A massive troop
buildup, contingency orders, the evacuation of non-locals, tourists and Amaranth
pilgrims – for us locals, these were ominous signs. The worst fear was that the
centre would do away with Article 35A which defined special privileges for
permanent residents of J&K in the areas of jobs and land rights. No one had
thought that it may well be the end of J&K state, its Constitution and
Article 370. Next year in 2020, the same correspondent once again said, One
year on, there is no fear of losing anything – because there is nothing left to
lose. The burden of special status is gone. August 5 last year redefined
everything for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370, which enshrined
the relationship between J&K state and the union of India for last 70
years, is gone.”
Last
year on 4th August, a year after the abrogation of Articles 370 and
35-A, an article of Kaisar Andrabi was published in the Diplomat. The writer
said, All modes of communication were cut off, and the region is still without
high-speed internet a year later, causing many difficulties for average
Kashmiris. About 7,000 people were arrested before and after August 5, 2019,
including nearly the entire mainstream political leadership. Before August 5,
2019, Kashmir was a nominally autonomous region. After August 5, it has become
virtually a settler colony in the making. Kashmir thus became an annexed
territory where all existing structures, the majority of them Indian-made, were
dissolved so they could fit into the vision of India held by the ruling BJP,
whose founding fathers were never comfortable with the unique constitutional
status of the only Muslim-majority state.”
Abrogation
of the Articles 370 and 35-A would severely disfigure the whole of social and
economic fiber in the Illegally Occupied Valley of Kashmir which has ever been
the worst victim to the Indian atrocities. Reports say that since 1989, over
100,000 Kashmiris have been killed by Indian forces. More than 7,200 people
have been murdered in the custody of the Indian Army. More than 11,000 women
have been raped by Indian occupation forces. This brutality of the Indian
troops has orphaned more than 110,000 children and widowed more than 23,000
women. Now after brutally successful demographic change, situation of law and
order would get worse and worse with the passage of time.
The Hon.Minister of Tourism and Aviation has instructed this office of the following:
1. For Passengers not arriving via the Sri Lanka Tourism Bio Bubble and who have not been vaccinated or only partially vaccinated can be carried by Airlines only up to a maximum of 75 passengers per flight. (Explanation : This will include passengers arriving for Hotel Quarantine and Government Quarantine)
2. Airlines are permitted to carry fully vaccinated passengers (administered with the relevant doses and 14 days have lapsed) without any limitation of passenger numbers per flight. (Explanation : This will include passengers arriving for Hotel Quarantine and Government Quarantine)
3. Airlines may carry passengers arriving via the Sri Lanka Tourism Bio Bubble without any limitation of passenger numbers per flight.
4. All passengers in (1),(2) and (3) above are to be carried in compliance with applicable Directives of the Ministry of Health and Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka in force at the time of carriage of the passengers.
5. All travellers of two years and above should undergo On Arrival (Day One) Covid-19 PCR test from a Ministry of Health approved laboratory.
6. Quarantine is not required for fully vaccinated travellers if the On Arrival (Day One) Covid-19 PCR test report is negative.
7. Travellers who are not AND partially vaccinated required to adhere to Ministry of Health directives issued on 7th & 15th July 2021 by Director General of Health in adhering to quarantine requirements
8. When discharging Fully Vaccinated Travellers after On Arrival (Day One) negative PCR report, in charge officer of the Quarantine Hotel / Quarantine Centre or Hotel Doctor at Safe & Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel should issue a “Discharge Document” and email the details to the Epidemiology Unit ( chepid@sltnet.lk and samithag@hotmail.com) of the Ministry of Health.
9. If there are children below 18 years, they can be discharged with fully vaccinated parents by adhering to the following measures.
9.1. Children of 2 to18 years should be subjected to an On Arrival (Day One) PCR testing and they should have negative results. 9.2. Children below 2 years will not be subjected to PCR testing after arrival to Sri Lanka and they will be discharged with fully vaccinated caretakers. However, if the On Arrival (Day One) PCR testing of an accompanying traveller of the child is positive for COVID – 19, child below 2 years will also be subjected to PCR testing subsequently
10. Following the Day One negative PCR test result, fully vaccinated travellers should arrange their own transport to travel to residence or point of destination and should not use public transport for this purpose.
11. Throughout the travelling, fully vaccinated travellers should strictly adhere to COVID – 19 preventive measures imposed by Government of Sri Lanka to be provided at the time of Day One discharge.
12. Driver and passengers of the vehicle should properly wear a facemask throughout.
13. Once released from On Arrival ( Day One ) negative PCR test result from Quarantine Hotel/Centre fully vaccinated travellers should travel directly to the destination without any stopovers.
14. Pre departure negative COVID – 19 test report. All travellers arriving in Sri Lanka should mandatorily carry a negative COVID-19 PCR test report in English language done within 72 hours prior to embarkation. Note : Pre departure COVID – 19 Rapid Antigent test report is not accepted.
15. COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate / Card Travellers who have received the recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine should carry the original vaccination certificate / card ( together with a certified copy of English language translation if the certificate/card is not written in English or if relevant data are not indicated in English in a non – English certificate / card ) or a verifiable evidence of vaccination.
16. Procedure to follow at the arriving airport in Sri Lanka 16.1. Each traveller should submit a completed Health Declaration Form to the staff of the Airport Health Office at the health counters of arriving airport. Separate forms should be submitted for each of accompanying children if any. Travellers who have completed the recommended doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and departs from abroad after two weeks of completion of vaccination, should produce the vaccination certficate / Card to Airport Health Officer at arriving airport.
16.2. After completion of formalities at the Airport, all travellers will be transferred to a Quarantine Centre managed by the Government of Sri Lanka or to a hotel designated for quarantine or to a Safe & Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel. Transport shall be provided by the Government authorities or the Hotel Management on a pre-determined manner. Respective Diplomatic Mission / Organization / Agency with permanent offices in Sri Lanka should arrange their own transport (adhering to preventive measures imposed by Government of Sir Lanka) to transport Foreign National Staff members, if undergoing quarantine at an area MOH approve residence. Level 1 Hotel bookings can be pre-booked through a travel agent, direct contact with the hotel while Government services could be provided upon arrival only.
17. Procedures to be followed by fully vaccinated travellers after going to residence / home / hotel (hotel is allowed only for fully vaccinated foreigners exempted from further quarantine).
17.1. All travellers should immediately inform the area Medical Officer of Health (MOH) by telephone or email, soon after their arrival to residence / home.
17.2. Fully vaccinated foreigners (including Valid Resident Visa Holders) should immediately inform the area MOH by telephone or email soon after their arrival to residence / home / hotel. Foreigners could get the assistance of the hotel management / travel agents to find the contact details of area MOH. Sri Lanka Tourism should inform the details of Tourists arriving via Sri Lanka Tourism to area Medical Officer of Health.
17.3. Fully vaccinated travellers arriving in Sri Lanka with a negative PCR test obtained within 72 hours prior to departure followed by On Arrival (Day One) PCR report shall not be further quarantined at home / residence / hotel.
17.4. The discharge document issued by the Quarantine Hotel / Centre / Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel should be submitted to the area MOH upon request.
17.5. If febrile or display COVID – 19 like symptoms, should inform immediately to area MOH.
18. Seafares or Maritime Security Officers (Sea marshals) arriving via airports Fully vaccinated Sri Lankan seafarers arriving via airports.
18.1. Fully Vaccinated Sri Lankan seafarers arriving via airports should undergo quarantine in an Isolation Centre (used to quarantine seafarers) / Quarantine Hotel / Government Quarantine Centre / Safe & Secure Certified Level One Hotel until On Arrival PCR testing is done and the negative PCR report is available.
18.2. No further quarantine is necessary for “Fully Vaccinated” seafarers if the On Arrival PCR test report is negative.
18.3. After verifying the status of vaccination and if completed recommended doses of vaccination, In charge officer of the Isolation Cetre (used to quarantine seafarers)/ Quarantine Holel / Governnment Quarantine Centre should issue a “Discharge Document” and email the details to the Epidemiology Unit ( chepid@sltnet.lk and samithag@hotmail.com) of the Ministry of Health.
18.4. All seafarers should immediately inform the area MOH by telephone or email soon after their arrival to residence / home
19. Travel restricted countries Travellers with a travel history ( including transit ) in the past 14 days to India, South American countries ( 14 countries ) and South African countries ( South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe ) please refer to the directive issued by the Ministry of Health on 15th July 2021 for travel guidelines and approval procedures for travel to Sri Lanka.
Airlines are hereby instructed to strictly adhere to the above.
This guideline will be revised depending on the COVID-19 situation in the country or the global situation
