Courtesy BBC

India is reeling under a severe second wave of Covid-19 and many states are struggling to cope with the rising numbers. Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, is among the worst affected in the country and its people are suffering even as authorities insist the situation is under control, reports the BBC’s Geeta Pandey.

Kanwal Jeet Singh’s 58-year-old father Niranjan Pal Singh died on Friday in an ambulance while being ferried from one hospital to another. They had been turned away by four hospitals for a lack of beds.

“It was a heart-wrenching day for me,” he told me on the phone from his home in Kanpur city. “I believe if he had received treatment on time, he would have lived. But no-one helped us, the police, the health authorities or the government.”

With a total of 851,620 infections and 9,830 deaths since the pandemic began last year, Uttar Pradesh had not done too badly during the first wave that ravaged many other states. But the second wave has brought it to the brink.

Authorities say the situation is under control. But disturbing images of overcrowded testing centres, hospitals turning away patients and funeral pyres burning round the clock at cremation grounds in the state capital, Lucknow, and other major cities such as Varanasi, Kanpur and Allahabad have made national headlines.

With 240 million people, Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state. Home to every sixth Indian, if it was a separate country, it would be the fifth largest by population in the world, just behind China, India, US and Indonesia – and bigger than Pakistan and Brazil.

The state is also politically India’s most important – it sends the largest number of MPs – 80 – to parliament, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, although from another state, contests from here. However, this political influence has brought it little development.

The state has 191,000 active cases at the moment and thousands of new infections are being reported daily – though numbers are believed to be much higher – and this has put the state’s creaky health infrastructure firmly in the spotlight.

Among the sick are the state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, several of his cabinet colleagues, dozens of government officials and hundreds of doctors, nurses and other health workers.

Over the past few days, I have spoken to dozens of people from across the state, and heard grim stories.

Videos shared by a local journalist in Kanpur show a sick man lying on the ground in the parking lot of the government-run Lala Lajpat Rai hospital. A little distance away, an elderly man sits on a bench. They are both positive for Covid, but the hospital has no beds to accommodate them.

Outside the government-run Kanshiram hospital, a young woman wept as she said that two hospitals had refused to admit her sick mother.

“They’re saying they have run out of beds. If you don’t have a bed, put her on the floor, but at least give her some treatment. There are lots of patients like her. I’ve seen several people like me being turned away.

“The chief minister says there are adequate beds, please show me where they are. Please treat my mother,” she said, sobbing inconsolably.

‘No-one came’

The situation in the capital, Lucknow, is equally dire.

Sushil Kumar Srivastava was photographed sitting in his car, strapped to an oxygen cylinder while his desperate family drove him from one hospital to another. By the time they found a bed for him, it was too late.

When I called his son Ashish, he said he was too devastated to talk. “You know what’s happened. I’m in no condition to talk,” he said, his voice breaking.

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Retired judge Ramesh Chandra’s handwritten note in Hindi, requesting help after the authorities failed to remove his wife’s body from their home, was shared by hundreds of people on social media.

“My wife and I are both corona positive. Since yesterday morning, I called the government helpline numbers at least 50 times, but no-one came to deliver any medicines or take us to hospital.

“Because of the administration’s laxity,” he wrote, “my wife died this morning.”

Personally, it’s come as no surprise to me that the state is struggling to deal with the coronavirus pandemic as it wreaks havoc on its people.

For years, I have despaired at the poor medical facilities in the state – it’s where my ancestral village is located and I know the struggles of finding a doctor or an ambulance even in normal times.

With a raging pandemic, the struggles have become harder.

In the holy city of Varanasi, which is also PM Modi’s constituency, long-time resident Vimal Kapoor, whose 70-year-old mother Nirmala Kapoor died from Covid in a hospital last Thursday, described the situation as “bhayavah” – frightening.

“I have seen too many people dying in ambulances. Hospitals are turning away patients because there are no beds, chemists have run out of essential Covid drugs, and oxygen is in short supply.”

Mr Kapoor said when he took his mother’s body to the cremation ground, he encountered a “lashon ka dher” – a pile of bodies. The cost of wood for the pyre has gone up three times and the wait for a spot for cremation has risen from 15-20 minutes to five-six hours.

“I have never seen anything like that before. Wherever you look, you see ambulances and bodies,” he said.

Stories of deaths and families devastated by Covid-19 abound as infections continue to gallop – on Sunday, the state recorded 30,596 new cases, it’s highest-ever single-day tally.

Even that, activists and opposition politicians say, does not give a true picture of the infection’s spread. They accuse the state of keeping its case and death count low by not testing enough and not including data from private laboratories.

And there seems merit in their claim. Many people I spoke to said either they had failed to get tested or their positive results had not been uploaded on the state government site. From Lucknow, 62-year-old Ajay Singh sent me his wife’s positive test report which finds no mention in the state records.

And neither Mr Singh who died in Kanpur, nor Mrs Kapoor’s mother who perished in Varanasi, were included in the state’s tally of pandemic casualties – their death certificates did not mention coronavirus as the cause of death.

Indian media has also questioned the government data – with reports of a mismatch between the official number of deaths and the bodies at crematoriums in Lucknow and Varanasi.

Anshuman Rai, director of Heritage Hospitals – a private group that runs medical collages and hospitals in the state – describes the situation as “extraordinary”.

“The reason why services are cracking is because too many health workers, including doctors, nurses, ward boys and lab technicians are falling sick.

“At a time when we should be working 200%, we are not even able to do 100% because the health sector is totally manpower dependent.”

Critics, however, blame the state and the federal government for failing to anticipate the second wave.

They say there was a lull between September and February when the health services and infrastructure could have been augmented, the state could have created oxygen banks and stocked up on medicines, but they squandered the opportunity.

And with the virus spreading rapidly, things are unlikely to get better anytime soon.

Charts and data analysis by Shadab Nazmi

Soutik Biswas  India correspondent Courtesy BBC

In early March, India’s health minister Harsh Vardhan declared the country was “in the endgame” of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Vardhan also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership as an “example to the world in international co-operation”. From January onwards, India had begun shipping doses to foreign countries as part of its much-vaunted “vaccine diplomacy”.

Mr Vardhan’s unbridled optimism was based on a sharp drop in reported infections. Since a peak of more than 93,000 cases per day on average in mid-September, infections had steadily declined. By mid-February, India was counting an average of 11,000 cases a day. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths from the disease had slid to below 100.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-56771766

The euphoria at beating the virus had been building since late last year. Politicians, policy makers and parts of the media believed that India was truly out of the woods. In December, central bank officials announced that India was “bending the Covid infection curve”. There was evidence, they said, in poetic terms, that the economy was “breaking out amidst winter’s lengthening shadows towards a place in sunlight”. Mr Modi was called a “vaccine guru”.

At the end of February, India’s election authorities announced key elections in five states where 186 million people were eligible to vote for 824 seats. Beginning 27 March, the polls would stretch over a month, and in the case of the state of West Bengal, be held in eight phases. Campaigning had begun in full swing, with no safety protocols and social distancing. In mid-March, the cricket board allowed more than 130,000 fans, mostly unmasked, to watch two international cricket games between India and England at the Narendra Modi stadium in Gujarat.

In less than a month, things began to unravel. India was in the grips of a devastating second wave of the virus and cities were facing fresh lockdowns. By mid-April, the country was averaging more than 100,000 cases a day. On Sunday, India recorded more than 270,000 cases and over 1,600 deaths, both new single-day records. If the runway infection was not checked, India could be recording more than 2,300 deaths every day by first week of June, according to a report by The Lancet Covid-19 Commission.

India is in now in the grips of a public health emergency. Social media feeds are full with videos of Covid funerals at crowded cemeteries, wailing relatives of the dead outside hospitals, long queues of ambulances carrying gasping patients, mortuaries overflowing with the dead, and patients, sometimes two to a bed, in corridors and lobbies of hospitals. There are frantic calls for help for beds, medicines, oxygen, essential drugs and tests. Drugs are being sold on the black market, and test results are taking days. “They didn’t tell me for three hours that my child is dead,” a dazed mother says in one video, sitting outside an ICU. Wails of another person outside the intensive care punctuate the silences.

Even India’s mammoth vaccination effort was now struggling. In the beginning, the rollout had been embroiled in a controversy over the efficacy over a home-grown candidate. Even as the country ramped up the drive and administered more than 100 million doses by last week, vaccine shortages were being reported. Serum Institute of India, the country’s – and the world’s – biggest vaccine maker said it would not be able to ramp up supplies before June because it didn’t have enough money to expand capacity. India placed a temporary hold on all exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, because the doses were needed urgently at home, and allowed imports of foreign vaccines. Even oxygen was likely to be imported now to meet the surge in demand.

Meanwhile, almost in a parallel universe, away from the death and despair, the world’s richest cricket tournament was being played behind closed doors every evening, and tens of thousands of people were following their leaders to election rallies and attending the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela. “It is beyond surreal, what is happening,” Shiv Visvanathan, a sociology professor, told me.

Experts believe the government appears to have completely dropped the ball on the second wave of infections that was about to hit India.

In mid-February, Tabassum Barnagarwala, a journalist with the Indian Express newspaper, flagged a seven-fold rise in new cases in parts of Maharashtra and reported that samples from the infected had been sent for genome sequencing to look for imported variants.

By the end of the month, the BBC reported the surge and asked whether India was facing a new Covid wave. “We really don’t know what the cause of the surge is. What is worrying is that entire families are getting infected. This is a completely new trend,” Dr Shyamsunder Nikam, civil surgeon of an affected district in Maharashtra, said at the time.

Experts now say that crowing about India’s exceptionalism in “beating” the epidemic – younger population, native immunity, a largely rural population – and declaring victory on the virus turned out to be cruelly premature. “As is typical in India, official arrogance, hyper-nationalism, populism and an ample dose of bureaucratic incompetence have combined to create a crisis,” said Mihir Sharma, a columnist for Bloomberg.

India’s second wave was fuelled by people letting their guard down, attending weddings and social gatherings, and by mixed messaging from the government, allowing political rallies and religious gatherings. With infections declining, fewer people were taking the jabs, slowing down the vaccination drive, which had aimed to inoculate 250 million people by the end of July. In mid-February, Bhramar Mukherjee, a biostatistician at the University of Michigan, tweeted that India needed to “accelerate the vaccination drive while the case counts are low”. Nobody quite took notice.

“There was a feeling of triumphalism,” said K Srinath Reddy, the president of the Public Health Foundation of India. “Some felt we had achieved herd immunity. Everyone wanted to get back to work. This narrative fell on many receptive ears, and the few voices of caution were not heeded to,” he said.

A second wave may have been inevitable, but India could have “postponed or delayed it and lessened its impact,” said Gautam Menon, a professor of physics and biology. Like many other countries, India should have begun careful genomic surveillance in January to detect variants, Mr Menon said. Some of these variants could be driving the surge. “We learnt of new variants in February from reports from Maharashtra. This was initially denied by authorities,” Mr Menon added. “This was a significant turning point.”

What are the lessons of this public health crisis? For one, India should learn not to declare victory over the virus prematurely, and it should put a lid on triumphalism. People should also learn to adapt to short, local lockdowns in the event of the inevitable future spikes of infection. Most epidemiologists predict more waves, given that India is evidently still far away from reaching herd immunity and its vaccination rate remains slow.

“We cant freeze human life,” Professor Reddy said. “If we can’t physically distance in the crowded cities, we can at least make sure everyone wears a proper mask. And wear it properly. That’s not a big ask.”

Courtesy BBC

India will be added to the government’s travel-ban red list from Friday 23 April.

It came after Boris Johnson cancelled his planned trip to the country because of the Covid situation there.

India has been reporting more than 200,000 cases daily since 15 April.

But Pakistan and Bangladesh have both been on the red list since 9 April.

What is the red list?

The red list is the government’s list of 40 countries from which there are strict restrictions on travel to England.

Northern Ireland has similar rules in place, while Scotland’s are stricter and Wales does not currently have international flights arriving.

The rules are designed to protect the UK from new variants of Covid, against which existing vaccines may be less effective.

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Travel to England is banned for anyone who has been in one of the countries in the past 10 days, except for UK citizens and residents, who have to isolate on arrival at government-approved hotels for 10 days.

What are the criteria for going on the red list?

The decision is based on Joint Biosecurity Centre risk assessments, which include:

• how good a country’s testing structures are, including checking for variants of concern
• how many cases those systems have identified
• whether people in that country have been catching new variants at home or the cases have come from overseas
• evidence of whether that country has exported cases of new variants to other countries, including to the UK
• how good the country’s travel links with the UK are

The first point on the list is important, because the genome sequencing needed to identify new variants is very sophisticated and relatively rare.

But just because a country has found new variants, or has many cases of coronavirus, it will not necessarily be on the red list.

On 13 April, the World Health Organization identified:

• 82 countries where the variant identified in South Africa had been found, of which only 21 were on the red list
• 52 countries with the variant identified in Brazil, of which 14 were on the red list

Why were Pakistan and Bangladesh put on the red list before India?

Bangladesh, which had the South Africa but not the Brazil variant, and Pakistan, which had neither, were added to the red list on 9 April.

But India, which had both as well as a new variant, was not added for another two weeks.

On 9 April:

• Pakistan had a seven-day average of 21 cases per million people
• Bangladesh had twice as many
• India had four times as many

In late March, India’s health authority said 771 variants of concern had been detected in a sample of almost 11,000 positive cases – a fraction of the millions of cases recorded in the country.

India has a greater sequencing ability than Pakistan or Bangladesh, although it is far behind the UK, which does about half of the world’s sequencing.

We asked the government why India wasn’t added before. Its response did not directly answer the question but said the red list was kept “under constant review”.

“Nobody knows the full criteria – but there may be a political element because the UK wants a trade deal with India,” Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology, at the University of Reading, said.

“It’s not always a data-driven decision,” he added, giving the example of Somalia, which is on the red list but has one of the lowest official rates of infection and deaths in the world.

The Civil Aviation Authority said that in February 2021, 50,000 passengers travelled between India and the UK, which is an average of just under 900 a day in each direction.

How many cases of the new India variant have been found?

Announcing the decision on India, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government had now found 103 cases of this new variant in the UK.

He said: “the vast majority have links to international travel and have been picked up by our testing at the border”.

The samples are now being analysed to see whether this variant spreads quicker or whether it has resistance to vaccines.

The UK’s former chief scientific adviser Prof Mark Walport told the BBC that the new variant found in India was becoming the dominant variant and said: “what’s absolutely clear is that this variant is more transmissible in India”.

On adding India to the red list from Friday 23 April, he said: “These decisions are almost inevitably taken a bit too late in truth.”

Courtesy BBC

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton is calling the verdict a moment of “sunlight”.

“Today we can wipe our tears away and fight on for another day,” he just told a news conference.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-56721011

“We don’t find pleasure in this,” he said. “We don’t celebrate a man going to jail. We would rather have George Floyd still here.”

Leading a group of civil rights leaders in prayer, Sharpton recalled other black victims at the hands of white police officers and noted the funeral of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, fatally shot by police just last week, is just two days away.

He said the verdict was proof that “if we don’t give up, we can win some rounds” and the fight will keep going until major police reform is passed at the federal level.

“The fight is not over.”

Times of India

NEW DELHI: The highly infectious Covid mutant causing a mass ..

Sri Lanka is learnt to have indefinitely postponed commencem ..

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/82159371.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Courtesy Nikkei Asia

Yearlong talks yield $500m loan thought to carry ‘geopolitical conditions’

Signs advertise Colombo Port City: The development is said to give Beijing sweeping powers to oversee projects for the financial hub worth $1.4 billion. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)MUNZA MUSHTAQ, Contributing WriterApril 20, 2021 16:42 JST

COLOMBO — China appears to be tightening its strategic grip on Sri Lanka, wooing the debt-ridden South Asian nation with a fresh $500 million loan as Colombo wrestles with a deepening economic crisis.

In March, Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves dropped to $4.05 billion, their lowest in over a decade, with tourism plummeting following the onset of COVID-19. Public coffers also took a massive hit as export earnings and foreign remittances dropped drastically due to the pandemic. The dwindling foreign reserves also caused the currency to plunge to 203 Sri Lankan rupees to the dollar, a record low.

The island’s tightening financial straits, however, eased a bit last week after China Development Bank extended a loan of $500 million, the second tranche of a $1 billion bailout Colombo sought from Beijing last year as the coronavirus struck. The latest loan comes just weeks after China approved a $1.5 billion currency swap with Sri Lanka.

Negotiations for the second tranche took a year. According to Sri Lanka’s Secretary to the Treasury S. R. Attygalle, the signing of a memorandum of understanding was delayed because the pandemic prevented the two countries leaders from meeting to ink the deal. Sri Lankan Finance Ministry officials, however, attributed the delay to “intense” negotiations.

Although the loan agreement looks straightforward on paper, with a maturity period of 10 years and a grace period of three years, China appears to have obtained informal assurances from Colombo that it will drop any plans to renegotiate the 99-year lease of Port of Hambantota, and that it will fast-track controversial legislation thought to give sweeping powers to China to oversee Colombo Port City, a $1.4 billion “financial hub” to be built on an artificial island off the coast of Sri Lanka’s largest city.

Analysts believe the agreement for the second tranche may also have been delayed by a downgrade by all three big ratings agencies of Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt, and discussions over possible collateral for the loan. However, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to China, Palitha Kohona, maintained there was no discussion of collateral in the talks.

Just days after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected in 2019, he told an Indian journalist that the lease of the Hambantota Port for 99 years, a deal made by the previous administration under President Maithripala Sirisena, was a mistake and that he would renegotiate it.

But Kohona, who last week signed the $500 million loan agreement on behalf of Colombo, told Nikkei Asia that the Hambantota Port deal is a commercial deal, however ill advised, entered into by the previous administration, adding, “Any adjustment will need to take this and other politico-economic factors into account.”

“This type of bilateral assistance is not dictated by economic conditions but by geopolitical conditions,” the former deputy governor of central bank, W.A. Wijewardena, told Nikkei. “Seeking support from China is not an unusual move by the country. But given the magnitude of the problem — it must meet an external debt obligation of $8 billion within the next 12 months with a dwindled foreign reserve — this assistance is just a drop in the sea.”

Sergi Lanau, deputy chief economist of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, said that continuing to borrow from abroad is not a bad option if done in moderation as part of a plan to reduce overall vulnerability. In such a scenario, he recommends that Sri Lanka work with the International Monetary Fund. “Economic policy adjustments are needed in a world where issuing bonds and attracting tourists is much harder. Agreeing on a policy plan with the IMF gives confidence to investors and other official creditors, and makes it easier to borrow at reasonable cost,” he told Nikkei.

But Ambassador Kohona insisted that it was always a struggle to seek assistance from multilateral lenders, given their propensity to toe the line set by Western donors. “But, China does not impose such conditions for financial assistance,” he said.

Frontline Socialist Party members hold up placards during a protest against the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill in front of the Supreme Court in Colombo on April 19.   © Getty Images

As the government tried to fast-track passage of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill in parliament, at least 19 petitions were filed with the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the bill. Petitioners included opposition political parties, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Transparency International and several other civil organizations. They claim the Port City Commission set up by the bill is detrimental to Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Luo Chong, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, stressed that Port City is crucial for Sri Lanka, calling it an important project to attract foreign investment. “We are waiting for parliament to pass the bill. I don’t know about the agenda of certain political parties and NGOs, which are also saying the Port City will be a Chinese colony, but this is a domestic issue and we are not concerned about it,” he told Nikkei.

Chong said that when special economic zones were set up in other parts of the world, including Singapore and Dubai, there were no such issues. He said that anyone can invest in Port City, and that the company handling the project has already signed more than a dozen memorandums of understanding with companies from China, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the U.K. and ASEAN countries.

Courtesy The News

LAHORE: A 14-member delegation comprising senior Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka arrived in the provincial metropolis Monday to undertake a week-long religious pilgrimage to various Buddhist heritage sites in the country.

The Buddhist monks started their journey with a visit of the Lahore Museum which houses some of the finest remains of the Gandhara civilization and rare Buddhist relics including the ‘Fasting Buddha’ and ‘Sikri Stupa’ dating back to the 2 BC.

The visit has been arranged by the High Commission of Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a view to promote religious tourism in Pakistan by showcasing historic city and warm hospitality of the host nation.

Pakistan is home to the ancient Buddhist civilization which has remained hidden from the eye of the world over the years. The senior Buddhist delegation is led by venerated Dr Walpole Piyananda (Abbot and president, Dharmavijaya Buddhist Vihara, USA) and will visit Islamabad, Taxila, Shahbaz Garhi, Takht-e-Bhai and Jehanabad (Swat) besides two-day visit to Lahore.

The Buddhist delegation will also hold meetings with the officials of the ministry of religious affairs and interfaith harmony and meet with President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during their visit to the federal Capital.

Courtesy Adaderana

India supports the call of international community for the Sri Lankan government to fulfill its commitments on devolution of political authority including through early holding of elections to provincial councils, according to S. Jaishankar, India’s External Affairs Minister.

This also covers the commitment of ensuring that all the provincial councils are able to operate effectively in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Dr. Jaishankar has stated in his letter sent recently to the AIADMK’s Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) M. Thambi Durai.

The Minister’s reply was in the context of the AIADMK leader raising the Sri Lankan Tamil issue in the Rajya Sabha last month in the context of a resolution adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Pointing out that the position of India was conveyed during the deliberations on the motion at the Council, Dr. Jaishankar said the country voted in abstention at the UNHRC but it made a strong statement” as Explanation of Vote, stressing our abiding commitment to aspirations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka for equality, justice, peace and dignity.” It had also urged the Sri Lankan government to carry forward the process of reconciliation, address the aspirations of the Tamil community and continue to engage constructively with the international community.”

During the consideration of the resolution at the Council on reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, he said India had remained closely in touch” with all countries and made a statement at the interactive debate on February 25, outlining its position.

Assuring Mr. Thambi Durai that all efforts are being made to ensure that the safety and interests of Tamils in Sri Lanka are fully safeguarded,” the Minister said the country attaches high importance” to the matter.

Source: The Hindu
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka confirmed 05 new COVID-related fatalities today (April 20) as the death toll from the pandemic climbed to 625, says the Department of Government Information.

Details of the victims are as follows:

01. An 85-year-old woman from Mattakkuliya area: She was tested positive for novel coronavirus while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital and was later transferred to Mulleriyawa Base Hospital where she died on April 16. The cause of death was recorded as heart attacks and blood poisoning along with COVID infection.

02. A 67-year-old woman from Panadura area: She had been under medical care at a private hospital in Colombo when she was confirmed to be coronavirus-positive. She was subsequently moved to the Mulleriyawa Base Hospital where she passed away on April 17. She died of COVID pneumonia, acute kidney damages, breathing difficulties, hypertension and diabetes.

03. A 66-year-old man from Ratnapura area: He was moved to the Homagama Base Hospital after testing positive for novel coronavirus at the Ratnapura Teaching Hospital. He died on April 19 due to COVID pneumonia, diabetes and high lipid levels in blood.

04. A 59-year-old man from Jaffna: He died on April 19 while receiving treatment at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. The cause of death was cited as complicated COVID pneumonia with bacteria infection and multiple organ failure.

05. A 90-year-old woman from Horana. She has passed away at her home on April 17. COVID infection was recorded as the cause of death.

Courtesy Adaderana

Ministry of Health on Tuesday (April 20) confirmed 85 new cases of the COVID-19 in Sri Lanka as the daily cases count reached 345.

Meanwhile, the country’s recoveries count is at 93,547 while 3,305 active cases are receiving treatment at selected hospitals across the island.

Sri Lanka has so far witnessed a total of 620 deaths due to the pandemic.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet of Ministers have approved the drafting of legislation to protect against the spreading of false and misleading statements through the internet.

The government says that the spread of false information on the internet poses a serious threat and is seen as being used to divide society, to spread hatred and to weaken democratic institutions.” 

Various countries have already taken steps to legislate in order to address this problem, it said. 

The government said that steps should be taken to provide access to accurate information to citizens and civil society by introducing a new law to protect society from the harm caused by false propaganda on the internet. 

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers have granted the approval for the resolution tabled by the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Mass Media to advice the Legal Draftsman to draft a bill for the relevant issue.

Press Release Veemansa Initiative

Veemansa Initiative, an independent think tank recently held a Webinar on the proposed Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill and related subjects.

Based on the deliberations at the webinar and the follow-up analysis, it was evident that the Colombo Port City Project, a 100% foreign investment venture plans to attract a diverse group of secondary investors.

A prime target of the project is the financial sector in order to project Sri Lanka as an internationally competitive Financial Centre.

In this regard, the establishment of regional headquarters of international banking giants and other financial sector enterprises is expected to be realized in the initial stages.

Further consideration based on the presentations at the Webinar, it was evident that Sri Lankas existing rules and regulations, including anti-money laundering regulations and monitoring mechanism, is well equipped to counter any possibilities of money laundering or any other illegal transaction.  Sri Lanka’s Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing the Terrorism regime comprises of three pieces of legislation.

A. Convention of the suppression of terrorist finance Act

b. Prevention of money laundering Act of 2006

In order to provide and monitor financial transactions, a Financial Intelligent Unit was established in 2006 under the Ministry of Finance and Planning. This unit currently functions as an independent institution within the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The overall objective of this unit is to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and related crime scenes in Sri Lanka in line with international standards and best practices. It is observed that with such stringent regulations and implementing framework, the Colombo port city will never become a money-laundering centre.

If any such potential exists in Colombo, it should be equally applicable to Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

During the follow-up discussions, it was noted that Chinese Special Economic Zones, even with substantial liberalization of the financial transactions have successfully managed to prevent money laundering or related activities.

Discussions at the Webinar also highlighted the generation of foreign exchange earnings and new employment opportunities for highly skilled manpower.

According to the presentations of the government, taking into consideration the emerging demand for such human resources, reforms in the education sector has been proposed.

Professor Bo Chen was focusing on the potential for developing the Colombo Port City with state-of-the-art technologies to make it a smarter and greener city. In this regard, the emergence of new business and employment opportunities are envisaged.

Veemansa Initiative plans to conduct further discussions and analysis on the implementation of Colombo Port City in the months and years to come.

For more information: –  Luxman Siriwardene, Managing Director – Veemansa Initiative (0773660520)

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Ceylon Today

Colombo, April 19:  A five-Judge Supreme Court Bench will take up the petitions filed against the Port City Commission Bill today (April 19) and the verdict is likely to end the controversy over the Bill and open the path for the Government to take required steps to modify the Bill if the Supreme Court rules that any of its clauses contravenes the Constitution.

The Court will also decide if the Bill could be passed by a simple majority or a two-thirds majority in Parliament or further approval at a national referendum and/or approval by Provincial Councils is required. 

The early passage of the Colombo Port City Commission Bill governing a reclaimed extension to the capital’s central business district is vital for the economy as it would pave the way to sell 20 plots of land bringing about 5 billion US dollars of investment to Sri Lanka.

The Bill, titled Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill, was tabled in Parliament last week, outlining proposed laws for the US$ 1.4 billion-Port City being built on reclaimed land at Colombo’s seafront.

Three opposition parties, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the (JVP) and the UNP, a foreign funded NGO and some labour organizations have challenged the constitutional validity of the proposed legislation.

SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said that while his party wants the Port City project to succeed, for its potential to catalyze fin-tech and high-end knowledge services-driven growth in the country, a solid legal framework is essential. He pointed out that for this long-term project to succeed it must be consistent with the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government took effective steps to expedite the Port City project, which would attract US$ 15 billion in investments, and emerge a leading business, retail, residential and tourist destination in South Asia. A joint venture with the State and China Harbour Engineering Company has readied 100 hectares of land ready for construction. In the next five year strategic plan, 20 plots in a total of 60 hectares of land adjacent to Colombo’s central business district have been identified for pilot projects.

Extensive powers

The Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill envisages giving extensive powers to approve investments without going to the Board of Investment, give tax breaks and regulate businesses in the most far-reaching ‘one-stop-shop’ designed so far. It is expected to address several problems in Sri Lanka’s ease of doing business indicators that had kept back foreign direct investments.

A spokesman for CHEC Port City Colombo (the joint venture) said that 40 out of 74 buildable plots of land are allocated for commercial development which will bring investments and business activities while 34 plots are for residential use. Out of 269 hectares reclaimed, China Harbour will get 113 hectares; 91 ha will be common areas vested in the Government and the balance 60 odd hectares are land the Government can sell and earn revenue from.

In designing the Port City plan, significant emphasis was given to creating a vibrant business hub, because of its extension to the existing central business district of Colombo.

It is no secret that Sri Lanka’s current economic growth would not be sufficient to drive demand. Therefore, businesses had to be attracted to Phase One to drive activity. Sri Lanka is primarily seeking foreign investments through dollar inflows, but domestic businesses would also be allowed to buy land to gain a foothold within the Port City.

Land sales will initially drive construction activity and later commercial activity as businesses take up floor space. Residential land sales will begin after the business plots are sold, CHEC spokesman said.

The Port City will also be protected from the liquidity injections and policy errors of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka that lead to frequent currency crises and exchange controls by being ‘dollarized’ with multiple currencies. The law envisages an offshore financial center as well as other business activities.

Hospitality and tourism

International trade, logistics operations, hospitality and tourism are considered natural strengths of Sri Lanka. The Colombo Port City has identified ICT/ BPM, offshore banking, private equity, wealth management and investment banking as priority sectors, the spokesman stated.

However, all these plans can commence only after the legal aspects are cleared in accordance with the Supreme Court decision on the petition. Then the Port City Bill, as it is or with amendments, if any, could be proceeded with.

Chinese Defense Minister’s Visit

Sri Lankan leaders will get another important opportunity to discuss investment possibilities from China during the forthcoming visit of China’s Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe later this month. Although the talks would focus on defense cooperation, the visit of the Minister will provide a forum for bilateral discussions on trade, investment and other areas of cooperation as this would be the highest level visits undertaken by a Chinese Government official since the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Government was sworn in power in November 2019.

Top level exchanges between China and Sri Lanka will take place in the near future as President Rajapaksa is likely to pay his long-awaited visit to China. Earlier this month, President Rajapaksa, during a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, confirmed that he would undertake a formal visit as soon as travel restrictions ease due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These high-level visits would be of immense value for attracting investments to the Colombo Port City Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which is expected to create a conducive and competitive environment in attracting FDIs.

Urban Development via SEZs is not unique to Sri Lanka and there are many successful SEZs in the world. SEZ’s have been a useful tool for developing nations to upgrade infrastructure, human capital and institutional frameworks and test out policies and their impact before they are selectively implemented outside the SEZ in the rest of the country.

Tax relief

Taking lessons from successful SEZs, Sri Lanka too decided to offer relief from various forms of taxation on businesses and individuals who qualify. The Port City SEZ offers superior infrastructure; has streamlined administrative processes that would result in ease of doing business.

By Raj Gonsalkorale

The burqa ban announcement caused a stir among Muslims, who saw it as yet another attack on their community. In the past few months, the government has undertaken a number of controversial measures under the banner of fighting extremism, which have increasingly intimidated the Muslim population and disregarded rule of law principles – Farzana Haniffa, Head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Colombo writing in the Al Jazeera on the 12 Apr 2021

The Justice and the Law Society (JATL) of the University of Queensland is a vital organisation within the TC Beirne School of Law. An active society with diverse membership, JATL performs an important role in promoting awareness of social justice issues in the law. In a well-researched and informative article titled Debate on the Burqa” (http://www.jatl.org/blog/2014/10/19/debate-on-the-burqa), the multiple facets associated with the origins and contemporary debate on the Burqa is  examined in detail. It is strongly recommended that this article is read in full by anyone interested in the debate surrounding Burqa. The following passage summarises the contemporary ethos surrounding a dress that has caused so much controversy, as well as a misunderstanding of the origins and the religious reasoning behind the Burqa.

The article says, quote Reflecting on practices across the Muslim world, it is apparent that Muslim women’s dress clearly comes with political, religious and cultural messages that an observer can decode. Dress can be seen to align the wearer with a Salafi (fundamentalist/literalist) or with a modernist interpretation of Islam. It can signify a political direction either in support of, or against, secularism, or Islamisation, or Western cultural dominance through colonisation, or globalisation. It also can reflect a cultural identity and tradition.

In Afghanistan, a woman wears the light hues of the burqa and secludes herself (purdah) to demonstrate her and her family’s honour and respect for social order. On the Arabian Peninsula she wears a black Abaya as a reflection of Salafi traditonalism, which generally restricts her movements in public non-segregated spaces. In conservative Wahhabi-informed Saudi Arabia all women, Muslim or non-Muslim are required by law to wear an Abaya in public places with religious police (muttawa) employed to enforce it. In Malaysia, she wears the vibrant colours of traditional baju kurung with tudong and is not constrained by notions of purdah as Malay women have for centuries worked with and alongside men.

However, these identifications are not static. For example, the spread of Salafi Islam from Saudi Arabia to Southeast Asia has meant that some Malaysian women who want to show their identification with that world‑view now don black Abaya and Niqab. Wearers of face coverings also believe it brings them closer to God and personifies their piety, spirituality and the highest possible personal level of modesty.

Conversely, there are reports of young Iranian women testing the boundaries of compulsory chador dress code by adopting tighter fitting clothing and minimal or loose headscarves. In democratic Muslim Indonesia, what Muslim women wear is at the forefront of religious and legislative debate both nationally and particularly in the provinces which now have the legislative power to set and enforce their own dress codes and morality programs” unquote.

The following passage in the above quoted excerpt is relevant in examining the impact of the Burqa in Sri Lanka. the spread of Salafi Islam from Saudi Arabia to Southeast Asia has meant that some Malaysian women who want to show their identification with that world‑view now don black Abaya and Niqab”. It can be argued that the spread of Salafi Islam from Saudi Arabia has indeed influenced Sri Lankan Muslims as well considering that the extent of self- expression and the linking of a dress towards Islamic piety and modesty has grown and taken hold in parts of Sri Lanka perhaps in the last few decades more than ever before. Fifty years or so ago, this statement by Muslim women, in some instances on their own accord, but arguably at the dictates of men in many other cases, was not so apparent to many who lived in Sri Lanka then.

Salafism is explained well by Jonathan A C Brown in an article on Salafism published in the Oxford Bibiliographies (https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0070.xml). Brown states in the introduction, quote News reports often mention the Wahhabi movement” or Wahhabi Islam” without providing any context. This controversial modern Islamic movement actually represents part of a larger phenomenon in Islamic thought: Salafism.

The Salaf are the pious forbearers of Islam, usually understood as the first three generations of the Muslim community (as opposed to the Khalaf, or the later generations). The Arabic adjective Salafi and the English noun Salafism taken from it are complex terms that refer to a trend in Islamic thought that places particular emphasis on a return to the piety and principles of the Salaf as the only correct understanding of Islam.

Although all Muslim scholars look to the Salaf as role models, the majority believe that the institutions and historical developments that scholars have accepted within thought and practice over the centuries represent legitimate expressions of Islam. Establishing and adhering to schools of law (madhhab), adopting the Near Eastern traditions of Greek logic and speculative theology, and the emergence of Sufi brotherhoods were all accepted by mainstream Sunni and Shiʿite scholars.

The Salafi strain in Islamic thought, however, has questioned the authority and legitimacy of these developments, preferring to emphasize of role of hadith and the literal ways of the Salaf over such historical adoptions. Although this conservative and iconoclastic trend has always existed in Islamic thought, it is most commonly identified with two periods: the burgeoning of classical Salafism with the 14th-century scholar Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), and the Salafism of the 18th-century movements of revival and reform.

This early modern incarnation of Salafism in turn gave birth to two trends in Salafism that have flourished until today. Despite their common use of the term Salafi, these two modern movements are in fact very different, and they will be referred to here as modernist Salafism and traditionalist Salafism. Both classical Salafism and modern Salafism have clashed with the mainstream of Islamic thought, which will be referred to, for the sake of convenience, as Sunni or Shiʿite orthodoxy. Due to its controversial nature, writings on Salafism often feature heavy biases that need to be taken into consideration. Furthermore, there is scholarly disagreement over whether the term Salafism really represents a unified phenomenon; that is, is the Salafism” of Ibn Taymiyya really the Salafism of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) or Muhammad ʿAbduh (d. 1905)”, unquote.

Those who take the view that there is Muslim extremism” in Sri Lanka and the Burqa is associated with such extremism, should take note of Brown’s statement, done with considerable research, that Salafism is a movement towards what some Islamic scholars believe as the trend in Islamic thought that places particular emphasis on a return to the piety and principles of the Salaf as the only correct understanding of Islam.

Whether this is so or not is really a matter for Muslims and something that should be discussed and debated, understood or rejected by Muslims themselves. Salafism, or for that matter, any other branch of the Islam faith or any segment of any other religion, could be called extremist should they take the view that non-believers or non-adherents have no place in society and therefore should be sidelined or eliminated through coercion or violence. But, a movement that takes the view that they represent the real piety and principles of Islam, cannot be called an extremist movement for this reason.

Extremism, whether it is Islamic, Christian or Buddhist is taken as a deviation from an assumed or imaginary norm” that these religions teach or their founders pronounced. These norms are highly interpretable as there no direct recordings of what the founders of these religions said in order for present day generations to understand what the norm is or might have been.

What many Buddhists appear to believe and practice today can be described at best as ritualistic, and not consistent with the teachings of Buddha. Rituals are cultural practices and not practices desired, encouraged or dictated by Buddha, but they cannot be called extremist practices. In Sri Lanka, there is a movement that believes Prince Siddhartha Gautama was a Sri Lankan and not an Indian and he became Buddha in Sri Lanka. Could one call this movement or those steeped in ritualism extremist? Misguided perhaps, but not extremist.

In this context, determining or defining what religious extremism means is difficult, and it will mean different things to different people.

In an ideal world where logic, and internal, universal, human characteristics like love and compassion to one self and others, rather than a belief in an external divinity for one’s presence, actions and reactions, it would have been easier to desist from any form of self-defined extremism.

Life amongst human beings is far more complex, and therefore a universally accepted understanding of what religious extremism is also very complex.

Perhaps one could approach religious extremism from a different point of view. Whatever the professed religion of a human being is, and whatever they understand and believe as the teaching of that religion is, all human beings live in a society, large or small, more diverse or less diverse, and of all hues and colours, political beliefs and cultural practices. Each such society will be at peace within it and with others, if the constituents of that society maintains a balance or an equilibrium within it, and which can only come about if the constituents accept that there has to be compromise with each other in recognition of the diversity of opinion, beliefs, and practices within that society. Diversity within a society is a healthy sign if that diversity is viewed from a broader societal point of view rather than only as an advancement of individual practices of one segment within it. 

Besides this, if each constituent is able to consider the point of view of another from that other constituent’s perspective, it would greatly help to ease tensions that arise within a society. It would also help if people belonging to different faiths could ponder for a moment how the founders of their faiths would look at today’s practices by their followers and how close or distant they are from the founder’s teachings. The founders may find that interpretations of their teachings and cultural edifices that have been built on such interpretations have taken over the essence of their teachings.

In Sri Lanka, it is perhaps time that the constituents of all religious faiths examined the premise of diversity with mutual regard and respect for that diversity, but, whether individual segments within the Sri Lankan society have looked at only their religious practices without consideration of how others may view such practices. 

The Burqa and Salafism too should be looked at in this context. People of all religious faiths should be able to coexist with each other in the Sri Lankan society that has as little turbulence a possible. Words, action and behaviour that encourages turbulence should be questioned by the very people who create that turbulence. This applies to people of all faiths, and it would mean some compromises being made, not on the principles of the faiths, but the practices of the faiths, as increasingly, the growth of practices that does not seem consistent with the principles of different faiths appears to be on the rise. 

Courtesy The Daily News

Sri Lankan rupee has further appreciated to Rs.191.97 against the US Dollar when compared with the previous selling rate of Rs 201.28.

The buying rate of a rupee stood at Rs. 187.93 against the US Dollar

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The most sneering, contemptuous opposition to SWRD came from the English speaking elite drawn from all communities. SWRD was scorned for changing his religion to Buddhism, getting into national dress, hobnobbing with his social inferiors and supporting a low level, backward, indigenous language, Sinhala which should be trampled into oblivion.  

SWRD Bandaranaike faced much ridicule during his short period as Prime Minister.  No politician has ever had so bad a press in any part of the world as Bandaranaike said DB Dhanapala  No other leader had such a hostile press like Bandaranaike, agreed analysts.

SWRD was lampooned and criticised. He was pictured as a weak-kneed political opportunist,  which he was not. He was consistently maligned and libeled this side of the law, Dhanapala said. The English press was the most vitriolic. The Lake House and Times groups targeted SWRD relentlessly. The only exception was Lankadipa, also owned by Times.

The English press also ridiculed the 1956 government. Lake House led the campaign. Lake House had clout. Lake House sneered at any state venture and wanted to sow discord in the MEP, said Meegama.

It was not difficult to mock the 1956 Government. Bandaranaike was pushed to and fro by the various forces he had courted at one time or other. This provided fine copy for the journalists.

His erratic and zigzagging rule was reviewed weekly in the popular column “Island in the sun’ in the Sunday Observer.  It was written by the editor, Tarzie Vittachi under the pseudonym, Flybynight,  with cartoons by Collette. People used to eagerly await the delivery of the Sunday Observer to read the Flybynight columns and view the cartoons by Collette. Collette drew cartoons that ridiculed Bandaranaike.  Sales of Sunday Observer rocketed. These pieces were later published as ‘Trials of transition in the Island in the Sun’.

SWRD was called Electric Eel in this series. His efforts to improve the country were sneered at. The Electric Eel has not ever taken a decision from strength, only from weakness, said Flybynight. The Electric Eel used to say that island was going through a period of transition. This was his alibi for everything, his government corruption, incompetence, and cowardliness, continued Flybynight.

Lake House was also against Philip. From the start Lake House was against Philip.  They set up him as a sinister figure, said Meegama. The Lake House group was clever at manipulating persons, but they found Philip difficult to manipulate.

Flybynight called Philip the Black Panther. He was the fiercest of the pack in the island in the sun, said Flybynight. The Black Panther is the most formidable obstacle we have to our achieving mastery of this island, he said.  Philip’s wife, Kusuma Gunawardene was described as a sort of Gas House Gertie, ‘a rough and roistering termagant.’

Black Panther said he  would have several pits dug all over the country and he would put into them the bones of all the animals he or his tribe has killed anyone could take the bones gnaw them and return them to the pits, went on Flybynight.

The animals in the island in the sun are fed up with the Black Panther’s policy of violence, hatred against the weaker group of animals. They were now yearning for a breathing space in which peace and sanity can return once more to their accustomed haunts, concluded Flybynight.

The pair responsible for the Island in the Sun series in the Observer did not benefit from their work. Tarzie left Sri Lanka suddenly in 1960. He said Sydney de Zoysa had it in for him and his children had been threatened. Collette drew the newly widowed Sirimavo pregnant and in bed with NM Perera. Collette left the country when Sirimavo was elected Prime Minister in 1960.

This criticism of the MEP group, starting with SWRD and Philip, was not a spontaneous activity. This was a part of a carefully developed modus operandi to bring disrepute on the MEP government, to help bring the MEP government down and return the country to its pro-US stance.

There was also another strategy, which commenced in 1956 and continued to this day, the tactic of character assassination though slander. Bandaranaike’s sexual orientation was commented on. I recall hearing this quietly said in the 1950s. There was no evidence to support it, and the motive was clearly malicious.

The other politician singled out for attack, was T.B.Ilangaratne (1913- 1992) who was Minister for Labour, Housing and Social services in the MEP government .He brought in several progressive items of legislation. He introduced the Labor Tribunal act no 62 of 1957. He had been a clerk in the Kandy Kachcheri before starting his political career.

Ilangaratne was accused of owning hotels in Switzerland. This was carefully planted propaganda by UNP. A UNP stalwart told me later that this was carefully planted propaganda,” said a contributor  writing to Sunday Times.( Sunday Times 9.11.14 p 12).

They developed a story.  A Sri Lankan who had gone to Zurich had seen in the lobby of the hotel where he had stayed a big portrait of Ilangaratne on the wall. And was told that was the portrait of the owner of the hotel. Ilangaratne had no account in the Swiss bank, no hotels in Sweden with or without his photograph as claimed maliciously by the then opposition and interested media, said Daily News in 2015.

It was also said that he had built a palatial house in Gampola. A commission of inquiry went to see the house and found half built house belonging to another. Ilangaratne was exonerated of all charges. I found that he had lived in a modest house in the interior of High Level road close to Nugegoda.  He was reported to have lived mainly on the royalties of his books, said GaminiGunawardena. (Continued)

Dr Wasantha Bandara

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF)

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) together with VISA Inc are conducting a series of discussions on promoting digitalization and financial inclusion in Sri Lanka. The PF, a non – partisan research and advocacy think tank is known to play a catalytic role in research and analysis aimed at contributing to economic policy reforms in Sri Lanka. In this endeavor, over the years, the Foundation has established a wide and effective network of academics, experts, senior government officials and policy – makers to promote economic reform in the country.

VISA Inc, along with its partners, have been working towards promoting digitalization and financial inclusion in the country. Their objective is to work towards introducing new technologies like contactless payments in Sri Lanka. However, the current pandemic has brought to the fore some key issues as well as opportunities and VISA would like to utilize this to create awareness and support digitalization in sectors, which are still heavily reliant on cash. VISA believes that areas such as MSME, Transit and Tourism will play a critical role in determining the recovery of Sri Lankan economy.

This initiative is spearheaded by Mr. Rajendra Theagarajah, Senior Visiting Fellow, Pathfinder Foundation and renowned banker, who, with his 36 years of experience in banking, both locally and internationally, is a veteran in the financial services sector.

Together the Pathfinder Foundation and VISA will conduct discussions with key stakeholders from industry, government, regulatory and think tanks in areas such as Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME & SMEs); AgriTech and FinTech and Tourism.  The workshops would investigate opportunities for Lankan businesses to develop themselves into strong sustainable enterprises playing their intended role in contributing to real economic growth in Sri Lanka.

The final output of the discussion series will be a Roadmap summarizing the problems facing the sector, possible solutions, role of the policy makers and role for private sector and MSME/SMEs, AgriTech & FinTech and Tourism.

The Roadmap will be presented to key government officials. The findings unlike many forums will not lament on subsidies and need for more protection but will examine the real ‘pain points’, highlight past successes stories that have overcome hurdles even during extreme domestic downturns so that a positive message of ‘can do’ rather than ‘why cannot do’ will be presented.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

සිංහල දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුද්දෙන් පසුව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යය මණ්ඩල කාර්යාල කටයුතු ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අද (19) දින පෙරවරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී ආරම්භ විය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මෙහි දී සිය කාර්යය මණ්ඩලයේ නිලධාරීන් ඇතුළු සියලුම සාමාජිකයන්ට අලුත් අවුරුදු සුභාශිංසන එක් කළේය.

කාර්යය මණ්ඩල සමාජිකයන් ද අලුත් අවුරුද්දේ වැඩ ආරම්භ කිරීමට පෙර අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ ආශිර්වාදය ලබා ගැනීම විශේෂත්වයකි.

ප්‍රවාහන අමාත්‍ය ගාමිණි ලොකුගේ, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ගාමිණී සෙනරත්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ මහත්වරු ඇතුළු අතිරේක ලේකම්වරුන්,ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ සහකාර ලේකම්වරුන්  ඇතුළු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යය මණ්ඩලයේ සමාජිකයෝ සහ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට අයත් අමාත්‍යාංශවල පෞද්ගලික කාර්යය මණ්ඩලයන් ද මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ ප්‍රමුඛ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ පක්ෂ නායක හමුව ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන්  අද (19) දින පෙරවරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

මියගිය පක්ෂ නායකයින් සහ රණවිරුවන් සිහි කිරිමෙන් අනතුරුව එළැඹෙන මැයි පළමු වන දිනට යෙදෙන කම්කරු දිනය සැමරීම පිලිබඳව මෙහි දී  සාකච්ඡා විය.

කොරෝනා වසංගත තත්ත්වය හේතුවෙන් මැයි දින පෙළපාලි නොපවත්වා සෞඛ්‍ය මාර්ගෝපදේශ අනුව මැයි දින රැලිය පමණක් පැවැත්වීම පිලිබඳව මෙහි දී පක්ෂ නායකයිගේ අවධානය යොමු වීම විශේෂත්වයකි.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන, ජනාධිපති කාර්යය සාධක බලකායේ සභාපති බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ, අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ජී. එල්. පීරිස්,දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහත්වරු ඇතුලු ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පොදුජන සන්ධානයේ පක්ෂ නායකයින් රැසක් සහභාගී වූහ.

සාකච්ඡා කලේ වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ත් කියන්නේ කවුද ? දේශපාලකයෙක්ද නැතිනම් සෝෂල් ඇක්ටිවිස්ට් කෙනෙක්ද ? 

“මම සෝෂල් ඇක්ටිවිස්ට් කෙනෙක් දේශපාලන අරමුණක් සහිතව. මම විශ්වාස කරනවා අපි හැමෝම දේශපාලනය කල යුතුයි කියලා. නැතිනම් සිදුවන්නේ  ප්ලේටෝ කී පරිදි අඥාණ පාදඩයන් ගේ පාළනයට අපිව නතු වෙනවා. ඒ නිසා අපි ඔක්කොම දේශපාලනය විඤාණයක් ඇති කර ගත යුතුයි. ඒ වගේම දේශපාලනය කල යුතුයි.”

2) ඔබ ලංකාවේ සාම්ප්‍රදායක දේශපාලකයන්ට වඩා වෙනස්. ලංකාවේ සාම්ප්‍රදායක දේශපාලකයා විස්තීර්ණ ලෙස කිසිම දෙයක් කියවලා නෑ. ඔවුන් තුල ගැඹුරු දැණුමක් නෑ. තමන් ගේ කතා වලින් ඔවුන් බුද්ධි කළඹනයක් කරන්නේ නෑ. නමුත් ඔබ මැල්කම් එක්ස් පිලිබඳව , ජෙෆර්සන් පිලිබඳව ආදී ලෙස කියවලා තියනවා. මේ වගේ කියවීමක් ලංකාවේ දේශපාලනය කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍යද ?

“මම හිතනවා එය අනිවාර්‍යයි කියලා. දැන් ඉන්න තරුණ පරපුර අයි.ටී දැණුමෙන් සන්නධයි. ඔවුන් දැණුම සොයාගෙන යනවා, කියවනවා. ඒ නිසා දේශපාලකයෙක් මෝඩ කතාවක් කියූ විගසම ඔහුව සති ගනනක් ෆේස් බුක් එකෙන් බයිට් කරනවා. මේක හොඳ ලක්‍ෂණයක්. මේක ජනතාව තුල පැතිරිලා ගියොත් දේශපාලකයන්ට අවශ්‍ය විදියට ජනතාව මුලා කිරීමට හැකි වෙන්නේ නෑ.”

3) අරුන් ඔබ කිව්වා ඔබගේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය තිබ්බේ ජනතාව අතර කියලා ; 

“ඔව් මම සාම්ප්‍රදායික ඉගෙනීම ඔස්සේ ගියේ නැහැ. මම යුරෝපයේ බොහෝ රටවලට ගියා. මිනිසුන් අතර සමාජ අතර ජීවත් උනා. ඔවුන් ගෙන් බොහෝ දේවල් ඉගෙන ගත්තා. ඒ දැණුම අත්දැකීම් තමයි මම භාවිතා කරන්නේ”

4) උතුරේ ජීවත් වන කාලයේ ඔබට එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එකෙන් බලපෑම් තිබ්බද ?

මම ඉපදුනේ 1978. එතකොට උතුරේ ගැටුම් ආරම්භ වෙන කාලේ. ඉන්දීය සාම හමුදාව එනකොට මම හිටියේ යාපනයේ. එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එකේ සාමාජිකයන්මා ව බඳවාගන්න  කර ගන්න උත්සහ කලා. මම අනෙක් අය වගේ නෙවෙයි ප්‍රශ්න අහනවා. වරක් මම ප්‍රශ්න කලා  එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එක විසින් සභාරත්නම් , උමා මහේෂ්වරන් වගේ සංවාදයට විවෘත වූ සටන්කාමීන් මරා දැම්මේ ඇයි කියලා. මේ නිසා මාව බඳවා ගන්න ආපු එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ ප්‍රාදේශීය නායකයාට තරහා ගියා. ඔවුන් මට එල්ලලා පහර දෙන්න උත්සහ කරන කොට මගේ ඥාතියෙක් මැදිහත් වෙලා තමයි මාව බේර ගන්නේ.

5) ඔබ වරක් කියනවා ප්‍රභාකරන් අමු මෝඩයෙක් කියලා ? 

“ඔව් මම කිව්වා ප්‍රභාකරන් අමු මෝඩයෙක් කියලා. හිටපු සටන්කාමීන් වන සභාරත්නම් , උමා මහේෂ්වරන් වගේ පුද්ගලයන් අතර සිටි නූගත්ම , කිසිම විශන් එක නොතිබුනු පුද්ගලයා තමයි ප්‍රභාකරන්. ඉන්දියාවේ රෝ ඔත්තු සේවය උමා මහේෂ්වරන්ට කියනවා සිංහල ගම්මාන වලට පහර දීලා සිවිල් වැසියන් මරන්න කියලා. නමුත් උමා මහේෂ්වරන් ඒක ප්‍රතික්ශේප කරනවා. ඒ නිසා ඉන්දියාවේ රෝ එක උමා මහේෂ්වරන්ව අත ඇරලා ප්‍රභාකරන්ව ඉහලට ගන්නවා. ප්‍රභාකරන් කියන පරක්කුවට ඩොලර් ෆාම් , කෙන්ට් ෆාම් වලට ගහලා සිංහල සිවිල් වැසියන් මරා දමනවා. රෝ එක දුබළයා ප්‍රබලයා කලා ” 

“ප්‍රභාකරන් එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ සාමාජිකයන් අතර මුග්ධභාවය නඩත්තු කලා. ඔවුන්ට කිසිම බාහිර දැණුමක් දුන්නේ නෑ. වරක් සාම කාලෙදී මම වන්නියට ගියා. එහිදී එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එකේ දේශපාලන අංශයේ  ප්‍රාදේශීය නායිකාවක් මගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කලා ” ඔබ එන්නේ කොහේ ඉඳන් ද ? ” මම කිව්වා මම එන්නේ මොස්කව් ඉඳන් කියලා. එතකොට මේ එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එකේ දේශපාලන අංශයේ  ප්‍රාදේශීය නායිකාව මගෙන් අහනවා මොස්කව් තියෙන්නේ කොලඹ කොහේද කියලා? මේ විප්ලවවාදී ගරිල්ලා කණ්ඩායමක දේශපාලන අංශයේ  ප්‍රාදේශීය නායිකාවක ගේ දේශපාලන භූගෝලීය දැණුම. මේ නිසා තමයි එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එකේ සාමාජිකයන් ප්‍රභාකරන්ව අන්ධ විදියට පුදමින් විනාශය කරා ගියේ.”

6) යුද්ධයෙන් පසු උතුරේ තත්වය කොහොමද ?  : 

“උතුර කියන්නේ යුද කම්පනයට විශාල ලෙස භාජනය වූ ප්‍රදේශයක්. බොහෝ ප්‍රශ්න තියනවා. යුද්දයෙන් පසු මේ ප්‍රදේශයේ ආර්ථික , මනෝ සමාජීය ප්‍රශ්න වලට විසඳුම් දීමට පරිණත නායකත්වයක් ආවේ නෑ. ආවේ විග්නේශ්වරන් වගේ ජාතිවාදය අවුස්සලා එදාට සර්වයිව් වෙන පුද්ගලයෙක්. ඔහු කරන්නේ කාගේ හෝ න්‍යාය පත්‍රයක් අනුව උතුරේ සහ දකුනේ ජාතිවාදීන් අවුස්සවලා ප්‍රශ්න යටපත් කරගෙන සිටීම. අපි මේ වගේ ව්‍යාජයන් ප්‍රශ්න කරනවා. ඒ නිසා තමයි අපගේ හඞ යටපත් කරන්නට ඔවුන් උත්සහ කරන්නේ”

7) ඉදිරි කාලයේ ඔබගේ වැඩ කටයුතු මොනවාද ? 

“ඉදිරි කාලයේදීත් අපි අපේ දේශපාලන වැඩ සටහන් කරගෙන යනවා. ජනතාව දැණුවත් කරවනවා. ඒ වගේ ම ඉදිරි කාලයේ මගේ අදහස් අත්දැකීම් අළලා පොතක් ලිවීමටත් අදහස් කරගෙන ඉන්නවා”

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

බෞද්ධ ජනරජය තුළ ජනතාවගේ විධායක බලය” ක්‍රියාත්මක කරවීමට පමණක් බහුපක්‍ෂ ක්‍රමය.යොදාගන්නා බව මෙයට පෙර ලිපිවලින් පැහැදිළි කළෙමු. ඒ අනුව, ජනරජයේ විධායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා තෝරා පත් කරගැනීමට සහ සියළු කෝරළ සභාවල සභාපතිවරුන් තෝරා පත් කරගැනීමට බහුපක්‍ෂ ක්‍රමය යොදා ගැනෙයි. ජනරජයේ ආණ්ඩුවේ පාලනය මෙහෙයවීම සහ ඒ පාලනය පිළිබඳ විධානය භාර කෙරෙනුයේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ප්‍රමුඛ ජාතික විධායක සභාව” විසිනි.

විෂයානුබද්ධ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයෙන් සහ දිස්ත්‍රික් නායක මණ්ඩලයෙන් ජාතික විධායක සභාව සමන්විත වෙයි. මේ අනුව විෂයානුබද්ධ ජනතා නියෝජනයකින් සහ භූමිය මත පදනම් වූ ජනතා නියෝජනයකින් ජාතික විධායක සභාව සැකසෙයි.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් විෂයානුබද්ධ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයට සාමාජිකයන් තෝරා පත්කර ගනුයේ ඒ ඒ අමාත්‍යංශය පාලනය කිරීමට ස්ථාපිත කරනු ලබන පාලක සභාවලිනි. ඒ ඒ අමාත්‍යංශයට අනුබද්ධ ආයතනවලින් තේරි පත්වෙන ආයතනික සහ වෘත්තීය නියෝජියන්ගෙන් ද ජනාධිපතිවරණයට නාමයෝජනා භාරදෙන විට අපේක්‍ෂකයන් විසින් ඒ ඒ අමාත්‍යංශ සභාවට නම්කිරීම සඳහා යෝජනා කරනු ලබන්නන් අතුරින් ජයග්‍රාහි පාර්ශ්වයේ නියෝජිතයන්ගෙන් ද අමාත්‍යංශ පාලක සභා සැකසෙයි. එ ලෙස අමාත්‍යංශ පාලක සභාවලට පත්වෙන ආයතනික, වෘත්තීය නියෝජිතයන් සහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් පත්කරනු ලබන අය අතුරින් විෂයානුබද්ධ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයට සාමාජිකයන් තෝරා ගැනෙයි. මෙය විධායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා හට තම අභිමතය පරිදි කළ හැකි කාර්යයකි.

ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා නාමයෝජනා භාරදෙන අවස්ථාවේ දී ම ඒ ඒ අමාත්‍යංශ පාලක සභාව සඳහා පත්කිරීමට අපේක්‍ෂා කරන සාමාජිකයන් කවුරුන් ද යන වග ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමට නියම කිරීමෙන් එම තේරීම ද ජනතාවගේ අනුමැතියට ලක්වෙයි. එක් එක් අමාත්‍යංශ පාලක සභාව සාමාජිකයන් තිදෙනා බැගින් යෝජනා කරන ලෙස අපේක්‍ෂකයන් හට නියම කළ හැකිය. මෙම පිළිවෙත අනුව, ජනතාවගේ විශ්වාසය දිනාගත හැකි සාමාජිකයන් තිදෙනකු බැගින් සෑම අමාත්‍යංශ පාලක සභාවකට ම නම් කළ හැකි අපේක්‍ෂකයන් පමණක් ජනාධිපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වනු ඇත්තේ ය.

කෝරළ සභා සඳහා සභාපතිවරුන් තෝරා පත් කරගන්නේ ද ජනාධිපතිවරණයත් සමඟ ම පැවැත්වෙන මැතිවරණයක දී ය. මෙ ලෙස තේරී පත්වන කෝරළ සභා සභාපතිවරුන් අතරින් දිස්ත්‍රික් නායක මණ්ඩලයට සාමාජිකයන් තෝරා ගැනෙයි. ජනාධිපතිවරයාට තම අභිමතය පරිදි මෙම තෝරාගැනීම කළ හැකි ය.

මෙ ලෙස තෝරා පත් කරගන්නා සාමාජිකයන්ගෙන් සැකැසෙන ජාතික විධායක සභාව විෂයානුබද්ධ සහ භෞමික යන අංශ දෙකෙන් සමන්විත වෙයි. මේ අනුව ඒ ඒ විෂයය ගැන සහ භූමිය ගැන දැනුමක් ඇති අය සමඟ එක් වී ආණ්ඩුවේ පාලනය සහ ඒ පාලනය පිළිබඳ විධානය මෙහෙයවීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයාට හැකිවෙයි. තව ද මෙම අරමුණ සාක්‍ෂාත් කරගැනීම උදෙසා විෂයානුබද්ධ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය සහ දිස්ත්‍රික් නායක මණ්ඩලය වෙන වෙනම ද සහ අවශ්‍ය විටෙක ඒකාබද්ධව ද රැස්කිරීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයාට හැකිය.

බහුපක්‍ෂ ක්‍රමය අනුව තේරී පත්වන ජනතා නියෝජිතයන් (කෝරළ සභා සභාපතිවරුන්) මෙවැනි වාතාවරණයක් තුළ ආණ්ඩු පක්‍ෂය සහ විපක්‍ෂය නියෝජනය කරන්නේ කෙ ලෙසින් ද? රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාව” ස්ථාපිත කරනුයේ ඒ වෙනුවෙනි. සියළු කෝරළ සභා සභාපතිවරුන්ගේ නියෝජනයෙන් රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාව” සැකසෙයි. ආණ්ඩු පක්‍ෂය සහ විපක්‍ෂය සමන්විත වනුයේ එම නියෝජිතයන්ගෙනි.

කලින් ලිපිවලින් පැහැදිළි කළ ආකාරයට රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාව” යනු ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාව” නොවේ. රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාව යනු හුදෙක් ම විධායක කටයුතුවලට සහායවීමට සහ විධායකයේ යම් වරදක් වේ නම් ඒ පිළිබඳ විවේචන ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ඒවා නිවැරැදි කිරීමට මැදිහත් වන ආයතනයකි. රාජ්‍ය අයවැය සම්මත කිරීම, දෝෂාභියෝග සහ විශ්වාසභංග යෝජනා ගෙන ඒම වැනි කටයුතු ද එයට පැවරෙයි. දිස්ත්‍රික් නායක මණ්ඩලය නියෝජනය කරන්නේ ද කෝරළ සභා සභාපතිවරුන් විසින් බැවින් ඔවුහු ද රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාව නියෝජනය කරති. අවශ්‍යතාව අනුව විෂයානුබද්ධ ඇමැතිවරුන් තම අභිමුඛයට කැඳවීම ද රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාවට කළ හැකිය.

මේ අනුව බෞද්ධ ජනරජයේ විධායකය තුළ ඒකාධිපති තත්ත්වයක් නිර්මාණය වීම වැළැක්විය හැකි වෙයි. තව ද, මේ තුළින් විධායකය සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය පැහැදිළිව ම වෙන් කිරීමට අවස්ථාව ලැබෙයි. විධායකය හා සම්බන්ධ ආයතනවලට (එනම් ජනාධිපති ධුරයට, අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයට, දිස්ත්‍රික් නායක මණ්ඩලයට, රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රණ සභාවට සහ කෝරළ සභා සභාපති ධුරවලට) විධායක හැකියාව ඇති අයට පත්විය හැකි ය.

ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාව” සඳහා තේරිපත් වන අය ඒ සඳහා සුදුස්සන් විය යුතුය. ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදන හැකියාවක් නැති අය එම කාර්යයට පත්කිරීම නොකළ යුත්තකි. මෙය කළ හැක්කේ ඒ සඳහා ම වන විධිමත් වැඩපිළිවෙළක් අනුගමනය කිරීමෙනි. මෙම ලිපි මාලාවේ ඊ ළඟ ලිපියෙන් යෝජනා කරන්නේ එවැනි විශේෂිත වැඩපිළිවෙළක් මාර්ගයෙන් ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාව” ස්ථාපිත කරනු ලබන ආකාරය ගැනයි.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

Courtesy The Hindustan Times

The heroin consignment seized by the NCB has a street value of ₹340 crore in India, and ₹1,750 crore in the international market, an official of the federal drug enforcement agency said.By Shishir Gupta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday seized nearly 340 kg of heroin from a Sri Lankan shipping boat and arrested five people for drug trafficking in Kochi, people familiar with the matter said.

Initial interrogation of the five men has led the NCB to believe that the Sri Lankan boat had picked up the drug consignment from a red-coloured Iranian boat. The NCB hasn’t clarified the intended destination of the drug consignment.

Officials said the Indian naval ship Suvarna intercepted the Lankan boat DU Shashila” in the high seas of the Indian Ocean on suspicion of drug trafficking and brought the boat to Kochi’s Mattancherry Wharf for an extensive search by the NCB.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris says that the proposed Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill is consistent with the Constitution. Prof. Peiris, who is also the Education Minister, insists the Bill received the sanction of the Attorney General.

Prof. Peiris explained to the media the circumstances under which the incumbent government had initiated the proposed Bill. He did so having briefed Ven. Dr. Ittapane Dhammalankara Thera as regards the current political developments, at the Sri Dharmaloka Maha Viharaya, Rukmale, Pannipitiya, on Saturday (17).

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently presented the Colombo Port City EC Bill to the Cabinet of ministers. The 76-page Bill provides for the establishment of an EC authorised to grant registrations, licences, authorisations, and other approvals to carry on businesses and other activities in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to be established within the Colombo Port City.

Responding to government member Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse’s bombshell accusations that the proposed Bill when enacted in parliament would transform newly reclaimed land adjacent to the Galle Face Green to sovereign Chinese territory, Prof. Peiris emphasized the responsibility on the part of the President in respect of the implementation of the project. Declaring that even an amendment couldn’t be moved without specific approval of the President, Prof. Peiris said all reports pertaining to financial matters, too, should be submitted to the President.

The former law professor also challenged those opposed to the proposed Bill claiming that the police and the military would be excluded from performing duties in the reclaimed land. One-time External Affairs Minister insisted that the police and the military enjoyed the right to exercise powers in terms of the country’s law in case of violations.

The minister said that the government was keen to create an environment conducive for foreign direct investment. However, those who now decried the Colombo Port City EC Bill conveniently forgot the formation of the ‘Greater Colombo Economic Commission’ (GCEC) under a new draconian Bill introduced by the then President J.R. Jayewardene.

Prof. Peiris said unlike JRJ’s Bill, the one proposed by the incumbent government adhered to the Constitution hence the approval from the Attorney General.

Prof. Peiris alleged that the JRJ’s Act paved the way for GCEC to take decisions pertaining to newly formed Export processing Zones (EPZ) and basically conduct its affairs outside the purview of the parliament. Claiming that those who exercised the required powers could transfer funds to and from accounts and anyone violating the secrecy faced jail terms, Prof. Peiris stressed that even the judiciary couldn’t intervene in some matters pertaining to this particular Act introduced in 1978.

According to Prof. Peiris, in 1992, the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa further strengthened the law by depriving the public an opportunity to obtain a restraining order from a court in respect of the all-powerful Commission.

Prof. Peiris accused the UNP and its breakaway faction, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and other interested parties of propagating lies against the project as part of their overall political strategy. The minister acknowledged that the UNP was among those who moved the Supreme Court against the proposed Bill.

Since former Justice Minister Rajapakse strongly condemned the proposed Bill at a hastily arranged media briefing at Abayaramaya under the auspices of Ven Muruththettuwe Ananda thera, several Ministers and State Ministers, Keheliya Ranbukwelle, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Namal Rajapaksa, Ajith Nivard Cabraal responded to their colleague on behalf of the government.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court will begin hearing the petitions today (19).

Among those who filed cases against the proposed Bill were President of the Bar Association Saliya Pieris, PC, former lawmaker Wasantha Samarasinghe on behalf of the JVP, civil society activists, Gamini Viyangoda and K.W. Janaranjana on behalf of Purawesi  Balaya and the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA).

Viyangoda questioned the government’s motive in depriving the public ample time and space to challenge the constitutionality of the Bill.

Purawesi Balaya spokesperson said that the disputed Bill had been placed on the Order Paper of Parliament on the 8th of April 2021, at a time when the sittings of the Supreme Court were suspended for the vacation. In terms of the Constitution any citizen seeking to challenge a Bill on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the Constitution has to do so within one week of being placed on the Order Paper of Parliament, which in this instance is the 15 th of April 2021. The petitioner said between the 8 th April 2021 and 15 th April 2021, there were the weekend and three public holidays intervening, thereby giving any citizen seeking to challenge the Bill, only two working days to obtain legal advice and representation.

Those who complained bitterly over urgent Bills exercised the same strategy as regards the controversial Bill, the civil society activist said. Responding to another query, Viyangoda said that if the government was confident the Bill didn’t violate the Constitution, it could have been properly discussed at their parliamentary group meeting before being presented to the cabinet of ministers.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

කොළඹ වරාය නගරය ඉදිකිරීම තුළින් රටට විශාල ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් අත්කරගත හැකි බව මහාචාර්ය පූජ්‍ය මැදගොඩ අභයතිස්ස හිමියන්පවසනවා.

වරාය නගරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජාතික විද්වත් භික්ෂු සංසදය අද කැඳවා තිබූ ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී උන්වහන්සේ මේ බව සදහන් කළා.

Courtesy Adaderana

His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, today requested the public to observe two minutes’ silence at 8.45 a.m. on April 21 as a mark of respect for the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings. 

Sri Lanka on Wednesday marks two years since the devastating Easter Sunday attacks, which killed over 250 in bombings at three churches and three luxury hotels.

Cardinal Ranjith stated that they decided to request all communities in the country to observe 2 minutes’ silence as the first blast had occurred at 8.45 a.m. on the morning of April 21, 2019 at the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade.

He said that the Catholic churches in the country will be observing the 2 minutes’ silence and that all Catholics in Sri Lanka have also been requested to do the same.

We are requesting all the people in the country, especially the religious leaders, to join us in observing two minutes of silence by considering this as a national issue,” he said.

He said that all Catholic churches in the island have been asked to ring bells at 8:45 a.m. and observe two minutes of silence before once again ringing the bells. Afterwards candles or oil lamps will be lit in remembrance of the victims of the Easter attacks followed by various religious observances. 

The Archbishop said that he will be participating in the main service at the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade along with several other religious leaders, diplomats and dignitaries. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed two more COVID-19 related deaths increasing Sri Lanka’s death toll due to the virus pandemic to 620.

01. 58-year-old female from Mahawa who had been transferred from Galgamuwa Hospital Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital after being identified as Covid-19 positive. She had passed away on April 17 while the cause of death is mentioned as Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome due to COVID Pneumonia.

02. 84-year-old male from Marassana. He had been transferred from Kandy National Hospital to Teldeniya Base Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 and had passed away on April 19. The cause of death is mentioned as Severe
COVID Pneumonia in the background of Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Dyslipidaemia and Heart Failure.

Courtesy Adaderana

The National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) reports that another 87 persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Sri Lanka.

This brings the tally of fresh cases reported so far today to 291.

Meanwhile the total number of COVID-19 cases identified in Sri Lanka thus far has increased to 97,087.

3,111 of them are still under medical care while total recoveries stands at 93,374.

Courtesy Adaderana

Attorney General Dappula de Livera has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Trial-at-Bar granting bail to the Bond Scam suspects, the Coordinating Officer of the Attorney General State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said.

On April 01, former Minister Ravi Karunanayake and seven suspects who were accused in another bond scam case were granted bail by the Trial-at-Bar consisting of Judges Amal Ranaraja, Namal Balalle, and Aditya Patabendige.

On March 17, 2021, the eight suspects had been placed under remand custody over accusations of criminal misappropriation of bonds valued at Rs. 15 billion during the Central Bank’s treasury bond auction held between March 29 and March 31, 2016.

They were released on cash bails of Rs 01 million and two sureties of Rs 10 million each.

The bench also imposed a foreign travel ban on the accused.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Education Professor G.L. Peiris announced that a decision has been taken to reopen all universities in Sri Lanka on April 27 (Tuesday).

Addressing a press briefing in Colombo today, he said that the universities will be reopened for academic activities while strictly following health guidelines.

However, he said that due to an issue existing with regard to reopening hostels, only third year and fourth year students will be brought in at the start. 

Classes for first year and second year students are expected to commence afterwards, the minister said, adding that all necessary arrangements required to conduct university examinations have been organized by the University Grants Commission (UGC).