By Frances Bulathsinghala/ Sunday Observer

Colombo, January 10: We are in a new year, nurturing hope for nation and mankind that the Covid-19 health crisis will pass away from our midst. However, judging by reports that there is yet another more virulent strain going around originated from Britain, rationality tells us that it remains a case of each nation to handle this continuing situation. We also hear of a brain eating amoeba spreading through water in the US which poses deadlier threats. The world may have to face even worse predicaments than coronavirus and the level of preparedness for these scenarios lies in each country maximizing its medical expertise, old or new, to fit the need of the hour.

Immunity

In Sri Lanka, although we followed the same process as the example laid by the Western world, wearing masks and shutting down locations on the detection of even one Covid-19 patient, it is clear that Sri Lankans as a whole are significantly immune to the virus. Many are largely asymptomatic. So why are we so resistant to it when the Western world, the purported hub of Western medical science and ‘development’ is brought to its knees?

The answer could be that although our Allopathic (Western medicine) driven health system has moved us away from much of our local wellbeing practices, such as the administering of the natural immunity boosting Ratha Kalkaya for infants practiced through our Deshiya Chikitsa Sinhala Wedakama, the Lankan ‘thuna paha’ infused traditional diet despite being threatened by the globalised food industry and chemical agriculture, still exists in our midst at least to a basic level which could be the key sustainer of our physical resistance to the virus.

The global media being driven by one particular ideology, we do not hear anything on possible counter narratives from different parts of the world to what is popularly peddled on this virus which Western medical science, is still trying to figure out. Thailand and several countries in Africa are promoting traditional medicine as a last resort for the Covid-19 pandemic.

A respected Allopathic Western medical expert, Dr. Roger Hodkinson, a senior general pathologist certified in 1976 by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada has been under flak for calling the Covid-19 pandemic a ‘hoax’ in his address to the Edmenton City Council in November 2020.

There is utterly unfounded public hysteria driven by the media and politicians. It’s outrageous. This is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public,” Hodkinson told the Council, opining that face masks and distancing were useless because aerosols; hosts of invisible microscopic droplets emitted through breathing already get to the air. Hodkinson proposed to treat Covid-19 as a mere bad flu season. While his medical expertise and stature has been acknowledged by fellow medical critics, he has received significant backlash from those  who debunk these statements.

The purpose of using this example, is merely for intellectual pursuit of analysis and does not necessarily mean a justifying of this doctor’s views. Because diversity in Covid-19 narratives doesn’t exist, we will not know multifarious information, especially on immunity that we would like to explore, including knowing ‘medically’ why less vaccinated people, such as us are, resistant to the virus as opposed to distinctly over-vaccinated Westerners.

Chemical agriculture

We do not take flu vaccines every winter season as they do in Europe – such a thought would surely bring a smile to plantation employees who work outdoors, often without warm clothing in the blistering cold of Nuwara Eliya without the luxury of hot baths but never need ‘flu shots.’ Although Sri Lanka has been threatened by chemical agriculture introduced through the green revolution and has lost its authentic traditional diet which would surpass many food cultures in terms of nutrition, it is still in stark contrast to the poisonous fast food pandemic of the West.

What we should understand is that although we have tragically copied to perfection the West and their ‘progress’ if we reflect, shedding all our colonialisation, neo-colonisation and neo-imperialism infused baggage, our pragmatic mind would echo the wisdom of our indigenous knowledge priorities which were always centered around the health of the nation and the health of all living beings which included the soil and the trees. Chemical agriculture if introduced to our ancient ancestors would have been surely looked upon as a cruel abnormality that only fosters sickness.

The likes of Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay, would be indeed overjoyed to see how well colonial machinations have worked. Macaulay was a British politician who had abysmal contempt for ancient knowledge of the people of the Indian subcontinent and funded amply the mission of educating Indians on the Western models of knowledge, and placed on the Minute on Education drafted in 1835 the despicable and ignorant opinion of his that, A single shelf of a good European library is worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia,” as an argument to bulldoze out the respect for ancient knowledge, such as Ayurveda and replace it with Western science.

Yet, for the island of Sri Lanka which was world renowned as a medical hub and other indigenous sciences, the challenge remains to eradicate the country of cognitive impairing viruses created by imperialists, such as Macaulay.

Modern education

We, today, talk of modern education conceptualised by the West as if it was manna from heaven without realising that before this white manna, countries such as Sri Lanka and India had an advanced education system – the Gurukula system that did not separate the spiritual from the worldly and where introspection, contemplation and respecting earth and its resources were a core component of maintaining the health of humans. Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of today are linked to our warped way of living and producing food, including the heinous crime against living beings; factory farming through artificial means, breeding life for death, which we learnt from the West. From the Covid-19 deaths that we have in Sri Lanka, what does not get emphasised in the media is that they are connected with NCDs.

Sri Lanka’s Deshiya Chikitsa, as an ancient pre-Ayurveda system of preventive and curative healing could be described as being the closest to mother nature. If these traditional physicians were allowed to fight the Covid-19 battle, they would eliminate not only Covid-19 but also NCDs.

We have failed as a nation for seven decades after independence from the British to understand the value of recognising our Deshiya Chikitsa (Sinhala Wedakama) as a medical discipline, even now in the midst of a pandemic that has brought Europe to its knees.

The few members among the team of Ukranian tourists who came to Sri Lanka within the past fortnight and were detected with the Covid-19 virus had been not comfortable with getting medical treatment in Sri Lanka. Why? Because they associated us only with Allopathy and assessed our medical system comparing it with Western technology. The world does not know that we have at least 30,000 traditional physicians in the country, many of whom have been from March researching into how the many diverse herb combinations (different wattoru) could cure the different stages of this virus alongside NCDs. Yet we are talking about tourism and economic revival while the answers are staring at us in the face. Yet this may change with professionals chipping in to assist the Government.

Professionals alongside traditional physicians stress the importance of using traditional medicine before spending billions of rupees on a vaccine.

Integrated system

Although many of our doctors, Allopathy and Ayurveda, may have been on study tours to countries, such as China, we still have not been inspired to set in motion an integrated system such as one in that country which although being the first nation to be hit by the virus also is the first to control it and has not shied away from acknowledging the role traditional medicine has played in this task. China which maximised at the height of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, simple respiratory treatments common to Sri Lanka, such as  vapour inhalation, had almost fully controlled the spread of the disease by May 2020.

On June 6, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping in a keynote address delivered at a symposium of experts and scholars had emphasised that the simultaneous and integrated use of Chinese and Western medicine has been a major highlight of the fight against the epidemic. Yu Yanhong and Yu Wenming writing in the Qiushi, a bi-monthly political theory periodical published in China referred to this speech which stated how China has given a full affirmation to the contribution of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the prevention and control of Covid-19 and how the Chinese President has asked TCM practitioners in China to ‘boost their national pride’ and explore the ‘best of what the treasure trove  of TCM has to offer’, highlighting the need to preserve and develop that medical system.

The article also explained the need to foster China’s integrated system of medicine that has both the Western and Traditional system operating side by side for healing patients in whatever system that suits the ailment/s.

While we can look to such contemporary encouraging examples from Asian countries such as China, we should remind ourselves even at this belated stage that we are a civilisation that has the world’s first hospital in Mihintale. Despite such a history, we have done little to support, protect and foster traditional physicians and their families to safeguard and secure the passing on of this knowledge to the next generations.

Macaulayan mentality

This writer who started researching about traditional physicians and their problems two years ago is aware of a plethora of issues which is sometimes paradoxically within official structures set up to foster their knowledge. The root of the problem is because we carry forth the Macaulayan mentality that has seeped into every sphere of our education structure and possibly not even sparing Ayurveda. Many Ayurveda doctors are humble enough to admit that they have learnt valuable information about Sri Lankan traditional cures from these physicians.

Professionals of Sri Lanka who are now uniting with Ayurveda and traditional physicians as part of the Sinhala Weda Uruma Baraya call for the immediate use of traditional physicians in the Covid-19 battle, to ascertain if the need for purchasing foreign vaccines arises.

At a meeting of the Sinhala Weda Uruma Baraya held last week and attended by professionals, such as Dr. Nandadasa P. Narayana, one of Sri Lanka’s most recognised inventors of international stature and Tilak Kandegama, one of the most authentic voices of Lankan indigenous knowledge, the focus was on Sri Lanka’s immense potential to rise in this pandemic backdrop in an unprecedented world stature using its medical heritage.

I have made the blue print for up to 10 health based inventions connected with Covid-19 and the traditional medical system of Sri Lanka. However, the lack of systematic support for promoting local solutions for the virus does not enable persons like me to be of use to my country. Sri Lanka is losing billions per day with this current health crisis,” said Eng. Dr. Narayana.

We are not a country that needs vaccines for the virus. In one and a half months, we can control the pandemic. This can be done with a simple strategic commitment by using our indigenous knowledge resources,” said Thilak Kandegama who promotes biodiversity centered non-chemical agriculture and has a vast repository of knowledge on the ancient medical practices of Deshiya Chikitsa. What we need is the confidence in what is ours. We need to help the Government liaise with traditional physicians and others who still have diverse knowledge and the expertise in Lankan traditional medical heritage,” he said.

These professionals alongside traditional medicine physicians call for the ensuring of formal opportunity for traditional physicians who have months ago handed over samples of their anti Covid-19 medicines to the Health Ministry and related authorities to get a chance to provide them to Covid-19 patients.

We met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and members of the Government and are confident that the people will be happy if the Government uses the skills of traditional physicians and get their medicines cleared by authorities for providing Covid-19 patients.

We can ensure that the world knows about the result before we commit as a nation to spending money on a vaccine,” said Eng. Harsha Kumar Suriyaarachchi, one of the founders of the Sinhala Weda Uruma Baraya.

Traditional physicians

There are many physicians throughout Sri Lanka, such as indigenous medical physician D. D. Hettiarachchi of Ganemulla whose Covid-19 curative and preventive medicines have been taken by hundreds of Sri Lankans in Dubai and Italy who had got them down through beneficiaries at the height of Covid-19 phase 1 and safeguarded fully from the disease.

Traditional physician Amila Sanjeewa in Gampaha who runs a traditional medicine charity said that he has treated around 18,000 persons against the Covid-19 infection (primarily preventive), (including military and police, other officials in the Covid-19 first and second phase and emphasised that he has written proof to provide).

Nilanka Jayasekera, traditional physician from Kandy has given his Covid-19 preventive/curative medicines to those who had wanted them and Sampath Kalutharage and an Ayurveda Shasthri qualified traditional physician had provided Covid-19 preventive and curative medicines to Dombagoda army camp in Kalutara where 692 military personnel came under quarantine alongside curing 11 Covid-19 positive patients.

There are as per information gathered by this writer, at least 37 indigenous physicians who have handed their Covid-19 targeted medicines the to authorities for approval.

By Saeed Shah in Islamabad and Jon Emont in Singapore/Wall Street Journal Courtesy Ceylon Today

Islamabad, January 9 (Wall Street Journal): Governments and religious leaders in Muslim-majority nations are talking to vaccine makers, investigating production processes and issuing guidance in an effort to make sure concerns about products prohibited by Islam don’t interfere with Covid-19 inoculations.

On Friday, the high clerical council in Indonesia, with the world’s largest Muslim population, said that China’s Sinovac vaccine is allowed by Islam, or halal. The decision came after council representatives visited Sinovac’s factory in China last year and conducted a halal audit.

Part of the challenge of rolling out vaccines world-wide will be persuading enough people to take them to reach herd immunity. In many countries, Muslim and non-Muslim, the efforts must overcome safety concerns, suspicions and conspiracy theories, as well as religious and ethical objections.

Gelatin taken from pigs and cells created using tissue from human fetuses, which are both common in vaccine production, are aren’t halal, Muslim scholars say.

Acceptance of vaccinations before the coronavirus pandemic varied widely among Muslim countries, with high trust in countries like Bangladesh and Uzbekistan, according to a study of opinion in 149 countries published in September 2020 in the Lancet medical journal. It found that of the 10 countries with the most marked drop in confidence in vaccines over the four years through 2019, seven were predominantly Muslim: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan. The other three were Japan, Georgia and Serbia.

In Pakistan, one of only two nations left on earth where polio is still endemic, the authorities have struggled for years to persuade people to let their children have the polio vaccine, with Islamic-related objections prominent among other concerns. Not only do some people contend that the vaccine isn’t halal—despite rulings from senior clerics there saying it is allowed—but an influential conspiracy theory contends that the West is using the inoculation to sterilize Muslims.

Two years ago in Indonesia, the official Muslim clerical organization that decides whether substances are halal ruled that a measles vaccine containing pig gelatin was permitted to be used in Indonesia owing to a lack of halal alternatives. Still, concern over the ingredients contained in the vaccine prompted some parents in conservative parts of the country to reject it for their children.

Those objecting to vaccines for various reasons are generally a minority among Muslims, but governments and religious leaders from Jakarta to Dubai are debating how best to address halal concerns to make sure they don’t become a significant obstacle to inoculating the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims.

This is a serious issue,” said Muhammad Munir, a virologist at Lancaster University in the U.K., adding that none of the Covid-19 vaccines that have so far reached late-stage trials ought to be a problem for Muslims because of the ingredients and processes involved. There is a responsibility on the [Muslim clergy] to have enough knowledge to guide the public properly.”

A vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and another by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE may offer a solution. They are synthetic, with no human- or animal-sourced ingredients, said Mr. Munir. However, these vaccines are in short supply globally and need to be kept at extremely cold temperatures, which will make distribution difficult in poorer countries.

The decision from Indonesia’s high clerical council Friday means that the Sinovac vaccine is ready for use in Indonesia as soon as the country’s food and drug regulator authorizes it, which is expected in the coming weeks.

Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri, the religious affairs minister of Malaysia, where Muslims make up more than 60% of the population, said in late December that a special religious committee had determined that Muslims should follow government instructions and take the vaccines, and noted that Muslims there have been encouraged to get inoculated for other diseases in the past.

A religious body in the United Arab Emirates last month issued an Islamic ruling, known as a fatwa, allowing Muslims there to receive coronavirus vaccines, even if they contain non-halal ingredients. The U.A.E. has already inoculated thousands for Covid-19 with a vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm and has begun distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Such rulings on vaccination programs do not make the inoculations halal, but the vaccine can be used if there is no alternative available,” said Amrahi Buang, president of the Malaysian Pharmacists Society.

To be considered halal, manufacturers have to declare ingredients and give clerics the information they need to assess whether they comply with Islamic principles. To be halal certified, another level, the entire production line would need to be inspected, Mr. Buang said.

Aasim Padela, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin and head of the Initiative on Islam and Medicine, said that China could prove more responsive to the Muslim market, as it has in the past with other vaccines.

Anxiety has also been high enough in countries where Muslims are a minority, including the U.S. and the U.K., that Islamic groups there have felt obliged to issue rulings in recent weeks about which vaccines are halal.

Some Christians in the U.S. and elsewhere have also raised objections to the use of the fetal cell lines in Covid-19 inoculations. In December, the Vatican said it was morally acceptable for Catholics to receive such vaccines.

Even if a vaccine contains prohibited substances, Muslim scholars can also rule that the ingredients have been so transformed in the production process that their impure nature has been removed, Islamic experts say.

Rozi Osman, an independent halal consultant based in Malaysia, said that Islamic scripture makes clear that saving lives is more important than rigidly following rules.

Some Muslims are hung up about the halal part, which is ingrained from a young age,” Ms. Osman said. But to protect life is compulsory for Muslims. Some would rather listen to controversial voices rather than the truth.”

—Raffaele Huang, Chester Tay and Feliz Solomon contributed to this article.

Courtesy Travelradar

Today, the Sri Lankan government announced that it will open its international airports once again.  Flight operations will start from the 23rd of January of 2021.  Foreign travellers visiting the country can now visit 12 of the country’s major tourist attractions once again; The moves comes following months of Coronavirus travel restrictions in place within Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Open Its International Airports From January 23.

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister officially announced that all international Airports will be open.  He held a meeting on the 5th and said that the date of the opening will be 23rd January.

In a statement he said:

The SriLankan Government had originally shut down their airports and all operations last year due to the pandemic. Sri Lanka was one of the countries that suffered worse in the region, due to the effects of COVID-19. The opening is likely to begin the economic recovery of the country from the pandemic; A recovery which may take a good couple of years ahead.

Authorities Adhere To Strict COVID-19 Regulations

For instance, a group of 560 tourists recently visited Sri Lanka.  This group came as a pilot project in December of 2020.

The Government implemented this project successfully and thus ensured the utmost safety of visiting tourists.

Based on this success, the decision was taken to allow foreigners back into the country, and thereby allowed the operation of airports once again.

However, Sri Lanka will allow international tourists into the country, while following strict WHO guidelines. The guidelines include the mandatory ‘Gold Standard’ PCR Tests prior to arrival to the country, and a few days upon arrival – With the aim of spotting and preventing transmission of asymptomatic cases.

12 destinations to choose to visit SriLanka from 23rd Jan.  © TangerineTours

12 Destinations to be Allowed for Visits

There will be a total of 12 key tourism  destinations open within the country, including:

1. Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Dalada Maligawa)
2. Yala National Park
3. Minneriya National Park
4. Sigiriya
5. Dambulla Temple
6. Udawalawe
7. Horton Plains
8. Sinharaja Forest
9. Peradeniya Botanic Gardens
10. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
11. Whale watching
12. Salusala- the State-owned handloom enterprise.

Minister Ranatunga said the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) should coordinate the visits of tourists to the sites and instructed to take further action in accordance with the health guidelines to prevent the contact of tourists and the general public in these sites.

The Current Covid-19 Situation in Sri Lanka

All flights of SriLankan airlines are currently grounded and are yet to become operational – Though this is expected to change in the coming days/weeks. SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka grounded its fleet in March 2020.  The airline is yet to start back any operations.

Whilst SriLankan airlines have been grounded, a new startup, FlyLankan, received Government approval to begin operations.

Courtesy Adaderana

Ten parliamentarians have been identified to have come in close contact with MP Rauff Hakeem at the parliament.

Tweeting this morning (10), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader MP Rauff Hakeem stated that he had contracted COVID-19 and that he will be entered into a quarantine facility. He also asked his contacts from the past 10 days to take necessary health and safety precautions.

As the parliamentarian had attended the parliamentary session on January 05, steps were being taken to identify the persons who closely associated with MP Hakeem using CCTV footage and direct them to quarantine activities.

Accordingly, ten parliamentarians have been identified to have come in contact with MP Hakeem at the parliament.

In addition, 2 staff members of the parliament have also been identified.

Serjeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando stated that necessary steps were taken regarding the contacts.

Two Members of Parliament have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus so far.

Previously, parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

He is currently receiving treatment at a treatment center in Hikkaduwa and has posted a note on his Twitter account today stating that he is in good health.

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister’s Coordinating Secretary for Political Affairs, Kumarasiri Hettige has tested positive for COVID-19.

He has reportedly visited the parliament on Friday (January 08) and several staff members of the Leader of the House have been identified as close contacts of Mr Hettige.

Sergeant-at-Arms of Parliament Narendra Fernando said his close contacts and relevant heads of departments were informed on the matter.

Earlier today, it was revealed that Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader MP Rauff Hakeem has contracted the novel coronavirus.

In a tweet, the parliamentarian appealed to his contacts from the past 10 days to take necessary health and safety precautions.

As the parliamentarian had attended the parliamentary session on January 05, steps were taken to identify the persons who closely associated with MP Hakeem using CCTV footage and direct them to quarantine activities.

Accordingly, ten parliamentarians have been identified to have come in contact with MP Hakeem at the parliament. In addition, 2 staff members of the parliament were also identified.

MP Hakeem is the second lawmaker in the country to test positive for novel coronavirus. 

Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekara was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Friday. He is currently receiving treatment at a treatment center in Hikkaduwa and has posted a note on his Twitter account today stating that he is in good health.

Courtesy Adaderana

Director-General of Health Services has confirmed three more COVID-19 related fatalities in the country.

The new development has brought the death toll from the virus to 232, according to the Department of Government Information.

One of the victims was identified as a 62-year-old inmate who was incarcerated at the Negombo Prison. He was admitted to the Negombo Base Hospital and had passed away on Friday (January 08) after being transferred to the Mulleriyawa Base Hospital. The cause of death was cited as COVID-19 pneumonia.

In the meantime, an 80-year-old woman was residing in Colombo 14 fell victim to the virus today (January 10). She was under medical care at the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama and was later transferred to the Pimbura Base Hospital. She has died of COVID-19 pneumonia and cancer.

A man from Ratnapura area, who was aged 64, meanwhile died of COVID-19 pneumonia and heart disease while receiving treatment at the Ratnapura Teaching Hospital yesterday (January 09).

Courtesy Adaderana

The head of the World Health Organization says there is a clear problem” that low- and middle-income countries are not yet receiving supplies of COVID-19 vaccines and urged countries to stop striking bilateral deals with manufacturers.

Rich countries have the majority of the supply,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in strongly-worded comments on vaccine nationalism at a Geneva news briefing.

He asked countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals and called on those who have ordered excess doses to immediately hand them over to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.

While Tedros did not name countries, the European Union said it reached a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for 300 million additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine in a move that would give the EU nearly half of the firms’ global output for 2021.

The scramble for shots has accelerated as governments also struggle to tame more infectious variants identified in Britain and South Africa, which are threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems.

Emergencies chief Mike Ryan echoed comments from Tedros, stressing the need to give doses to vulnerable groups and frontline healthcare workers first, no matter where they live.

WHO officials also urged vaccine manufacturers to provide it with data in real-time in order to expedite the rollout.

Until now, wealthier nations including Britain, European Union members, the United States, Switzerland and Israel have been at the front of the queue for vaccine deliveries from companies including Pfizer and partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Nearly 88 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and around 1.9 million have died since it first emerged in China in December 2019, according to a Reuters tally.

The virus is spreading at alarming rates in some countries,” Tedros said. The problem is that not complying a bit becomes a habit. Not complying gives the virus opportunities to spread.”

Tedros also said he expects to fix travel dates as soon as next week for a long-awaited mission to China to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus.

Ryan urged countries to not politicised the vaccine and warned that the one distributed so far have zero impact” on transmission dynamics.

Assistant director-general, Mariangela Simao said the WHO has received 13 valid proposals” for possible emergency listing of COVID-19 vaccines since October, and some are at an advanced stage, adding that they expect to receive full data from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute on its vaccine by the end of January.

Source: WION
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 numbers saw another surge today, as 236 more persons were tested positive for the virus.

Department of Government Information confirmed that all 236 of the newly-identified patients are close contacts of earlier cases linked to the Peliyagoda fish market.

Accordingly, a total of 536 new cases have been reported within the day.

As per statistics, the total number of Covid-19 infections confirmed in the country to date now stands at 48,376.

Recoveries from the virus meanwhile climbed to 41,325 earlier today, as more patients regained health.

However, 6,822 active cases are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres located across the island.

Sri Lanka has also witnessed 229 deaths related to Covid-19.

The University of Jaffna is a State university. It is funded by the Government of Sri Lanka and Faculty are paid salaries by the GoS. Therefore, all staff are bound by rules & regulations applicable to the Public Sector. Jaffna University is a university where children of all communities gain admission to. It is not a Tamil Only university. LTTE is an internationally proscribed terrorist entity militarily defeated in May 2009. Anyone who wishes to immortalize Prabakaran & his outfit are welcome to do so privately in their homes but not in public and certainly not in state universities. Maybe the ghost of Prabakaran may visit their homes!

The University Grants Commission took a bold decision to demolish the structures put up during previous government to commemorate LTTE and its combatants. These were not war victim memorials but LTTE victim memorials. This not surprisingly has led to numerous hartals and protests in North Sri Lanka & Tamil Nadu. For Tamil Nadu, even if anyone pees in Sri Lanka, it is a political campaign propaganda opportunity. We need not take these dramas seriously. The Indian Government knows how to handle them if they overstep their boundary. This explains the countless visits to remand prison by Prabakaran’s bosom pal- Vaiko.

Who in Sri Lanka are protesting against the demolition of monuments for Prabakaran & LTTE inside a state university? It would naturally be the bankrupt party TNA & its associated entities grappling to survive in politics as Tamils themselves are getting fed up of their lies. So probably they must have roped in a few youth, given them a few handouts and written the slogans for the drama choreographed by them. The police must take photos and compare to see if these are the same faces appearing for all TNA tamashas. The general public in Jaffna are now fed up and wish to simply get on with their lives without being used as guineapigs of Tamil political agendas. We knew this would happen naturally with time. Of course, there is another unseen element involved. There are foreign intel operatives funding and fueling trouble as their task is to ensure Sri Lanka remains unstable and unable to develop. This is the most dangerous player, as we don’t know who they are or what they look like and how they are brainwashing our people. But, this threat is the most challenging and one which requires the public to be alert to. Easter Sunday attack took place with the involvement of these foreign intel operatives. So we should realize that they are conspiring another operation probably using the burial issue as justification.

Linking Jaffna University – LTTE & the Separatist Ideology

https://www.shenaliwaduge.com/linking-jaffna-university-ltte-the-separatist-ideology/?doing_wp_cron=1610243755.6406650543212890625000

Parents toil to somehow send their children to university to see them build a foundation for their future. No parent brings up their child to take up arms and kill people. The university faculty who allowed the LTTE monuments and facilitated LTTE celebrations and candle lit vigils must be taken to task and investigated. They have no right to be using a State University to immortalize terrorists and participate in these functions as well. There are enough of photos circulating of these faculty members singing hosannahs for the LTTE. They must each be asked to give written explanations for their conduct and the GoSL must seriously take action against them. This will serve as a deterrent to any future faculty members thinking they too can allow LTTE celebrations inside an university if a future LTTE friendly government comes to power. The Government and the AG’s department must revise laws to take action against these Public Servants if they are involved in terrorist activities and these must be clearly defined and communicated to all public servants.

The action of the UGC in demolishing the LTTE monuments inside the university will naturally provide oxygen to the plethora of NGOs and others waiting for something to make a fuss about and use with Geneva approaching. The Government must immediately issue a statement why the monuments were demolished and even ask if Western universities will allow Al Qaeda / Boku Haram / ISIS to erect statues of their leaders inside university compounds and hold candle lit vigils for them. This question has to be asked of every NGO/international media finding fault with the Sri Lankan authorities for demolishing a LTTE monument.

Instead the authorities must now invite designs for a Peace Monument that depicts harmony and the future for youth who have to take the mantle of leadership as they are the future leaders of the nation. No university can or should allow any terrorist related structure inside the university compound or celebrations in whatever form of terrorists. All candle lit vigils for terrorists must be banned even if some of these terrorists were once university students. Anyone can commemorate terrorists privately insidetheir homes. However, terrorists are not to be immortalized in public. Those that wish to do so are setting an ugly example to children and youth many of whom did not live during the terror reign of LTTE to see the heinous crimes LTTE committed even to Tamils and foreigners. LTTE or Prabakaran are no heroes. They are only heroes for the LTTE fronts operating overseas – for that is their ticket to making money by holding pro-LTTE events, selling LTTE souvenirs and even working for foreign intel to destabilize Sri Lanka. LTTE are heroes for bankrupt Tamil politicians who have only LTTE slogan to use to stay in politics. LTTE are heroes for a handful of others who are also working hand in glove with our immediate neighbor to eternally destabilize us.

So we must realize that LTTE served a bigger purpose than simply wanting to carve a separate territory. LTTE and terrorism is income generating business. It is the same for all other terrorist outfits too. Just follow their money trail to see the illegal businesses that operate within the terrorist movement – money laundering, monetary scams, illegal business rackets, human smuggling, prostitution Terrorism is nothing but a business.

Universities are centres of learning, to mould individuals to be good citizens not to pass out as terrorists.

Shenali D Waduge

By M D P DISSANAYAKE

1.PRESS CONFERENCE OUTBURSTS BY INDIAN MINISTER:

The BJP  government need to recognize  the rights of  majority Sinhalaese in the same spirit as they recognize the   rights of Hindus of India. Compared with the Congress Party, it is hoped BJP will review its foreign policy in future dealings with the new Rajapakse Regime. . 

The recent visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Hon Jaishankar should be seen in the light of above changes in approach by the Indian government.   However, during  the press conference Mr Jaishankar touched on the sensitive issue of principles underlining the 13A, expressing India’s commitment for the full implementation  with further devolutions to Tamils. 

It would be foolish for the Sinhalese to expect  that the visiting Minister should have ideally  extended  an olive branch to Sinhalese during his visit,  to address  the  issue of so called  minority rights or 13A.  .  Unlike some of Sri Lankan Ministers ( Mangala Samaraweera, Eran Wickremaratne, Jayampathy Wickremaratne,  former Opposition Leader Sambandan )and Prime Ministers ( Ranil Wickremasinghe) and President (  Maithreepala Sirisena) who condemn Sri Lanka on foreign soil, we have not witnessed any foreign dignitaries condemning their own country whilst visiting Sri Lanka. 

The visiting Minister not only met with Sinhala Leaders, including the current Sinhalese Opposition Leader, he also had closed meetings with Tamil and Muslim leaders who advocate disintegration of Sri Lanka.

The visiting Ministers comments during the press conference relating to the 13A should and must not be ignored.  The visiting Minister was trying to walk on the eggs very diplomatically, without offending Indian Tamils in India, Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamils in the world.

But  Jaishankar has touched on an extremely sensitive issue  and has offended the majority Sinhalese.  It is now clear, his primary motive of the trip  had nothing to do with assisting Sri Lanka with Covid injections made in India.  His visit had nothing to do with the extension of economic co-operation between the two nations.  But his visit has the unique features of discussing the Tamils rights  as a prelude to the new draft constitution.   This was his Agenda even before he left India, other issues were painted to make it very glossy,   camouflage  in order to appease  ( or fool )Sinhalese.

Even though we do not endorse  the act of one courageous Sailor and an astrologer Wijemini Vijitha Rohana  on 30 July 1987, it should be remembered that Sinhalese are not fools.

2. HARD ROAD TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY:

2020 was an extremely bad year for Sri Lanka.  Its economy contracted by 3.9%. But unprecedented macro  and micro economic reforms carried out by the President  and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka did apply  breaks on the downward trend.   According to World Bank Global Outlook Report,   Sri Lanka is projected to achieve  a turnaround of  massive 7.2% GDP growth ( negative  3.9 plus positive 3.3) in 2021. The world bank projections for  2021   far exceed the GDP % of  2017 and 2018, which were 3.6% and 3.3%.  Larger economies like India is projected to continue negative growth into 2021.

Large volume of currency notes were printed by the current -government, mainly to meet the demands of cash distribution of Rs 5,000 each for covid  relief period.   If Rs 25,000 had been paid as suggested by the so-called Clayton Economic Graduate of London School of Economics,  Mr Sajith Premadasa, the economy would have been ruined for many more years.

CONCLUSION:

United Nations Human Right Council is to take up the issue of Tamils Rights once again in March  this year. Our unpatriotic Tamil Leaders are already sharpening knives.  The Indian External Affairs Minister’s comments during his visit underscore the perpetual tension between Sinhalese and Tamils, attempting to force the hands of new Leadership of Sri Lanka.  India must stop trying to get a leverage on Sri Lanka .

The Sri Lankan government need to affirm that there will be no room for any features similar to 13A  in the   proposed  draft constitution.  The government must issue these policy directives to the Romesh de Silva panel of experts. In the interim 21A should be brought in to scrap 13A.

The Rajapakse Regime is capable of running parallel two Agenda’s simultaneously, namely economy and non-devolution of power.  We are over-governed, not only Sri Lanka should scrap outdated Circulars, Administrative and Financial Regulations, it must also do away with excessive administrative institutions, such as Governors, Chief Ministers, Provincial Councils.    The local governments and municipal councils are adequate for  Sri Lanka, directly supervised by the central government. Lets run a lean and mean country, no fat-meat only!

The projected economic recovery is a good news, but failure to scrap 13A will be a bad news for  the government. 

Bad news spread faster than good news!

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 17.1.21

Sri Lanka is mainly concerned with American foreign policy, not America’s domestic policy. From the 1980s and especially in the 1990s, the American Neo cons shifted their focus from domestic issues to foreign policy. That is because they wanted a foreign policy which would further US economic interests.

 It is the neo cons who shape   foreign policy in Washington, said analysts. It is they who influence the direction of US foreign policy, not the President of the US. The neo cons carry out the foreign policy irrespective of who functions as President.   American Neo-cons remain the dominant foreign policy force in US, despite their record of unprecedented foreign policy errors and disasters, such as the utter chaos caused by US interventions in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.

The foreign policy of the American Neo cons is very clear and unambiguous. They want a world in which the US is the sole supreme power. They want the global domination of the US to continue. The rise of any rival power must be checked.  Neo-cons claim that the US does not seek to conquer and oppress, but rather to liberate and democratize. US is a benevolent force, neo cons said. Its foreign policy is intended to promote democracy and freedom.  American leadership is good for the world.  It is best for world peace.

William Kristol and Robert Kagan, two leading Neo cons, founded a ‘Think Tank’ in 1997 to promote the idea that American leadership is good for the world and morally desirable as well. In 2010 TIME spoke of Pax Americana, which TIME said, the world wants today. The American backed order has hitherto offered protection of smaller players by binding more powerful states to agreed rules of behaviour and process of dispute resolutions,  TIME said.

The Jewish population in USA is second only to that of Israel. There are 6.8 million Jews in Israel and at least 5.5 million in USA. The Jews have long exerted an enormous influence in the US.   They are influential in finance,   politics, science, architecture, literature, music, and dance. But they all changed their names on emigrating to the US, which indicates that non-Jewish America is very anti-Semitic. The name changing continues, because anti –Semitism continues. Robert Allen Zimmerman became Bob Dylan. Ralph Lifshitz became Ralph Lauren.

The Neo-con movement was originally initiated by a group of intellectuals from the Jewish community in New York and the majority of Neo-cons continue to be from the Jewish community. Therefore, the protection of Israel against its enemies is a leading objective of the neo-cons. That is why the Neo-cons have focused so much on the Middle East, particularly countries considered a threat to Israel.

The neo cons have a belligerent approach. US domination is to be achieved through strong US leadership backed by force. The use of military force is seen as the main option in foreign policy. Positioning American forces in strategic locations around the world to enable their rapid deployment is a part of this strategy. USA has military bases throughout the globe. US also gets military control of a country through its agreements such as ACSA and SOFA.

Neo-cons want political control over countries which it considers to be of strategic importance. They either obtain direct influence over the governments or set up proxy regimes which the US could control.  Neo cons advocate dictatorship.   USA has cozy relationships with countries that had right wing dictatorships, observed analysts. There were also backroom deals with ‘neutral’ countries.

US does not hesitate to change regimes in countries that are important to the US. US will try to destabilize a country which is perceived as posing a threat to the interests of the USA or Israel. US intervenes in foreign elections.

Regime change has  been followed by criminal prosecutions of the old regimes. International Criminal Court was asked to prosecute the earlier government of Ukraine for war crimes though there had been no war at all under it, but not the new regime installed by the US.  US also wanted to see Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Milosovec punished. They also tried this for  Rwanda. This punishment ethic” is now a dominant characteristic of US foreign policy, said analysts.

US also uses military intervention to achieve regime change. US also tries to tame a country   through economic warfare. They impose sanctions and say topple your government and economic sanctions will end.

US interferes in internal affairs of other nations through its embassies and intelligence agencies.  These agencies create divisions and conflicts. They send out spurious narrative about regimes they want to target.   They are also well known for toppling governments.

The Neo-cons also pursue their objectives through international non-governmental organizations [INGOs] which are mainly funded by the USA. These INGOs have gained a foothold in developing countries.

Special mention is made of the interventions by George Soros, a prominent and leading Neo con. When Soros-backed groups are entangled in the affairs of any nation, massive upheaval tends to follow and not for the better, said analysts.  Many Soros-linked organizations operate on behalf of the US agenda, working to foment dissent and revolution.

Soros utilizes a vast number of progressive organizations affiliated with Soros’ Open Society Foundation. Soros-affiliated organizations across the world are deeply connected to various color revolutions, the Arab Spring, and a number of other political uprisings across the globe. 

US has been largely responsible for creating terror groups in various countries in the latter half of the twentieth century and the early decades of the twenty-first century, said analysts.   These terror groups have been created by the United States and its allies, they emphasized.  US armed different Islamic groups and got them to kill each other.

America  kills. President Barrack Obama and Secretary  of State  Hillary Clinton watched from the White House in Washington, in 2011, when Osama Bin Laden was killed in  Abbotabad, Pakistan. Then they distributed worldwide the photo of them seated in the White House, watching. On 3 January 2020, a United States drone strike near Baghdad International Airport targeted and killed Iran’s most powerful military commander  Qasem Soleimani. This was a triumph for USA.

Neo-con agenda includes manipulating the United Nations. Currently USA is the largest single contributor to the UN paying 22% of the budget. This gives them financial clout.  US makes the UN do as the US wishes. From its Secretary General downwards the United Nations is strongly influenced or controlled by the  US .  UN has been reduced to being a servant of Western interests, and the US in particular, said critics.

We lead the world in part by leading at the UN said Samantha Power. The United States needs the UN. The UN goes to places that the US will not go. The UN is   used to open doors for  US intervention in other countries.  

US  often throws its weight around at the UN , bullying and threatening  those who did not support UN policy.  In 2017,  US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley  issued a veiled threat to member states who defy Washington on US-sponsored resolutions. She spoke of ‘taking names’ of those who don’t do as she says and  singling them out for retribution”. If we are strong and stand by those loyal to us more countries will want to be our allies and those that challenge us will think twice before they challenge us, she said.

 US  uses its financial clout to threaten  developing nations who refuse to fall in line on critical UN voting in the Security Council, the General Assembly and Human Rights Council. In 1990, when Yemen, an American ally and  member of the Security Council, voted against a US-sponsored resolution to militarily oust Iraq from Kuwait, US  cut off  its aid to Yemen.

US also dominates other UN agencies. US engineered the appointment of a Japanese diplomat, Amano, to the leadership of the UN’s international Atomic Energy Agency, which was a key player in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. The diplomatic cables leaked by Private Bradley Manning included reports on Amano’s secret collaboration with US and Israeli officials on the subject. The cables exposing Amano were published in The Guardian newspaper in the UK in 2011.

Mary Robinson, a former Prime Minister of Ireland, was prevented by the  US from being re-appointed as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights due to her criticism of human rights abuses by Israel.

Everybody knows that IMF is pro-US in its approach in matters of global finance and economy, said analysts. In the 1970s, the IMF and the World Bank were restructured to serve neo-liberalism. Neo liberal economics which the US and Europe embraced and forced on the rest of the world, let  loose  market forces which  ravaged the economies of the poor countries.

David Budhoo was  an IMF staffer whose job was designing Structural Adjustment Programs for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. When Budhoo quit in 1988 he wrote an  open letter to the Managing director of the IMF. He accused the  IMF of  manipulating statistics.

He  said he had been involved in making Trinidad and Tobago look far less stable in the statistics than they actually were, doubling labor costs and inventing huge unpaid debts. The bogus statistics made the financial markets cut off their financing. IMF  then moved in with its remedies, layoffs, wage cuts and the ‘whole gamut’ of structural adjustment. The letter was turned into a  Broadway theatre play  and a review of the play was the only mention ever made of  Budhoo in the New York Times said critics.

The Neo con movement, has a destructive agenda inimical to the interests of the majority of the world’s population  said critics.  Neo-cons have done untold damage not only through war, but by other means as well.  Also, Neo-cons are indifferent to the suffering which results from the  catastrophes they have caused.

USA‘s foreign relations have been heavily criticized. USA promotes wars and destabilizes countries, critics said. USA’s first target was Latin America. USA has engaged in direct military interventions in most of the countries of Latin America,  throughout the years making Latin America a region of political instability and economic chaos.

Between 1945 and 2005 the United States has attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against repressive regimes, continued critics. In the process, the US has caused  the deaths of several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.

USA does not want  partnerships. It wants subjugation or submission, said angry  critics. USA’s foreign policies and actions are authoritarian  and dictatorial. The US foreign policy consists primarily of destroying the countries and their will to survive.   No other country has  a  menacing foreign policy like this,  critics observed.

Today there is a huge anti American sentiment sweeping the developing world mainly because of its activity in the Middle East. US was the hidden force in every war that took place in the world during the recent times, said critics. As a result, USA is losing allies. Philippines is veering away from the USA, its long time ally.   President  Duterte visited Russia in 2017.

Foreign countries  love American technology,  music, movies and fashion but not interference in how they are governed, what their international friends should be and how they  should manage their money, said TIME.  ( Continued)

නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය

ගරු රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය සීතා අරඹේපොල මැතිනිය 2021.01.08  දින මෙරට කොරියානු තානාපති වුන්ජින් ජොං  මහතා හමුවිය.

මෙරට සාගර විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පද්දතිය වෙනුවෙන් කොරියානු රජය සමග නොදුරේදීම ආරම්භ  කිරීමට සූදානම් කර ඇති koica ව්‍යාපෘතිය පිළිබඳව මෙහෙදී ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් අවදානය යොමු  වූ අතර එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය සාර්ථක කර ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය සියලු සහය ලබාදීමට මෙරට කොරියානු තානාපති වුන්ජින් ජොං මහතා එකග විය.

තවද නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන විද්‍යා, තාක්ෂණ හා නවෝත්පාදන සම්බන්ධ ව්‍යාපෘතින් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම පිළිබඳවත් නව ව්‍යාපෘතින් හඳුන්වා දීම පිළිබඳවත් මෙහිදී අවධානය යොමු විය.

අමාත්‍යතුමියගේ අදහස් මත ශ්‍රී ලාංකික විදෙස් ගත වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ ප්‍රමිතිය, තරගකාරීත්වය ඉහළ නැංවීම සඳහා නව පර්යේෂණ ව්‍යාපෘතින් යෝජනා කිරීමටත් , කොරියානු තාක්ෂණික අභ්‍යාස ආතනය පිළිබඳ අවධානය යොමු කරමින් එහි ඇති පාඨමාලා, නව ඉගෙනුම් සංකල්ප
(  Mobile vehicle center ) ජංගම මෙහෙයුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානය වැනි දේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම පිළිබඳවත් අමාත්‍යතුමිය විසින් මෙරට කොරියානු තානාපති නියෝජිතයන් සමග  සාකච්ඡා කෙරිණ.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට මෙරට කොරියානු තානාපති කාර්යාලීය නියෝජිතයන් සහ නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක්ද එක් විය.

( මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය
නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය )

Rohan Abeygunawardena

Hats off to present office bearers of SLC led by President Shammi Silva and the Tournament Director Ravin Wickramaratne for successfully staging the first everLanka Premier League (LPL) cricket tournament. They should be specifically lauded because this tournament was held against all odds under trying circumstances. Apart from the threat from COVID19 epidemic there were usual Sri Lankan style opposition too. However young Minister of Sports Namal Rajapaksa supported the SLC to the hilt. 

Five teams named after various Sri Lankan cities played a total of 23 matches from 26 November to 16 December 2020. It was Jaffna Stallions who became the champs on December 16 finals against Galle Gladiators.

Interestingly, Jaffna Stallions (JS) is owned by a consortium consisting of Sri Lankans and Indians from all over the world including Australia, Canada, France, United Kingdom, and the USA. A cricket enthusiast and avid cyclist, Anandan Arnold is the Chief Executive Officer of JS. Arnold from Manipe, Jaffna and educated at St John’s College Jaffna left Sri Lanka when his studies were disrupted by the unrest preceding the outbreak of war in 1983. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a Senior Partner at BBK Partnership Chartered Accountants in the United Kingdom. Since 2005, he has done yeoman service to the people in the North like rehabilitating hospitals and setting up BBK offices to provide employment mainly for underemployed educated youths from the North. He came forward to help SLC to stage the LPL.

Arnold is supported by Team Manager Ganeshan Vaheesan, who is also an Accountant by profession lived in UK and Saranga Wijeyarathna Director of Communications and Media of JS. Another important aspect is multi billionaire Rahul Sood, creator of Microsoft Ventures M12, coming forward as a co-owner. Quoted from Andrew Fidel Fernando’s article in ESPN cricinfo dated 12 December 2020 “Once I heard the vision that Arnold had, I was on board straightaway,” Sood said. “Using sport for reconciliation in a post-war setting, and giving young kids who literally grew up in a war to play at a high level – who wouldn’t want to get involved?”

With the success story of JS there will be renewed enthusiasm for cricket in Jaffna and other parts of Northern Province. SLC therefore can expect highly talented young cricketers from the North in the future to augment ‘’the Lions.’’ When so many of them start playing with the cricketers from the south in the same club or school the feeling of oneness, brotherhood and social unity under communities and society will automatically take place promoting national integration.

Let’s hope Arnold and his team will continue to promote cricket in the North.

Galle Gladiators is owned by Pakistan Businessman Nadeem Omar, who owns the Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan Super League. Omar has always had a passion for cricket and sports of all kinds, whether indoor or outdoor. As he stated after the finals, he is a lover of Sri Lanka and consider it as the most beautiful island in the world.

While Colombo Kings are owned by Dubai based Indian businessman, Dambulla Viikings are owned by Bollywood actor Sachiin J. Joshi.  Bollywood actor Sohail Khan and Abbas Muni co-owned the Kandy Tuskers. 

 According to the Tournament Director Wickramaratne Season 1 LPL had an unbelievable” viewership being broadcast to over 26 countries and a website published that 130 million viewers watched the final worldwide. Encouraged by the success SLC has already made arrangements with ICC to keep vacant July-August as the window for the LPL (Daily FT 22 December 2020).

Question is, can the LPL go forward without audience or spectators at the grounds to generate ticket revenue due to epidemic. A market research conducted by the ICC, cricket has over a billion fans globally with the Indian sub-continent alone constituting more than 90 per cent of them. This is the opportunity Sri Lanka Cricket should capitalize.

Cricket lovers are desperate to see competitions start again even if they are so-called ghost matches” played in empty stadiums without a crowd. The fans need entertainment in the comfort of their home in times of great stress, when their towns and villages are lockdown due to epidemic. Many people worldwide are now getting used to the concept of ‘entertainment at a push of a button’ with their TVs and digital media.  There are smartphone apps specifically designed for watching sports events remotely called ‘Virtual stadiums.’ 

Some may argue whether LPL can sustain when there is no on ground audience or spectators and no ticket revenue. But it has been proved at IPL that ticket revenue does not affect much the central revenue. Major part of the revenue is earned through sponsorship, advertisement and broadcasting rights.

With the success of LPL season 1, there will be a higher demand for the acquisition of sponsorship and broadcasting rights together with advertisement slots and improve the non-ticket revenue streams. However SLC must workout strategies to increase viewership.

A research study conducted by Lancaster University Management School in 2007 found that in soccer television viewers prefer close contests to more predictable contests by the fans inside the stadium. This is true in cricket league matches too as can be observed in the IPL (mother of all cricket league tournaments) matches over the years. Up to IPL 2020 as many as five matches concluded with super overs including one played over two super overs whereas in the first edition of LPL there were four super over matches. They are thrilling encounters enjoyed by cricket fan all over the world.

Indian Premier League (IPL) was inaugurated in 2008. Within a few years it became the most lucrative annual sporting event of BCCI.

Similarly LPL also can be turned into a money spinner for SLC if few more teams are introduced and attract more international Ícon’ cricketers especially from India. It also can be a springboard for promoting national integration and as a means of fostering social justice, equality, peace and stability for the Sri Lankans affected by 30 year war.

Rohan Abeygunawardena

Courtesy The Associated Press

Three Sri Lankan men have been charged in California with aiding a terrorist group blamed for 2019 Easter attacks that killed 268 people in Sri Lanka, including five U.S. citizens

• LOS ANGELES — Three Sri Lankan men have been charged in California with aiding a terrorist group blamed for 2019 Easter attacks that killed 268 people in Sri Lanka, including five U.S. citizens, and injured hundreds, it was announced Friday.

Mohamed Naufar, Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Riskan and Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Moahmed were charged last month in federal court in Los Angeles with conspiracy and providing and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

The men have no California connection, but the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force that headed the investigation is based in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The three men were linked to a group in Sri Lanka that supported Islamic State and which is blamed for April 21, 2019, suicide bombings at Christian churches and hotels in three Sri Lankan cities, prosecutors said.

Naufar is accused of leading propaganda efforts for the group that called itself ISIS in Sri Lanka,” recruited others to join the group and led military-type training, authorities said.

Riskan is accused of helping make explosive devices used in the attacks and Moahmed allegedly killed a police officer in Sri Lanka to obtain a weapon, shot a suspected informant and scouted a location for a separate terrorist attack, prosecutors said.

The men were being held in Sri Lanka and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could speak for them.

This case clearly demonstrates that the United States will take decisive action to ensure terrorists face justice when they target Americans anywhere in the world,” Nick Hanna, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in the statement. This complaint makes clear that we stand ready with these charges in the event the defendants attempt to evade justice.”

කිර්ති වර්ණකුලසුරිය උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින

බිහිසුණු අපරාධ සිදුකළ හිටපු කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තයන් 82 ක් මුදාහැරිය යුතු යැයි ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලකයන් නැවත වරක් රජයෙන් ඉල්ලා ඇත. මෙම ත‍්‍රස්තයන්ව හඳුන්වා ඇත්තේ දේශපාලන සිරකරුවන් ලෙසිනි. එහෙත් මොවුන් දේශපාලන සිකරුවන් නොවේ, මෙලෙස හිටපු කොටි මිනීමරුවන් මුදා හරින ලෙස ඉල්ලන දේශපාලකයන් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා හමුදාවට එල්ල කරන යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා ගැන ජාත්‍යන්තර අධිකරණය හෝ වෙනත් විනිශ්චය සභාවක් පත්කර විමර්ශනයක් කළ යුතු බව කියා සිටියි.
 
 එසේ වුවත් නිදහස් කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලන මේ හිටපු කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තයන් සිදු කළ අපරාධ කෙරේ රජය අවධානය කළ යුතුයි.
 
 මෙහි දැක්වෙන්නේ ඊට නිදසුන්ය.
 
 1. යුද සහ නාවික භටයන් 25 ක් වෙඩි තබා මරා පුළුස්සා දැමීම (මෙය යුද අපරාධයකි*
 
 2. මගීන් 55 ක් ක් සම`ග ලයන් එයාර් ගුවන් යානාව මිසයිල ප‍්‍රහාරයකින් විනාශ කිරීම
 
 3. හමුදා භටයන් සහ තුවාලකරුවන් රැුගත්් ගුවන් හමුදා යානාවක් විනාශ කිරීම
 
 4. සිවිල් වැසියන් සිටි ගම්මානවලට ප‍්‍රහාර එල්ල කිරීම
 
 5. ළදරුවන් කාන්තාවන් ඇතුළු නිරායුධ පිරිස් ම්ලේච්ඡු ලෙස කපා කොටා මරා දැමීම
 
 මෙලෙස රැුඳවුම් භාරයේ සිටින කොටින්ගේ බිහිසුණු ක‍්‍රියා අනාවරණයවන අවස්ථාවේ ඔවුන්ව නිදහස් කර ගැනීමට ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලන නායකයන් රජයට බලකරන්නේ ඔවුන්ට එල්ලවන යුද අපරාධ චෝදනාවලින්
 
 මුදාගැනීමටය. මේ උපක‍්‍රමය රජයේ නායකයන් දැඩි ලෙස අවධාරණය කළ යුතුයි. මන්ද මේ අපරාධකරුවන්ට නිදහස හිමි වුවොත් ඔවුන් සිදු කළ අපරාධ ගැන නඩු පැවරිය නොහැකිය.
 
 එසේ වූවත් වාන්පුලිගල් නැමැති කොටි ගුවන් ඒකකයේ නියෝජ්‍ය නායක ගුශාන්තන් කොටි හමුදා නායකයන් වූ පදුමන් හා සේරා අම්මාන්, සහ කපිතන් ඉන්දික සංජීව ඇතුළු කොටි හමුදා නායකයන්
 
 රැුසක් යහපාලන රජය යටතේ නිදහස් විය. මොවුන්ට අධිකරණය හමුවට පවා ඉදිරිපත් වූයේ නැත. එසේ නම් මේ හිටපු කොටි හමුදා නායකයන් නිදහස් වූයේ විදේශ ගත ඩයස් පෝරාවේ අරමුදල් මතද?
 
 මෙම හිටපු කොටි හමුදා නායකයන් නිදහස් වූයේ කෙසේද යන්න ගැන යහපාලන රජය සහ වත්මන් රජයද අදවනතුරු විමර්ශන පවත්වා නැත. ත‍්‍රිකුණාමල කොටි හමුදා නායකයාව සිටි පදුමන්ගේ නම වෙනස් නමක් කියා ඔහුව අධිකරණය විසින් මුදා හැරිණි. මේ හැර හිටපු කොටි 200කට අධික පිරිසකට මෙරටින් පලායෑමට හැකි වූයේ ඩයස්පෝරාව අතදිග හැර මුදල් වැය කිරීම නිසාය. මේ හිටපු කොටි බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යය, ජර්මනිය, ප‍්‍රංශය, ස්විට්සර්ලන්තය, කැනඩාව, නෝර්වේ ඔස්ටි‍්‍රයාව, ඔස්ටේ‍්‍රලියාව සහ ස්විඩනය යන රටවල දේශපාලන
 
 රැුකවරණ ලබා ඇත.
 
 මින් විවිධ අපරාධ සිදු කළ කොටි 70 ක් ජිනීවා මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයට බොරු සාක්කි ලබා දී තිබේ. එහෙත් ඔවුන්ගේ අනන්‍යතාවය හෙළි කර නැත. මේ පසුබිම මැද ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා ආරක්‍ෂක හමුදාවේ නිලධාරීන් 59කටද විශේෂ කාර්ය බළකායේ 56කට ද රහස් පොලිසියේ හා ත‍්‍රස්ත මර්දන ඒකකයේ 17කට ද යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා එල්ල වී ඇත. මෙවන් තත්ත්වයක් මැද අපරාධ සිදුකළ හිටපු කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තයන්ට රජය සමාව දිය යුතුද? ඉන්දිරා ගාන්ධි මැරූ සීක් ආරක්‍ෂකයන් දෙදෙනාව එල්ලා මරා දමනු ලැබීය.
 
 එසේම ජනරාල් අරුන් විiා මරා දැමූූ ත‍්‍රස්තයන් දෙදෙනා එල්ලනු ලැබීය. මොවුන්ට සමාව දීමට ඉන්දීය රජය ක‍්‍රියා කළේ නැත. එහෙත් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා හමුදා භටයන්ව වරදකරුවන් කර ඔවුන්ට දඬුවම් පමුණුවා යුක්තිය ඉටු කළ යුතු යැයි හඬ නඟා විග්නේශ්වරන්, සම්බන්ධන්, ගජේන්ද්‍ර කුමාර් පොන්නම්බලම් ශ‍්‍රීධරන්, ආනන්දි ශෂිතරන්, සුමන්තිරන් සහ සිවාජිලිංගම් වැන්නවුන් මහ බැංකු බෝම්බ පිපිරීමෙන් මියගිය 91 ක පිරිසට යුක්තිය ඉටු වූ බව කියන්නේද? මහ බැංකු බෝම්බ පිපිරීම සිදු වූයේ ජනවාරි 31 වැනි දිනකය. එහිදී බැංකු නිලධාරීන් 40 ක් අමු අමුවේ ඝාතනය විය. එක් බැංකු නිලධාරිනියකගේ දෑස් අන්ධ විය. ඇය ද මේ වනවිට දැඩි අසරණ තත්ත්වයකින් පසුවේ.
 
 ආර්. ඞී. එක්ස් කිලෝ 400ක බලයක් ඇති බෝම්බයක් පුපුරුවා හැරීමෙන් සිදු වූ විපත සුළු පටු නොවේ. මෙම මහ බැංකු පිපිරීමට වග කිවයුතු ප‍්‍රභාකරන්ගේ ඇග’ිලි සලකුණ සොයා ගත්තේ ප‍්‍රධාන පොලිස් පරීක්‍ෂක නිලබ්දීන්ය. මරදාන බෝම්බය, ජේ. ඞී. සී. බෝම්බය කොටා පාර බෝම්බ පිපිරීම විදුලි සංදේශ බෝම්බය වැනි බෝම්බ පිපිරීම සිදු කළේ දේශපාලන සිරකරුවන් නොවේ. මෙවන් පසුබිමක් මැද රජය රැුඳවුම්භාරයේ සිටින මිනීමරුවන් 82ක පිරිස මුදු හැරීමට කටයුතු කළ හොත් එය බරපතළ ද්‍රෝහිකමක් වේ.
 
 එසේම ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ හමුදාවට එල්ල වී ඇති යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා තවමත් අවසන් නැත. මේ වසරේ මාර්තු මස එම චෝදනා යළි ජිනීවා කරළියට පැමිණේ. යහපාලන රජයේ මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසම ද හමුදාවට එරෙහිව සාවi වාර්තා 300කට අධික සංඛ්‍යාවක් ජීනීවා වෙත යවනු ලැබීය. මෑතකදී එම කොමිසමේ හිටපු සාමාජිකා අම්බිකා සකුනාදන් නැමැත්තිය ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා හමුදාව ජාත්‍යන්තර අධිකරණය වෙත ගෙන යා යුතු බව කියා සිටියා ය. එහෙත් කිසිදු කොටි අපරාධකරුවෙක් ජාත්‍යන්තර අධිකරණයට ගෙනයා යුතු බව ඇය පැවසූවේ නැත.
 
 මෙලෙස හිටපු කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තයන් මුදාගැනීමට ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලකයන් උත්සාහ කරන අවස්ථාවේ බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යය, කැනඩාව, මොන්ටිනිග්‍රෝ්, ජර්මනිය සහ මැසිඩෝනියාව යන රටවල් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව තවත් යෝජනාවක් 46 වැනි මානව හිමිකම් සමුළුව වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට නියමිතය. එහෙත් කැනඩාව, ජර්මනිය මොන්ටිනිග්‍රෝ, බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යය සහ මැසිඩෝනියාව යන රටවලට ද යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා එල්ල වී ඇත. කැනඩාවේ ගෝත‍්‍රික කාන්තාවන් විශාල පිරිසක් අතුරුදන් වී ඇත. අතුරුදන් වූවන්ට වන්දි ගෙවීමටද කැනඩා අගමැති ජස්ටින් ටෲඩෝ එරෙහි විය. එසේ නම් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් හඬ නැඟීමට කැනඩාවට සදාචාර හිමිකමක් තිබේද? ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිටින කැනඩා මහ කොමසාරිස්වරයා මෙතෙක් ඒ ගැන ප‍්‍රතිචාර දක්වා නැත. වරක් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව මානව හිමිකම් උල්ලංඝනය කරන බව පවසමින් කැනඩා මහ කොමසාරිස්වරිය හමුදා ආචාර පෙළ පාලිය සඳහා සහභාගී වූයේ නැත.
 
 එසේම කැනඩා අගමැති ටෲඩෝගේ සමීපතම මිතුරු කොටි හිතවාදීයකු වූ ගැරී ආනන්ද සංගරිශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ හමුදාවට එරෙහිව විවිධ මෙහෙයුම් දියත් කරයි.කැනඩාවේ ඔන්ටාරියෝ ප‍්‍රාන්ත රජය ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව ද්‍රවිඩ සමූල ඝාතනය සිදු කළ බව කියමින් පුද්ගික පාර්ලිමේන්තු පනතක්ද සම්මත කළේය. මේ හැර කොටි ආයුධ ප‍්‍රවාහනයේ යෙදුණු ජාත්‍යන්තර ප‍්‍රවාහකයාට දේශපාලන රැුකවරණ ලබාදීමට ද කැනඩාව ක‍්‍රියා කර ඇත. මේ පසුබිම මැද රැුඳවුම්භාරයේ සිටින හිටපු කොටි අපරාධකරුවන් මුදා හැරීමෙන් සිදු වන්නේ විපාක විඳීමටය. මොවුන් නිදහස් කළහොත් ඔවුන්ට විදේශ රටවල් විසින් දේශපාලන
 
 රැුකවරණ දෙනු ඇත.
 
 ඉන්පසුව එම හිටපු කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තයන් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා හමුදාවට එරෙහිව බොරු සාක්කි දීමට ඉදිරිපත් වේ. එය නතර කිරීමට රජයට නොහැකි වේ. මෙයට හොඳම නිදසුන කොටි සම`ග කටයුතු කළ බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයේ වානිකුමාර් නැමැත්තිය සහ පුදුකුඩිරිප්පු රෝහලේ වෛi වර්දරාජා බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයේ සහ ඇමෙරිකාවේ දේශපාලන රැුකවරණ ලබා ගැනීමෙන් පසු ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ හමුදාවට එරෙහිව බොරු සාක්කි පැවසීමයි.
 
 එසේම කොටි නිදහස් වූවන් ඔවුන්ට එරෙහිව විදේශ රටවලදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගත හැකි විශ්ව අධිකරණ පද්ධතිය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක නොවේ. එය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ ජනරාල් කමල් ගුණරත්න, ජනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා, මේජර් ජනරාල් වරුන් වූ චාගිි ගාල්ලගේ, ජගත් ඩයස්, ප‍්‍රසන්න සිල්වා ඇතුළු හමුදා නිලධාරීන් 59කටය. මේ නිසා මිනීමරු කොටි කල්ලිය මුදා හැරීම යනු අපේ හමුදාවට එල්ලවූ පාරාවළල්ලක් වේ. මෙම තත්ත්වය මත රැුඳවුම්භාරයේ සිටින හිටපු කොටි මුදා ගැනීමට ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලකයන් උත්සාහ කරන්නේ යටි අරමුණු ඉටු කර ගැනීමටයි.
 
 මේ දේශපාලකයන් බෙදුම්වාදීන් බව රජය අමතක නොකළ යුතුයි. ජිනීවා ආරංචි මාර්ගවලට අනුව කොටි ඩයස්පෝරා සංවිධාන 40ක ඉලක්කය වී ඇත්තේ ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා හමුදාව බොරු සමූලඝාතනයකට වරදකරුවන් කිරීමයි. ඒ සඳහා පසුගිය වසර 11 තුළ කොටි ඩයස්පෝරාව විශාල මුදල් ප‍්‍රමාණයක් වැය කරනු ලැබීය. කැනඩාව සහ බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යය යන රටවල කොටි ඩයස්පෝරාව එම බොරු චෝදනාව එල්ල කර ඇති ඇති අතර ඉදිරියේදීත් එය දිගට ම ප‍්‍රචාරය වේ. මේ නිසා රජය කිසිසේත් හිටපු අපරාධකරුවන් 83 ක පිරිස මුදා හැරීමට ක‍්‍රියා නොකළ යුතුයි.
 
 එසේ කළහොත් එය ඡුන්දය දුන් 69 ලක්‍ෂයක ජනතාවට ද්‍රෝහි වීමකි. මේ අතර ද්‍රවිඩ සන්ධානය ටෙලෝ සහ කොටි හිතවාදී බි‍්‍රතාන්‍ය සංවිධාන 250 ක් එකතු වී බි‍්‍රතාන්‍ය රජයෙන් ඉල්ලීමක් කරමින් ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් කමල් ගුණරත්න හමුදාපති ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා ඇතුළු හමුදා නිලධාරීහු 59 ක් ජාත්‍යන්තර විනිශ්චය සභාවක් වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමේ කුමන්ත‍්‍රණයක් දියත් කර ඇත. මෙම කොටි හිතවාදී සංවිධාන ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා ද්‍රවිඩ සමූල ඝාතනයක් සිදු කළ බව දක්වමින් ජිනීවා මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලය ලවා එම විනිශ්චය සභාව ස්ථාපිත කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා තිබේ. එහෙත් කොටි සංවිධානය සිදු කළ යුතු අපරාධ ගැන එකී සංවිධාන වසන් කර ඇත.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

පොල්පිතිගම, ඉරුදෙණියාය ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාව දශක කිහිපයක් තිස්සේ විසඳුම් නොලද ඉඩම් ගැටලුව ඇතුලු ජනතා ගැටලු රැසකට ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මැදිහත්වී අද 2021.01.09 දින විසඳුම් ලබා දුන්නේය.

ගම සමඟ පිළිසඳර – වැඩ සමඟ යළි ගමට ජාතික වැඩසටහනට අදාළව මකුලපොත, කට්ටම්බේරිය යාය ප්‍රාථමික විද්‍යාලයේ පැවති ජන හමුවට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙසේ ජනතාවගේ ගැටලු සඳහා ඒ මොහොතේම පිළිතුරු දෙමින් අවශ්‍ය රාජ්‍ය මැදිහත්වීම සලසා දීම විශේෂත්වයකි.

මෙම ජනතාවගේ ගැටලු සඳහා අද දින ලබා දුන් පිළියම් ඉටුවනවාද යන්න ගැන සොයා බැලීමට දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම්තුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් යුතු, වන ජීවී, වාරි මාර්ග, වන සංරක්ෂණ හා ඉඩම් යන අංශ නියෝජනය කරමින් පංච පුද්ගල කමිටුවක් පත් කරන ලෙස ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

වනජීවී ප්‍රදේශයක් ලෙස නම් කරමින් වර්ෂ 1989 දී මෙම ප්‍රදේශය ජනාධිපති රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාගේ රජය යටතේ වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට අති විශේෂ ගැසට් පත්‍රයක් මඟින් පවරා ගෙන ඇත.

ජනතාවගේ කිසිඳු අනුදැනුමකින් තොරව ඔවුන්ගේ නිවාස හා වගාබිම් ද මෙම ගැසට් පත්‍රයට අදාළ භූමියට ඇතුළත්ව ඇති අතර, ඒ හේතුවෙන් එම ප්‍රදේශයේ ජීවත් වූ ජනතාවගේ වගා බිම් හා වගාවන් ද අහිමි වී ගොස් තිබේ. වසර 50 කට අධික කාලයක් පුරා පවතින මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාවගේ ගැටලු පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඒ සඳහා කඩිනම් පියවර ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය බව පැවසීය.

එම ප්‍රදේශවල ජීවත් වූ ජනතාව සඳහා නීත්‍යාණුකූලව එම ඉඩම් ලබාදීමේ මූලික අරමුණින් පැවති මෙම සාකච්ඡාව තුළදී ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාවගේ ඇති අනෙකුත් අවශේෂ ගැටලු පිළිබඳව ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ අවධානය යොමු විය.

ඉරුදෙණියාය සංවර්ධන කලාපයේ ඉඩම් ගැටලුව සඳහා විසඳුම් ලබාදීමට 2002 වර්ෂයේ වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව එකඟ වී ඇති අතර, එහිදී 1989 වර්ෂයේ පවරා ගනු ලැබූ භූමියෙන් අක්කර 1980ක් පමණ නිදහස් කිරීමට එකඟ වී ඇත.

ප්‍රදේශයේ පවතින අලි මිනිස් ගැටුමට නිසි පිළියමක් යොදමින් පසුව මෙම ඉඩම් නිදහස් කිරීමට වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් එකඟ වී තිබේ. මේ වන විට එම ඉඩම් වල පදිංචිකරුවන් වගා කටයුතු කරනු ලැබුව ද නීත්‍යානුකූල අයිතියක් තවමත් ඔවුන්ට ලැබී නොමැති බව ප්‍රදේශවාසීහු ප්‍රකාශ කරති.

මේ පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඒ් පිළිබඳව අවශ්‍ය නිසි පියවර කඩිනමින් ගන්නා ලෙස අදාළ බලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් ලබා දුන්නේය. එහිදී තවමත් වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව යටතේ පවතින මෙම ඉඩම් ලබාදීමට 2002 වර්ෂයේම එකඟ වී ඇති බව ප්‍රකාශ කළ වන ජීවී හා වන සංරක්ෂණ අමාත්‍ය සී.බී. රත්නායක මහතා,  කඩිනමින් ඉඩම් නිදහස් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගන්නා බව පැවැසීය.

එම ඉඩම් සඳහා නීත්‍යානුකූල ඔප්පු ලබාදීම මාස 03ක් වැනි කෙටි කාලයක් තුළ සිදු කරන බව ඉඩම් අමාත්‍ය එස්.එම්.චන්ද්‍රසේන මහතා පැවසීය.

මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ මතුව ඇති අලි මිනිස් ගැටුම පිළිබඳ අවධානය යොමු කරමින් අලින් මෙන්ම වන සතුන් සඳහා රක්ෂිතය තුළ ජලය තිබේනම් ඔවුන්ගෙන් වගාවන් හා ග්‍රාමීය ජනතාවට වන හානිය අවම කර ගත හැකි බව යෝජනා විය.

එහිදී රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය අනුරාධ ජයරත්න මහතාගේ මූලිකත්වය යටතේ ලබන සඳුදා දින සිට රක්ෂිතය තුළ ඇති වැව් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීමේ කටයුතු ආරම්භ කරන බවට ප්‍රකාශ විය.

මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ මහා මාර්ග හා අතුරු මාර්ගයන් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීම මෙන්ම මාර්ග ඉදි කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වූ ගැටලු පිළිබඳව ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ අවධානය යොමු වූ අතර එහිදී මහා මාර්ග අමාත්‍ය ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා විසින් ප්‍රදේශයේ සියලුම මාර්ග ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ මෙන්ම ඉදි කිරීමේ කටයුතු දැනටමත් ආරම්භ කර ඇති බවත්, අන් සියලුම මාර්ග ද කඩිනමින් පිළිසකර කර දෙන බවත් පැවසීය.

එමෙන්ම ප්‍රදේශයේ දූ දරුවන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපනය සඳහා මතුව ඇති ගැටලු පිළිබඳව ද මෙහිදී අවධානය යොමු වූ අතර, අන්තර්ජාල පහසුකම් යටතේ සිදු කරනු ලබන අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතු සඳහා අවශ්‍ය පහසුකම් ප්‍රදේශය තුළ නොමැති බවත්, අවම පහසුකම වූ දුරකථන සම්බන්ධතා පහසුකම් සඳහා අවශ්‍ය පහසුකම් නොමැති බව ප්‍රදේශවාසීන් මෙන්ම, බඹරගල යාය ප්‍රාථමික පාසලේ දැරියක් ප්‍රකාශ කළාය.

මේ පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ගමට සන්නිවේදනය ව්‍යපෘතිය යටතේ කඩිනමින් මෙම ප්‍රදේශට වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කරමින් සන්නිවේදන කුලුනු ඉදි කිරීමට කටයුතු කරන ලෙස අදාළ බලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් ලබා දුන්නේය.

එම කටයුතු කඩිනමින් ආරම්භ කර අවසන් කිරීමට බලධාරීන් එකඟතාව පළ කළේය. මේ යටතේ කුරුණෑගල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය සඳහා සන්නිවේදන කුලුනු 99 ක් ඉදි කෙරෙණු ඇත.

ප්‍රදේශයේ ඇති පානීය ජල ගැටලු සඳහා අවශ්‍ය විසඳුම් කඩිනමින් ලබාදීමට විෂය භාර අමාත්‍ය සනත් නිශාන්ත මහතා එකඟතාව පළ කළේය.

එසේම බඹරගල යායා ප්‍රාථමික විද්‍යාලයේ පවතින ගොඩනැගිලි අබලන්වීම, වැසිකිලි හා පාසලට මාර්ගයක් මෙන්ම ක්‍රීඩා පිටියක අවශ්‍යතාවය පැහැදිලි කළ කුඩා දැරියකගේ ගැටලු පිලිබඳ අවධානය යොමු කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඒවා කඩිනමින් විසඳා දීමට එකඟතාව පළ කළේය.

එහිදී පාසලේ මාර්ගය සකස් කිරීමට අමාත්‍ය ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා කටයුතු කරන බවත් ක්‍රීඩා පිටිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගරු ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සමඟින් සාකච්ඡා කර විසඳුම් ලබාදීමටත් එකඟතාව පළ විය. ලොතරැයි මණ්ඩලය මැදිහත්වී පාසලේ වැසිකිලි ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳා දීම සදහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඉල්ලීමක් කර ඇති බව සදහන් විය.

ප්‍රදේශයේ තරුණයින් මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය සඳහා ඇබ්බැහි වී ඇති බව ප්‍රකාශ වූ අතර ඒ පිළිබඳ සොයා බලා එය මැඩලීමට කටයුතු කරන ලෙස කුරුණෑගල දිශාව භාර ‌ජේෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පතිට අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

එසේම අලි වැට ඉදි කිරීම, එය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාවගෙන් සැදුම්ලත් කුඩා කණ්ඩායම් මඟින් වැඩපිළිවෙළක් ඉදිරියේදී සකස් කිරීමට නියමිතය.

මේ වන විට අතරමඟ නැවතී ඇති මී ඔය ව්‍යාපාරයේ ඉතිරි ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු, වගා කටයුතු සඳහා අවශ්‍ය ජලය ලබා ගැනීමේ ඇළ මාර්ගයන් ඉදි කිරීම යනාදිය ද කඩිනමින් අවසන් කරන ලෙස අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා අදාළ බලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් ලබා දුන්නේය.

එමෙන්ම සාකච්ඡා වූ මෙම සියලු කරුණු කාරණා පිළිබඳ සොයා බැලීම සඳහා දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම්තුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් යුත්, වන ජීවී, වාරි මාර්ග, වන සංරක්ෂණ හා ඉඩම් යන අංශ නියෝජනය කරමින් පුද්ගලයින් 05 දෙනෙකුගෙන් යුත් කමිටුවක් පත් කරන ලෙස මෙම හමුව අවසානයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා දැනුම් දුන්නේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු, සී.බී.රත්නායක, එස්.එම්.හේරත්, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ඩී.බී.හේරත්, අනුරාධ ජයරත්න, සනත් නිශාන්ත, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන ගුණපාල රත්නසේකර, ජයරත්න හේරත්, සමන් ප්‍රිය හේරත්, සුමිත් උඩුකුඹුර, අසංක නවරත්න, මංජුලා දිසානායක, ශාන්ත බණ්ඩාර, වයඹ පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර රාජා කොල්ලුරේ, අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරුන් ඇතුලු රජයේ උසස් නිලධාරීන් රැසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

බුද්ධශාසන ආගමික කටයුතු හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශය විසින් ඉදි කරන ලද පොල්පිතිගම සංස්කෘතික මධ්‍යස්ථානය  බුද්ධශාසන ආගමික කටයුතු හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය හා ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අද 2021.01.09 දින විවෘත විය.

රට හදන සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම සංවර්ධන වැඩපිළිවෙළ යථාර්ථයක් කරමින්, මහජන අරමුදල් යටතේ මෙම සංස්කෘතික මධ්‍යස්ථානය රුපියල් මිලියන 25 ක ප්‍රතිපාදන වැයකරමින් ඉදි කර තිබේ.

සංස්කෘතික මධ්‍යස්ථානය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය භාණ්ඩ ලබාදීම ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා අතින් මෙහිදී සිදු විය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු, සී.බී.රත්නායක, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ඩී.බී.හේරත්, අනුරාධ ජයරත්න, සනත් නිශාන්ත, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන ගුණපාල රත්නසේකර, සුමිත් උඩුකුඹුර, අසංක නවරත්න, මංජුලා දිසානායක, ශාන්ත බණ්ඩාර, වයඹ පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර රාජා කොල්ලුරේ, බුද්ධශාසන ආගමික කටයුතු හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන, කුරුණෑගල දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම් ආර්.එම්.රත්නායක මහත්ම මහත්මීන් ඇතුලු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොවිඩ්-19 හමුවේ දේශීය සිනමා කර්මාන්තය රැක ගැනීම උදෙසා රාජ්‍ය මැදිහත්වීමෙන් දෙවසරක කාලයකට සහන ලබා දීමට අදාළ සාකච්ඡාවක් ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අද 2021.01.08 දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

සිනමා කර්මාන්තයේ නියැළි වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ සංගම් හා සංවිධාන ආශ්‍රිත ගැටලු සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට මෙම හමුව කැඳවා තිබිණි. චිත්‍රපට නිෂ්පාද සංසදය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිනමා අධ්‍යක්ෂවරුන්ගේ සංසදය, දේශීය සිනමා ශිල්පීන්ගේ සන්ධානය හා සිනමාශාලා හිමියන්ගේ සංගමය මෙම හමුවට එක් විය.

කොවිඩ් -19 අර්බුදය හමුවේ සිනමා කර්මාන්තය ඉතා අවදානම් තත්ත්වයකට පත්ව ඇතැයි චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂවරුන්, නිෂ්පාදකවරුන් සහ සිනමාශාලා හිමියන් මෙම හමුවේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට පැහැදිලි කළේය.

එහිදී 2021-2023 ජන ආකර්ෂණීය චිත්‍රපට 25ක් ප්‍රදර්ශනය කිරීම හා මෙම අභියෝගාත්මක කාලයේ දේශීය සිනමා කර්මාන්තය නඟා සිටුවීමට අදාළ ප්‍රායෝගික වැඩපිළිවෙළ මෙන්ම සිනමා ශාලාවල වර්තමාන තත්ත්වයත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට ඉදිරිපත් කෙරිණි.

සිනමා ශාලා හිමියන්ගේ විදුලි ගාස්තු ඒකක ගණනය කිරීමේ දී කර්මාන්ත ගණයට ගෙන එම අය කිරීම ඉදිරියට ගෙනයාම, විනෝද බද්ධ වසර දෙකක කාලයක් සඳහා සියයට 05 දක්වා අඩුකිරීම, බෙදාහැරීමේ ගාස්තු අහෝසි කිරීම හෝ අවම කිරීම, මේ සම්බන්ධ තීන්දු ගැනීම විශේෂ කමිටුවක් යටතට පත්කිරීම, සිනමා පට නිෂ්පාදනය සඳහා සියයට 4 හෝ 6 පොලී අනුපාතයට රාජ්‍ය බැංකුවලින් ණය ලබා ගැනීම, සහනදායී ලෙස රාජ්‍ය හා සියලු මාධ්‍යවල ප්‍රචාරක වැඩපිළිවෙළක් ඇති කිරීමට මෙම හමුවේදී අවධානය යොමු විය.

මෙම යෝජනාවලට අදාළ තීන්දු ගැනීම සඳහා එක් එක් ආයතන හා අංශ වෙත යොමුවී සාකච්ඡා කරන ලෙස අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙහිදී දැනුම් දුන්නේය.

ඒ අනුව අදාළ ආයතන හා අංශ දැනුවත් කරමින් ඉදිරියේදී මෙම සහන ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට අදාළ අවසන් තීන්දුවලට එළැඹීමට නියමිතව ඇත.

බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා චිත්‍රපට නිෂ්පාදකයෙකු ලෙසත්, අමාත්‍ය සරත් වීරසේකර මහතා චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂකවරයෙකු ලෙසත් මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා සහභාගීවීම විශේෂත්වයකි.

රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජයන්ත කැටගොඩ, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ගාමිණි සෙනරත්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ, මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ  ලේකම් එස්.ආර් ආටිගල, බුද්ධශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය ලේකම් සහ දේශීය සිනමා ශිල්පීන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති රොහාන් වැලිවිට, ජාතික චිත්‍රපට සංස්ථාවේ සභාපති ආචාර්ය ජයන්ත ධර්මදාස ඇතුළු චිත්‍රපට සංස්ථා අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩලය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිනමා අධ්‍යක්ෂවරුන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති ආචාර්ය සෝමරත්න දිසානායක, ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිනමා ප්‍රදර්ශකයන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති අනුරාධ බී රැකව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිනමා නිෂ්පාදකයන්ගේ සංසදයේ සභාපති රසිත ජිනසේන ඇතුළු ඒ ඒ සංගම් නියෝජනය කරමින් කලාකරුවන් රැසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Government was making arrangements to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the people of Sri Lanka by mid-February, Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID-19 Disease Control Minister Sudarshani Fernandopulle said today.

She told Parliament that the government is engaged in talks with Russia to purchase Sputnik V vaccines, while talks are also underway with India to purchase Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. The Government is also considering the Pfizer vaccines as well,” she said.

Minister Fernandopulle also said the government has placed the orders to the World Health Organization (WHO) to obtain a vaccine through the COVAX facility. 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The decision to remove the war monument at the Jaffna University was taken by Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University Professor Srisatkunarajah, as it was seen as an obstruction to unity and reconciliation, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof. Sampath Amaratunge said.

Issuing a statement Prof. Amaratunga said several groups in the Jaffna University attempted to construct a war monument within the university premises around the year 2018. It appears that this memorial statue was developed over the years. But honestly the monument can be an obstruction to the unity between the North and the South,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor of Jaffna University Professor Srisatkunarajah is an eminent scientist in Sri Lanka. He is also an excellent administrator. He had decided that the memorial statue does not suit the present or the future, so he instructed the statue to be removed from the university premises,” the UGC Chairman said.

Our students who are presently in the university system would have been 9, 10 and 11 years old when the war ended. Regardless of their race or religion, Tamil, Sinhala or Muslim, they are all our children. I’m happy to say that some 1,500 Sinhala students study at the Jaffna university today. Similarly, at least 600 to 700 Tamil students, especially from the North and East are studying in universities of the South. There are no problems among these students, and that is most important,” he opined.

Prof. Amaratunga said that the only factor that can ensure a repetition the problems of the past, is the unity of these students. They reside in common hostel facilities. They participate in common lectures, common sports events and other activities. As a country we are fortunate that these students have been responsible to experience no issues at these universities,”

The Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University has decided to remove the memorial from the university last night. I think it’s a timely decision. What we need is memorials of peace, not war. We should engage in these requirements together with our students,” he added.(Kalani Kumarasinghe)

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

The coronavirus death toll in Sri Lanka has been increased by four new deaths, confirms the Director-General of Health Services.

All 04 victims had been patient at the Homagama Base Hospital, according to the Department of Government Information.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka has reported a total of 229 deaths from the virus.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Government Information Department reports that 238 more persons have tested positive for Covid-19, increasing today’s tally of fresh cases to 535 thus far.

All new cases are close associates of Covid-19 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster.

The total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the country has increased to 47,840 while total recoveries are currently at 40,838.

Presently a total of 6,773 patients infected with the virus are under medical care.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former Directors of Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI) Finance Limited, who were arrested yesterday, have been remanded until the 12th of January.

The order was delivered by Colombo Additional Magistrate Ruwan Nelumdeniya when the suspects were produced before courts today (January 09).

Last evening, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested four former Directors of ETI Finance – Nalaka Edirisinghe, Jeewaka Edirisinghe, Anjalee Edirisinghe and Asanka Edirisinghe – acting on the directives issued by Attorney General Dappula de Livera.

The suspects were taken into custody on charges of criminal misappropriation, cheating, money laundering and other offences.

During today’s proceedings, Senior Deputy Solicitor General Haripriya Jayasundara told the court that the ETI Finance has defrauded deposits worth over Rs 13 billion.

As per the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe the matter, the directors of ETI Finance have violated the sections of penal code pertaining to fraud, criminal misconduct, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering, she noted.

Senior Deputy Solicitor General further stated that the ETI Finance had maintained undisclosed accounts which were not subject to Central Bank regulations, since 2011.

Nearly 43,000 depositors had already deposited money in ETI Finance by then, she added.

In response to a question raised by the Additional Magistrate as to why the Central Bank did not halt ETI Finance from accepting deposits, the Senior Deputy Solicitor General said the Central Bank had advised the company to operate under its regulation, in accordance with a restructured plan, as the Central Bank could not take responsibility of all depositors and there were already a large number depositors had already deposited money in the institution.

However, the ETI Finance had defrauded money while continuing to accept deposits in violation of the restrictions imposed by the Central Bank, she noted. The directors of ETI Finance have utilized the money defrauded from the depositors for renovating cinema halls, purchasing vehicles and charity events, she said further.

In this backdrop, the Central Bank had appointed a Board of Management in 2018 to manage these institutions and halted accepting of deposits, the Senior Deputy Solicitor General said, noting that the total sum of money owed by the ETI Finance to depositors stands over Rs. 13 billion.

Raising objections to granting bail to the suspects who had defrauded billions, the Senior Deputy Solicitor General appealed to the court to remand them in order to prevent possible pressure on witnesses.

Presenting submissions, the defence attorneys, meanwhile, requested the Additional Magistrate to release their clients on bail.

However, taking into account the submissions by the prosecution and the defence, the Additional Magistrate ordered to remand the four suspects until the 12th of January.

On January 05, the Attorney General had directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to conduct a criminal investigation against the Directors of the ETI Finance and Swarnamahal Jewellers Ltd. pertaining to their involvement in operating an unauthorized finance business.

Accordingly, Jeewaka Edirisinghe, Anjalee Edirisinghe and Asanka Edirisinghe were arrested on the same day by the CID, acting on further directives from the Attorney General.

Nalaka Edirisinghe, the fourth suspect in the case, had surrendered to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) the following morning. 

However, they were all released on bail by the Colombo Fort Magistrate on January 06.

Investigations are being carried out over the unauthorized acceptance of deposits worth billions of rupees, misappropriation, and money laundering, according to Attorney General’s Coordinating Officer said.

The Attorney General has also decided to forward indictments against the Directors of Swarnamahal Jewellers for conducting an unauthorized finance business.

Courtesy Adaderana

All inmates who were incarcerated over failure to pay fines will be released under special State Pardon by the President, says the Spokesperson of Prisons, Commissioner Chandana Ekanayake.

The decision has been taken with the intention of easing the congestion at prisons across the island owing to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mr Ekanayake said these inmates will be released starting from today (January 09), after referring them to PCR tests and confirming that they are negative for novel coronavirus.

Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) and relevant Police OICs will be informed in this regard

Sarath Bulathsinghala

9 Jan 2021

Some countries are experiencing a Second Wave of Covid pandemic, while some others have graduated into a Third Wave, this time with new and more virulent mutant forms of the virus. If these mutant viruses arrive in Sri Lanka it will be beyond the capacity of the Sri Lanka government to handle. Sri Lanka is already battling through the second wave. If the 70% more virulent mutant arrives in Sri Lanka it will be shutters on all activities. The UK has already gone to a shut down. Just on the news this evening Greater Brisbane in Australia is to go into a three-day lockdown to stop the UK variant spread. In the UK and in the US – California they are already almost running out of beds! This can very well happen to Sri Lanka if not extremely careful.

It is best the authorities closely look at how other countries are now affected and also most importantly other countries are getting ready to meet the mutants.

It is with this developing situation that Sri Lanka should be taking a fresh look at bringing in tourists into the country at least for the time being. Sri Lanka should explore the danger associated and as well as the certainty which they can assure that the virulent version of the virus will not enter Sri Lanka?

It is said that the total weight of the virus that has so far infected the whole world is less than 1.5 gms. This shows how minute the virus is and how easy for such a tiny speck of death dealing viral matter to creep through any human attempt to keep it contained.

It is no secret Sri Lanka was found going it easy after the First Wave. Here we are not blaming the government for it can happen to any other government elsewhere. It has happened to more rich and powerful Governments who are trying to balance a multitude of factors – the economy, security, the feeding the nation, keeping people employed in order to keep the wheels of industry moving and most importantly the health of their citizens. The priority of the most powerful countries has been their security and not the health of the nation as we have seen in the US, the UK and France! These countries are willing to take the Covid-19 related deaths as mere ‘collateral damage’, second to maintaining their security apparatus intact!

In Sri Lanka we are still trying to come to terms with the Second Wave. Are we ready for the Third Wave and certain disaster unprecedented?

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රක්ෂණ සංස්ථාවේ නාගරාජ ශාක්‍ය පුත්‍ර ඥාති වෛද්‍ය රක්ෂණ ක්‍රමය හඳුන්වාදීම අද 2021.01.08 දින ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

නව රක්ෂණ ක්‍රමය හඳුන්වා දෙමින් ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මහා සංඝරත්නයට රක්ෂණ සහතික පත් පිළිගැන්නුවේය.

සංඝයා වහන්සේලාගේ මව, පියා, සහෝදර සහෝදරියන් රජයේ රෝහලක හෝ පෞද්ගලික රෝහලක රෝහල්ගත වීමකදී දිනකට රුපියල් 1000  බැඟින් රු.15000 ක උපරිමයක් සහ රෝහල්ගතව සිදු කරනු ලබන වෛද්‍ය පරීක්ෂණයකදී හෝ ඖෂධ සඳහා රුපියල් 25000 ක උපරිමයක් දක්වා ගෙවීම මෙම රක්ෂණ ක්‍රමයට අයත්ය.

රුපියල් 2000 ක මුදලක් පමණක් මේ සඳහා වාර්ෂිකව ගෙවිය යුතු අතර, එය පුණ්‍ය කටයුත්තකදී සැදැහැවතුන්ට පූජා කිරීමේ  හැකියාව ඇත.

මෙම රක්ෂණ අවස්ථාව ඉදිරියේදී අන්‍යාගමික පූජකතුමන්ලා වෙනුවෙන් ද ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව ද මෙහිදී අවධාරණය විය.

එමෙන්ම සසුනට දරුවන් පූජා කළ, නිවසක් නොමැති දෙමාපියන් සඳහා නිවසක් ලබා දීමේ මිහිඳු නිවාස” යෝජනා ක්‍රමයට  නිවාස අමාත්‍යවරයා වශයෙන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මේ වන විටත් මුදල් වෙන් කර ඇති බව ප්‍රකාශ කළ කොළඹ නව කෝරළයේ හා නව තොටමුණේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක අතිපූජ්‍ය දිවියාගහ යසස්සී නාහිමියෝ  බුද්ධශාසනය වෙනුවෙන් ඉටුකරන මෙම සේවාව පිළිබඳව ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට ප්‍රණාමය පුද කළහ.

ඉඩමක් හිමි එහෙත් නිවසක් ඉදි කර ගැනීමට නොහැකි සංඝයා වහන්සේලාගේ දෙමාපියන් වෙනුවෙන් එක් නිවසක් සඳහා රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 06 බැඟින් නිවාස 2000 ඉදි කිරීම සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි මේවනවිටත් මුදල් ප්‍රතිපාදන වෙන්කර තිබේ.

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා කොළඹ නව කෝරළයේ හා නව තොටමුණේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක අතිපූජ්‍ය දිවියාගහ යසස්සී නාහිමි, නාරාහේන්පිට අභයාරාමාධිපති, බස්නාහිර පළාත් ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පූජ්‍ය මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද නාහිමි, බෙල්ලන්විල රජමහා විහාරයේ විහාරාධිපති අති පූජ්‍ය බෙල්ලන්විල ධම්මරතන නාහිමි, කැලණිය රජ මහා විහාරාධිපති මහාචාර්ය කොල්ලූපිටියේ මහින්ද සංඝරක්ඛිත නාහිමි, විද්‍යෝදය මහා පරිවේණාධිපති බලංගොඩ සෝභිත නාහිමි, මහාචාර්ය ඉදුරාගානේ ධම්මරතන නාහිමි ඇතුලු මහා සංඝ රත්නය වැඩම කළ වදාළහ.

රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ගාමිණී සෙනරත්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ, බුද්ධශාසන ආගමික කටයුතු හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන, බෞද්ධ කටයුතු කොමසාරිස් සුනන්ද කාරිප්පෙරුම, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රක්ෂණ සංස්ථාවේ සභාපති ජගත් වැල්ලවත්ත ඇතුලු මහත්වරු රැසක්  ද මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන සහල් නිෂ්පාදකයන්ට ණය පහසුකම් ලබාදීමට පියවර ගන්නැයි ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඊයේ 2021.01.07 උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

සමස්ත ලංකා සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන සහල් නිෂ්පාදකයින්ගේ සංගමයේ නියෝජිතයින් සමඟ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී කමිටු කාමර 02 පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකට එක් වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මේ බව පැවසීය.

මහා පරිමාන සහල් නිෂ්පාදකයින්ගේ ගැටලුවලට පෙර සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන සහල් නිෂ්පාදකයින්ගේ ගැටලු විසදීමට පියවර ගන්නැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා බලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

රටේ පවතින සහතික වී මිලට අනුව පෙබරවාරි 01 සිට මාස 06 කට යාවත්කාලීන වන සහල් සඳහා ස්ථීර පාලන මිලක් ලබා ගැනීම ඇතුලු ඉල්ලීම් කිහිපයක් මුල් කරගනිමින් මෙම සාකච්ඡාව පැවැත්විණි.

මෙහිදී සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන වී මෝල් හිමියන්ට සහනදායී වශයෙන් ණය ගෙවා දැමීමට අවශ්‍ය පහසුකම් සැලසීම පිළිබදව ද අවධානය යොමු විය. 

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා වෙළඳ අමාත්‍ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ලසන්ත අලගියවන්න, ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ, ඉන්දික අනුරුද්ධ, අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල්, ශෂීන්ද්‍ර රාජපක්ෂ, මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම් එස්.ආර්.ආටිගල, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය අතිරේක ලේකම් නීතිඥ චමින්ද කුලරත්න මහත්වරු, බැංකු, සතොස හා වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලයේ නිලධාරීන් ඇතුළු රාජ්‍ය ආයතන ප්‍රධානීන් හා සුළු හා මධ්‍ය පරිමාන සහල් නිෂ්පාදකයෝ එක්ව සිටියහ.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed three more Covid-19 related deaths in the country today (8) increasing the death toll due to the virus to 225.

One of the victims is a 75-year-old male from Colombo 14 who was identified as Covid-19 positive and transferred from the Colombo National Hospital to the Rambukkana Hospital and then to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH).

He had passed away at IDH earlier today (8) with the cause of death reported as shock caused by blood poisoning and Covid-19 pneumonia. 

A 72-year-old man from Ratnapura who had passed away on admission to the Ratnapura Teaching Hospital on Thursday (07) had also tested positive for the virus. The cause of death is cited as Covid-19 pneumonia. 

The other deceased is an 87-year-old woman from Horana. She had passed away at her home on January 06 due to Covid-19 related lung infection and heart disease.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Government Information Department reports that 273 more persons have tested positive for Covid-19, increasing today’s tally of fresh cases to 524 thus far.

All new cases are close associates of Covid-19 patients from the Peliyagoda cluster.

The total number of positive cases reported from the Minuwangoda, Peliyagoda and prisons clusters so far stands at 43,547.

The total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the country has increased to 47,305 while total recoveries is currently at 40,317.

Presently a total of 6,766 patients infected with the virus are under medical care.