Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal submitted by the Prime Minister for the allocation of funds from the General Treasury to perform essential renovation activities and rehabilitation of the Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele-Cinema Park in Ranminitenna.

The government said the Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele-Cinema Park has been established for earmarking a renaissance in the local cinema and tele creations sector across providing studios and shooting background facilities as well as accommodation and other facilities on a concessionary basis to the artists in the field. 

It said that 13 local films, 18 tele dramas and 08 songs for advertisements have been completed since the year 2010 and that since this park has not been properly maintained for the past 04 years, most of the physical resources have deteriorated. 

Therefore, it has been identified that prompt actions should be taken to carry out essential renovations of the tele cinema park and the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal submitted by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs for allocating funds from the General Treasury during the years 2021 and 2022 for the purpose.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet of Minister has given its nod to the proposal tabled by Minister of Power to initiate the procurement procedure by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) – the licensee of transmission – to implement the Siyambalanduwa solar power project through private sector investments.

Approval was also granted to construct the power line from Medagama to Ampara by the CEB under the aforementioned project.

The Government Information Department said the necessary steps including the feasibility study, securing the lands and environmental evaluations, have been taken to implement the Siyambalanduwa solar power plant.

The assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was also received to conduct an analysis on the procedure that needs to be followed in order to develop the plant.

It has been proved by the analysis that the proposed project with transmission infrastructure should be implemented as a single procurement of 100 MV single power plant and transmission facilities in order to obtain a minimum power consume charge for the generation and transmission of a unit of electricity according to the various capacity opportunities that could be implemented, the Government Information Department said further.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka recorded its youngest Covid-19 related death as a 20-day-old infant, who had contracted the virus, passed away today (08).

Health authorities confirmed that the infant was admitted to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo last night and has been diagnosed with pneumonia.

However, a subsequent PCR test has confirmed that the infant was infected with Covid-19.

Director of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Dr G. Wijesuriya said, at the time of admission, the infant was in a critical condition with severe pneumonia.

It was further reported that the parents of the infants, who are residents of Thotalanga area, were tested negative for the virus.

Courtesy Hiru News

A total of 797 persons tested positive for Covid-19 today with 230 cases reported from prisons.

The total has now increased to 29,378.

This is the 3rd highest ever daily total reported in the country.  This was also the 40th highest daily caseload reported today around the world.

Meanwhile the active cases in the country is nearing 8,000 with 7,978 patients.

Courtesy Hiru News

A large number of people arrived in the Udumagama area in Kegalle today (08) violating quarantine laws to obtain a locally made syrup which was declared to be able to control the coronavirus.

Dhammika Bandara, the manufacturer of the local syrup, distributed it free of charge to the people and there was no sign of the visitors maintaining social distance of any sort.

Also, Dhammika Bandara who manufactured this drug was not seen wearing a face mask.

Meanwhile, Police Media Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana stated that the Kegalle SSP has been instructed to conduct an investigation and submit a report regarding reports that health guidelines have been violated at the location.

Meanwhile, the Editor of the Government Medical Officers’ Association, Dr. Haritha Aluthge stated that the effectiveness of this drug has not been confirmed yet.

Although we tried to contact Dhammika Bandara, the inventor of the syrup several times over the phone to inquire about this ‘so called miracle cure’, he did not respond

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Part 18 of this series contains short updates on matters discussed earlier. This essay provides an update on   celebrations of the Eelam War.

 In July 2020, a group of Jaffna undergraduates celebrated Black Tiger Day on a Sunday night. Leading activists of several student bodies organized the event. Student participants were asked to offer flowers and light candles in front of pictures of the dead Black Tigers.

The Black Tigers are members of the LTTE Suicide Squad. They were inspired by the Lebanese Hezbollah bombing of the US marine barracks and French paratrooper HQ bombings in Beirut in 1983. The first   Black Tiger, Vallipuram Vasanthan, drove a truck laden with explosives into the Army camp at Nelliady, Jaffna on 5 July 1987, killing and injuring 40 Sri Lankan soldiers.  But the soldiers fought back and LTTE was unable to take the camp.

In September 2020, the north decided they wished to commemorate the death of Thileepan”, Rasaiah Parthipan. Thileepan had held a death fast on 11 September, 1987, to secure a five-point charter of demands including the setting up of an LTTE-dominated Interim Administrative Council for Northern-Eastern province, as part of the India-Sri Lanka Accord. The authorities refused to accept this. Thileepan refused to give up his fast and died after 11 days on 26 September, 1987. He was a cancer patient and was not in a condition to undertake a fast. The fast took place in a specially built dais near the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil.

In November, 2020, the law courts banned an event to commemorate Thileepan in Vavuniya .The organizers made a second request which was also refused.   Northern parliamentarians wrote to the government, asking to put up a statue to Thileepan. They said that that commemorating the dead in the North is a human right and that they should be granted permission to commemorate the war dead. If the government did not permit this then there would be a hartal in the north.

This hartal was held. TNA, Tamil People’s National Alliance, All Ceylon Tamil Congress and the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front participated.  The police said that despite the Hartal, all government departments and establishments were open and despite a reduction in the number of private busses, the SLTB buses had operated as usual.  Shops in the Vavuniya, Ampara, and Trincomalee remained open. However, some of the schools had closed early due to the absence of teachers and relatively fewer students attended.

Former Member of Parliament M.K.Shivajilingam was arrested by the police in Kopay for organizing an illegal celebration in memory Thileepan. Shivajilingam had sought permission to hold the commemoration ceremony at the Thileepan memorial in Nallur, but the Jaffna police got a court order banning it on the grounds that a leader of a banned organization like the LTTE could not be commemorated and glorified.

 Jaffna magistrate dismissed the argument that Yahapalana government had had allowed the commemoration and   banned the ceremony. However, Shivajilingam secretly changed the venue of the commemoration to Kondavil and performed a ceremony there. He was arrested and was subsequently released on bail.

Shivajilingam was also arrested by the Valvettithurai police over celebrating the birthday of Prabhakaran.  Shivajilingam had been detained almost every year for organizing ‘Mahaviru Day’ to glorify Velupillai Prabhakaran. Shivajilingam though leader of rival organization, TELO,  was related to Prabhakaran.

Mahaveer day was held on the 27th of November every year to commemorate the LTTE cadres who had lost their lives in the conflict. Commemoration had been held continuously for period of over thirty years without interruption. Yahapalana government had allowed it.

There were plans to hold Mahaviru ceremonies in the north, as usual, in November; 2020. Military and police intelligence services reported to Pohottu that plans were underway to hold public gatherings and commemorative meetings across the Northern Province from November 21-27.They wanted court orders prohibiting this. The Pohottu government opposed the celebration of Mahaveer.  

Attorney General’s Department sent officers to make submissions at Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna Magistrates’ Courts to prevent of Mahaviru Day. Courts upheld their submissions and ordered the prohibition    of any form of commemorative events to mark the ‘Maveerar Naal’ or Great Heroes’ Day, on the grounds that they would pose a health risk in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police had obtained a Court order for 14-days banning all protests and hartals in the North and East in commemoration of any LTTE member. Kopay and Jaffna Police moved motions separately seeking to stop preparations by Tamil political parties and civil society groups in cemeteries where LTTE cadres had been buried. Jaffna Magistrate issued the order.In Mallakam, Chavakachcheri, Trincomalee, Mannar, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Batticaloa, courts issued similar orders.

Restraining orders have been obtained from the respective Magistrate’s Courts against LTTE commemoration day to prevent celebrating and people who are living in Northern Province had been informed regarding this.

There were petitions against this order. The Jaffna High Court dismissed four petitions filed in the court seeking a writ order to prevent Police and the health authorities stop Mahaviru commemoration.

Attorney General’s Department and Mullaitivu police then filed a motion to get the ban extended. Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court extended its ban on 46 persons preventing them from holding LTTE commemoration events in Mullaitivu district till 30th of November.

The prohibition was not completely successful, Mahaviru was celebrated.Police arrested   51 persons. Four people were arrested by the Eravur Police for promoting LTTE Mahaviru commemorations through the social media. The respondents’ lawyers said that remembering loved ones who were killed in the separatist war was the basic right of the Tamil people. Some of their own relatives were among those who fought for the Tamil cause.

Senior lawyer N. Srikantha told Court that he had the right to remember one of his close relatives who died in the war and added that dead people could not be considered as members of an organization which was defeated militarily a decade ago.

Nobody raises questions when the JVP remembers its fallen comrades and displays pictures of Rohana Wijeweera in berets. But when the Tamils remember their dead, the issue of terrorism is brought up, complained the Tamils.

Former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, MP, said that although the Mahaviru Day” had been banned on a court order. Lamps would be lit in every household in the Jaffna District in their memory.

MP Sarath Weerasekera complained in Parliament that MP Sumanthiran had attended a remembrance service of Pandithar, an LTTE leader. He had gone to the home of Pandithar’s mother, in Valvettithurai, where he lit a lamp to commemorate the fallen LTTE leader.

MP Sumanthiran explained. Sammanthurai Maheswari was one of my clients. I appeared for her in a case at the Jaffna High Court where the learned judge told me that she could  not conduct remembrance in public places but was allowed to remember her son who was killed in 1985 privately at home. I went there on that day and explained to my client the instructions given by the judge.

The dead person was a LTTE leader. He was a killer, said Weerasekera. Yes, he was a member of the LTTE. Nevertheless, he was her son. Every mother has a right to remember her children replied Sumanthiran.

The mother can remember her son there is no problem, but an MP cannot go to such a place, said Weerasekera. Sumanthiran pointed out that JVP was allowed to remember Rohana Wijeweera in the streets of Colombo. LTTE tried to divide the country, JVP did not, replied Weerasekera. The discussion ended with both persons calling each other ‘racists’.

Pro-LTTE activists in the United Kingdom are planning to commemorate ‘Heroes Day’ in honor of their dead cadres on a grand scale announced critics in November 2020.  They have put up posters, flags, banners and cutouts of the slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran mostly near Tamil-owned shops in preparation for the annual event.

Despite a strong protest by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in London, to the British authorities, pro-LTTE groups in London went ahead with the planned ‘Great Heroes Day’ commemoration on a grand scale.

On the night of November 26, LTTE activists used high-powered laser beams to project on the British Parliament building an image of a flower considered by the terrorist group as their ‘national symbol of Tamil Eelam’ with the words ‘We remember’ underneath it.

On November 29, they hired a hall in East London for the celebrations. The venue was decorated with LTTE flags and garlanded photographs of LTTE fighters killed in the war were placed at the entrance to the hall. Makeshift tombstones draped in LTTE flags and garlands scattered the floor of the hall. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions in the country, only 15 people participated in the commemoration.

LTTE activities have been stepped up in the UK following the open judgment by the Proscribed Organizations Appeals Commission to allow the appeal made by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam challenging the decision of the UK Secretary of State for Home Affairs to proscribe LTTE. (continued)

By Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. 

 My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.”

John Lennon

John Lennon who was an inspirational character changed music in a new direction. He was one of the key figures in the Post War generation whose music and ideology changed the world. Lennon was a humanitarian. He condemned the violence and truthfully worked for peace. John Lennon’s music, philosophy, and mission are still adored by millions of people. He is an immortal in people’s hearts. Lennon was born to a working-class family in Liverpool in 1940. His childhood was disrupted and when he was a teenager his mother got killed in an accident. All the suffering he felt in his heart was expressed in the form of lyrics in later years. In 1956 he met Paul McCartney which was a turning point in his life. They began writing songs together and formed the most popular group of all time the Beatles.

The Beatles were young revolutionists in the field of music. Where ever they went they captured the hearts of millions creating a Beatle’s mania. John Lennon was considered the most energetic and the driving force behind the Beatles. John was enthusiastic and transforming into a new wave. When he met his future wife and the soul companion Yoko Ono they began to work collaboratively. The Beatles pronounced their official breakup in 1970. With the breakup, Lennon began his solo career in a more advanced way. Lennon’s songs began exploring profoundly political, psychological, and existential themes.

John Lennon’s song Imagine is one of the greatest songs of all time an anthem of universal hope. In this song, Lennon tells us about an imaginary world where people live in peace and harmony.

He further says ….
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

One critic described Lennon’s masterpiece Imagine as thus

Imagine,” the song, was unquestionably Lennon’s finest moment. Its lyrical and conceptual clarity shone sunlight of vision upon our dark and violent world. It urged us to imagine a world without property, without religion, without nations, living in peace. It postulated an economic order in which both greed and hunger would be impossible”.

John Lennon provided the intellectual, political, and aesthetic influence to nations. They openly protested against the Vietnam war. John Lennon began to make history with his painfully honest and political songs. He wanted to change the world but not through violence. Lennon clearly gives this message in his song Revolution.

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know that you can count me out?

October 1968 Lennon recorded Give Peace a Chance” now which is a motto of the peace-loving community. His”Nowhere Man” on Rubber Soul” (1965) carried a philosophical as well as psychological theme which described alienation. He was sort of the vicar of Art Rock. Lennon’s songwriting genius was uncanny. Author John Stevens explains Lennon’s intuitive talent from a technical point of view, through the lens of songwriting three basic elements: melody, harmony, and lyric.

John Lennon’s mission was unexpectedly stopped on December 8, 1980. When Lennon was returning with Ono to their Dakota apartment in New York City he was shot by Mark David Chapman a Beatles fan and a person who suffered paranoid delusions. Although Lennon is dead his music legacy continues still inspiring people around the world.

Killing of a Butterfly

On that doom s day
Near the Dakota Building NY
Mark David Chapman gun downed a legend
The ex Beatle with circular lenses
Paid the prize for the Generation of 60 s
He is a phony
Yelled the killer
He is the one who said
Imagine there is no possession
But he had everything
Expensive cars, boats and houses
All the way Chapman came from Hawaii
Waited many hours near the Dakota Building
Until his prey returned with Yoko
He was a nowhere man from nowhere land
But he made his plans to kill somebody
As Chapman said
I was nobody until I killed somebody

By Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. 

වාගිස ප්‍රනාන්දු විසිනි.

ඉහතින් සදහන් කර ඇත්තේ අපේ පැරණි කියමනකි. එම කියමන කොතරම් පැරණිවුවද වර්තමාන සමාජයට මෙන්ම අනාගතයටද එකසේම අදාළ වනු ඇත.

මේ ගැන සියළුදෙනාගේ අවධානය මෙසේ යොමු කරවීමට සිදුවුනේ අපේ රට තුල වර්තමානයේදී සිදුවන එක්තරා කතාබහක් නිසාවෙනි. එනම් අපේ රටේ පමණක් නොව මුළු මහත් ලෝකය පුරාම සීඝ්‍රයෙන් පැතිරයන කොරෝනා වසංගතයට කෑගල්ල ප්‍රදේශයේ එක්තරා වෙදමහතෙකු විසින් සොයාගන්නා ලදැයි පවසන දේශීය ඖෂධය සම්බන්ධයෙන් කෙරෙන කතා බහයි. මෙම ඖෂධය මගින් දින හතරකදී ඕනෑම කොරෝනා රෝගියකු සුවපත් කල හැකි බව එම වෙදමහතා ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇති අතර එය සත්‍යයක් බව හිටපු ආයුර්වේද කොමසාරිස්වරයෙකු පවා පිළිගෙන තිබෙන බවක් මාධ්‍ය හරහා වාර්තා වුනා.  කෙසේ හෝ එම ඖෂධයට මේ වන විට යම් පිළිගැනීමක් රජයේ  අදාළ මැති ඇමතිවරුන් විසින් ලබාදී ඇති බවක්ද පෙනී යනවා. ඊට අමතරව මෙම ඖෂධ්‍ය ගැන සොයා බැලීම සදහා බටහිර හා ආයුර්වේද ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ විද්වතුන් කීපදෙනෙකුගේ සහභාගීත්වයෙන් පරීක්ෂණ මංඩලයක්ද මේවන විටත් රජය විසින් පත් කර තිබෙනවා.

නමුත් බටහිර වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ මෙන්ම ආයුර්වේද වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ඇතැම් විද්වතුන් මෙම ඖෂධයේ ගුණාත්මකභාවය සහ එය කොරෝනා රෝගය මැඩපැවැත්වීම සදහා දක්වනු ලබන දායකත්වය ගැන සෙවීම පසෙක ලා, කෑගලු වෙදමහතාගේ පරම්පරාව සහ ඔහුගේ පැටිකිරිය මුද්‍රිත සහ ඉලෙක්ට්‍රොනික මාධ්‍යයන් ඔස්සේ කිසිදු හිරිකිතයකින් තොරව දිගහරිමින් සිටිනවා.

අද මුළු මහත් ලෝකයම ක්ෂණයකින් විනාශ කල හැකි නවීන ආයුධ ලෝක බලවතුන් සතුව ඇතත් මුළු මහත් ලෝකයටම දැවැන්ත තර්ජනයක් එල්ල කරන මෙම වෛරසය මැඩපැවැත්වීම සදහා බටහිර හෝ ආයුර්වේද ක්‍රමය තුල මේ දක්වා සාර්ථක ඖෂධයක් නිපදවා නැති බව අප සියළු දෙනාම හොදින් දන්නා දෙයක්. එවැනි තත්වයක් තුල කල යුතුව ඇත්තේ කෑගලු වෙදමහතා විසින් දේශීයව නිපදවා ඇති මෙම ඖෂධය ගැන විද්‍යාත්මක පරීක්ෂණයක් සිදුකර එහි සත්‍ය අසත්‍යතාවය ලොවට හෙළි කිරීමයි. නමුත් අද සිදු කරමින් සිටින්නේ  ඔහුගේ පුද්ගලිකත්වය මත පදනම්වී උපහාස සහ අපහාස සිදුකිරීමයි.

යමෙකු එය ලෝක ඖෂධ මාෆියාවේ මෙරට ඒජන්තවරුන්ගේ අධම ක්‍රියාවක් බවට සැක පහළ කරන අතර ඇතැමුන් පවසන්නේ එය තමන්ට කල නොහැකි වූ දෙයක් වෙනකෙකු කිරීමෙන් අදාළ පුද්ගලයාට අත්වන කීර්තිය මැදහත් සිතින් යුතුව ඉවසා දරා ගැනීමට නොහැකිවීම නිසා ඇතිවන ඊරිසියාව මුසු කුහකත්වය ප්‍රදර්ශණය කිරීමක් බවයි.

අප බොහෝ දෙනාට මෙන්ම මේ දේශීය සොයාගැනීමට විවිධ බාධක ගෙන එන  බටහිර සහ ආයුර්වේද විද්වතුන්ටද කුඩා අවදීයේ අසනීපයකදී රෝහලකට ගෙනයාමට පෙර නිවසේදීම ප්‍රථමාධාර ලෙස ඕනෑ තරම් අත් බෙහෙත් කර තිබෙන බව සත්‍යයක්. නමුත් වෛද්‍ය වෘත්තිකයින් වූ පසු  තමන් ඉගෙන ගත් සිද්ධාන්තවලට ගෝචර නොවන දෙයක් සහ/හෝ එකී සිද්ධාන්තවලින් පිටස්තර යමක් සත්‍යය ලෙස  පිළිගැනීමට දක්වන වෘත්තීයමය උදාසීනත්වයද මීට හේතුවක් විය හැක.

ළදරුවන්ගේ බඩේ ඇතිවන වේදනාවල්වලට වදකහ කෑල්ලක් දෙහි ඇඹුළෙන් ගලගා ගෑ පසු වේදනාව පහවෙන බව අපේ පැරැන්නෝ හොදින් දන්නා දෙයක්. හෙම්බිරිස්සාවට වෙනිවැල්ගැට කොත්තමල්ලි තම්බල බීපු නැති කෙනෙක් අප අතර නැති තරම්. බඩ විරේක කර ගැනීම සදහා දේශීය වෛද්‍යවරුන් නිර්දේශ කරන කසායවල ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ඇත්තේ අරළු, සෙනෙහෙකොළ සහ සහිදලුනු යන බෙහෙතේ වර්ග. නමුත් මේ කසාය පානය කිරීම අප්‍රිය කරන අපි ෆාමසි එකෙන් ගිහින් SENOKOT  නැමැති පෙති මිළදී ගෙන පානය කරනවා. හැබැයි ඒ වැඩිදෙනා දන්නේ නැහැ එම පෙත්තේ දේශීය ඖෂධයක් වන සෙනෙහෙකොල අඩංගු බව.

Orthopedic Surgeon වරු කොපමන ලංකාවේ සිටියත් ඔවුන්ටත් සුව කල නොහැකිවු අස්ථි බිදීම් සහිත බොහෝ රෝගීන් පසුගියදා අපෙන් වියෝවුනු මරදන්කඩවල වෙල්ඩින් වෙද මහත්තය සුව කරපු බව ප්‍රකට රහසක්. කොටි යුද්ධය පවතිද්දී හොරිවිල කැඩුම් බිදුම්වලට ප්‍රතිකාර කල ලොකු වෙදමහත්තයව එතුමා ජීවත්ව සිටියදී පැහැරගෙන ගොස් කොටි ඔවුන්ගේ රෝගීන්ට ප්‍රතිකාර කරවාගත් බව ඒ දිනවල පුවත්පත්වල පළවුනා. ඒවාගේම කළුතර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ බන්ඩාරගම, වීදාගම වෙද හාමුදුරුවෝ අතීතයේ ප්‍රසිද්ධියක් ඉසුළුවා කැඩුම් බිදුම් ප්‍රතිකාර සදහා. එපමණක් නොවෙයි, නීළම්මහර පංසලේ වැඩ සිටිය ලොකු හාමුදුරුවන්ට ඉන්දියාවේ එක්තරා මහාරාජා කෙනෙකු විසින් ඇතෙකු පවා තෑගි දුන්නා, තමන්ගේ සහෝදරියකගේ මානසික විකෘතියක් සුවපත් කිරීම වෙනුවෙන්.

නමුත් මේ කිසිවෙකුත් බටහිර වෛද්‍ය ක්‍රමය කෙසේවෙතත් අවම වශයෙන් ආයුර්වේද වෛද්‍ය ක්‍රමය හෝ ඉගෙනගත් අය නොවෙයි. මුදලට හෝ සුදුසුකම් මත විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවල අධ්‍යාපනය හදාරා උපාධි , පශ්චාත් උපාධි හෝ සහතිකපත් ලැබූවන් නොවෙයි. ඔවුන් සියළුදෙනා ප්‍රගුණ කර තිබුනේ පාරම්පරිකව පැවත එන හෙළ වෙදකම පමණයි.

ඔවුන් මේ සියළු දස්කම් පෑවේ හෙළ වෙදකමේ මහිමයෙන්. නමුත් මොවුන්ගේ හෙළ වෙදකම කිසිවෙකුත් එදා අභියෝගයට ලක් කලෙත් නැහැ. අද තවමත් අභියෝගයට ලක් කරන්නෙත් නැහැ. ඒවගේම ඔවුන්ගේ ඒ හෙළ වෙදකමේ ප්‍රතිකාර ක්‍රම සහ නිර්දේශ කරනු ලබන දේශීය ඖෂධ  බටහිර ක්‍රමය අනුව සුදුසුද නැද්ද කියලා පරීක්ෂණ පැවැත්වුවෙත් නැහැ. මිනිසුන් රෝගීවුනාම ඔවුන් වෙත ගියා. ප්‍රතිකාරවලින් සුව වුනා. ඒ හැර කිසිවෙකුත් ඔවුන්ගේ සහතික ඉල්ලුවෙත් නැහැ.

වර්තමානයේ බටහිර වෛද්‍ය ක්‍රමයට අනුව රෝහලක සැත්කමකට යමෙකු භාජනය වන්නේනම්, එම සැත්කම කිරීමට පෙර එකී සැත්කමේ සියළු වගකීම් රෝගියා හෝ රෝගියා වෙනුවෙන් රෝගියාගේ භාරකරවකු බාරගන්නා බවට ලියවිල්ලක් අත්සන් කල යුතුව ඇත. මේ මගින් සැත්කමේ සාර්ථකත්වය මෙන්ම අසාර්ථකත්වයද ඒවාගේම සැත්කමේදී සිදුවන අත්වැරදීම් හා නොසළකාහැරීම් නිසා වන පශ්චාත් අපහසුතාවයන්ද රෝගියා විසින්ම ඉවසා දරා ගත යුතු අතර සැත්කම සිදුකරන වෙවද්‍යවරුන් සහ කාර්ය මංඩලය මේ මගින් සියළු වගකීම් වලින් නිදහස් වනු ඇත.

එමනිසා අද වහ වහා සිදු කලයුතුව ඇත්තේ කෑගලු වෙදමහතාගේ දේශීය ඖෂධය ගැන සොයා බලා එය  සුදුසුනම් දෙවනුව ඉහත කී බටහිර ක්‍රමයට අනුව ස්ව කැමැත්තෙන් එම ඖෂධය ලබා ගැනීමට ලිඛිතව කැමැත්ත පල කරන තෝරාගත් රෝගීන් කීපදෙනෙකුට ලබාදී එයින්ද සාර්ථක ප්‍රතිපල ලැබේනම් කොරෝනා මර්ධනය කිරීම සදහා එම ඖෂධය නිර්දේශ කිරීමයි.

එසේ නොමැතිව කෑගලු වෙදමහතාගේ පැටිකිරිය මාධ්‍යය තුල දිගහැරීම මගින් තමන්ගේ නොහැකියාව වසා ගැනීමට  යමෙකු හෝ යම් පිරිසක් උත්සාහ කරන්නේනම් හෝ ඖෂධ මාෆියාවට යටවී මෙකී දේශීය ඖෂධය උපන්ගෙයි මරාදැමීමට උත්සාහ කරන්නේනම්, ඒ සියළුදෙනා පිදුරු නොකන බල්ලන්ටත් වඩා අන්ත බව පමණක් මෙහිලා අවසන් වශයෙන් සදහන් කල යුතුය.

ජල සම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන සේවක සංගමය.

ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන අමාත්‍ය,
ගරු වාසුදේව නානායක්කාර මැතිතුමා,
ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන අමාත්‍යංශය,
පැලවත්ත, බත්තරමුල්ල.

ශ්‍රම කොන්ත‍්‍රාත් (Man power) සේවකයින් අසාධාරණ ලෙස සේවයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට යෑම, නවත්වන ලෙස ඉල්ලීම.

ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලයේ සියලූ ශ්‍රම කොන්ත්‍රාත් සේවකයින් (Man power) 2021 මැයි මාසය වන විට සේවයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමටත් ඒ වෙනුවට ජනාධිපති කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය මඟින් කම්කරුවන් ලබා ගැනීමට කටයුතු කරන ලෙසත් ගරු අමාත්‍ය තුමා විසින් උපදෙස් ලබා දී ඇති බවත් ඒ අනුව කටයුතු කරන ලෙසත් ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලයේ සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරි තුමා මඟින් 2020/11/23 දිනැති අංක GM/OP/01 දරණ ලිපිනයෙන් සියලූ අංශ ප‍්‍රධානීන් වෙත දන්වා තිබේ.

මෙසේ ග්‍රාම කොන්ත‍්‍රාත් සේවකයින් සේවයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට ගෙන ඇති තීරණය මඟින් බලවත් අසාධාරණයක් මෙම සේවකයින්ට සිදු වන බවත් මෙය මානූෂීය නොවන තත්වයක් බවත් සඳහන් කරන්නෙමු.

ජලසම්පාදන මණ්ඩලයේ මෙම සේවකයින්ගෙන් බොහෝ පිරිසක් වසර 10ක්, 15ක් සහ 20ක් වැනි විශාල කාලයක් තිස්සේ සේවය කරන අයවලූන්ය. නොයෙකුත් දුෂ්කරතා මැද අඩු වැටුපක් ලබමින් දීර්ඝ කාලයක් තිස්සේ ජලසම්පාදන මණ්ඩලය වෙනුවෙන් තම තාරුන්‍ය කැප කරමින් ශ්‍රමය ලබා දුන් මෙම සේවකයින් වෙනත් රැකියාවක් වෙත යෑමට අදහස් නොකල පිරිසකි. එසේම දැන් මොවුන්ට වෙනත් රැකියාවකට යෑමටද අපහසුය.

මෙම සේවකයින් දැන් මනා පලපුරුද්දක්, කුසලතාවයක් ලබා පුහුණු සේවකයින් බවට පත්ව සිටී. මොවුන් ඉවත් කරන්නේ නම් එය මණ්ඩලයට සිදු වන මනා මානව සම්පත් පාඩුවකි. එසේම මෙම සේවකයින් පුහුණු ශ්‍රමය ලබා දෙනුයේ ඉතා අඩු වැටුපකටය.

ගරු ඇමති තුමනි,
මෙම සේවකයින් ස්ථීර කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා විවධ ඉල්ලීම් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් උද්ඝෝෂණ ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වලටද එළැඹී අතර එක් අවස්ථාවක එවකට ජලසම්පාදන අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් වරයා ලිඛිත පොරොන්දුවක් ලබා දෙමින් කියා සිටියේ විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලයේ (Man power) සේවකයින් ස්ථීර කරන ආකාරයට අප මණ්ඩලයේ අයද ස්ථීර කිරීමට ඉදිරි පියවර ගන්නා බවයි.

එසේ පොරොන්දු වූයේ අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් වරයාගේ අංක 01/07/88 හා 2014/12/24 දිනැති ලිපිය මඟිනි. ඔබතුමා සමඟ පවත්වන ලද සාකච්ඡා වලදී ඔබතුමාට ඉහත කරුණ පැහැදිලි කිරීමෙන් පසුව ඔබතුමා එකඟ වී සිටියේ මෙම ශ්‍රම කොන්ත්‍රාත් සේවකයින් ස්ථීර කිරීමට වැඩ පිලිවෙලක් සකස් කරන බවයි.

එසේ ස්ථීර කිරීමට වැඩ පිලිවෙලක් වෙනුවට දැන් ඔබතුමාගේ උපදෙස් ලැබී ඇත්තේ එම සේවකයින් ඉවත් කිරීමටයි.

වාමාංශික කම්කරු නායකයකු වන ඔබතුමා මෙම තීරණය වෙනස් කරනු ඇතැයි අප උදක්ම බලා පොරොත්තුවන අතර මෙම සේවකයින් ඉවත් කරනු වෙනුවට මොවුන් ස්ථීර කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් සුදුසු වැඩ පිළිවෙල සකස් කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටින අතර මේ පිළිබඳව ඉක්මන් සාකච්ඡාවක් ලබා දෙන ලෙසද ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

ස්තූතියි.

මෙයට,
එන්. ඩී. එන්. ලීලාරත්න
සමලේකම්,
ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන සේවක සංගමය.

සම්බන්ධීකරණය –  071-8084220
Coordinating – +94 71-8084220

පිටපත් –
1. ලේකම් තුමා ජලසම්පාදන අමාත්‍යංශය – බත්තරමුල්ල
2. සභාපති තුමා ජාතික ජල සම්පාදන හා ජලාප්‍රවාහන මණ්ඩලය – රත්මලාන
3. සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරී තුමා ජාතික ජලසම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලය – රත්මලාන
4. සියලූ විද්‍යුත් හා මුද්‍රිත මාධ්‍ය

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ග්‍රාමිය සහ අර්ධ නාගරික වැසියන්ගේ සැබෑ අවශ්‍යතා සහ ප්‍රමුඛතාවන් හඳුනාගත් ‘වැඩ සමඟ යළි ගමට’ නව ව්‍යාපෘතිය ලබන 14 වැනිදා  සිට රට පුරා  ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නැයි ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අද 2020.12.07 දින උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු සංකීර්ණයේ පැවති මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයේ උපදේශක කාරක සභාවේ මුලසුන හොබවමින් ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේය.

ග්‍රාමීය සහ අර්ධ නාගරික ප්‍රදේශයවල ඇති සැබෑ අවශ්‍යතා හඳුනාගනිමින්  අදාළ ව්‍යාපෘතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ලබන 14 වැනිදා පටන් දේශපාලන අධිකාරිය කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

කොවිඩ් – 19 තත්ත්වය හමුවේ මෙරට සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය  දැඩි අසීරුතාවන්ට මුහුණ පා ඇති බවත්, ඊට මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයේ  සහයෝගය  ලබාදිය යුතු බව ද මෙහිදී යෝජනා විය.

ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මූදල් අමාත්‍යංශ‍ය ගත් පියවර රැසක් පිළිබඳව මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් එස්.ආර්.ආටිගල මහතා  විසින්  පැහැදිලි කරනු ලැබීය.

ශ්‍රී  ලාංකිකයන්ගෙන්  72%ක් වූ ග්‍රාමීය සහ අර්ධ නාගරිකයන්ගේ  ජීවන මට්ටමේ සාධනීය  වෙනසක් ඇති කිරීමට නම්  නිලධාරිවාදයට නොව ජනතාවගේ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ප්‍රමුඛතාවයන්ට මුල් තැන දිය යුතු බව මෙහිදී යෝජනා වූ අතර, ඒ අනුව රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන්  වන  අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල් මහතා සහ  ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ මහතාගේ  ද සහයෝගය ඇතිව ප්‍රමුඛතා ලැයිස්තුවක් සකස් කිරීමට මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් එස්.ආර්.ආටිගල මහතා  එකඟතාව පළ කළේය.

විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් විෂමතා සම්බන්ධයෙන් සහ සමෘද්ධි නිලධාරීන්ට  මැතිවරණ සඳහා අපේක්ෂකත්වය ලබා දීම සම්බන්ධයෙන්  පවතින ගැටලුකාරී තත්ත්වයන් පිළිබඳව ද මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡාවට බදුන් වූ අතර,  සමෘද්ධි නිලධාරීන්ට මැතිවරණ සඳහා අපේක්ෂකත්වය ලබාදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මුදල් අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ සහ කෘෂිකර්ම  අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ සහයෝගයෙන් කැබිනට් පත්‍රිකාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කර ඒ ප්‍රශ්නය කඩිනමින් විසඳීමට නියමිත බව රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ මහතා කියා සිටියේය.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජගත් කුමාර මහතා මතු කළ විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් විෂමතාවයන් පිළිබඳව ගැටලුවට විස්තරාත්මකව පිළිතුරු දුන්  මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් එස්. ආර්. ආටිගල මහතා වැටුප් සහ විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් වලට පමණක්  රජය වියදම් කරන මුදල ට්‍රිලියන 1.1 ක් වන බව පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

අයවැය යෝජනාවලිය අනුව උපාධිධාරීන්  50,000ක් රාජ්‍ය සේවයට  අලුතෙන් බඳවාගැනීම ට නියමිත අතර, අඩු ආදායම්ලාභී පවුල්වලින් රුපියල් 35,000 වැටුප් ලබන තරුණ තරුණියන්  100,000ක්  බදවාගැනීම සිදුවන බැවින් ඔවුන්ගේ වැටුප් ද මීට එකතු විය යුතු බව ඔහු පෙන්වා දුන්නේය. .

මෙය  ඕනෑම රජයක් ඉතා අසීරුවෙන් මූල්‍ය කළමනාකරණය කරන අවස්ථාවක් බව සඳහන් කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සිය රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙපළ සහ   මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ නිලධාරීන් ඒ කටයුත්ත ඉතා මැනවින් ඉටු කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඇඟයීමක් කළේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා ප්‍රවාහන අමාත්‍ය ගාමිණී ලොකුගේ, සමෘද්ධි, ගෘහ ආර්ථික, ක්ෂුද්‍ර මූල්‍ය, ස්වයං රැකියා සහ ව්‍යාපාර සංවර්ධන   රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ , මුදල් හා ප්‍රාග්ධන වෙළඳපළ සහ රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසාය ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන ජගත් කුමාර, මහාචාර්ය රංජිත් බණ්ඩාර, ගුණපාල රත්නසේක , එස්.වියලේන්ද්‍රන්, ප්‍රමිත බණ්ඩාර තෙන්නකෝන්, ඩබ්.ඩී.වීරසිංහ සහ මොහොමඩ් මුසාමිල්, මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම් එස්. ආර්. ආටිගල මහත්වරු ඇතුළු මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ඉහළ නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

ජනමාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයයි. උපාධිධාරී ජාතික මධ්‍යස්ථානය.

2020. 12. 07

ලේකම්,
ජේ.ජේ. රත්නසිරි මහත්මා,
රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන අමාත්‍යාංශය,
නිදහස් චතුරශ‍්‍රය, කොළඹ 07.

ලේකම් තුමනි,

උපාධිධාරීන් රැකියාගත කිරීමේදී කණ්ඩායම් කිහිපයකට සිදුවන බරපතල අසාධාරණයන්ට දින කිහිපයක් තුළ විසඳුමක් ලබා ගැනීම සම්බන්ධවයි.

උපාධිධාරීන් රැකියාගත කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන යටතේ තෝරාගැනීම සඳහා අදාළ කර ගන්නා නිර්නායක හේතුවෙන් උපාධිධාරීන් පිරිසකට දැඩි අසාධාරණයක් සිදුවෙමින් පවතින බව පළමුව සඳහන් කරමු.

උපධිධාරීන් රැකියාගත කිරීම 2020 පෙබරවාරි 07 සිට ආරම්භ වූ අතර 2019. 12. 31 දිනට උපාධි දිනය වලංගු උපාධිධාරීන්ගෙන් අයදුම්පත් කැඳවීමේ සිට මේ වන විටත් විධිමත් හා නිවැරදි භාවයක් සහිතව රැකියාගත කිරීමේ වැඩපිලිවෙල කුමන හෝ හේතූන් මත සම්පූර්ණ කිරීමට නොහැකි වී ඇති බව පෙන්වා දෙන්නෙමු.

සංවර්ධන නිලධාරී සේවා ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ බඳවාගැනීමේ විෂයභාර අදාලත්වය දරන රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන අමාත්‍යාංශය වෙනුවට උපාධිධාරීන් බඳවා ගැනීම දේශපාලණීකරනය කර ගැනීමේ උවමනාව මත 2017 – 2019 පැවති රජය .. ජාතික ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති හා ආර්ථික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයට .. පවරා ගත්තෙමු. එම අවිධිමත් හා ව්‍යාකූල ක‍්‍රියාදාමය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යමින් වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවද 2020. 02. 07 සිට 2020. 08. 16 තෙක් ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කර්යාලය යටතේ උපධිධාරී බඳවාගැනීම් සිදු කරන ලදී. අදටත් මෙම බඳවාගැනීමට අදාල අයදුම්පත්, අභියාචනා ඇතුලූ ලේඛන කොටසක් රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන ආමාත්‍යංශය යටතේ පවතින අතර කොටසක් තවදුරටත් ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලය යටතේ පවතින බව වැඩි දුර විමසීමේදී පෙනී යයි.

උපාධිධාරීන් රැු
කියාගත කිරීමේදී සිදුවන අසාධාරණකම් පිලිබඳව සාධාරණයක් ඉටුකර දෙන ලෙස 2020. 09. 09 හා 2020. 11. 25 යන දිනයන් හී දී ගරු විෂය භාර අමාත්‍යතුමා හමු වී සාකච්ඡා කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව පිලිගත හැකි විසඳුමක් ලබා දීමට එකඟ වුවද එය ඉදිරි දින කිහිපය තුල ඉටුවේදැයි සැක සහිතය.

2. ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් 600 කට පමණ සිදුව ඇති අසාධාරණය 2020.09.15 වන විට ETF / JOB හා JOB කාණ්ඩය යටතේ 2020. 03. 02 සිට 2020. 08. 16 දක්වා ඉල්ලා අස් වූ පිරිසට අදාලව අභියාචනා භාරගත් අතර ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් පිලිබඳව අමාත්‍යාංශය අනුගමනය කල ස්ථාවරය හේතුවෙන් ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් ගැටලූ සහගත තත්වයකට මුහුණ පා සිටීම. මේ වන විට අමාත්‍යාංශය 2020. 09. 15 වන විට රැකියාවෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්වූ ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් සංවර්ධන නිලධාරී තනතුර සඳහා තෝරාගන්නා අතර 2020. 09. 09 දින ගරු විෂය භාර අමාත්‍යතුමාගේද උපදෙස් අනුව ඉල්ලා අස් නොවී අභියාචනා යොමුකල ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් මේ වන විට ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කරමින් පැවතීම.

3. 2020. 09. 15 වන දිනට ඉල්ලා අස්වී අභියාචනා යොමු කිරීමට ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් උත්සහ දරද්දී එවැනි අය සම්බන්ධයෙන් වගවීමක් රාජ්‍ය සේවා අමාත්‍යාංශය නොදරන බව දිගින් දිගටම ප‍්‍රකාශ කරමින් සිට 2020. 11. 23 දිනැති ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් කල නාමලේඛනයෙන් අනතුරුව 2020. 09. 15 වන දින දක්වා ඉල්ලා අස්වී ඇති ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් පමණක් තෝරා ගැනීම ඌන සේවා උපාධිධාරීන් කොටසකට සිදු කරන බලවත් අසාධාරණයකි.

4. රාජ්‍ය සේවා පලාත් සභා සහ පලාත් පාලන අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම්ගේ අත්සනින් 2020. 08. 16 වන දින නිකුත් කල අමාත්‍යාංශ ලිපියේ තුන් වන ඡේදයේ සඳහන් .. එසේම අංක 19/2003/105/036-I හා 2019. 07. 23 දිනැති අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල සංදේශයට ලද තීරණය ප‍්‍රකාරව, ජාතික ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති, ආර්ථික කටයුතු, නැවත පදිංචි කිරීම් හා පුනුරුත්තාපන, උතුරු පලාත් සංවර්ධන සහ යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ 2019 වසරේ උපාධිධාරීන් බඳවාගැනීමේ සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ වලදී සිදු වූ තාක්ෂණික දෝෂ මත පත් වීම් ලබා දීමට නොහැකි වූ සහ අයදුම් පත් භාර ගන්න අවසන් දිනය වන විට වයස අවුරුදු 35 වැඩි නමුත් 45 සම්පූර්ණ නොවූ උපාධිධාරීන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් 2020. 02. 27 වන දින රැස්වූ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය විසින් ගත් තීරණයට අදාලව එම උපාධිධාරින්ගේ නාමලේඛනය ද මෙහි පහත පල කරනු ලැබේ .. යන්න උක්ත දිනැති අමාත්‍යාංශ ලිපියේ සඳහන්ව තිබුනද 2020. 12. 07 දින දක්වා මෙතෙක් එම නාමලේඛනය ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් නොකිරීම හා එම කණ්ඩායමට අයත් 103 ක පමණ වන උපාධිධාරීන් දැඩි මානසික පීඩනයකට ලක්ව සිටීම.

5. 2018 වර්ෂයේදී ගරු හිටපු ජනාධිපති මෛත‍්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මැතිතුමා ඇතුලූ පැවති රජය විසින් උපාධිධාරින් බඳවාගැනීමේ පළමු අදියර යටතේ අභ්‍යන්තර උපාධිධාරීන් පමණක් බඳවාගැනීමට තීරණය කරන ලදී. ඒ අනුව 2012,2013 ඇතුලූ වසර කිහිපයක බාහිර උපාධිධාරීන් පලමු සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ අවස්ථාවේදී අවුරුදු 35 ට වැඩි අවුරුදු 45 නොවැඩි උපාධිධාරීන් පිරිසකට අවස්ථාව හිමි නොවුනි. 2019. 07. 23 දින පැවති අමාත්‍යමණ්ඩල තීරණය අනුව අභ්‍යන්තර, බාහිර බේදයකින් තොරව බඳවාගැනීමට තීරණය කර ඉන් අනතුරුව සිදු කල සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ දින වන විට උපාධිධාරීන් පිරිසකට වයස් සීමා හරස් වීමේ කොන්දේසිය මත දෙවන වරටත් අසාධාරණයක් සිදු වීම හා ඊට අදාල ලබා දී ඇති අභියාචනා සඳහා ආණ්ඩුව මෙතෙක් ප‍්‍රතිපත්තිමය තීරණයක් නොගැනීම.

6. දිස්ත‍්‍රික්ක 02 කින් අයදුම්පත‍්‍ර යොමු කිරීම, ග‍්‍රාම නිලධාරී නිර්දේශ පිලිබඳ ගැටලූ මත ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කර ඇති, ලිපි ලේඛන අඩුපාඩු සහිත ආදී විවිධ හේතුන් මත තවදුරටත් එම අවස්ථාව නිවැරදි කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් නොමැතිව උපාධිධාරීන් පිරිසක් අසරණව සිටීම.

7. රජය මේ දක්වා බඳවාගැනීම් වලදී පිලිගත් සුදුසුකමක් ලෙස සලකා බඳවාගෙන ඇති නමුත් මෙවර උපධිධාරීන් බඳවාගැනීමේදී ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේප කර ඇති විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ප‍්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාව විසින් පිලිගෙන ඇති විදෙස් විශ්ව විද්‍යාල වලින් උපාධි ලබා ගත් ශ‍්‍රී ලාංකීය පිරිසකට සිදුව ඇති අසාධාරණය.

ආණ්ඩුව උපාධිධාරීන් 60000 ක් බඳවාගත් බව ප‍්‍රකාශ කලද තවදුරටත් එම 60000 ඉලක්කම සම්පූර්ණ වීමට 11000 කට ආසන්න ප‍්‍රමාණයක් බඳවාගත යුතුය. ඉහතින් දක්වා ඇති විවිධ හේතූන් මත අසාධාරණයට ලක්ව ඇති පිරිසට එම 11000 ක ප‍්‍රමාණය ඇතුලත විසඳ්‍රමක් ලබා දිය හැකි බවද වැඩිදුරටත් පෙන්වා දෙන්නෙමු.

කෙසේ වෙතත් 2020.12.31 වන විට මේ හා අදාල සියලූ බඳවාගැනීම් අවසන් වීම සිදුවිය හැකි බැවින් ඉහත ගැටලූ සම්බන්ධයෙන් 2020.12.11 දින හෝ ඊට පෙර පිලිගත හැකි විසඳුමක් අපේක්ෂා කරන අතර 2020.12.11 දිනෙන් පසු අසාධාරණයට හා පීඩාවට ලක්වන උපාධිධාරීන් ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ග වෙත අවතීර්ණ වනු ඇති බවද මෙයින් දන්වා සිටිමු.

ස්තූතියි.

මෙයට,
චන්දන සූරියආරච්චි
කැදවුම්කරු,
උපාධිධාරී ජාතික මධ්‍යස්ථානය.

සම්බන්ධීකරණය – 0718178268
Coordinating – +94 718178268

පිටපත්:
1. ගරු අමාත්‍ය ජනක බණ්ඩාර තෙන්නකෝන් මැතිතුමා – රාජ්‍ය සේවා පළාත් සභා හා පළාත්පාලන අමාත්‍යාංශය (දැ.ගැ.පි. / අ.ක.ස)
2. ඒකාබද්ධ සේවා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් – (අ.ක.ස)

කෝණය – Konaya

අලුත් කෝණයකින් සමාජය, දේශපාලනය සහ සංස්ක්ෘතිය දෙස බලමු.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ගන්ධර ධීවර  වරායේ ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ  ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන්  ඊයේ 2020.12.06 දින ආරම්භ විය.

යෝජිත ධීවර වරාය තුළ මීටර් 300 කින් යුතු ප්‍රධාන දියකඩනයකින් සැදුම්ලත් වරාය තුළින් බහුදින යාත්‍රා 400 පමණ ධීවර කටයුතු සඳහා සෙත සැළසෙනු ඇත.

යෝජිත  ධීවර වරාය ඉදි කිරීම තුළින් විශාල ධීවරයින් පිරිසකට ජීවනෝපාය සැලසෙන අතර ඒ  තුළින් ධීවර ප්‍රජාවගේ ධීවර කටයුතු වඩා ඵලදායී වනු ඇත.

මාස 36 කින් මෙහි ඉදි කිරීම් අවසන් කිරීමට නියමිත අතර ඇස්තමේන්තුගත පිරිවැය රුපියල් මිලියන 6667 කි.

එහිදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙලෙස අදහස් පළ කළේය,

ගන්දර ධීවර වරාය ඉදිකිරීමේ සමාරම්භක අවස්ථාවට මා අද එක්වන්නේ ඉතාම සංතෝෂයෙන්. අපි ඉතිහාසය පුරා ධීවර ප්‍රජාව වෙනුවෙන් කළ මෙහෙවරට අද තවත් අලුත් පරිච්ඡේදයක් එක්වෙනවා.

ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා, රට හමුවේ තැබු සෞභාගයේ දැක්ම ප්‍රතිපත්ති මාලාවේ පැහැදිලිව ධීවර ප්‍රජාවේ දියුණුව අපේක්ෂා කර තිබෙනවා. මුළු රටේම ධීවරයන් නගා සිටුවමින් ඔවුන්ගේ පවුල ශක්තිමත් කිරීමත් එහි අන්තර්ගතයි. ගන්දරට විශාල අඩුවක්ව තිබුණෙ ධීවර වරායක් ඉදිකර ගැනීම, මේ ප්‍රදේශයට ධීවර වරායක් ලැබෙනවිට එමඟින් ධීවර ප්‍රශ්න රාශියක් නිරාකරණය වෙනවා.

ධීවරයා රැකගත යුතුයි කියන ස්ථාවරයේ අපි කවදත් හිටියා. ඒ නිසාම ඉතිහාසය දන්න අය දන්නවා රාජපක්ෂවරුන් සහ ධීවරයන් අතර බැදීම කොතරම්ද කියලා. ලංකාව තුළ ධීවර වරායන් වැඩිම ගණනක් ඉදි කළේ 2005-2015 අපේ ආණ්ඩු කාලයේදි. ඒ කාලයෙදිත් අද වගේම ධීවරයින් වෙනුවෙන් දෙන්න පුළුවන් උපරිම සහන දෙන්න අපි කටයුතු කළා. ධීවරයන්ට තාක්ෂණික දැනුම දුන්නා. දැන් අපට අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ එතැනින් ඉදිරියට ඔබව රැගෙන යාමයි.

2005-2015 කාලයේ ධීවරයින් ආදයම් බද්දෙන් නිදහස් කරන්න අපි කටයුතු කළා. නමුත් 2016 වර්ෂයේ යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව ධීවරයින් වෙනුවෙන් නැවතත් ආදායම් බදු පැනෙව්වා. මෙවර අය වැය තුළින් අපි නැවතත්, ඉදිරි වසර 5ක කාලය සඳහා ආදායම් බදු වලින් ධීවරයින් නිදහස් කළා.

අනවසර ඉන්දීය ධීවරයන්ගේ ගැටලුවෙන් අපේ ධීවරයන් දිගු කලක පටන් පීඩා විදිනවා. දශක ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ සාකච්ඡා මාර්ගයෙන් මෙම ගැටලුවට කොතරම් පිළියම් සෙව්වත්, නැවත නැවත මෙම අර්බුදය මතුවෙනවා. ඒ නිසා පසුගිය දවසෙ ඉන්දීය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි මහතා එක්ක වීඩියෝ තාක්ෂණයෙන් කතා කරපු වෙලාවේ මම එතුමාගේ අවධානයටත් එය යොමු කළා.  ඉන්දියාව සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කරමින් අපේ ධීවරයන්ට ඉතා ළග විසදුමක් ලබා දීමට රජයක් විධියට අපි උනන්දුවෙන් පසුවෙනවා. කැබිනට් අමාත්‍ය ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්දා මහතා ඉදිරියේදී ඒ සදහා සෘජුවම මැදිහත්වන බව මා සමඟ පැවසුවා.

මේ වරායෙ වැඩ අවසන්වනවිට බහුදින යාත්‍රා තුන් හාරසීයක් නවතා තැබිය හැකියි. ඒ විතරක් නෙමෙයි අනෙකුත් කුඩා යාත්‍රා සඳහාත් මෙහි ඉඩක් වෙන් වෙනවා. ධීවර ආම්පන්න සැපයීම ඇතුළු යටතල පහසුකම් මෙන්ම උසස් මත්ස්‍ය නිෂ්පාදනයක් මේ ඔස්සේ ලබා දීම රජයේ සැලසුමයි.

ඒ වගේම මෙම ධීවර වරාය ඉදිවීමත් සමඟ මේ ප්‍රදේශය ආර්ථික කේන්ද්‍රස්ථානයක් බවට පත්වන බව අපට විශ්වාසයි. මුහුදු මඟී ප්‍රවාහනය, කිමිදුම් සංචාරක කටයුතු, පාරිසරික සංචාර ධීවර කටයුතු, වෙරළාරක්ෂක නිරීක්ෂණ මෙහෙයුම් හා ජීවිතාරක්ෂක කටයුතු, ධීවර මෙහෙයුම් හා කළමනාකරණ කටයුතු  වරාය සංවර්ධනයට සමගාමීව මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ දියුණුවට බලපානවා.

විරුද්ධ පක්ෂය පදනමක් නැති කතා කියමින් මේ දිනවල කිඹුල් කඳුලු හෙලනවා. මම දැක්කා මාලු කන්න එපා කියලා රජය නිවේදනය කරපු ගානට අසත්‍ය ප්‍රකාශ ඔවුන් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ඉන්නවා. ධීවර ජනතාව මෙවැනි මඩ ප්‍රචාරවලට අසු නොවන බව අපට විශ්වාසයි. අපට අවශ්‍යය ඔබත් රැකගෙන, ඔබේ කර්මාන්තයත් රැකගෙන රටත් රැකගැනීම බව සිහිපත් කරන්න කැමතියි. අද ආරම්භ කළ ධීවර වරායේ කටයුතු හැකි ඉක්මණින් අවසන් කරලා ඔබට ලබා දෙන්න කටයුතු කරන බව ප්‍රකාශ කරන ගමන් ඔබ සැමට සුබ අනාගතයක් ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරනවා.

යැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා කථානායක මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධන, අමාත්‍යවරුන්වන ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්දා,ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම, ජී.එල්.පීරිස්, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන කංචන විජේසේකර, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන නිපුන රණවක, කරුණාදාස කොඩිතුවක්කු, වීරසුමන වීරසිංහ, ධීවර අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් ආර්.එම්.අයි.රත්නායක, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් ජයන්ත චන්ද්‍රසෝම මහත්ම මහත්මීන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

Courtesy The Daily Star

Clerics, mostly Hefajat leaders, issue ‘fatwa’; DUTA demands stern action against those opposing Bangabandhu’s sculpture

A press conference was held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, organised under the banner of Top Ulama Mashayekhs of the country”, on Thursday, December 3, 2020. Photo: CollectedStaff Correspondent

A group of clerics, mostly leaders of the Hefajat-e Islam, has come up with a “fatwa” declaring building of idols or sculptures of any person or animal is forbidden in Islam.

They were speaking at a press conference organised under the banner of “Top-level Ulama Masayek of the country” at the capital’s Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday.

The organisers said the press conference was arranged to issue the “fatwa” for resolving “confusions” among people regarding sculptures and idols. They said the “fatwa” was signed by 95 muftis and maulanas.

While reading out a written statement, Mufti Enamul Haque said the government should take the responsibility of demolishing all the idols and sculptures in the country.

Speakers at the briefing said discussions and criticisms surfaced after the government had recently taken steps to built the sculpture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the city’s Jurain area.

Debate is going on both in favour of and against the construction of the sculpture. Confusions are spreading regarding sculptures and idols, they said.

They also said many were commenting on the provisions of the Islamic law relevant to setting up of idols and sculptures. Giving such statements without being fully aware of the Sharia is a sign of irresponsibility and a matter of concern, they said.

Enamul Haque claimed that there was no difference between sculptures and idols of a person or any animal as they are prohibited in Sharia laws. Even if the purpose is not to worship, it is undoubtedly illegitimate and clearly haram and a severe sin, he said.

Hefajat and a few other Islamist organisations, including Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish and Islami Andolon Bangladesh, have recently raised their voice against setting up of any sculpture in the country. They raised the voice after the government moved to build the sculpture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Hefajat became vocal at different rallies on this issue after Junayed Babunagari became its amir following the demise of Shah Ahmed Shafi in September.

Most of those seated on stage yesterday belonged to Hefajat, a Qwami madrasa-based organisation in Chattogram. They included Hefajat Nayeb-e-Amirs Abdur Rob Yusufi, Abdul Hamid, Nurul Islam, Mahfuzul Haque, Mahfuzul Haque, Joint Secretary Jonayed Al Habib and adviser Maulana Abdul Kalam.

DUTA STATEMENT

Dhaka University Teachers’ Association (Duta) yesterday issued a statement, demanding stern actions against those who are undermining Bangabandhu by opposing the establishment of his sculpture. 

“We are witnessing with grave concern that a fanatic extremist group has been mocking and insulting the Father of the Nation in the name of opposing the construction of his sculpture, which is similar to sedition,” reads the statement.

“We think that a group of people is using Islam as a tool to gain their political mileage and is trying to confuse the common people by spreading confusions over sculptures and idols.

“The people of Bangladesh are traditionally religious and respectful of different views and ways and that they cannot be misled in the name of religion,” it added.

The teachers’ body urged the patriotic people of the country to remain alert.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

He had to convince the Colonial Office, the Admiralty, and the Board of Trade in London that Colombo was a better location than Galle

Colombo, December 6 (Sunday Observer): The Colombo Port is hailed as the best port in South Asia and is the best performing State sector enterprise in Sri Lanka, albeit with substantial private sector participation. In the nine months up to September 2019, the Colombo Port handled 5.427 million TEUs, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier. The Colombo International Container Terminal, particularly, has won laurels internationally. The Port of Colombo is one of the largest and the busiest in South Asia. It is considered a maritime hub and handles transshipment from Europe, East Africa, the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia.

But there was a time when the idea of building a port in Colombo to replace Galle, was stoutly opposed by a number stakeholders. Ceylon Governor Hercules Robinson and his successor William Gregory (1872-1877) had to fight tooth and nail to get the plan accepted and proceeded with.

New Port

In the 1860s and 1870s, when tea plantations had established themselves as the main foreign exchange earners for Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was called then), there was pressure from the British planters to shift the island’s main harbour from Galle to Colombo. The British Government in London, however, did not favour the idea on financial grounds as building a new port would be too costly.

The major international shipping lines, such as P and O; Messageries Maritimes and Llyods also favoured Galle as it lay on the main West-East shipping route.

But the then Governor of Ceylon William Gregory, who was already deeply involved in the development of the plantation sector in the island, understood the rationale behind the planters’ demand for a harbour in Colombo rather than continue using Galle, which had rocks blocking the harbour. As Gregory’s biographer. B.Bastiampillai, put it, the vessel Peshawar” which had brought Gregory’s personal luggage from London to Ceylon had hit a rock off Galle and Gregory himself could see the masts of the ill-fated vessel spitted on a reef.

Colonial Office

Earlier, Gregory’s predecessor Hercules Robinson, had already proposed to the Colonial Office on building a harbour in Colombo with a system of docks or a breakwater. En route to Ceylon to take up his posting as Governor, Gregory pressed the Colonial Office to sanction the project. The Colonial Office agreed and its Consultant Engineer Sir John Coode also favoured the idea. In May 1873, John Kyle was appointed Resident Engineer and work on the breakwater commenced in July 1873.

However, the project hit a major barrier. The Imperial Treasury refused funds. It accepted the Admiralty’s view that Galle would be preferable to Colombo as it lay on the main East-West shipping route and therefore, of strategic importance. It advocated spending money on improving Galle port, instead of building a new one in Colombo which only had a commercial value of serving the plantation sector.

But the Board of Trade felt that it was impossible to improve Galle because of the rocks and preferred Colombo. Governor Gregory backed the Board of Trade’s case and told the Imperial Treasury that landing in Galle was perilous because of the rocky bottom. Spending on improving it would be an utter waste, he said. And he had had a personal experience of witnessing a disaster.

Gregory also said that the Colombo Port could be entered round the clock because of its safety. While ship wrecks abounded in the approach to Galle, wrecks were rare off Colombo, he said.

Gregory also said that it was important to have a British port between Bombay and the Indian Ocean as, at that time, there was no such port on the Arabian Sea – the next British port being in Trincomalee on Ceylon’s Eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal.

Construction of Colombo Port

Without waiting for finances from the Imperial Treasury, Gregory went ahead with the construction of the Colombo Port. The fact that this would meaning borrowing from other institutions at commercial rates did not deter the Governor. Under no circumstances would he hold up the project.

But fortunately for Gregory, by then, the Colonial Office, under which he worked, was in favour of building a port in Colombo. It was pointed out that Colombo was connected by rail and a network of better roads than Galle, and therefore, it would suit British commercial interests better. Galle got its railway connection only in 1894. While in the case of Colombo, a rail line had already been built in 1864 between Colombo and Ambepussa and the line was getting extended to the Hill Country rapidly. On the other hand, Galle was 65 miles away from the railway terminus.

The Colonial Office was also touting the line that since the larger shipping lines, such as P and O were building larger steamships, building a suitable harbour in Colombo would be better than struggling to make Galle a safe place. The Admiralty, which was previously for Galle, also accepted the logic of shifting Ceylon’s main port to Colombo. The Imperial Treasury finally relented and agreed to finance the project.

By 1877, when Gregory completed his term of office as Governor, 300 metres of the breakwater had been completed. In 1876, the shipping line Messageries Maritimes had agreed to use Colombo port. In 1884, the breakwater were completed and Ceylon got one of the best harbours in the Eastern hemisphere. Fortunately for Colombo, the Suez Canal had been opened in 1869, revolutionising shipping between the West and the East.

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Ceylon Today

The Indian Finance Minister and the Lankan President were on the same wavelength in the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2020

Colombo, December 7: Responding positively to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s call for Indian investments in Sri Lanka, Indian Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the close geographic proximity and familiarity, which both nations enjoy, can result in greater investments.

Delivering the keynote address at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2020 hosted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Sitharaman assured that India will work together with Sri Lanka to strengthen each other’s economy, a move which will allow people from both nations to prosper.

I am happy to say that India shall engage with the Sri Lankan authorities to make sure meaningful assistance, and interventions are made, so that the economies of both countries can be developed simultaneously, and the benefits are shared among the people,” she said.

Sitharaman said that India’s ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ and the vision of ‘Self-reliant Sri Lanka’, are synergistic and complementary and could be used to further consolidate the economic rejuvenation of both countries. Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan or Self-reliant India campaign is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He outlined five pillars of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, Technology-driven Systema, Demography and Demand.

The Indian Finance Minister said that cooperation between India and Sri Lanka would be beneficial for a sustained growth so essential for people-centric development in both countries.

India has provided over USD 3.5 billion worth of infrastructure projects to Sri Lanka and currently over USD 100 million worth of projects are in progress. In addition, the India Reserve Bank of India was involved in a currency swap with Sri Lanka which will lead to more economic activity between the two countries. Sitharaman highlighted the importance of regulatory consistency and policy certainty for industry and private sector contacts to develop.

In his address, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that the focus of the government is on fostering investments. We must attract more Foreign Direct Investment and encourage more local investments to drive our economic growth. With this in view, the Government is bringing in new laws to fully protect investments. We are also committed to enhancing the ease of doing business in Sri Lanka, so that returns on investment can be generated faster. In this context, I must also note there have been several instances of projects, including some funded by foreign Governments that have stalled due to various reasons. Such delays are deeply problematic because they inhibit the benefits of these projects from reaching the people. They also create a negative picture about the way the country operates,” he said.

For several decades India was the largest foreign investor in Sri Lanka, until China increased investments to get to the top place. However, India remains in the top bracket with cumulative investments of around USD 1.239 billion in Sri Lanka. The investments are in diverse areas including petroleum retail, Information Technology, financial services, real estate, telecommunication, hospitality & tourism, banking and food processing, copper and other metal industries, tires, cement, glass manufacturing, and infrastructure development (railway, power, water supply).

Over the years, Sri Lankan investments in India too increased at a satisfactory rate. Major Sri Lankan investments in India include Brandix (about US$ 1 billion in a garment city in Visakhapatnam), MAS holdings, John Keels, Hayley’s, and Aitken Spence (Hotels), apart from other investments in the freight servicing and logistics sector.

There are healthy linkages between the business chambers of the two countries. Various Indian Chambers have signed MOUs with Sri Lankan Chambers to promote trade and economic relations, investments between India and Sri Lanka. Indian Chambers also participate extensively in the various trade fairs organized in Sri Lanka.

In a positive response to Sri Lanka’s call to increase Indian investments, Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman affirmed improved assistance to help the Government strengthen the national economy. India will take several meaningful steps to narrow the trade gap between the two countries. The trade balance is strongly in favour of India and we are currently addressing this to create a better mix between the two nations.”

She noted that the recent Sri Lanka’s 2021 budget has proposed many incentives for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The Government of India will also promote more Indian investments to Sri Lanka. She promised that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of External Affairs, and her Ministry will work together with Indian manufacturers and investors to look at Sri Lanka to deepen trade.

Sri Lanka has strong bilateral trade and investment relations with India and also multilateral trade relations with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Trade between the two countries grew particularly rapidly after the entry into force of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement in March 2000.

According to Sri Lankan Customs, bilateral trade during January – November 2019 amounted to USD 4.19 billion. During this period-exports from India to Sri Lanka were USD 3.49 billion, while exports from Sri Lanka to India were USD 0.70 billion.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce listed the main items of exports from Sri Lanka to India as Base Oil, Poultry feeds, Areca nuts, (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard, Pepper, Ignition Wiring Sets, Copper wire, Marble, travertine and alabaster. The main items of imports from India to Sri Lanka are: Gas oil/ Diesel, Motorcycles, Pharmaceutical Products, Portland cement, Semi finished products of Iron, military weapons, Fuel oil, Rice, Cement clinkers, Kerosene Type jet Fuel.

Sitharaman stressed that the private sector of India and Sri Lanka must engage with their respective Governments to identify opportunities and highlight the regulatory interventions required for facilitation. Thus all indications depict a positive outcome for substantial increase in Indo – Sri Lanka trade and investment cooperation.

Zinara Rathnayake in Colombo Courtesy Guardian UK

Turmeric is synonymous with Sri Lankan cuisine and an import ban is helping boost production after the ravages of civil war

Dayarathne Bandara, who led the move to bring back turmeric production in Gonagala, a village 350km from the capital Colombo. Photograph: SAPPGlobal development is supported by

In Sri Lankan cuisine, a pinch of turmeric brings the gold colour to sodhi, the mildly spiced coconut soup eaten with the island’s carbohydrate-rich foods.

Turmeric is valued in every Sri Lankan kitchen for its subtle flavour, distinct yellow colour and powerful aroma. In ayurvedic medicine, this humble spice is hailed for its values as an anti-inflammatory.

But cultivation of the traditional root almost died out during the Sri Lankan civil war, and the country now relies heavily on imported turmeric, growing only 2,000 of the 7,000 tonnes it consumes annually.

Last December, the Sri Lankan government banned the importation of turmeric and several other spices, with a view to pushing local production and helping small-scale farmers. For turmeric growers in the eastern Ampara district, the import ban proved a blessing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dayarathne Bandara, 54, is president of the Agriculture Productivity Co-op Society in Gonagala, a village about 350km from the capital Colombo.

We thought we wouldn’t be able to sell our harvest when the coronavirus came,” says Bandara, but we received a better price this time. It became very lucrative for us.”

In the markets, a kilogram of raw turmeric root used to sell for 80 rupees (30p), but with the import ban in place, demand rose. After their spring harvest, Bandara and others were getting 300 rupees (£1.20) a kilogram, and dried turmeric was fetching 4,000 rupees (£16) a kilogram.

It had been decades since Gonagala farmers had grown and sold turmeric roots and powder. One night in 1999 about 50 people from this village were slaughtered. After that, we continued to face the hardships of the war. No one cared about turmeric any more. We were just trying to survive,” Bandara says. Turmeric cultivation was abandoned in Gonagala.

But in 2018, nearly a decade after the end of the war, Bandara and other villagers wrote to the agriculture ministry’s Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme (Sapp), seeking support to replant the crop. Somathilaka Wijesinghe, the deputy programme manager at Sapp, began working closely with the farmers. We were very impressed to hear from them. Once the project was approved, we set up a turmeric development plan for 100 farmers in Gonagala,” Wijesinghe says.Advertisement

Most farmers didn’t have the necessary capital and weren’t able to get a bank loan. Many were trapped in a cycle of debt after taking high-interest loans from local businessmen. Sapp collaborated with the Rural Development Bank in Sri Lanka to provide loans, training and machines to boil and dry turmeric.

Most of us invested the money we received from turmeric for our children’s education

So farmers started growing turmeric again, using only organic fertilisers such as cow manure. From 150kg of turmeric seeds planted in a quarter acre of land, 2,000kg of the new gold” was harvested.

Wijesinghe says the variety grown in Gonagala contains a higher proportion of curcumin, the active ingredient of turmeric which is believed to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. It’s used by some to treat arthritis and other conditions. It also gives a strong colour to Gonagala turmeric, so only a very little turmeric powder is needed for cooking,” he says.

The initial shortages after the ban created a black market for turmeric as prices rocketed. The Sri Lanka navy busted several attempts to smuggle turmeric from south India.

Even fake powder made an appearance – wheat flour mixed with yellow dye – says the programme director at Sapp, Dr Yasanatha Mapatuna.

This is why there is a strong need for pure, homegrown turmeric,” she says.

Now farmers around the country are growing turmeric because they are getting a good price. People have started growing turmeric in their home gardens for daily use.”

The next harvest in late February should meet half of domestic demand, and by 2022, Mapatuna believes there will be enough of the crop to start exporting.Wild hing makes India’s heart sing as favourite spice is home-grown at lastRead more

Seeing the success of the 100 Gonagala farmers, another 150 farmers from neighbouring areas have joined the project and Sapp is now working across five districts in Sri Lanka and plans to install grinding machines at the village co-operative centre in Gonagala. We aim to establish a turmeric federation in the country so that when we end our intervention, farmers can continue on their own,” Mapatuna says. So they feel empowered.”

In Gonagala, Bandara and others are now distributing seeds to other villages.

Most of us invested the money we received from turmeric for our children’s education. Some farmers paid off their debt. Others bought a bike or tuk-tuk [auto rickshaw] for them,” says Bandara We were burdened by the war once, but now we are planning to make turmeric powder in the next harvest season and sell them in the market as Gonagala turmeric.”

Devesh K. Pandey Courtesy The Hindu

Cross-border smuggling of drugs being prepared using ephedrine extracted from Ephedra plants in Afghanistan is on the rise, suspect enforcement agencies.

Recent seizures of methamphetamine by the Indian Coast Guard and the Excise Department in Sri Lanka, along with consignments of heroin, have strengthened the suspicion of the enforcement agencies that cross-border smuggling of the drugs being prepared using ephedrine extracted from Ephedra plants in Afghanistan is on the rise.

A couple of days ago, four persons were arrested in Sri Lanka’s Marawila town, after 100 kg of heroine and 100 kg of crystal methamphetamine were seized from them. We have learnt that the contraband comprising ‘organic meth’ was transported on board a fishing boat from Pakistan and then transferred to another boat mid-sea,” said a Customs official.

The Indian Coast Guard had seized about 20 kg of meth, along with 100 kg of heroin, from a Sri Lankan boat in the high seas off the Thoothukudi coast in Tamil Nadu about two weeks ago. In this case also, the consignment had been transferred from a Pakistani dhow to the boat.

Labs in Pakistan

The meth being seized of late is suspected to have been prepared using the precursor, ephedrine, extracted from Ephedra. The production capability in Afghanistan is currently not much and the meth’s quality is also low. There are indications that sophisticated labs are being set up in parts of Pakistan for mass production of high purity meth,” the official said, adding that most consignments were originating from the Makran coast in Pakistan, which extends from Karachi to Gwadar.

This ‘organic meth’ is in high demand in countries like Australia. A matter of grave concern is that an already well-established route for heroin trafficking across the world is being used to push it”, the official noted.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, through a statement on November 24 about a study, also highlighted the increasing reports of meth linked to Afghanistan being seized in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia and countries in Africa.

The EU4Monitoring Drugs Special Report is titled Emerging evidence of Afghanistan’s role as a producer and supplier of ephedrine and methamphetamine”.

Expressing concern that the meth industry was taking hold in Afghanistan, which is already the world’s leading opium producer, the report said it had the potential to become a significant producer of meth, with large quantities of low-cost ephedrine (extracted from Ephedra plants) and meth being produced there.

In Bakwa

The research’s scope is limited to Bakwa (Afghanistan), where the existing ephedrine extraction sites are estimated to have the capacity to produce around 98 tonnes of ephedrine a month, which could generate around 65 tonne of crystal meth a month.

Around 500 methamphetamine laboratories would be needed to process this amount of the drug. It is unlikely that there are this many methamphetamine laboratories in Bakwa itself, and reports of ephedrine being shipped to other provinces, or being seized on the Afghan-Iranian border, suggest that production may be taking place in other parts of Afghanistan or in neighbouring countries. Among the destinations of Afghan methamphetamine cited in the report are neighbouring Iran and Pakistan,” it said.

The shift from use of chemical to plant-based ephedrine for cooking meth is suspected to have been triggered by the 2018 drought in Afghanistan, in which large tracts of opium (used in heroin production) crops were destroyed.

Courtesy motorship.com

Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard has secured a further export deal in the niche sector of cableship construction, writes David Tinsley.

Following its completion last year of a similar type of vessel to Japanese account, the yard has been entrusted with a 100m cable laying and repair ship for Orange Marine of France, to be delivered in early 2023. She will become the first in the fleet conceived both for fibre optic telecommunication cables and inter-array electrical power cables on offshore wind farms.

The newbuild’s design has been developed by the Norwegian company Vard, whose Brattvaag yard in 2014 produced Orange Marine’s previous fleet addition, the 100m Pierre de Fermat, using Vard 9-01 blueprints. The same design also provided the basis for the 111m KDDI Cable Infinity, handed over in 2019 by Colombo Dockyard to Japanese telecommunications group KDDI, but incorporating increased carrying capacity plus power cable installation features.

The new ship for Marseilles-domiciled Orange Marine will replace the 108m Raymond Croze, which was commissioned into service in 1983 from Ateliers & Chantiers de la Rochelle-Pallice. The newbuild will have three cable tanks, one of which will be fitted with a carousel to enable power cable storage and outturn. Unlike the older style of ship with bow sheaves, the design provides for all work to be effected over the stern.

A diesel-electric power and propulsion system, the favoured mode in the cableship domain, has been nominated for the Orange newbuild. The power plant will comprise four gensets supplying electrical energy to a pair of main azimuthing thrusters aft and two tunnel thrusters in the bow, operated and monitored by an integrated automation and power management system. To meet the exacting manoeuvring, directional stability and dependability requirements of such a vessel, Azipod electric propulsors have been selected.

Orange Marine also stated that the ship’s energy management system will embrace electrical storage back-up using batteries so as to reduce fuel consumption during cable work and ensure continuity in the event of the unexpected shutdown of a generator. The vessel will also be equipped to draw electrical energy from the shoreside grid for the ship’s net when berthed in port, so as to reduce carbon emissions.

Given the fundamental importance of maintaining global internet connectivity, for which submarine cables form the backbone of the international system, the new ship will be equipped to deploy within 24 hours at any time when required. Despite careful choices of optimised routes and adoption of specific means of protection during the installation of cable, outages are still regularly experienced worldwide due to faults or damage, necessitating the intervention of cableships.

This vital mission of the Orange Marine newbuilding will be complemented by the capability to undertake power cable projects, addressing the growth in offshore renewables, and ensuring operational versatility and enhanced asset utilisation over the ship’s lifetime.

The French deal constitutes the second successful foray into the European market this year by Colombo Dockyard, after it attracted a contract from Norwegian owner Misje Eco Bulk for a series of 90m shortsea cargo vessels specified with an integrated Wartsila hybrid propulsion arrangement.

Moreover, the direction of the latest cable vessel order sends another stark warning to established shipbuilders in certain spheres of added-value, sophisticated tonnage construction that buyers today, abetted by the ease of technology transfer, consider the field to be wide open.

Simon GarnerMonday

Sun, sand, sensational scenery – sounds like the perfect antidote to 2020, right? Which is why we’re offering one lucky reader the chance to win a holiday to Sri Lanka for two, where they’ll stay in three boutique hotels with full-board. The first port of call is a homestay at the cosy Villa Hundira in Thalahena, Negombo, where you’ll be treated to fine local cuisine and tropical views. Then it’s on to the W15 Hanthana Estate near Kandy, where you’ll find peace in the Sri Lankan foothills and even have your own butler.

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Courtesy The Island

* Opposition calls for independent probe

* 61 among rioters COVID-19 positive

* Tense situation in Negombo Prison

By Saman Indrajith, Norman Palihawadana and Nishan S. Priyantha

Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana told The Island yesterday that the Police had identified a senior member of the Mahara Prison Hospital staff as the mastermind of Sunday’s prison riot.

Prisoners clashed with their guards, police anti-riot squads and the STF, on Sunday, for several hours and the clashes left eight inmates dead and more than 70 others injured. The injured were removed to the Ragama Teaching Hospital. Among them were two prison officers.

DIG Rohana said the Police believed the prison clashes were preplanned, and the prison record room had been set on fire. A new building under construction as part of the prison expansion project had also been destroyed by the rioters, DIG Rohana said.

The Mahara Prison had more than 2,700 inmates at the time of the clashes. Out of them, 183 had tested positive for COVID-19, he said. They had been removed to a special section of the Colombo Remand Prison, the Police Spokesman added.

Although the Police told the media that the situation had been brought under control in the prison, injured inmates being removed to hospital , shouted, through the windows of speeding ambulances, that inmates were still being beaten.

Our photographers stationed near the prison said they had sighted the same ambulance making several trips, within a matter of hours, between the Mahara Prison and the Ragama Teaching Hospital.

The COVID-19 patients among the prisoners were taken to treatment centres, while the family members and friends of inmates were waiting outside the prison, making inquiries from the police.

Four prisoners of the Negombo Prison, yesterday, staged a rooftop protest, demanding that cases against them be expedited and they be granted bail. The Negombo Police arrested the four men and another person who had assisted them.

Meanwhile, Prison Reforms and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation State Minister Dr Sudarshini Fernandopulle told Parliament yesterday that there had been an invisible hand behind Sunday’s prison riots.

Minister Dr. Fernandopulle said the incident had occurred when prison officers, attempted to foil an escape attempt following a clash between the remandees and the convicts in the Mahara Prison. She said some inmates had set prison properties on fire.

The Prison officers had been able to prevent the escape attempt by opening fire, but to quell the riots they had called in the police anti-riot squads and the STF.

It was so unfortunate that eight inmates were killed and around 50 others injured; the injured prisoners are receiving treatment at the Colombo North Teaching hospital,” Minister Dr Fernandopulle said.

She said that there had been a wave of protests and incidents of unrest in prisons all over the country during recent months. First the agitations started at the Boossa Prison. There were similar incidents at the Welikada, Kalutara, Weerawila, and the Negombo prisons. A group of prisoners tried to escape from the Bogambara Prison recently but the jailers were able to prevent them by opening fire.” One escapee had been killed and several others injured, she said.

The Minister said that the government was convinced that there had been an invisible hand behind the Mahara Prison incident. She said so in response to a statement made by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who said that the Opposition was not happy with the incidents being investigated by a committee, headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Prison Reforms and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation. We do not think that the truth could be got at through such an investigation. We need an impartial investigation,” the Opposition Leader said.

Minister Fernandopulle: We, too, need to know the truth and how exactly this happened. We have decided to call in the CID to conduct investigations. There will be some other probes as well.

Opposition Leader: There was a COVID-19 cluster consisting of 183 infections in the Mahara Prison. How could such a cluster come up so suddenly there? What actions have you taken to prevent the spread of the virus in prisons?

The State Minister said that there were 1,099 COVID-19 infected inmates in prisons all over the country as of yesterday. We have temporarily banned visitors. Court proceedings take place via Skype. Following recent anti-narcotic raids the number of inmates has increased. In prisons which can accommodate only 11,000 there are now 32,000 at present,” she said, adding that suspected COVID-19 cases were placed under quarantine for 14 days at the Bogambara Prison, in Kandy and Pallansena, Galella, and Kandakadu quarantine centres.

Measures had been taken to release on bail remand prisoners, a majority of whom were drug addicts arrested with less than two grams of narcotics each, and nearly 600 prisoners convicted of minor offences had been granted a presidential pardon, Dr. Fernandopulle said.

Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella said that he had asked the government a month back not to hold COVID-19 infected inmates in the Bogambara Prison, but it had not listened to him.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena: You have raised that matter several times in the House. This cannot be allowed.

Kandy District SJB MP Velu Kumar: The Kandy town is in danger because the government has transferred inmates infected with COVID-19 to the Bogambara Prison.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

* Over 2,400 inmates on their own within complex

* Death toll reachers 11, could rise further

* Clashes among prisoners injure 80

* Doctor under investigation

* Rioters popped more than 21,000 pills

A high-level investigation into the Mahara Prison riot took an unexpected turn yesterday (1) following the revelation that the prison dispensary had stored over 21,000 tablets prescribed for mental disorders and sleeping pills.

Police spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana told a joint media briefing called by the Police Headquarters and the Prisons Department, in Colombo, that they were quite surprised that such a large stock of tablets was maintained. He said it had to be found out who had ordered the stock, how inmates got addicted to such substances, and whether a doctor attached to the Mahara Prison hospital had instigated prisoners to demand PCR tests.

DIG Rohana said that on the directions of the IGP C.D. Wickremaratne as per the instructions received from Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, a 12 -member team from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was inquiring into the riot.

DIG Rohana said those who had been addicted to heroin and cocaine were believed to have used tablets prescribed to mental patients.

Prisons Commissioner Chandana Ekanayake (Administration) said that those who popped the tablets had turned on each other. Quoting officers who had been at the scene last Sunday (29) Ekanayake said they had never witnessed such scenes of violent behaviour among prisoners before.

Responding to a media query, Ekanayake emphasised that the Mahara Prison riot had erupted suddenly whereas they received intelligence warning of possible trouble at some other prisons.

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa told Parliament, on Monday, that the prison riot was part of a sinister plan to bring President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government into disrepute.

The media was told that at the time of the riot there had been 2,782 inmates at the Mahara Prisons complex. 585 were convicts and others suspects, DIG Rohana said, alleging that they had initiated Sunday’s violence. What initially started as common demand for all of them to be subjected to RT-PCR tests quickly had led to a riot, the DIG said.

DIG Rohana, who is also the head of the Police Legal Division, said that a section of those rioters had made repeated attempts to escape. Having failed, they had set fire to buildings within the complex. Among those destroyed were the Registry and the offices of top officials in charge of the prison.

The media was told one more inmate admitted to the Ragama Teaching Hospital had succumbed to his injuries yesterday. With that the total number of dead increased to nine, while 105 continued to receive treatment.
Besides, two Prison officers taken hostage and badly assaulted by the rioters were receiving treatment at the same hospital. Several hours after the conclusion of the media briefing Police headquarters said that two more persons had succumbed to their injuries.

At the beginning of the briefing Ekanayake said that of over 2,700 prisoners, approximately 1,600 had gone on the rampage. Trouble erupted while they were being served food in line with health guidelines. They broke out from where they were held and swiftly gathered close to the main gate. They demanded immediate PCR tests on them.”

Ekanayake said 187 inmates had tested positive by then.

The rioters had attacked the main gate, Ekanayake said. Officers opened fire having failed to bring the situation under control by shooting rubber bullets.” He said the situation had taken a turn for the worse after inmates took tablets meant for mental patients.

DIG Rohana said that of the 106 who had received injuries, 80 suffered as a result of violence among the prison community. Of the injured, only 26 were believed to have received gunshot injuries, DIG Rohana said.

Commissioner Ekanayake alleged that both the dead and the wounded were those in custody on narcotic charges.

Seventy eight coronavirus positive inmates had since been moved to a quarantine facility at Adalachchenai in the Akkaraipattu police area, DIG Rohana said.

DIG Rohana said those who had been granted bail couldn’t be immediately released as the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) had issued specific instructions on subjecting inmates to two weeks quarantine before release.

DIG Rohana said that following the removal of the injured and the dead to the Ragama hospital, those granted bail and infected inmates had been moved to a special section within the Welikada Prison complex and about 2,400 remained in the Mahara Prison.

Rohana said that among them were a large number of inmates who hadn’t been involved in violence. Acknowledging that the prisons complex wasn’t yet under the control of the jailers, the DIG said that the Police, including the Special Task Force (STF) and the Prison security were making plans to carry out an operation to restore normalcy. He said they would implement a special plan while the police backed by the STF maintained its presence outside the prison.

The police deployment consisted of 400 police and 200 STF personnel.

Both Police and Prisons officers couldn’t confirm whether at least some inmates had managed to escape though they believed such attempts were thwarted.

DIG Rohana said that the rioting inmates had been prevented from seizing the armoury.

The Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence, too, discussed the availability of three varieties of pills totalling 21,000 meant for mental patients at the Prison. Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Gunaratne briefed the CC on the matter and steps taken by authorities to bring the situation under control.

DIG. Rohana told the media that he had requested Justice Minister Ali Sabry, PC, to leave him out of a special committee headed by retired HC judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena tasked with inquiring into the riot due to conflict of interests as his duties and responsibilities as the Police Spokesperson clashed with the probe undertaken by the committee.

By Saman Indrajith Courtesy The Island

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa’s questions on the management of the government reminded him of a person that drives recklessly knocks down a person and then queries from the latter what happened, State Minister of Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday told Parliament.

The Yahapalana government, where the opposition leader was a powerful minister, brought the economy to its knees and is now asking us to rectify the issues they created,” the Minister said.

Minister Cabraal said that the former government obtained USD 6.9 billion in loans and sovereign bonds at an interest of 7.8 percent. With USD 6.9 billion, six harbours the size of Hambantota harbour could have been built. The funny thing is that many local and foreign institutions kept mum about your reckless loan taking. During the time of our government prior to 2015, we borrowed only USD 5.5 billion for the entire nine year period. The debt was at 91 percent of the GDP when we took the office and we brought it down to 70 per cent of the GDP. During the period of the yahapalana government from 2015 to 2019 it has been increased to 86 percent. So some of the questions are asked from us now, you should have raised them in the cabinet during the time of the yahapalana government. One such question is as to how to bring down those debts.”

Cabraal added that during the previous government very few investment opportunities came in. There was a difference of opinion between the rating institutes such as Fitch and Moodys and the government.

In my view and in the view of the government, it is surprising to note that the Fitch ratings assessment had ignored several key proposals included in the government budget proposals 2021 with regard to deficit financing in the period ahead. We have set out various ways explaining how the debt deficit would be financed. Obviously they have ignored it and so has the opposition leader. As indicated in the Budget 2021 the government has adopted a novel approach in relation to foreign financing while enhancing the effectiveness of already secured financing channels aimed at reducing the share of foreign financing in the budget deficit over the medium term. In 2014, the total debt, if you break it down into foreign debt and local debt, it was 40 percent foreign debt and the local debt was 60 percent, but by 2019 as a result of the various measures taken by the yahapalana government that ratio had changed to 50 percent foreign and 50 percent local. So we inherited huge risk with regard to foreign debt. That was their making but we will deal with it,” the Minister said.

By Rathindra Kuruwita Courtesy The Island

It was only three weeks after the Easter Sunday attacks that the Attorney General’s Department had paid attention to the file on NTJ leader Zahran Hashim, sent by Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) in early June 2017, seeking its advice, Deputy Solicitor General, Azard Navavi, on Saturday (05) told the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks.

The witness, however, insisted that their delay could not be considered as having led to the attacks. 

The PCoI had summoned a group of officers who handled Zahran’s file at the AG’s Department. Besides Navavi, State Counsel Malik Azeez also testified.

Chairman of the PCoI asked Navavi what the AG’s Department had done about the file on Zahran, sent by the TID for legal advice.

Navavi said that he had received the file on 07 June 2017 and he instructed Azeez, who was under him, to handle it.

Chairman of the PCoI: Why did you assign Azeez? Was there a particular reason?

Navavi: The file had two video clips of Zahran and his brother M.C. Zainee. These were in Tamil, that’s why I gave it to Azeez.”

However, the TID had sent Sinhala translations of what was said in the clips.

Chairman of the PCoI: When did you pay attention to the file again?”

Navavi: There was a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat, three weeks after the Easter Sunday attacks. The then head of the TID said they had sent a file on Zahran to us, for legal advice. Until then I had had no recollection of this file. Then I asked Azeez, who briefed me on it.’

Chairman of the PCoI again asked Navavi why he had entrusted the case to a Muslim officer.

Navai said that since the case was about Islamism, he believed it was better if a Muslim handled it.

Cross examining the witness, Shamil Perera, PC, asked if Easter Sunday attacks could have been prevented if he had taken action on the file before 21 April 2019.

Navavi insisted that he could not accept that claim.

Navavi said: This idea became popular because it came up before the Parliament Select Committee (PSC) on Easter Sunday attacks. People started believing that if action had been taken on the file, the attacks could have been prevented. However, the investigators had not told us enough although they had ample evidence about the threat posed by Zahran to national security. So, I don’t think it’s fair to link a delay about this file to the attack. If they didn’t arrest someone for two years after obtaining a warrant, that’s not our fault.”

State Counsel Malik Azeez, who testified earlier,  said that on March 12, 2019 there had been a meeting  with several TID officers on the file and only at that point had the officers mentioned that the TID obtained arrest warrants twice to arrest Zahran.

The arrest warrants were not attached to the file or the AG’s Department had not been informed of it until March 2019,” he said.

Azeez informed the Commission that the TID had added documents to the file twice, in 2017 and 2018. None of them included the two arrest warrants or statements recorded from Zahran’s mother and his wife.

Without such important documents, the AG’s Department officials could not detect a threat to National Security, Azeez said.

The TID sent only some screen shots of the NTJ website and some speeches of Zahran’s brother. Along with the file the TID had attached a letter requesting legal advice on banning the NTJ website, Zahran’s Facebook account and arresting him. No proper inquiry had been conducted and there were no supporting documents. Until the consultation meeting on March 12, 2019 we had not been aware that the TID had obtained arrest warrants twice against Zahran.”    

The next witness was Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris. He that a moulavi, from a group that was attacked by NTJ members at Alliyar Junction on 10 March 2017, had handed over to the AG’s Department a letter highlighting the issues they were faced with.

Peiris said he had called the OIC of Kattankudy Police on 09 November 2017 for a discussion on the issue.

I asked him what they were doing. By that time Zahran and his supporters had fled Kattankudy. I felt that the OIC was under political pressure and was hesitant to tackle action.

Chairman of the PCoI showed Peiris the files the TID had sent to the AG’s Department on Zahran.

Chairman: Can you tell me if you feel that this man posed any threat to national security?”

It seems so. This is on extremism,” Peiris said.

KELUM BANDARA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The government will convey its displeasure, through the diplomatic channel, to the authorities of the United Kingdom regarding the projection of Karthigaipoo or Niyagala flower which is considered by the LTTE as the national symbol of Tamil Eelam on the British parliamentary building in Westminster, Central London on November 26, Daily Mirror learns.

The symbol was flashed on the building as part of the pro-LTTE activists ’commemoration of Maveer Day or Heroe s’ day.

Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardane is expected to meet British High Commissioner Sarah Hulton at the Ministry tomorrow and take it up.

Earlier ,the High Commission, in response to a query by Daily Mirror on the projection of the symbol, said in a one-line answer that the management of demonstrations, including any involving proscribed organisations is a policing matter.

The UK is in the five-member Core Group that advocated the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. Canada, germany ,north Macedonia and Montenegro are the other countries in this group.the resolution calls for ,among others, Sri Lanka to probe alleged rights violations during the wartime and bring about reconciliation.

Sri Lanka, under the present government, withdrew from co-sponsorship of the resolution adopted on Sri Lanka.

UK International Ambassador for Human Rights Rita French, in an address to the UNHRC in September ,expressed concern about withdrawal from co-sponsorship.

We are deeply disappointed and concerned that the government has changed its approach to the resolution.we remain profoundly committed to resolution 30/1 and its principles of reconciliation, accountability ,intercommunal harmony, and justice for victims of conflict, ”she said. ()

Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror

More than 18 tonnes of drugs including heroin have been seized and nearly 72,000 suspects were arrested along with the drugs since November 2019 to date, police revealed.

Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said at a press briefing that those suspects were arrested with 2,000 kg of heroin, 15,000 kg of cannabis and nearly 1,000 kg of other synthetic drugs such as Ice.

He said police are conducting  special anti-narcotic operations, along with other stakeholders, such as Sri Lanka Police, STF, the Excise Department, Sri Lanka Navy, Immigrations, Customs and Coast Guard in order to eradicate the drug menace from the country.

He said the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) is providing technical and infrastructure facilities in this regard.

Accordingly, at least 2,000 kg of heroin had been seized within a period of a year while more than 36,000 suspects have been arrested with heroin. The PNB seized 444kg of heroin, 274kg of heroin were recovered during raids conducted in police stations across the country, 157 kg by the STF, 280 kg of heroin by the Navy, 507 kg during joint raids by Navy and the PNB and over 100 kg by the excise officials,” he said.

In addition, at least 15,000 kg of cannabis have been seized and more than 33,000 suspects were taken into custody.

Also 1,640 suspects have been taken into the custody with 878 kg of synthetic drugs, DIG Rohana said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the detection of 200 kg of heroin and Ice drugs by the Excise Department and the Navy on Sunday, the spokesman said the main trafficker has been operating from Dubai, UAE.

He said the authorities will seek support from the Sri Lankan missions in UAE and the Interpol to locate and bring the main trafficker into the country.

He said the main suspect had been in the remand custody of Sri Lanka in an earlier occasion.

We will conduct further investigation into the detection along with the excise department to get down the main trafficker who is living in Dubai at the moment,’ the spokesman said.

Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana Courtesy The Daily Mirror

It has been confirmed that the workers of the Brandix apparel factory had contacted COVID-19 from a Ukrainian national, State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemiology and Coronavirus Disease Control Sudarshani Fernandopulle told Parliament today.

“Workers at Brandix had got infected through this Ukrainian national. It has also been found that some workers at the hotel in which the Ukrainian stayed at, had also got infected with COVID 19.

The workers at Brandix had contact with the hotel employees. Therefore they have got infected from these hotel employees,” the Minister said.

She said COVID 19 strain which is currently spreading in Sri Lanka was the same.

Responding to a question raised by Jathika Jana Balawegaya MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the House yesterday, the State Minister said the research carried out by the University of Sri Jayewardenepura had confirmed that the strain which was being spread was same as the one which is currently spreading in Europe.

It has also been confirmed that the virus load within the bodies of those who have been infected in the second wave is high. The virus load of those who found positive at Brandix and Peheliyagoda clusters is also found to be high,” she said.

We are currently carrying out random PCR tests on all Sri Lankans in vulnerable areas. We have also increased PCR testing capacity in all hospitals including small hospitals.

Special focus is made on carrying out random PCR tests on those in coastal areas to control the spread of the disease from illegal immigrants,” the State Minister also said.

The State Minister said all those who arrive in Sri Lanka were subjected to PCR tests currently.

Courtesy Adaderana

State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte emphasizing on the present congestion in prisons given the rising numbers of inmates, stated that the government is looking to reduce the number at least by 8,000. 

He stated this addressing the inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice chaired by the Minister of Justice Ali Sabry in Parliament.

The State Minister pointed out that there are 28,951 inmates in the 28 prisons across the country at present causing a considerable congestion. 

Accordingly, the Minister stated that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has issued a directive to release inmates who can be granted a pardon especially given the COVID-19 situation. 

Accordingly, he stated that as soon as approval is given to the cabinet paper presented by the Ministry of Justice, the four-year pardon which has not been granted for nearly 20 years could be given.  

Thus, all prisoners under death sentence will have their sentence reduced to 20 years and those who have served a sentence for more than 20 years will be released. 

The State Minister also said that the ministry intends to settle minor amounts of bail on behalf of prisoners who are in prison due to their inability to pay it. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The four suspects arrested by excise officers in Thoduwawa yesterday along with 200 kilograms of heroin and ‘ice’ have been remanded until December 16.

They were ordered remanded after being produced before the Marawila Court today (07), the Department of Excise said.

The suspects along with 100kg of heroin and 100kg of crystal methamphetamine (ice), were apprehended during a special operation carried out in Thoduwawa area, Marawila yesterday (06).

The coordinated operation carried out by the Excise Department, Sri Lanka Navy and other intelligence agencies in Thoduwawa area led to the seizure of the heroin and crystal methamphetamine (ice) in boxes and packages, made ready for distribution. 

Along with this consignment of drugs 04 suspects in connection to this racket as well as 04 vehicles made available for the delivery of those substances were also taken into custody.

It is the biggest drug bust carried out by the Excise Department while the confiscated haul is estimated to be worth around Rs 2,100 million.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed two more COVID-19 related deaths, increasing the death toll in the country to 142.

One of the victims is a 62-year-old male from Colombo who had been transferred from the Colombo National Hospital to the Homagama Base Hospital, where he had passed away today (07). The cause of death is cited as COVID-19 pneumonia.

The other is a 77-year-old male from Jampettah Street in Colombo 13. He had also been transferred from Colombo National Hospital to Homagama Base Hospital, where he passes away today. 

The cause of death is blood poisoning with Covid-19 virus infection and diabetes.