Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed three more Covid-19 related deaths today, increasing the death toll from the virus in Sri Lanka to 140.

One of the deceased is a 98-year-old male from Kotte who was admitted to the Homagama Base Hospital after being identified as a coronavirus patient. He had passed away today (06) while the cause of death is cited as pneumonia caused by Covid-19.

An 80-year-old male from Kahathuduwa had passed away at the Homagama Base Hospital on Saturday (05). The cause of death is reported as lung failure along with Covid-19 infection.

The other victim is 71-year-old male from Maggona who also passed away on Saturday (05) while being treated at the ICU of the Homagama Base Hospital. Cause of death is pneumonia caused by Covid-19.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Chairman of Lanka Sathosa Nushad M. Perera today refuted the statement made by MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, alleging that as soon as the import duty was reduced he had made an irregular purchase of 5,000 MT of sugar from a close associate of himself and that of a VVIP.

Issuing a statement in response, the chairman said that Lanka Sathosa Ltd being the price setter to the nation for essential commodities makes all its purchases through government approved procurement guidelines commonly known as tenders. 

He said the above stated procurement was carried out through a Ministerial Procurement Committee (MPC) which is chaired by the Secretary to the Ministry of Trade along with officials from the Ministry of Finance as well as Chairman of Lanka Sathosa as members.

In addition a technical committee sits along with the procurement committee. The technical committee consists of an Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, a senior official from Ministry of Agriculture, the Food Technologist of CWE and DGM Finance CWE Security, the release said.

The said procurement of sugar was carried out on October 20, 2020 adhering to all procurement guidelines by the above committee and was the lowest quoted price for sugar at the procurement tender, he said.

Nushad M. Perera further said that the total purchased sugar quantity was 750 metric tons which is the weekly consumption demand and not 5,000 MT as stated by MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Parliament. 

The chairman clearly states that at no time has there been any pressure exerted upon him by the President to make any purchase from anyone.

All purchases are made by following a clearly defined government procurement framework decided by  a committee rather than one single individual, he added. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) says that 286 new cases of coronavirus have been identified today.

It said 166 of the new cases are from the Peliyagoda fish market cluster while 120 from the prisons cluster have also tested positive.

Accordingly a total of 648 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported so far today while the tally of cases from the Minuwangoda, Peliyagoda and prisons clusters has risen to 24,322. 

What a come down for the most feared terrorist in the world to end up with his face printed on anything & everything just to make money for a handful thinking of ways to enlarge the LTTE illegal kitty and continue the bogus eelam” song. Replacing guerilla marketing” is ‘tiger marketing’ which has recently even seen the terrorist heads face on a cake that would eventually end up being cut and gobbled by those that sang a song for him! It’s like a tragi-comedy and probably Prabakaran must be reeling in hell. Who would have thought this mighty mass murderer would end up a commodity – face printed on flags, caps, t-shirts and anything mass produced forcing Tamils to purchase – at a price of course. Where does all this money go to? This question is for the countries that have banned LTTE which includes the prohibition on materially supporting LTTE.

Just look at the tamashas the LTTE Diaspora hold overseas. Elaborate shows, all by LTTE supporting Tamils living overseas. Most have obtained asylum, refugee status and have upgraded that status to citizenship and hold foreign passports. None of them are likely to want to return to Sri Lanka to settle down except arrive on holiday while lodging to gullible foreigners that they are too scared to return to Sri Lanka!

Has a single penny been sent to the families of LTTE combatants who have died throughout LTTE terror rule? All the income generated from the tamashas go nicely to the pockets of the organizers living overseas and holding foreign passports.

Prabakaran & LTTE abused children by turning them into child soldier killers. LTTE Diaspora is doing the same and questions what foreign Governments are doing about the indoctrination of separatist/terrorist ideology into the minds of young children living overseas. There are LTTE madrassas operating across all of the countries that LTTE Diaspora are given free reign by the very foreign governments that has banned LTTE.

11 years on the bogus ‘war crimes’ song continues. It is as if the world is taking the side of the terrorists against the People who are today relieved they are free from LTTE suicide missions, assassinations and daily bomb attacks. The countries and international organizations that chose not to stop attacks by LTTE and issued only unemotional statements after every attack, have been asking Sri Lanka how and why LTTE terrorists were killed? These questions only imply that they preferred to have LTTE survive and thrive. This immediately implores us to think that beneath the terror by LTTE, these international entities were carrying out their geopolitical agendas. With LTTE eliminated, their programs came to a halt and obviously this is what has angered them. Their anger can only be shown by questioning Sri Lanka on the manner LTTE was eliminated. This totally ignores, the lives that have been saved since May 2009 as Sri Lanka has seen no terror attacks or loss of lives by LTTE.

The arguments posed by LTTE supporting international entities are again reminded that any cross examination of Sri Lanka’s elimination of LTTE questioning civilian deaths must necessarily prove that Sri Lanka armed forces intentionally killed civilians and these civilians can only qualify to be called ‘civilian’ if they had not engaged in hostilities. Nevertheless, LTTE fought in civilian clothing and LTTE had a trained, armed civilian unit. These deaths cannot be categorized as civilian deaths. It is also noteworthy that all of the 12,000 LTTE combatants that surrendered to the armed forces were all in civilian clothing including the 594 child soldiers.

Without international agencies being able to specify

1. how many LTTE combatants in uniform died during hostilities
2. how many LTTE combatants in civilian clothing died during hostilities
3. how many LTTE civilian armed force died engaged in hostilities
4. how many civilians forced by LTTE to use arm/ammunition died during hostilities
5. how many civilians who did not hold a gun died at the hands of LTTE
6. how many civilians who did not hold a gun died at the hands of Sri Lanka Army

Sri Lanka Armed Forces can only be held for category 6 and that too if properly proven that it was intentionally committed. The whole world is unfairly trying to pin all killings on the Armed Forces. We cannot accept this and we will not allow this.

Sri Lankan Armed Forces were called to militarily end LTTE after 30 years of Sri Lanka suffering terror. USA after just one attack in 9/11, without even confirming who ordered the attack, bombed Iraq & Afghanistan and remain occupying these countries for over 20years!

Sri Lanka’s terror that began in 1980s with loss of innocent lives by LTTE terror had to watch as one after another attempts for peace failed.

Peace negotiations – failed

Unconditional Cease Fires – failed

Negotiations abroad – failed

Foreign-mediated negotiations – failed

Foreign-mediated ceasefires – failed

What was Sri Lanka to do? Continue to have innocent civilians become victims of LTTE terror simply because foreign entities did not wish to have LTTE eliminated as it was an obstacle to their geopolitical agendas?

Is this why, the same countries are now allowing LTTE diaspora to carry out campaigns against a sovereign country? What good is their talk and public statements against terrorism, if they are openly supporting the terrorists?

When LTTE is banned in foreign countries and these foreign countries allow tamashas by LTTE diaspora, the only message relayed to us is that these foreign countries are supporting terrorists. So be it. They can allow banned LTTE to reign in their countries and face repercussions with time. Look at how France is suffering – teachers are getting beheaded. India supported LTTE and LTTE killed their Prime Minister on Indian soil.

Sri Lanka’s government must take all measures to safeguard Sri Lanka & Sri Lankans from all types of terror. If foreign governments wish to allow banned terrorist organizations to do as they please, we cannot stop it. But we can and should prevent any form of terror and separatism in Sri Lanka.

Shenali D Waduge

KAMALIKA PIERIS

USA was determined to capture Sri Lanka, politically and militarily in the Yahapalana period 2015-2019. US made it clear that it   needed the support of Sri Lanka for its control of Bay of Bengal.

US said in 2016 that given Sri Lanka’s strategic location, it is in America’s interest to increase military collaboration and cooperation with Sri Lanka. US intended to expand military leadership discussions, increase naval engagement and focus on defense institution building.

In February 2016 Admiral Harry.B. Harris Jr, head of the US Pacific Command told the US Senate Armed Services Committee, we have an opportunity to expand US interest in Sri Lanka. Given Sri Lanka strategic location it is in America’s interest to increase military collaboration and cooperation. US will expand military leadership discussions, increase naval engagement and focus on defense institution building.

Admiral Harris attended the Sri Lanka Navy’s Galle Dialogue 2016”.  He said USA and India had sent low ranking officers to the first Galle Dialogue. The People’s Republic of China had been represented by a high level delegation.  It was different now. ‘The Indian Ocean matters to USA, Sri Lanka matters to the US and I believe that US matters to Sri Lanka.’ Sri Lanka could help to complete the defense ring around the Indian Ocean.

At the Galle Dialogue 2017, Admiral Scott Swift, Pacific Fleet Commander said they look forward to the expansion of our military to military relations. Addressing the 3rd Annual Colombo Air Symposium, October 2017, United States Air Force Major General James Eifet called for increased partnership and information sharing among nations in the Indo-Pacific region in the face of a nuclear threat from North Korea. Sri Lanka was also within the range of an attack by ballistic missiles from North Korea, he said.

In May 2018, a delegation from the House Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Congress visited Sri Lanka. The House Armed Services Committee, a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives, is a powerful Committee, responsible for the supervision of armed forces and the Department of Defence. The delegation was led by its Chairman Mac Thornberry.   

The visit was to find out ways of strengthening defence cooperation between Sri Lanka and USA.   President Sirisena told the delegation that he greatly appreciated the defense training provided by the US, such as the joint military exercises carried out by US and Sri Lanka. Such programmes should continue for security purposes.

The US Army’s Pacific Region Head Gen. Robert B.Brown made an official visit to the Island in July   2018. He met Sri Lanka‘s Chief of Defence Staff. Gen. Brown’s visit was aimed at strengthening military cooperation and mutual friendship and thus deepening the US-South Asia understanding. Lengthy discussions took place on how the US Army can assist the Sri Lankan Army on disaster management activities and as to whether the Sri Lankan Peace Keeping Mission can get international training. Gen Brown also admired the professional competency of the Sri Lankan Army on demining.

US Indo-Pacific Command Chief Admiral Philip Davidson told the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee, during a Congressional hearing, in January 2019 that Sri Lanka was   a significant strategic opportunity in the Indian Ocean. Despite the political upheaval in Sri Lanka, it is in America’s interests to continue military collaboration and cooperation with Sri Lankan Forces he said. Military-to-military relationship continues to strengthen between the two nations., said Davidson.

Thomas J.Vajda US Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State dealing with South and Central Asia   visited Colombo in February 2019 and said ‘we view Sri Lanka as a critical partner in the region.’  He decided to woo Sri Lanka with some flattery. As the United States increasingly turns its focus to more robust engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, it also looks to Sri Lanka as a valued friend and a partner to be a leader in that process, he said.

He spoke of Sri Lanka’s important role in the region. Your country has a hugely influential role to play in the region said Vadja. Located at the nexus of the Indo-Pacific, Sri Lanka has the opportunity to shape the region’s future concluded Vadja.

Robert. O. Blake, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 2006 to 2009, visited Sri Lanka  in May 2019. He said that Sri Lanka is a very attractive partner  and  a military role is expected of Sri Lanka. Military links between USA and Sri Lanka are getting strengthened, he said. USA military and Sri Lanka military train together. There are joint exercises with all three services. 

US had obtained access to Sri Lanka  military  well before 2015. In 2002  the US Pacific Command team  was   invited to report on the Sri Lanka armed forces. The team prepared a top secret report which was also shown to the Sri Lanka authorities.

Access to the military  greatly increased Yahapalana rule. The first US Sri Lanka operational level bilateral defense dialogue took place in August 2016. The purpose was to develop a programme of bilateral training and exercises for the next three years.

The Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) briefed a delegation from the Young Alakai Warriors of the U.S. Army Pacific on Security Challenges of Sri Lanka in the Next Decade” in  March 2017. 

A contingent of 33 US Army Cadets, from US Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AROTC) came to Sri Lanka in June 2017, on a familiarization tour. They were  given an initial training in weapon handling, field practices, physical training, by the Sri Lanka Army. The Cadets  visited the Sri Lanka Military Academy , Security Force Headquarters, Sri Lanka Light Infantry Headquarters, Regimental Headquarters of the Sri Lanka Engineers and the Army School of Artillery at Minneriya.

In 2018 US said, we launched the Bay of Bengal Initiative, as part of the maritime security theme to help enhance the capacity of civilian and military maritime actors in this vital region, which is home to important sea lanes linking the Indian Ocean to East Asia.

 Under the Bay of Bengal Initiative,  the United States will ‘work with other partners in the Bay of Bengal, including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to enhance the capacity of civilian and military maritime actors in the Indian Ocean Region to improve the target areas of detection, information-sharing, and response to emerging threats.’

A 17-member delegation of the United States Land Forces in the Pacific Command arrived in Sri Lanka for participation in ‘Land Forces Pacific Programme’ sessions In April 2018.

In August 2018 the U.S. Department of State announced that it would provide approximately $39 million in Foreign Military Financing for Sri Lanka, pending Congressional approval.”We look forward to discussing with the Government of Sri Lanka how this contribution can support our Bay of Bengal initiative and Sri Lanka’s humanitarian assistance and disaster response priorities”, it said in a statement.

Sri Lanka took part in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercise  2018  held in  Hawaii and Southern California in June 2018. This was  the first time Sri Lanka   was participating in this exercise.

RIMPAC 2018 was an American led combined live field training exercise that included operational and tactical level training. The Sri Lanka team also had a week of Field Training Exercise and similar training engagements with Royal Australian Navy Marines and US Marines in Townville, Australia.

U.S. Ambassador stated in January 2019 that “U.S.-Sri Lanka security cooperation includes a variety of joint exercises and training,  helping  among other things,  interoperability. This cooperation was designed by both countries to address our mutual security interests. Every joint exercise, every training in disaster response, is done at the invitation of our Sri Lankan hosts.

The United States and Sri Lanka agreed to expand military-to-military cooperation” said a  joint statement from the Foreign Ministry in  May 2019. The cooperation included demining, joint military engagements, Sri Lanka’s peacekeeping operations, human rights training for Sri Lankan officers, and visits by U.S. ships and military officials. The use of the term ‘joint engagements’ (rather than ‘joint exercises’) is significant as it suggests a combat role, commented Lasanda Kurukulasuriya.

United States Air Force Airmen from across the Indo-Pacific met with their Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) counterparts at the SLAF Headquarters in Colombo in 2018 for ‘Airman to Airman’ talks.

In  2019 the US embassy wanted to have a display of US Air Force aircraft in Colombo .They suggested conducting an air parade over the skies of the Galle Face Green using aircraft from the USS John Stennis, the Nimitz class nuclear powered carrier strike group which was  lying  off the shores of Sri Lanka. The US embassy thought  Sri Lankans would love this. The Foreign Ministry did not think they would. The idea was abandoned.

 US wanted to bring Sri Lanka under its militia control through three agreements, ACSA, SOFA and MCC. These have been  extensively discussed  elsewhere. Ranil Wickremesinghe   said in Parliament that SOFA was not an agreement but an exchange of letters signed between the US Embassy and our Foreign Ministry. These agreements generally establish the framework under which US military personnel operate in a foreign country. SOFA provides for rights and privileges of  US military while in foreign jurisdictions and how the laws of foreign jurisdictions apply to US personnel.    US has signed SOFAs with many countries. (Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

On February 25, 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected the United Kingdom’s claim of sovereignty over the Indian Ocean, Chagos Islands, and determined that Britain must return the islands to its former colony, Mauritius, ‘as rapidly as possible’. The Chagos islands house the Diego Garcia military base of the USA. It is a huge US military base. It is illegal under international law said an analyst. It is kept secret. Not many have heard of the Chagos Islands, because the islands are not shown on maps.

Diego Garcia base is vital to the US military. It serves as a landing spot for bombers that fly missions across Asia, including the South China Sea. Diego Garcia was used to guide tactical aircraft supporting US military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq and featured remote satellite tracking stations. It also had an Air Force Space Command as well as   Pacific Air Force support and logistics teams.

With the decision of the ICJ regarding leaving Chagos, US now needs to find another base to go to.  The nearest base is Trincomalee. US had happily planned to set up a US base there in 2015   with the assistance of the Yahapalana puppet government. US diplomat Atul Keshap said in 2015, before his arrival in Sri Lanka as US ambassador, that he planned to setup a US base in Trincomalee harbor.

US is working towards establishing a base in Trincomalee for its Seventh fleet, reported Island in September 2015.   It was making Sri Lanka’s military vacate strategically important locations.

Plans are afoot to set up a US base in Trincomalee harbor, said Tissa Vitarana in February 2016. Yahapalana government was planning to hand over Trincomalee port to US and   very soon US 7^th fleet will be in our waters, he warned. A bilateral agreement in this regard has been signed secretly between Sri Lanka and America. US has not hidden its interest in getting Trincomalee and hopes to partner with Sri Lanka to encircle China, agreed others.

This topic entered popular discussion. The general opinion in Sri Lanka and abroad was that USA wanted to turn Trincomalee into a US base, said the media.  Firstly, USA would like to have Trincomalee as a counterweight to China-controlled Hambantota, which sits on the edge of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, said analysts.  “It will be about balance not containment of China,” they added.

Secondly, Trincomalee would be a useful, highly strategic base for the US navy. Trincomalee is one of the world’s largest natural deep water harbors. Entrance to the harbor is four miles wide and five across. Inner harbor which lies in the north covers about 12 sq miles and is securely enclosed by outcrops huge rocks and small islets. It has great depth.

 In the time of sailing ships the harbour could ensure the safety of a whole fleet during the monsoon from October to March. A fleet so protected was in a position to dominate the Bay of Bengal and the eastern sea. Therefore any power that controlled this harbour had a great advantage from a naval and strategic perspective. Trincomalee is ideal for nuclear submarines.  They can dive low in the inner harbour and effectively avoid radar and sonar detection.

However, there was   virulent resistance in Sri Lanka to the idea of an American base on Sri Lanka soil. This resistance, despite repeated government denials, showed just how strongly citizens feel a foreign military base would hurt national interests, said observers. A foreign base raises questions of sovereignty and foreign interference, they observed. 

By 2019, the Yahapalana government and its handler, the US, had become very unpopular. US decided to back down. US denied that it intends to establish a military base in Sri Lanka. United States has no intention of building a base here. Instead, we are building relationships that will help keep both our countries safe, US embassy said. A base has never been a part of the relationship nor have there ever been discussions aimed at establishing one, the embassy concluded.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe   also   denied that US plans to set up a military base in Sri Lanka. Ranil Wickremesinghe said that US navy is “not a fleet of fishing trawlers and they do not need any bases in Sri Lanka”.  David Brewster, a senior research fellow at the Australian National University researching Indian Ocean security, said that   United States has no need for a military presence in Sri Lanka.

Nowadays the US strategy is not to establish full-blown, costly military bases overseas but to use the ‘Lily-pad’ concept, whereby it increases its force deployment globally, but with a smaller footprint. This affords a more nimble capability to move equipment and personnel where they are required in a contingency, observed Lasanda Kurukulasuriya.

This confirms that what the US wants is a hub. The U.S. navy has its eye on Sri Lanka’s northeastern port of Trincomalee to serve as a logistics hub, said analysts. The US Navy announced in December, 2018, the setting up of what it called logistic hub in Sri Lanka to secure support, supplies and services at sea, reported the media. The purpose of this hub would be to secure “mission-critical supplies and services to U.S. Navy ships transiting through and operating in the Indian Ocean.”

The US Navy first operated this air logistic hub in late August 2018. Under the ACSA, the US Navy transferred cargo between planes at the Bandaranaike International Airport. The cargo was meant for the strike group at Trincomalee. Experts think the move was a test run to ascertain timing and other procedures for re-supply using the Colombo airport as a launching pad during an exigency. ( Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

During Yahapalana rule, there was much emphasis on the Sri Lanka navy. The Sri Lankan Navy is a well-trained and professional force with the potential to contribute to multi-lateral maritime interoperability in the Indian Ocean, said US Indo-Pacific Command Chief Admiral Philip Davidson in 2019.The US Indo-Pacific command would focus in 2019 on increasing navy-to-navy engagement with Sri Lanka.

Before that, officers of the US 7th Fleet and Sri Lanka Navy met at the Naval Headquarters in May 2017 for discussions. Such discussions were important for furthering mutual cooperation between the two navies, they said. US Captain Brian Anderson ‘expressed his contentment over a range of matters including bilateral cooperation. A Sri Lanka Marine Corps was set up with US help in 2017.

The U.S. Coast Guard gave a high endurance cutter, formerly the USCGC Sherman, to the Sri Lankan Navy in August 2018 at Honolulu. The cutter, a gift from the people of the United States, will be the largest ship in the Sri Lankan fleet said the media. It measures 115 meters long and when fully staffed carries a crew of 167 The ship will increase Sri Lanka’s ability to patrol its Exclusive Economic Zone, providing additional security for ships from all nations that transit the busy sea lanes of the Indian Ocean.

The public were surprised to hear that Yahapalana planned to expand the Sri Lanka navy,  in keeping with the SLN’s Maritime strategy 2025. Sri Lanka plans to build a 20-ship Navy by 2025. Why do you need a peacetime fleet bigger than one available during the conflict, asked the media.

 The Navy authorities replied  that is was necessary to meet present and future maritime surveillance, patrolling as well as search-and-rescue needs.  Even in the absence of war, we need a larger fleet to guarantee our maritime rights and interests and also to meet our international obligations. Our SAR (Search and Rescue) region is nearly 27 times that of land area therefore an expanded fleet is necessary.

The Yahapalana government  said in 2016  that it was the duty of the Sri Lanka navy to protect the entire Indian Ocean region without limiting its operation to the exclusive economic zone of Sri Lanka.  That will help Sri Lanka be an economic hub in the Indian Ocean region.  Our navy cannot even protect us from the Indian fishermen, observed Tissa Vitharana. If Sri Lanka navy is to carry out this huge responsibility, then US ships will have to be berthed in Sri Lanka.  The US 7th fleet will come to Trincomalee.  

Several ships from the US 7th fleet  arrived in Sri Lanka during Yahapalana time. US navy ship USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US 7^th fleet, arrived in Colombo in March 2016 on a goodwill visit, with over 900 sailors. President Sirisena visited the ship and was received with a US navy military guard.

The  Blue Ridge visit emphasized public relations one. The American sailors would paint walls, repair furniture, build playground equipment and serve food to the needy at a community centre.  The US 7^th fleet band would perform free at Viharamaha Devi park and elsewhere, and the performance will include a join performance with the Sri Lanka navy band, announced the media.

USS New Orleans  a heavy cruiser ship, visited   in July 2016. US war ship USS Frank Cable, a submarine tender vessel visited in August 2016. This ship  provided maintenance and support for US Navy submarines in the 5^th and 7 fleets. In Sri Lanka  Its sailors were to volunteer at an animal shelter.

The US navy Poseidon aircraft, an advanced US maritime patrol aircraft, left Mattala in December 2016 after a week of consultation and expert exchange with Sri Lanka military personnel.

In March 2017, the US Pacific Fleet’s transport ship USNS Fall River visited Hambantota on a Pacific Partnership goodwill mission. It held joint exercises with the navies of Sri Lanka, Japan and Australia. USS ‘Comstock’ , a dock landing ship, arrived  for a four day training workshop at Colombo harbour in March 2017.  

USA’s  Nimitz Carrier Strike Group  visited Colombo  in October 2017. USS Nimitz is a super carrier of the United States Navy, and the lead ship of her class. This was the first aircraft carrier to visit since1985.  USS Nimitz  arrived in full formation.   Nimitz   was accompanied by the cruiser USS Princeton,  destroyers USS Howard, USS Shoup, USS Pinckney and USS Kidd. It was parked 150  nautical miles  off Colombo. It was too large to enter Colombo harbor.

Amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage), and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived at Trincomalee Port in August 2018. Anchorage is deployed to the 7th fleet area of operations to support regional stability, reassure partners and allies and maintain a presence postured to respond to any crisis from humanitarian assistance to contingency operations.

USS Anchorage  was used to test USA’s air logistics hub concept which utilizes Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean to ensure the quick availability of relief supplies, equipment and other material when needed by the US and partners.. The Sri Lankan navy, and the U.S. Embassy have provided tremendous assistance and cooperation in developing the first temporary air logistics hub concept in Sri Lanka, said Anchorage.

In august 2018 a joint humanitarian assistance mission called Pacific Angel, sponsored by the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) held a week long assistance programme in Jaffna in August 2016. They provided general medical care for approximately 4000 people and renovated six schools. The mission operated in Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Sigiriya. One school assisted was Alagalla School in Vavuniya. The purpose was to provide humanitarian civic assistance and carry out civil-military operations in the Pacific region.

There were several joint navy exercises.  I will list them chronologically. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit engaged in a Theatre security Cooperation (TSC) project with the Sri Lankan Navy’s newly formed marine force, In Trincomalee in November 2016. India observed  that US Marines are now training Sri Lanka Special Forces. The US-Sri Lanka  defence partnership seems to be at an all time high.

The U.S. Navy and Marines and Sri Lankan Navy and Marines launched the annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise in Trincomalee in October 2107.  US navy  said  ‘ it was pleased to add Sri Lanka to our list of CARAT partners in 2017 as part of our larger efforts to expand both bilateral and multilateral maritime security engagement across the Indo-Pacific region.’

CARAT Sri Lanka 2017 is part of a series of bilateral CARAT military exercises between the U.S. Navy and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand. 

The world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise (Rim of the Pacific – RIMPAC) took place in the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California in June/August 2018. After 47 years Sri Lanka Navy Marines got the opportunity attend RIMPAC. A Sri Lanka media team joined other international media in documenting the exercise. The many exercises conducted during RIMPAC included the training on the operations of an assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. Participants gained firsthand knowledge on how rescue operations are conducted, how victims are brought to the ship and transferred to the ICU.

In July 2018 The Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) exercise between US Naval Special Warfare Forces personnel and Sri Lanka naval personnel from the 4th Fast Attack Flotilla (4FAF) and Special Boat Squadron (SBS) was inaugurated at the Special Boat Squadron Training School (SBSTS) in Trincomalee. The programme is held annually as part of a mutual understanding and agreements for the training and support requirements of both countries. The four – week course focused on developing professional skills and exchange of knowledge among naval personnel of US Naval Special Warfare Forces and Sri Lanka Navy

The third KDU-CNA Track 1.5 Dialogue on Naval cooperation was held in July 2018 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU).The two-day dialogue was a collaborative initiative between KDU and the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA), USA. The KDU-CNA Track 1.5 Dialogue is a one-of-a-kind discussion that we organize at KDU, facilitating interaction between the navies of Sri Lanka and the United States, along with the participation of relevant academics.”

 This year’s Track 1.5 Dialogue focused on how bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the USA could be further improved in a variety of spheres and how the global security concerns are influencing the relations between the two countries. Track 1.5 diplomacy is an initiative to bring together government and non-governmental actors to discuss on a variety of topics that could improve the bilateral relations of countries. As such, this two-day deliberation witnessed the participation of analysts and academics along with naval officials from the navies of both participating countries for a discussion. Held under the Chatham House Rule, this year’s Dialogue included four main sessions, with the 5th and final session being a wrap-up session with the speakers providing forward-looking, implementable suggestions for Sri Lanka and the United States.

The last joint US-SL naval exercise,   ‘Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Exercise (CARAT) 2019,’  took place in Hambantota in  April 2019, with the participation of hundreds of personnel.     The two US ships participating were Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS ‘Spruance’ and Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport USS ‘Millinocket,’ which is part of the United States Military Sealift Command. The 103m long ‘Millinocket’ has a displacement of 2362 tons, while ‘Spruance’ is 155.3m long and has a displacement capacity of 9580 tons.

SLNS Sayurala  and SLNS Samudura participated from Sri Lanka. The exercise was meant to strengthen the maritime security and cooperation through small boat handling, diving exercises, anti-terrorist operations.

Lasanda Kurukulasuriya  observed in January 2019 the US military carried out what it called a ‘temporary cargo transfer initiative’ where US Air Force planes brought cargo into the Bandaranaike International Airport – which is a commercial airport – and transferred supplies to an aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis of the US 7th Fleet. US embassy statements did not specify where the aircraft carrier was, but reports suggest it was in waters off Trincomalee.

 If the US plans to use the ports of Trincomalee and Colombo as part of a logistics hub to support its military activities in the Indian Ocean, the relevance of a high-speed rail link connecting  Trincomalee to Colombo, as planned in the MCC ,  becomes clear, she said.

These growing military ties with the US are not in the interest of Sri Lanka, Vitharana said. If military cooperation of this nature continues, and an American military base   is set up in Sri Lanka   , Sri Lanka would become a US puppet like the Philippines. ( continued)

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D.

දෙතිස් කුණපයෙන් පිරි මිනිස් ශරීරය-මළ මිණියක දෙවෙනි දවස (මහා සතිපට්‌ඨාන සූත්‍ර වර්‌ණනාව, ලබුගම ශ්‍රී ලංකානන්ද හිමි, 2014, 16 පිටුව)

ඉන්‌දියාවේ සබරිමාලා කෝවිල් නඩු තීන්‌දුව

ඉන්දියාවේ ට්‍රිපල් තලාක් (Triple-Talak) නඩුතී‌න්‌දුව (2015-2019) මුස්ලිම් පිරිමියෙක් සිය යටතට ගන්නා ස්ත්‍රීන්ව ලිංගික භාණ්ඩ වශයෙන් සැලකූ අකාරයට විරුද්‌ධවය. අනිත් අතට, ඉන්දියාවේ කේරළ ප්‍රාන්තයේ සබරිමාලා හින්‌දු කෝවිල් නඩුව ස්ත්‍රී වර්‌ගයාගේ ජීව විද්‍යාත්‌මක සංයුතිය හා හින්‌දු ලබ්ධියේ ඇදහිලි අතර ඇති පැටලැවීම පෙන්‌වයි. සබරිමාලා කෝවිල, රාමා, සීතා ආපසු ලබාගැනීම සඳහා රාවනාගේ ලංකාවට එන ගමනේදී නතරවූ තැනකි. මෙහි වැඩවසනවා යයි සිතන අයියප්පා දෙවියන්ගේ කෝවිලට අවුරුදු 10-50 අතර ස්ත්‍රීන්ට ඇතුළුවීම තහනම්‌කර ඇත. මීට හේතුව රෝහිණී කවිරත්න නම් මන්ත්‍රිණී ප්‍රාණය විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී <පැහැදිලි කල> 1840 ස් ගණන්වල ටොරිංටන් ආණ්ඩුකාරයා පැනවූ බලු බද්දට සමාන අළුත් මෙන්සස් බද්ද වැනිමය. ගෑණු ලෝයර්ලා 5 ක් මෙම තහනම ඉවත් කර දෙන ලෙස 2006 දී සුප්‍රීම් උසාවියට ගියේය. 2018 සැප්තැම්බර් 28 දින මෙම තහනමට විරුද්‌ධව තීන්දුවක් දුන්නත්, දැන් 2020 අගවන විටත් කොරෝනා අර්බුදය ඉදිරියේ එය විසඳී නැත. දැන් එය නඩුකාරයින් 9 ක් ඉදිරියේ නැවත විමසීමට ලක්‌වී ඇත්තේ කේරළ ආණ්ඩුවත්, දිල්ලි ආණ්ඩුවත් උසාවි තීරණය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් නොවීම නිසාය.

නඩුව විභාගකල පස් දෙනාගෙන්, එහි සිටි එකම හා සේවයෙන් ලාබාලම කාන්තා විනිසුරුවරිය තහනමට පක්‍ෂව තීරණය ලිව්වේය. ඇගේ තර්‌කය වූයේ, කෝවිලට යන එන, එය අදහන ජන කොටසට, එවැනි ස්ත්‍රී-තහනම් තීරණයක් ගත හැකි බව හා එවැනි ආගමික කටයුත්තකට, සෙකියුලර් (අනාගමික?) සමාජයක්/රටක් යන නාමයෙන් අධිකරණයට මැදිහත් විය නොහැකි බව‌ත්‌ය. එහෙත් සති පූජාවට ඇය විරුද්‌ධ එය මිණීමැරුමක් නිසාද, නැත්නම් මියගිය සැමියාගේ ගිණිමැලයට පැනීම/දැමීම ස්ත්‍රී පාර්‍ශවයට පමණක් මිස එහි අනිත් පැත්ත, එනම් සැමියා මියගිය බිරිඳගේ ගිනිමැලයට පැනීමක් නොවූ නිසාද යන්න ඇය පැහැදිලි කරදී නැත. ඇගේ මතය ගිනි පෑගීම ගැන ලංකාවේ කොවූර් හා කාලෝ ෆොන්සේකාගේ, රැෂනල් සිතීමට වෙනස්‌ය. විද්‍යාවට ගෝචර නොවන හැමදේම මිථ්‍යාද යන ප්‍රශ්ණය මෙහිදී මතුවේ.

හනුමාන් ලංකාවට ආවේ පාලමක් මවාය යන කතාවට යම් පසුබිමක් තිබිය හැකි නොවේද යන්න පණ්ඩිතයින්ට හිසරදයක් වූයේ නාසා චන්ද්‍රිකා කැමරා මඟින් එවැනි පාලමකට සමාන නොගැඹුරු බිම් පටියක් දෙරට අතර පෙනීයාමය. 2018, අධිකරණ තීරණයට අනුව කෝවිලට ඇතුල්වීමට ආ මෙන්සස් වයසට අයත් ස්ත්‍රීන්ව, ඊට විරුද්‌ධ, අති විශාල ස්ත්‍රී-පුරුෂ ජනකායක් විසින් එලවා දමණ ලදී. කෝවිලේ ඉන්නා අයියප්පා දෙවියන් සිය මුළු ජීවිත කාලයම බ්‍රහ්මචාරීව (සෙලිබසි) සිටි අයෙක් බවත්, ඔහු විසින් යක්‍ෂණියක්‌ව සිටි ස්ත්‍රියක් ඉන් මුදවා ගත් බවත්, මිනිසෙක්‌වූ පසු, ඔහුගේ භාර්‌යාව වීමට ඇය විසින් යෝජනා කල බවත්, ඇය තාමත් එම බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් කෝවිල අසල කන්‌ඳේ රැඳී සිටිනා බවත් හින්‌දු ජනයාගේ විශ්වාසයය.

මෙම නඩුව මෙම කෝවිලට පමණක් සීමා වූවක් නොවන බවත්, එයට ස්ත්‍රීන්ගේ සමාන අයිතිවාසිකම් වශයෙන් ඉන්‌දියාවේ ඇති වෙනත් කාරණාද ඇතුලත්‌වන බවත් උසාවියේ නිගමනයය. නිදසුණක් වශයෙන්, පාර්සි නොවන අයෙක් හා විවාහවූ පාර්සි කාන්තාවකට, ශුද්‌ධ ගින්න (ෆයර් ප්ලේස්) ඇති පල්ලියට ඇතුළු විය නොහැක; මුස්ලිම් ස්ත්‍රීන්ට පල්ලියට යා නොහැක; ඩාවූඩු බෝරාවරු ස්ත්‍රී ලිංගයේ අවශ්‍යම කුඩා කොටසක් කපා දමයි. මේ කරුණු සම්බන්‌ධයෙන් ඉන්‌දියා සුප්‍රීම් උසාවිය තීරණ රැසක් ගෙන ඇත. සමලිංගික අයිතිය පිළිගැනීම, ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ අනාචාරය (ඇඩල්ටරි) අපරාධ වරදක් නොවේ යයි තීරණය කිරීම උදාහරණය. නිර්‍වස්ත්‍රව (ජනාකීර්‌ණ නොවන) පාරවල ඇවිදින ජයින ආගමිකයෝ අදටත් ඉන්දියාවේ සිටී. අගමැතිනි ඉන්දිරා ගාන්‌ධි, ජයින නායකයා හමුවුනේ තිරයකින් ඔහුව වටකර ඇය ඉන් පිටත සිටය. එය මැදි පිළිවෙත හෙවත් දෙපාර්‌ශයම ජය ගැනීමක් විය.

ජල්ලිකට්ටු හා ලව් ජිහාඩ්

ලංකාවට එක නීතියක් ගෙන ඒමට සැදීමේදී වැදගත් වන තවත් ඉන්‌දියන් නිතියක් හා උසාවි තීරණයක්ද මෙහිදී සඳහන් කිරීම වටී. එකක් නම් ඇන්ටි ලව් ජිහාඩ් ලෝ වශයෙන් හැඳින්‌වෙන 2020 දී උත්තර් ප්‍රදේශ් ප්‍රාන්තයේ පාස් කල, ප්‍රොහිබිෂන් ඔෆ් අන්ලෝෆුල් කන්ව‌ර්‌සන් ඔෆ් රිලිජන් ඕඩිනන්ස්‌ ය. අනිකුත් ප්‍රාන්තද මෙය අනුගමනය කිරීම නිසැකය. මෙවැනි නීතියක් ලංකාවේද ගෙන ඒමට 2004 දී ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය ගත් උත්සාහය කාටත් හොරාම වැළලී ගියේය. ජල්ලිකට්ටු යනු තයිපොංගල් අස්‌වනු නෙලාගන්නා කාලයේ දින හතරක් පුරා ටැමිල්නාඩුවේ පවත්‌වන, හරක් නාම්බන් මොල්ලියෙන් අල්ලා බිමදැමීමේ උත්සවයයි. මෙය ක්‍රිස්තු පූ‌ර්‍ව 400-100 කාලයේ සිට පැවත එන සිරිතක් යයි කියැවේ. මෙය සත්‌ව හිංසාවක් යයි කියන පිරිස ඊට විරුද්‌ධව පෙත්සම් ගැසුවේය. 2006 දී මැඩ්‍රාස් ඉහළ උසාවියක් විසින් මෙයට අවසර දීම ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කලේය. 2014 දී ඉන්දි‌යන් සුප්‍රීම් උසාවිය එය තහනම් කලේය. මෙය තම සංස්කෘතියට හා සිරිත් වලට පටහැනියයි 2017 ජනවාරි 8-23 කාලයේ ප්‍රාන්තය පුරා විරෝධතා රැළි පැතිර ගියේය. මේ නිසා ටැමිල්නාඩ් ආණ්ඩුව 2017 ජනවාරි 23 එය නීතිගත කරමින් නීතියක් පාස් කලේය.

කාලි අම්මා කෝවිල් වලට සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයින්ද යන නමුත් ඔවුන් එහිදී බිලිපූජා කරන්නේ නැත. එහෙත් දමිළ හින්‌දූන් විසින් මුන්නේෂ්වරන් ශ්‍රී භද්‍රකාලී අම්මාන් කෝවිලේ වාර්‌ෂිකව එළුවන්, කුකුළන් (හාවුන්?) බිලි දෙන්නේය. මෙම සත්‌ව ඝාතන නතර කරණ ලෙස දිස්ත්‍රික් උසාවියෙන් තාවකාලික තහනම් නියෝගයක් දී තිබුණත්, පොලිසියට සතුන් මුදා හැරීමේ ක්‍රියාව ප්‍රායෝගිකව සිදු කලේ 2011 සැප්තැම්බර් 13 දා මර්වින් සිල්වා ඇමති විසිනි. දැන් එහි සත්‌ව බිලි පූජා නැත! ඔහුට පෙර එය කිරීමට ශක්තියක් තිබූ දේශපාලක පංචස්කන්‌ධයක් නොවීය.

හින්දි භාෂාව ඉන්‌දියාවේ භාෂාව කිරීම

ජල්ලිකට්ටු හෙවත් ගවයාගේ අංදෙකේ බැඳි සල්ලි තෑග්ග (සල්ලි කට්ටු) රඟයේදී දෙහි ඇඹුල් හා මිරිස් කුඩු ගවයාගේ ඇස්‌වල හා ලිංගේන්ද්‍රියේ ගානවා යයි චෝදනා එල්ල විය. මෙය කරන්නේ පැටව් බෝ කිරීමේ කාරියට සුදුසු නාම්බන් තෝරා ගැනීමට හා ගම්වල තරුණයින්ගේ කායික වර්‌ධනය සඳහා යයි ඊට පක්‍ෂ අය කියා සිටියේය. සුප්‍රිම් උසාවිය 2017 දී මේ ගැන නැවත ගෙනා පෙත්සම ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කලේය. එහෙත් සත්‌ව අවිහිංසා සංවිධාන තවමත් තම සටන අතහැර දමා නැත. දැන් 2020 දී ඔවුන් ටැමිල්නාඩ් මහ ඇමතිට මේ ගැන පෙත්සම් යවමින් සිටී. මේ ජල්ලි කට්ටුවට පක්‍ෂ අයගේ ජයග්‍රහණය නැවත මතක් කල අවස්ථාවූයේ මෝඩිගේ ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ හින්‌දූත්‌වය නඟාලීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයේදීය. ඉන්‌දියාව ලෝකයේ පෙනී සිටිය යුතු හින්‌දු භාෂාව මඟින් එක හඬකින් යයි ගෙනා යෝජනාවට බලවත්ම විරෝධය ආවේ 1960 ගණන්වල සිටම හින්‌දි විරෝධී ටැමිල්නාඩ් දේශපාලකයින් ය. ඔවුන් හින්‌දි වලට වඩා ඉංග්‍රීසියට කැමතිය! මෙම මෝඩි අදහස ඉදිරියට ගෙනාවොත් ජල්ලිකට්ටු වැනි ජන විරෝධයක් ගේනවායයි කමල් හසන්, රජිණි කාන්ත් වැනි දේශපාලකයින් කියා සිටියේය. එහෙත්, ජම්මු-කාශ්මීරය යූනියන් ප්‍රදේශයක් කලා මෙන්, මෙහිදීද, දිල්ලි ආණ්ඩුව වෙනත් උපක්‍රම අත්‌හැර දමා නැත.

ඉන්‌දියාව හා ලංකාවේ හින්‌දු වෙල්ලාලයින්

ඉන්‌දියාවේ ස්ත්‍රීන් මුහුණ පානා හිරිහැර වලට කිට්ටුවෙන් යන්නේ, අදටත් උතුරේ දමිළ ජනයා අතර ඇති උග්‍ර කුලභේදය ය (පන්සල් වල මෙන්ම කෝවිල් වලද මෙන්සස් ප්‍රශ්ණයක් නැත. ඒවාට යෑම හෝ නොයෑම යම් ස්ත්‍රියක් විසින් ගන්නා පුද්ගලික තීරණයකි). පහත් යයි සළකන ජනයාට යාපනයේ වෙල්ලාල ළිදකින් වතුර ගැනීමටවත් ඉඩ නොදේ. ප්‍රභාකරන්ට එය බලෙන් ටික කලකට නතර කල හැකිවූවා පමණය. මැත් ප්‍රොපෙසර් සුන්දරලිංගම් කෝවිල් වලට මේ <පහල කුලවල> ජනයාට ඒමට ඉඩ නොදී සටන් කලේ, ඔහුගේම මැත් ශිෂ්‍යයෙක්ව සිටි දෙමළ පොලිස් නිලධාරියා සමගය. ඒ නිසා කෝවිල කිලිටි (පොලූට්) වෙනවාය කියාය. (අනිත් අතට මොහු ඩොනමෝර් තනිකර සිංහල අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයක් සඳහා ගණිත සූත්‍රයද සදා දුන්නේය). ලංකාවේ රනිල්ද ඇතුළු දේශපාලකයින් තුලාබර බාරය සඳහා පාත්‌වන ඉන්දියාවේ තිරුපති කෝවිලට, ක්‍රිස්තියානි හෝ මුස්ලිමෙක් ගිය බව යම් ලෙසකින් දැනගත්තොත් එය වහාම යාග කර්‌මයක් කර හෝදනවා, පිරිසිදු කරණවා වැනිය. ක්‍රිස්තියානි පල්ලියේදී හා පාසැලේදී මොවුන් ඉඳගත්තේ පුටුවල හෝ බංකුවල නොව බිමය (මේ ජනයා දෙමළට හැරවුණු සිංහල ජනයා කියාද මතයක් තිබේ). 1957 අප්‍රේල් 13 දා ලංකාවේ, ප්‍රිවෙන්ෂන් ඔෆ් සෝසියල් ඩිසැබිලිටීස් ඇක්ට් යනුවෙන් නීතියක් පැණවූයේ මීට විරුද්‌ධවය (ජේන් රසල්ගේ ඩොනමෝර් කාලයේ ජාතිවාදී දේශපාලනය ගැන කල ආචා‌ර්ය උපාධි නිබන්‌ධනයේ, පහත් කුලයේ ජනයා ඉන්නා ප්‍රදේශ වලට වගුරු බිම් උඩින් පාලම් දැමීමේ ව්‍යපෘතිවලට වෙල්ලාලයින් විරුද්‌ධවූ අන්දම සඳහන් කර ඇත).

තේසවලමෙයි/මුක්කුවා නීති

1707 දී ලන්දේසින් විසින් යාපනේ මලබාර් පදිංචිකරුවන්ගේ (ඉන්හැබිටන්ටස්) සිරිත් ලේඛනගත කරණ ලදී. 1806 දී එයට නීතිමය බලයක් ලබා දෙන ලදී. එය බලපාන්නේ උතුරු පලාතේ පදිංචි දමිළ වැසියන්ටය. එය ඔවුන්ගේ දේපල, උරුමය හා විවාහ වලට අදාලය. තේසවලමෙයි සිරිත් නීතිය අනුව, උතුරේ ඉඩම් දෙමළ ජනයාගෙන් පිටතට යෑම සීමාවී තිබේ. ඊට අමතරව, 1911 යාපනයේ විවාහ අයිතීන් හා උරුම පිළිඹඳ නීතියේ 6 වගන්තිය අනුව බිරිඳට, සිය ස්වාමිපුරුෂයාගේ කැමැත්ත හා ලිඛිත අනුමැතිය නැතිව නිශ්චල/චංචල දේපල විකිණීම, මරුකිරීම වැනි දේ කල නොහැකිය. මඩකලපු දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ දමිළ පදිංචිකරුවන්ගේ සිරිත් ඇතුලත් මුක්කුවා නීතියද 1707 දී ලේඛන ගත කරණ ලදී. එයද දේපල උරුමය හා විවාහ සම්බන්‌ධවය. 1952 දී පැනවූ උඩරට විවාහ හා දික්කසාද නීතියක්ද ඇතත්, පහතරට-උඩරට මිශ්‍ර විවාහ නිසා එයට එතරම් වැදගත් කමක් නැත.

ගෝඨා – භය (එක රටක්-එක නීතියක්)

මෙම ලිපියේ 1 කොටසේදීද සඳහන් කල අයුරු, මෙම කරුණු සිංහල පාඨකයින්ට ලිවීමට මට සිතුනේ, 1931 න් පසුව ප්‍රථම වරට කයිරාටික වංක දේශපාලකයෙක් නොවන නිලධාරියෙකුට රටේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ ජනතාව බලය ලබා දුන්නත්, ඔහුගේ ක්‍රියා දියාරු කිරීමේලා සතුරු බලවේග එලිපිට උඩිනුත්, මිතුරන් ලෙස පෙනී සිටිනා හතුරු බලවේග හෙමින්සීරුවේ දිය යටිනුත්, ක්‍රියාකරමින් සිටින බව මේ වන විට රටට පැහැදිලි වෙමින් යන නිසාය. 2006 දෙසැම්බර් 1 දා ගෝඨාභය ඝාතනයට කල උත්සාහයේ සිට දැන් 2020 අග, සජිත්ලා-කිරිැල්ලේලා අරඹා ඇති -ගෝටා ෆේල්, සිරිසේන මීට වඩා හොඳයි- යන ව්‍යපෘතිය විශාල ජාත්‍යන්තර ව්‍යාපාරයක අළුත්ම මුහුණතය. මීට වඩා භයානක, රටේ තිබෙන්නේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ ආණ්ඩුවක් (ගවර්‌මන්ට්) නොවේ යන අද්භූත කතාවය. 1815 න් පසුව සිටම මෙතෙක් රටේ එවැනි ආණ්ඩුවක් නොතිබුණු බව, 2012 මැයි මස ආරම්භවූ බොදු බල සේනාව විසින් සක්සුදක්සේ එලිකලේය. සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයාට දේශපාලක කළු සුද්දන් 1948 සිටම කලේ <හිත හොඳ ගෑණුන්සේ සැළකීමය>

2019 දී සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ ජනයා ඉල්ලා සිටියේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි සුද්දන් හා ඩොනමෝර් බෞද්‌ධ කළුසුද්දන් විසින් සිංහලයාට අහිමිකල අයිතීන් <සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ රජයක්> විසින් ආපසු ලබාදෙන ලෙසය. ඉස්ලාම් රටවල මෙන් බුද්ධාගම රාජ්‍යාගම කර සෙසු ලබ්‌ධි වලට හිරිහැර කිරීමක් නොවේ. 1815 ට පෙර තිබූ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ රාජ්‍ය එසේ කලේ ඔවුන්ට වෙනස්කම් කලේනැත. භික්‍ෂුවකව සිට සිවුරු හැර දමා රට බේරා ගන්නට ඉදිරිපත්‌වූ සෙනරත් රජතුමා මුස්ලිම් ජනයාට පෘතුගීසි සමූල ඝාතනයෙන් බේරීම සඳහා මඩකලපුවේත්, ඉන් පසුව උඩරට රජු ලන්දේසීන් කතෝලිකයින් මරණ විට ඔවුන්ට උඩරට පදිංචිවීමට ඉඩ දුන්නේත් ඒ නිසාය.

ප්‍රේමදාසගේ සිට සිරිසේන දක්‌වා හැම ජනාධිපතිලා, අගමැතිලාම මුස්ලිම් චන්ද පෙරේතයින් විය. 1960 මුල සිට සිදුවූ තවත් දෙයක් නම් පෙඩරල්කාරයින්ගේ චන්ද ලබාගෙන පාර්ලිමේන්තු අගමැතිවීමේ උත්සාහය හා උපායය. ඒ කාලයේදී පෙඩරල් ක්‍රමයට විරුද්‌ධව නැඟෙනහිර මුස්ලිම් නායකයින් සිංහල ආණ්ඩුවලට එකතුවූයේ, දමිළීකරණය වීමේ උවදුරෙන් ගැලවීමට මිස සිංහල මරික්කාර්ලා වීමට නොවේ. ඔවුන්ගේ අනන්‍යතාවය රැකගැනීම සඳහා නොයෙක් නීති සහන ඔවුන් ලබාගත්තේය. දුර්‌වල, දීන සිංහල කළුසුද්දන් රවටමින් ගෙන ගිය මේ ව්‍යාපාරය, මේ වන විට අල්ටකියා (කපටිකම), අල් ජිහාඩ් (භීෂණය), අල්කයිඩා (ඝාතනය) යනුවෙන් ලංකාවේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුලමත් ක්‍රියාත්‌මක වන්නේ විග්නේෂ්වරන්ලාගේ, ගජේන්ද්‍ර පොන්නම්බලම්ලාගේ හා ක්‍රිස්තියානි සුමන්තිරන්ලාගේ කෙඳිරිලි අස්සේය. කාදිනල්තුමා හැරෙන්නට ශාරියා නීතියට හා මඩකලපුවේ හොර ශාරියා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ලෝකයටම ශාරියා පතුරුවන බලකොටුවක් වීමට විරුද්‌ධව කතාකරන්නට ගෝඨාභයගේ කලිසමේ එල්ලී චන්දය දිනාගත් මන්ත්‍රී පුළුටු නිහඬය (සිලෝන් ටුඩේ, 4/12/2020). එක අතකින් බලන විට මොවුන්ට මේවා තේරුම් ගැනීමට ඥානයක්, දැණුමක් නැතුවාද විය හැකිය.

ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභයට විරුද්‌ධව ඇති දේශීය හා විදේශීය තර්‍ජන පරාද කල හැක්කේ බෞද්‌ධ මතවාදයක් මත ගන්නා ක්‍රියා වලින්‌ය. මෙහිදී දැනට ඔහුට සිටින ලඟම හස්තය ඇමති සරත් වීරසේකරය. 2009 මැයි 19 දා කලයුතුව තිබුණේ යුද ආඥාවකින් 13-ඒ අහෝසි කර, චන්ද්‍රිකා පත්කල 1999 පලාත් පාලන කොමිෂන් සභා වාර්‌තාවේ නිර්දේශ (අභයවර්‌ධන රිපෝට්) අනුව යමින්, 1977 ට පෙර තිබූ පලාත් පාලන සභා ක්‍රමය නැවත සක්‍රීය කිරීමය. ඇමති සරත් වීරසේකර දැන් කියන්නේ එදා ටී.එන්.ඒ. එක තහනම් කලයුතුව තිබූ බවය (පාර්ලිමේන්තු විවාද 3/12/2020). මෙසේ කීමට ආත්ම ශක්තිය ඔහුට තිබෙන්නේ, ඔහු 19-ඒ ට විරුද්‌ධව චන්දය දුන් එකම සිංහලයා වීම නිසා නොව, ඔහු අවංක සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ රෙයාර් අද්මිරාල් කෙනෙක්‌වූද නිසාය. හමුදා නිල ඇඳුමෙන් සිටි ඔහුගේ පුතා ඔහු ඇමති ලෙස දිවුරුම් දුන් අවස්ථාවේ ඔහුව බදාගැනීම වරදක් ලෙස සරත් ෆොන්සේකාට පේන්නේ ෆොන්සේකාට පුතෙක් නැති නිසා විය හැකිය. කුරෝළුවූ බෞද්‌ධයින්ට මිස මෙහි වරදක් සිංහල පංචස්කන්‌ධ වලට නොදැනේ. ඇමෙරිකාවේ පුත්තු පියාට ආමන්ත්‍රණය කරන්නේ ජෝන්, චාලි, ඩික්, හෙන්‍රි, ජේම්ස් යනුවෙන්‌ය. විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ශිෂ්‍යයින් තම ප්‍රොපෙසර්‌ට කතා කරන්නෙත් එසේය. එහෙත් ලංකාවේ බෞද්‌ධ, හින්දු හෝ ක්‍රිස්තියානි හමුදා සෙබලෙකුට, තම පියා කොතැනදීත් පියාමය. එය වෙනස් වන්නේ සටන් බිමේදී පමණය.

මීළඟ කොටස

අංගුලිමාල-නාලාගිරි-උපසේන දමණය…

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

Despite arrogant and nincompoop JVP leader the alleged Goni-Billa and Ranil/Sajith’s dhobi and stooge and his cohorts’ myopic criticisms of 2021 budget and thereby displaying their impotent nature on budgets and financial matters the government has received many accolades from business magnates and professionals in the IT and digital field nd have expressed their commitment and capability and willingness to achieve the anticipated goals of the Budget.  Their valid views and opinions continue:

Before proceeding further, I would like to divert attention to the matter confirming that dispelling the denial made by Anura Kumara Dissanayak(AKD) about being a member of the committee guiding the FCID unit to institute political victimization, parliamentarian Mohammed Muzammil presented the approved Cabinet Paper submitted by Ranil Wickremasinghe on 21^st January, 2015 naming alleged Goni Billa AKD as a member of the said committee.  MP Vijitha Herath who participated in the relevant Hiru TV programme remained (bakam nilaagene) silent without any comment.  Text of the relevant Cabinet Paper will be included in the book Ravages of 2015” being written by me in the Chapter relating to JVP servility to Yamapalana.

Hayleys Group Executive Director Sarath Ganegoda pointed out that there is still significant potential even in traditional sectors and room for growth across all sectors of business. He said exports have fared well despite the challenges of COVID-19 are fuelling sectors such as hospitality which have been greatly impacted. There is a global shift in supply chains and as people look at new destinations for manufacturing, Sri Lanka must take advantage of them, he added. 

However, there are a few impediments, especially for manufacturing facilities outside zones due to the lack of a comprehensive plan by authorities, he noted. As a result, Hayleys has decided going forward all its manufacturing operations will be restricted to industrial zones. But there is a lack of facilities with adequate water supplies and affluent treatment and disposal, he pointed out, with Katunayake and Biyagama the only areas with adequate industrial water and treatments facilities. We are addressing all these with authorities, and I hope these could be fast tracked. We welcome the low interest rate regime and these are encouraging for investments,” he noted. 

Ganegoda also remarked on the need to enhance export credit insurance, as what was said in the Budget is very vague. It’s a thorny issue,” he said and with new customers around the globe it becomes increasingly difficult and these must be removed. 

Commenting on the Government’s proposal to increase wages of estate workers to Rs. 1,000 a day, Ganegoda averred: I don’t see a gap between what Government wants to achieve and what we want. We are more than happy to do so, and they should earn more than Rs. 1,000 in today’s context. If we are talking about getting out of this middle-income trap and all that, what is this $ 5.5 a day and they should earn more? The issue is not that. The issue is cost per kilogramme for the industry. We will have to balance this. We will support the Government; we will talk to them and we will have to find a mechanism to balance both sides and have a win-win. If you look at productivity, Sri Lanka is 18kg per plucker per day, whereas Kenya is 60kg and India is 36kg per day. So, if you could agree on a mechanism to drive productivity and if you focus from our side on cost per kilogramme for plucked leaves, even if they were to get Rs. 2,000 we have no qualm and they should earn that. Without reaching productivity and you just make it a wage, then there are problems.” 

Budget benefits through ICTs

This Government places great emphasis on technology, specifically on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Amidst the Budget debate, a new Ministry of Technology grouping together ICT related agencies and companies was created with the President as Minister. The Secretary has yet to be named but the newly-absolved Senior Advisor to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, is likely to play a significant role. 

A budget speech is an important indicator of Government priorities. Talk is cheap, but talk backed up by financial commitment is less cheap. That is why budgets are taken seriously. 

What are the likely benefits from the perspective of the people? What investments will be made, and what barriers will be removed by the Government to facilitate greater access to ICTs? What taxes will be raised from ICT services used by the people and from companies in the sector? What jobs will be created in the software and IT enabled services sector? 

According to the Sinhala version of the speech, Rs. 15 million from the Telecommunication Development Fund (TDF) is to be spent on pushing out coverage of 4G and fibre. When we last looked, the TDF had Rs. 69 billion unspent (this was for 2015 and money kept being collected and not spent; so, the total is likely to be higher). Was the Government committing a maximum of 0.02% of money collected from incoming and outgoing international calls and lying unspent? 
o, the English version was checked. It appears the actual amount may be Rs. 15 billion; the Sinhala version may be a typo. Even that is a maximum of 21% of funds lying fallow. But because they have made it complicated, starting with a low number is good. Half the money must be spent on local suppliers; import restrictions are in place making quick deployment of vital equipment that is not locally manufactured unlikely. If half the money is spent within a year, it will be praiseworthy.

The Budget speech commits to helping timely construction of towers and the laying of cables. This proposal is far superior to the (luckily unimplemented) proposals in previous budgets which imposed punitive taxes on towers and proposed all sorts of complicated structures for building and managing towers. 

Because most land in this country is owned by the State, it is a good thing to make them available for telecom operators. One only hopes that the proposal will be implemented and that we will not be talking about this in the future tense next year.

For long, telecom operators have served as tax collectors. Every telecom bill includes taxes that are collected and handed over to the State. At present, for every Rs. 100 we pay for voice calls, we pay an additional Rs. 37.7 in taxes to the State; for every Rs. 100 we spend on data, we give Rs. 19.7 to the State in taxes. The odd numbers are because these are multiple taxes layered on top of each other. In the Ravi Karunanayake years it was worse, but the rates were lowered in 2018.

The Budget speech says that a single tax (possibly with different rates for different items) will replace the current tax-on-tax regime for alcohol, cigarettes, telecommunication, betting, gaming and vehicles by 1 January 2021. It is disappointing that telecom is lumped together with all sorts of demerit goods that the State taxes excessively to discourage consumption. It is puzzling because these kinds of changes require legislation and usually take effect in April, after the Budget is approved and Finance Act amendments are approved by Parliament. 

The quantum of the single tax for telecom services is not specified. But it may be inferred that end users will pay more. The Government is expecting to increase the revenues from taxes on goods and services (of which the above-mentioned categories contribute around 50%) by 30%. It is unlikely that such a big increase can be achieved by keeping the burden on the end-user at current levels or lower.

Justification exists for lowering the taxes levied on data services in these pandemic times. It is illogical to make a big fuss about extending 4G and fibre connectivity to every nook and cranny of the country and then make data plans unaffordable by excessive taxation. But in the current circumstances, no one should be advocating for reducing State revenue. 

The Budget promises to exempt earnings from both domestic and foreign sources by those engaged in businesses in software and IT enabled services from income taxes. The foreign earnings exemption has been in place for persons directly receiving payments from foreign sources if they are deposited in local accounts and declared. What this appears to allow is the exemption from taxes of all software and IT enabled service firms, which is rather radical. The test will be whether the definitions are clear, and implementation is efficient. Again, a conclusion depends on the language of the amendments. 

The larger question is whether anyone has modeled the revenue loss from exempting most people in a sunrise industry from income tax. Whatever the loss is in 2021, it will be larger in 2022 and so on. Is there a real need to exempt software engineers from income tax? 

The Government has allocated the rather large sum of Rs. 10 billion for setting up five fully-fledged plug and play Techno Parks in Galle, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Kandy and Batticaloa Districts”. Previous budgets included such allocations for such parks by slightly different names, but none were built. It appears the liking for these things comes from officials rather than politicians.

The Malambe IT Zone was established under President Kumaratunga in the 1990s. It was not easy to attract companies to that location which was considered too remote. We could not even persuade HSBC to locate its regional centre, which is not a hive of creativity, in Malambe. They insisted on the present location on Parliament Road. 

The value of the Malambe IT Zone has greatly increased now with the Athurugiriya Interchange and would have skyrocketed had the now aborted LRT been completed, but most of the land is already occupied, not necessarily by IT firms. Still the early difficulties illustrate the challenges of setting up technology parks. 

They are fundamentally different from the industrial parks our officials are familiar with. The companies that locate in such parks place a premium on attracting and holding employees. The people who work in software firms and creative industries do not particularly like suburban or rural locations; they do not want to spend hours commuting. They like the benefits of agglomeration. That is why Silicon Valley emerged around Stanford University and why Bangalore and Gurgaon, with all their shortcomings, emerged as centres of IT. Coffee shops and bars play an important role in the success of IT parks.

Artificially creating techno parks in the middle of nowhere is a recipe for failure. Government officials are incapable of designing and managing such parks. They should commission studies of what has worked here and abroad and encourage private firms to build and manage technology parks in locations that will attract companies and employees. 

On what basis were five districts picked for locating the parks? It would be useful to understand what happened to the tender that was floated by the Export Development Board in 2019 seeking to identify a suitable building and operator for a tech park in Jaffna. Just because something was started under a different government, it should not be abandoned. By most measures, including the quality of the educational system and the success of initiatives such as Yarl IT Hub and Uki Coding School, Jaffna is an obvious candidate, though much remains to be done on the leisure and entertainment side. 

In conclusion with President Gotabhaya Rajapakdsa’s ardent desire to make Sri Lanka a digital technology nation, expeditious efforts are being initiated through 2021 Budget to achieve the President’s objectives. 

Let us look at how India became an Information Technology giant within a short period.  Information Technology in India is an industry consisting of two major components: IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO). The sector has increased its contribution to India’s GDP from 1.2% in 1998 to 7.7% in 2017. The sector aggregated revenues of US$180 billion in 2019, with export revenue standing at US$99 billion and domestic revenue at US$48 billion, growing by over 13%. As of 2020, India’s IT workforce accounts for 4.36 million employees. The United States accounts for two-thirds of India’s IT services exports

India’s IT Services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967 with the creation of Tata Consultancy Services who in 1977 partnered with Burroughs which began India’s export of IT services. The first software export zone, SEEPZ – the precursor to the modern-day IT park – was established in Mumbai in 1973. More than 80 percent of the country’s software exports were from SEEPZ in the 1980s.

Within 90 days of its establishment, the Task Force produced an extensive background report on the state of technology in India and an IT Action Plan with 108 recommendations. The Task Force could act quickly because it built upon the experience and frustrations of state governments, central government agencies, universities, and the software industry. Much of what it proposed was also consistent with the thinking and recommendations of international bodies like the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and World Bank. In addition, the Task Force incorporated the experiences of Singapore and other nations, which implemented similar programs. It was less a task of invention than of sparking action on a consensus that had already evolved within the networking community and government.

In 1991 the Department of Electronics creating a corporation called Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) that, being owned by the government, could provide VSAT communications without breaching its monopoly. STPI set up software technology parks in different cities, each of which provided satellite links to be used by firms; the local link was a wireless radio link. In 1993 the government began to allow individual companies their own dedicated links, which allowed work done in India to be transmitted abroad directly. Indian firms soon convinced their American customers that a satellite link was as reliable as a team of programmers working in the clients’ office.

A joint EU-India group of scholars was formed on 23 November 2001 to further promote joint research and development. On 25 June 2002, India and the European Union agreed to bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology. India holds observer status at CERN, while a joint India-EU Software Education and Development Center was located in Bangalore.

In the contemporary world economy, India is the largest exporter of IT. Exports dominate the Indian IT industry and constitute about 79% of the industry’s total revenue. However, the domestic market is also significant, with robust revenue growth. The industry’s share of total Indian exports (merchandise plus services) increased from less than 4% in FY1998 to about 25% in FY2012. The technologically-inclined services sector in India accounts for 40% of the country’s GDP and 30% of export earnings as of 2006, while employing only 25% of its workforce. The “Top Five Indian IT Services Providers” are Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies.

Major information technology hubs[edit]

Bengaluru is known as the “Silicon Valley of India”.

Hyderabad – known for the HITEC City or Cyberabad – is a major global IT hub, and the largest bioinformatics hub in India. Hyderabad has emerged as the second largest city in the country for software exports beating competitors Chennai and Pune. As of 2020, the IT exports from Hyderabad was US$15 billion and  the city houses 1500 IT and ITES companies that provide 582,126 employment. Notable tech and pharma parks are HITEC City, Genome Valley, and Hyderabad Pharma City

Chandigarh is also one of the growing international IT services and outsourcing exporters. The next upcoming tech park will be world trade center.

Kolkata is the financial and business hub of Eastern India. The metro city has seen a significant rise in IT services. In August 2018, the West Bengal Government announced that 200 acres of land in Rajarhat Newtown will be used for the development of Bengal Silicon Valley, similar to the California Silicon Valley in San Francisco, USA. The main intention of this project is to create a business-friendly environment for IT companies to set up their business in the city. Major IT Parks include Sector V, DLF 1,2,Gitanjali Park SEZ, Ecospace SEZ.

As of 2012^[update], Chennai was India’s Largest exporter of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Tidel Park in Chennai was billed as Asia’s largest IT park when it was built. Notable tech parks are International Tech Park, DLF SEZ, Mahindra World City, SIPCOT IT Park, Olympia Tech Park and Ramanujan IT City. City has an expressway called as IT expressway and a preferred location for IT industries. Major software companies have their offices set up here, with some of them making Chennai their largest base

The Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjawadi is a US$8.9 billion project by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The IT Park encompasses an area of about 2,800 acres and is home to over 800 IT companies of all sizes. Besides Hinjawadi, IT companies are also located at Magarpatta, Kharadi and several other parts of the city. As of 2017, the IT sector employs more than 300,000 people.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Technopark was established for the development of electronics and information technology in the State. It is India‘s first industrial park dedicated to electronics, software, and IT ventures. Started 1995, the campus at Thiruvananthapuram city covers an area the 330 acres campus with 4,000,000 sq ft of built-up space available currently and another 2,000,000 more sq ft of built up space coming up, is now home to over 260 companies. Over 35,000 IT professionals are working here.

The Indian experiences indicate that with the admirable initiatives taken in the 2021 budget to establish 5 IT parks covering all areas of Sri Lanka our future generations will have the opportunity of becoming commendable world leaders. (end).

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

තමන්ට එරෙහිව අධිකරණය හමුවේ විභාග වන නඩුවක තීන්දුව 8 වනදා ලබා දීමට නියමිත බව සමගි ජන බලවේග පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රන්ජන් රාමනායක මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

ඒ අනුව තමන් එදිනට හිරේ යාමට නියමිත යැයි ද ඔහු පැවසීය.

අද දින තමන්ගේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ අවසන් දිනය යැයිද ඒ මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව අමතමින් කියා සිටියේය.

අඩුම මාස හයක් සහ උපරිමය අවුරුදු දෙකක් දක්වා වූ සිරදඩුවමක් තමන්ට හිමි වනු ඇතැයිද ඔහු සඳහන් කළේය.

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Daily News Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The judicial cadre in both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal had been static since 1978

Colombo, December 4: There is a popular saying that Justice delayed is justice denied” and apparently a major reason for last week’s prison riots that claimed the lives of 11 prisoners and injured scores of inmates and prison guards is the prevalent overcrowding of prisons with remand prisoners awaiting court verdicts for long.

There is an imperative for judicial reforms with the expansion of courts to ensure dispensation of early justice. Last week, at a time when the dark shadows of prison riots loomed, a welcome development took place with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointing six Judges to the Supreme Court and 14 to the Court of Appeal, thus marking another milestone in the judicial history of the country.

This became possible as the 20th Amendment to the Constitution allowed an increase in the number of judges. The judicial cadre in both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal had remained static since the enactment of the Second Republican Constitution in 1978. Although the necessity of increasing the number of judges in the Superior Courts has been mooted several times in the past, the number of judges in both courts has remained the same for over 40 years.

There have been many advancements in the sphere of law in recent decades. Litigation has increased exponentially during the last 40 years. However, there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of judges.

It is therefore a matter of pride that our Government has redressed this long felt need through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution,” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said.

Amongst the many reasons that prompted this change is the perennial problem of the law’s delays. Unfortunately, it is clear that while more and more cases were being instituted in the Superior Courts, there was insufficient judicial manpower to hear them fast and dispense justice. This was not a situation conducive to public confidence, nor to the proper functioning of the republic,” he said.

Addressing the newly appointed judges, the President pledged to support the independence of the judiciary and ensure its functioning free of politicization and other forms of interference. Access to justice is a fundamental right. It is the sacred duty and obligation of the State to provide an enabling environment to make that right real and not imaginary. Access to justice must be transparent if the people are to have confidence and faith in the judicial system.

Whether we perform our role within the Executive, the Legislature or the Judiciary, we are all custodians of that faith. We hold our office in trust for the people. As judges, the people look to you to uphold the immense dignity of your high office, to discharge your duties with integrity and independence, and to ensure that justice is dispensed equitably to all,” the President told the judges.

The President also referred to unsavory attempts to tarnish the judiciary, a sacrosanct institution. He said it is a matter of some concern that there has been an onslaught on the dignity and independence of legal systems.

The judiciary must also rise and use its powers to fight this menace. Freedom of speech is not a license to defame and malign anyone, least of all judges,” he pointed out and added, We as a Government stand prepared to support you in every way necessary to achieve the objective of administering an efficient, equitable and independent judicial system.”

This commitment applies to the uplift of the dilapidated courtrooms throughout the country, assistance in digitizing the laborious manual processes to enhance efficiency, and providing greater funding for the training of personnel in the judicial system, together with other identified requirements.

Through this, and through your efficient and judicious discharge of your grave responsibilities, I am confident that we will be able to achieve a lasting beneficial transformation of the judicial system in Sri Lanka,” the President said.

The prison riots also brought home the need for further prison reforms. The Government, saddled with the unenviable task of eliminating crimes masterminded by imprisoned convicts and remand prisoners, commenced a top down strategy by a shake-up of prison officials earlier this year. This step was taken after it was revealed that the illicit possession and use of mobile telephones by prison inmates was becoming a major issue. Prisoners were reportedly using illicitly acquired mobile telephones to make calls to give instructions about their criminal activities.

Several prison officers were interdicted for attempting to smuggle in mobile phones for the incarcerated inmates. The strict measures came after senior prison officials were admonished by President Rajapaksa and strong warnings were given to the Department of Prisons by Defense Secretary, Major General (rtd.) Kamal Gunaratne. A clean and untainted prison system is required and all inmates must be treated equally, he said and added that prison officials guilty of helping convicts to carry out criminal activities would be severely punished. He said if officers continue to engage in wrongful acts, investigations will be launched, adding that certain officers are already under the scrutiny of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).Attorney General Dappula De Livera also slammed the Department of Prisons for allowing the prison system to become a hotbed of criminals and criminal syndicates.

Serious crimes in Sri Lanka are organized from within prison walls. The underworld has found itself inside the prisons and they operate from within and outside the prison walls. They work together and commit serious crimes in the country,” De Livera said.

Following these stern warnings and change of high prison officials, many reforms were enacted and hardened criminals who controlled some prison cells with their money-power or by intimidation were transferred to distant prisons and kept in isolation.

The shakeup among the prison guards is a part of the overall operation of elimination of criminal gangs. Simultaneously, a major crackdown directed at the underworld has been underway. Dozens of hard-core criminals in various parts of the country have been rounded up.

The detention of large number of persons who violated health regulations and the curfew enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in overcrowding of prisons once again. Presidential pardon given to hundreds of remand prisoners is expected to reduce the overcrowding.

Considering the importance of prison reforms, a new State Minister has been appointed to handle the subject. Lohan Ratwatte took oaths on Wednesday (December 2) as State Minister for Prison Administration and Rehabilitation of Prisoners.

The appointment of new judges will help speed up trials in the top two courts in the country. The efficient administration of justice is not only important in terms of upholding the rule of law, it is also vital for the economic development of this nation. Reliable, efficient and effective dispute resolution through the justice system will foster the nation’s progress. I consider it a signal honor to administer oaths to such a galaxy of men and women so learned in the law,” President Rajapaksa said underlining the importance of this step.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has witnessed 07 new Covid-19 related deaths, the Director-General of Health Services confirmed a short while ago.

Five of the victims are from Bandaragama, Dematagoda, Colombo 13, Wellampitiya and the remaining two were identified as prison inmates.

The new development brings the country’s Covid-19 death toll to 137, Epidemiology Unit data revealed.

Courtesy Adaderana

Coronavirus vaccination for at-risk groups has kicked off in Moscow, the city’s coronavirus monitoring center said in a statement on Saturday.

Coronavirus vaccination began today at 70 city public health centers for those from major at-risk groups, who contact large numbers of people at work. Those include medical, educational and social workers,” the statement reads.

Applications are being received on mos.ru from people aged between 18 and 60, registered with the city’s public health centers.

However, people with certain chronic diseases won’t be able to get the shot, and those with acute respiratory infections will have to wait two weeks after recovering from it. In addition, volunteers involved in post-registration vaccine trials can’t be vaccinated though those who got a placebo during trials will be provided with an opportunity to receive the vaccine once trials are over.

-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 numbers went up again today (05), as 168 more persons were tested positive for the virus.

The newly-identified patients were identified as close contacts of earlier cases linked to the Peliyagoda fish market.

Following the new development in Covid-19 figures, Minuwangoda-Peliyagoda dual cluster’s infections tally has reached 23,674.

Thereby, a total of 669 positive cases have been detected within the day. 

As per statistics, the total number of Covid-19 infections confirmed in the country to date now stands at 27,228.

Recoveries from the virus meanwhile climbed to 20,090 earlier today, as 652 more patients regained health.

However, 7,008 active cases are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres located across the island.

Sri Lanka has also witnessed 130 deaths related to Covid-19.

MALINDA SENEVIRATN​E

On February 19, 2020, i.e. days before Parliament was dissolved and probably in full cognizance of impending General Elections, a report was released by ‘The Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security,’ appointed following the Easter Sunday attacks almost a year before.

The Easter Sunday attack was a clear indictment on the then government’s shortsightedness on national security issues. The liberals who pooh-poohed Islamic extremism, the NGO racketeers for whom ‘religion freedom’ meant ‘anything goes, even terrorism’ were effectively bamboozled. They shut up. The yahapalanists were routed at the election, and even a pathetic last-minute name-change  didn’t help.

All that is incidental. What’s important is the report of the OCE (Oversight Committee on Extremism). The report had the OCE’s mandate clearly stated on the cover page itself: ‘Proposal for formulation and implementation of relevant laws required to ensure national security that will eliminate New Terrorism and extremism by strengthening friendship among races and religions.’ Oddly worded, but that too is incidental.

The OCE was chaired by Malith Jayathilake. Shehan Semasinghe, Vijitha Herath, Weerakumara Dissanayake, Buddhika Pathirana, M.S. Thowfeek, Palitha Thevarapperuma, S Viyalanderan, Dharmalingam Siddarthan, A A Wijethunga, M.A. Sumanthiran, Chandima Gamage, Kavinda Jayawardane, Mayantha Dissanayake, Bandula Bandarigoda, Muhammad Ibrahim Mansoon and Ashu Marasinghe were the others in the committee. Many of them are still in Parliament.  

The report contained recommendations on the following areas: 1. Education, 2. Banning face coverings which hinder identification, 3. National Defence Policy, 4. Amending the Immigration and Emigration Law in line with new developments, national and international, 5. Electronic, print and social media, 6. Amending the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Law, 7. Empowering Muslim civil society, 8. Empowerment and legalization of the NGO Secretariat, 9. Amendment of the Wakf Act, 10. Suspension of registration of political parties on ethnic and religious basis, 11. Issuing birth certificates with Sri Lankan Identity Number, 12. Establishment of a ministry of religious affairs that combines all religions, 13. Building and maintaining Dhamma schools and religious centers to ensure inter-religious cohabitation, and 14. Halal certification process.

Now this is as comprehensive a report as we’ve seen on a number of key and interrelated issues. Most of the recommendations are directly or indirectly related to inter-communal tensions so perceived or defined. Many of them can be immediately implemented following relevant gazette notifications; for example in the case of the majority of recommendations pertaining to education, media, Halal certification, NGOs and defense. In the very least, the relevant line ministries can use the particular sections of the OCE report as a basis for discussion followed by policy formulation. Implementation can follow the cabinet decisions.  

Some of the recommendations for the education sector have implications beyond the subject at hand, extremism, for example the streamlining of international schools. Some are cosmetic but arguably prompted by good intention, for example, changing the names of schools with ethnic, religious or community identity and of course a streamlining of school holidays. Some are directly related to the rise of Islamic extremism, for example the Madrasa institutions. The OCE recommends that Madrasa institutions should be limited to training Islamic clerics and can enroll only those who are 16 years of age or above AND have completed 11 years of formal education. The OCE while acknowledging that they don’t have all the data, asserted that there are at least 1679 Madrasas while only 317 are registered with a further 175 having sought registration. It was estimated that at least 27,000 students are enrolled in these Madrasas! The OCE recommends that 75 Madrasas are sufficient given the total Islamic population in the country.  

I invite the strident voices demanding freedom of expression to read the section on ‘Electronic, Print and Social Media.’ They would, I promise, be horrified that yahapalanists could come up with such plans!  

Obviously certain recommendations require amendment of existing laws and promulgation of new ones. The OCE wants the Parliamentary Elections Act No 1 of 1981 amended so that either in name or constitution a party cannot affirm or privilege a particular faith or ethnic community. This would run against basic tenets of political freedom. MP Sumanthiran ought to have resigned from the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi the moment he put his signature on the report. M.S. Thowfeek too (SLMC). Incidental, let’s say.

The most important recommendations are related to Muslim marriages and divorces that require amendment of Acts Nos. l3 of l951, 31 of 1954, 22 of 1955, 1 of 1965, 5 of 1965, 32 of 1969,  and Law No. 41 of 1975. These correct the horrendous gender inequalities in that community with respect to marriages and divorce. They recommend, for example, the provision of legal rights to brides when signing a marriage contract, making registration compulsory, establishing 18 as the legal age for marriage, formulating laws that allow both groom and bride to seek divorce if required  etc. Most importantly it recommends that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No 13 of 1951 to be considered a special law but executed under the general law of the land.

In addition, the OCE has made sweeping recommendations pertaining to the Wakf Act that make for greater accountability from religious institutions and clerics. Obviously the focus is on the Islamic community, but some of the recommendations are eminently applicable to all religious communities.

The Religious Freedom Nazis might be livid, especially those who have a bone to pick with certain religions (but not their own) and/or whose faiths have no history or numbers of the faithful of any significance (which is why, ‘equality of the ‘one-religion, one-vote’ kind is advocated even though in countries where THOSE religious communities are the majority, such generosity is hardly seen). That’s their problem.

These are yahapalanists recommendations which pohottuwa politicians are not likely to disagree with. The vast majority of them can be implemented immediately. Some require, as mentioned, amendment of the law.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government can send a copy of the OCE report to the Attorney General. The line ministries can be asked to get cracking. There’s a lot of can-do stuff in the report. Just get it done without twiddling thumbs, navel-gazing and foot-dragging because ‘those other fellows made the report.’  At least read the damned thing!

malindasenevi@gmail.com

Ranjith Soysa

the fragrance that spreads from a good quality sandal wood bark remains the same when crushed and cut” – Subashithya – the Well Spoken.

We are saddened by the death of Dr Olga Mendis, one of the greatest overseas Sri Lankans who served her adopted Motherland, Australia as well as her original Motherland, Sri Lanka with dedication. She was  from Moratuwa and studied at Princess of Wales College. She entered the Sri Lanka medical college. After passing out as a medical practitioner, she proceeded to the UK for higher studies. She married Dr Mervyn Mendis and served in many hospitals and as a School Medical Officer from 1967 to 1976. She immigrated to Australia in 1977.

I came to know Dr Mendis in the 90s when she was known to almost all Sri Lankans in Victoria as a leading social activist. I saw in her the resolve to pursue the objectives of her planned program and how happy she was when surrounded by the grateful beneficiaries of her work. She did not give into the whims and fancies of the armchair critics who attempted to stifle her progress but kept on marching ahead and she delivered the desired results to the community. I remember Dr Mendis extending assistance to the needy migrants by way of funds and other requirements including free medical treatment plus advise. She was simply a large-hearted lady.

I will now try to pen a few memorable achievements of Dr Mendis which I came to know through her contemporaries, and I gathered by watching her from a distance including associating her closely. In 1983 she along with Prof Christie Weeramantri and H.L.D.Mahindapala formed Overseas Sri Lankan Organization for National Unity with the objective of countering the misinformation campaign of some extremist Tamil groups and it became a major forum to promote Sri Lanka, She was the founder Treasurer and held the post for next 4 years.

From 1985 to 1987 she served as the VP of Sri Lanka Association and was very active in jointly organizing for the first time in Australia the celebration of the Sri Lanka Independence Day, Sinhala New Year functions and even Wesak devotional songs,

In 1985 when she went to meet the Minister of Immigration for a discussion she realized that there should be a forum for the Sinhalese in Victoria to represent their views and formed the Sinhala Cultural and Community Services Foundation in 1989.She was the founder President and continued  in the position for more than 20 years. Perhaps, this was the first Sinhala organization in Australia.  Through SCCSF she promoted study of Sinhala, Sinhala song and poetry, dancing, and traditional drumming. The SCCSF also extended its services to the Seniors by way of monthly gathering, providing meals and medical advise The SCCF  raised funds by running food fairs and Sinhala drama and gave a helping hand to the victims of floods, drought in Sri Lanka and the needy in the Sri Lankan hospitals. Through Sevana Sarna Foster Parent scheme she was able to help 150 poor families in Sri Lanka to receive monthly payments.

She also organized the first Sinhala and Buddhism classes  to educate the children of the Sinhala migrants whose arrival to Australia saw a big leap in the late 80s, She worked assiduously with a few volunteers to streamline the teaching of Sinhala language. Her indefatigable efforts  reached a climax in 1990 when the Sinhala Language was recognized as a subject for Victorian Certificate Examination, the premier exam for secondary education.

In the mid-90s when Sri Lanka was the subject of ridicule due to misinformation campaign of some sections of Tamils, she teamed up with Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka and galvanized a program to educate and confer with Aussie politicians to provide the other side od story and also to help the injured soldiers in Sri Lanka,. The ship -loads of beds and equipment were sent to Sri Lanka to help the victims of bombs and explosives and to the rural hospitals,

She played a key role in the formation of first Sinhala community radio thorough 3 zzz when she was elected as a member of the Ethnic Communities  council in Victoria while she joined a band of social activists and started  ‘ SRI LANKAN’ the first Sri Lankan newspaper in Australia.

Dr Mendis also drew up a program to host visiting Sri Lankan sports teams and looking after them in Australia through the sponsored families. Sri Lankan national netball team which toured Australia annually was one of the beneficiaries,

She authored two books, one on Sri Lanka history and other on Sri Lankan migrants to Australia.

She was the recipient of many prestigious awards such as Doctor of the year in 1992.Order of Australia Medal and Excellence in Multicultural Affairs -the Centenary Award.

Her late husband, Dr Mervyn Mendis was her mentor and helped her in all possible ways to accomplish her multifaceted social service agenda.

When she passed away last week, she was 93 years and as her memory was failing. she was compelled to rest at home amidst love and care of her sons. Dr Duleep, Dr Roshan and only daughter, Dr Priyadarshani and her daughters in laws including her grandchildren. She closed her eyes in the arms of her eldest son, Duleep. 

MAY HER JOURNEY IN SAMSARA BE SMOOTH

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

It was hilarious to find that the alleged ex-Gono-Billa and now the leader of UNP/SHB dhobi clan JVP, Anura Kuimara Dissanayake, who and his cohorts remained as that they are deaf, dumb and blind when the Sirisena/Ranil government increased VAT and taxes between the period 2015 to 2019, deprived people when their rights and dues and were always in the forefront to justify and protect adverse economic, social and other measures taken by that government have requested the government to present an amended budget saying that new Ministries have been established after the 2021 budget was presented. 

It is very strange to note that they never made such demands every time Sirisena periodically and on a plethora of times changed Ministers on the request of Ranil Wickremasinghe and number of times.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake called on the government to submit an amended budget to Parliament because three new ministrieshave been set up after the presentation of Budget 2021.

 Participating in the committee stage debate of the budget, this alleged ex-Gonibilla said a budget was presented to this House and it is being debated at the committee stage. After the tabling of the budget proposals some new ministries have been set up and now debates are going on without allocations for those ministries. Allocations have been made for statutory bodies that would come under those ministries but how could those ministries function without funds he has asked? He has asked the government to submit an amended budget before the end of the current budget debate.

Leader of the House, and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena countering the JVP leader said that Dissanayake raised similar questions with regard to the representation of the President’s vote in Parliament and the Prime Minister would represent the President in the House and give answers on behalf of the President. He said that most of those expenditure heads belonging to the institutions which would be placed under the new ministries, have been already discussed and if` a need arises the government would introduce changes on the last day and affirmed that he does not see there is issue in this matter.

Meanwhile, the Dhobi clan JVP’s Nationalist nominee Kumar David who is one of the coterie gang that betrayed the LSSP for personal gains despite the fact that party was a formidable party in the past which got members elected from Balapitiya to Colombo South throughout coastal belt and majority of seats in the Kegalle district writing to the anti Sri Lankan website Colombo Telegraph published from London in an article titled Budget and the Virus” said that the first wave of the pandemic from mid-March to end-May was handled successfully and it seemed we had put it behind us. This pseudo Marxist Tamil chauvinist blamed the government for placing the Army Commander in charge of the Task Force; (he has a personal enmity with security forces big wigs for their crushing of Tamil terrorism) and said that it is not possible to give a virus marching orders and expect it to disappear into the twilight.

In a mean attempt to create friction within the smooth running government this Tamil chauvinist blamed President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for not appointing Dr. Tissa Vitharana to lead the Task Force, and attributed it may be because his proclivity to use a military approach to all things.

Delving on economics David said that except for NM’s short stint as Finance Minister when the economy was salvaged to a degree every post-independence govt. has screwed the economy and pushed Lanka ever deeper into debt. He admittedly said the 2005-2015 government was corrupt to the core and sank Sri Lanka into a huge hole of indebtedness so as to execute prestige projects since they were avenues for daylight robbery. But let’s be generous and say GR is not to blame for that.

So, a fair critique of the 2021-Budget should be premised on accepting the debts the country faces. The GR regime should be faulted not for this but for grossly bad decisions in the budget itself. Two are glaring; the huge amount set aside for Highways and the continuing massive allocation for the military. Highways is the mulch cow that corrupt politicos and the clan used from 2005 to 2015 to siphon off millions and billions, respectively. He claims the swollen military budget is to keep the yakos in line.

David states that he is of the view that fiscal deficits and economic stimulus is unavoidable and Sri Lanka is headed for an unavoidable and deepening debt crisis; these are unusual times. However, if those making policy are incompetent – no more experienced in planning, policy and theory than Caabral – then one cannot expect anything better than the budget on the table. Contrast the top-notch team of liberal economists that Biden has put together. On Sundays 22 and 29 November he says liberalism as inadequate to America’s problems, and but that’s a different matter. 

People Centric economic revival

Speaking at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit ‘Roadmap for Takeoff: Driving a People-Centric Economic Revival’ organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) the Prime Minister Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa recapped the efforts made by the Government to support the private sector during a difficult year. He emphasized Sri Lanka needs to return to work as soon as possible and said the Government stands ready to provide the requisite support. 

The PM said that economic and growth challenges need to be jointly managed by the private and public sectors to move Sri Lanka beyond COVID-19 impact and towards people-centric development.. 

He said We stand ready to utilize new and innovative measures to revitalize growth in Sri Lanka and the next few years will be decisive ones for Sri Lanka and to strengthen the economy the public and private secretory will have to jointly manage growth challenges,” he told the virtual gathering. PM Rajapaksa said it was an accepted fact that Sri Lanka had managed its COVID-19 challenges far better than many other countries around the world and provided support to keep the economy ticking over. 

However, the time has now arrived to move to the next phase of turning around growth and preparing for an economic take-off and in order to achieve that the business community and other stakeholders will have to intensify efforts and make use of the policy framework provided by Budget 2021. 

He said We are satisfied with the initial response to COVID-19 but now greater things have to be achieved on this foundation. This entire country has to be converted into one hive of activity and we appreciate that is also the intention of this Chamber. For this task, corporate and private sector leaders have to come together to plan, exchange information and implement policies.” 

Speaking further the Prime Minister pointed out even though remittances and exports have proved resilient, the Government could not be satisfied with the level of foreign direct investment and advocated that the private sector should also work towards attracting more investment. 

He told the Private Sector We will support you unreservedly in this effort and invite you to lift up our economy once again.” He added that the Government expected the private sector to support completion of 289 stalled projects worth Rs. 5 trillion as well as improve Sri Lanka’s food security. 

PM Rajapaksa opined that despite the multitude of challenges faced by his Government, they had stepped up and delivered. He called on the private sector to do the same and take Sri Lanka towards an economic rejuvenation, 

COMMENTS

Addressing  Key insights at Bartleet Religare Securities webinar titled ‘Navigating the Paradigm Shift’ State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal explained the Government is keen to hold interest rates steady at current levels for at least two years, and this would be given priority alongside strengthening our rate of exchange. He said that with Budget 2021 well into the second half of its journey through Parliament – a mere formality for this house – the Government had opportunity to provide further clarity to some of the proposals it listed last week, whilst the private sector too had a chance to delve deeper. 

If interest rates show any tendency of rising, we are ready curtail some public sector investment at that time to maintain rates at the levels we want to see and the Government does not want to get them to any condition to jeopardize the macro fundamentals, he said. 

The State Minister responded to a number of questions posed on Budget 2021, and one of them dealt with the downgrade afforded to Sri Lanka by Moody’s Rating Agency, who stated it does not expect the budget to provide a meaningful boost to outputs and instead enhance fiscal pressure.

In response, the Minister said: Moody’s jumped the gun and they brought in that downgrade of two notches well before the Budget could come in, now they are stuck with it. Whatever we put in the budget as credit positive they need to find a loophole to say that’s not a good thing. So, I think that is what is happening now. The nice thing about it is that investors have not followed Moody’s. The first day that Moody’s downgraded investors got a little upset. Then our bonds started having very high yields. But very soon, once they dived into the Sri Lankan credit and examined it carefully, they found that Moody’s statement was not with position. Now they have all begun to tighten much further and today’s Moody’s reaction.

State Minister Cabraal also stated he held discussions with several large international investors, and that Government is looking to persuade them to come to Sri Lanka. We may see some movement next year,” he added.

I think the current rates are very comfortable for all. The only thing I would like to see tighten is the exchange rate, it has gone beyond the comfortable range. If I was the Governor of the Central Bank, I would say it wouldn’t have gone to that extent. I would have been a lot more sensitive to it because I know the impact it has on debt and the impact on the Budget of having to allocate that much more rupees to buy the same dollars. It is a big burden I would like to avoid. It’s a big ingredient of our debt sustainability. We will take the necessary policy measures to encourage movement in that direction,” Cabraal assured.

Responding to further questions, the State Minister said the Government has no intention to list State-owned enterprises on the Stock Exchange as privatization is not part of the Government’s agenda. However, it could consider listing some of the instruments of SOEs as long as they do not disturb this policy, he said. 

Once again, he invited more companies to list debt on the stock exchange as seen in developed markets, noting this would bring stability to some organizations. We have thought outside the box and provided certain incentives, which are quite different to what was offered earlier,” and this should boost further listings on the stock exchange he said. 

Speaking further Mr. Cabral said that the Government has mooted a Budget monitoring process under his ministry to keep a close tab consistently on implementation of proposals,. He said that the Government will bear the cost of the additional Rs. 2 provided for remittances of workers overseas, and provisions have already been made for this in the Budget. The new Special Goods and Services Tax on excise items will be announced before the finalization of the Budget and noted that the question for motor vehicles will not arise in the near future.

Tax administration will be improved and the 0.25 of taxation on turnover of companies will be helpful towards revenue enhancement, Cabraal said, alongside new features like the 1% tax on undisclosed income coming into the tax net. With excise, the Government will introduce new methodology that have been proven all over the world and derive greater amount of revenue – almost an additional Rs. 40 billion the Government estimates. Leakages that have been there will be plugged very well and we can have those revenue targets achieved” he asserted.

We have not said we are not going to ask questions. We have said you can bring the money. We have said you can bring the money you have not declared, and that does not mean it’s tainted. There can be instances where people have sold land and not mentioned the full value. Some countries have no taxes at all, but that does not mean it encourages money laundering. There is no danger of this going into a FATF question mark,” Cabraal noted. 

He also stressed the need to reduce construction costs in Sri Lanka as it is amongst the highest in the world. The government is looking at a composite evaluation, which for instance will bring down the cost of cement, as raw material costs need to be managed. The Cess on imports of cement and clinker will be examined carefully to see how overall costs can be brought down. The Government is engaging cement manufacturers; and is interested to note if they could guarantee entire local supply from Sri Lankan resources.

Cabral also stated that port activity has sufficient space for growth, and the country needs more port related industries to come in. The new tyre factory coming in the Hambantota industrial zone with Chinese investment is going to be a very important investment, and the State would like to see many more investments like that coming in, he said, reiterating the Government is expecting some new ventures to come in over the next few months. 

Joining the discussion was Krishan Balendra, Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC, who also pointed to tremendous growth in port activity and underscored Colombo’s position as a major transhipment hub making 80% of volumes.

Balendra said that if you have the adequate capacity in Colombo you can have growth in volumes. We have the capacity for eight million TEUs. Colombo can handle more capacity; it won’t be over capacity. The need is to add capacity and then the demand will be there,” Balendra said. The proposed East Container Terminal is right next to John Keells’ SAGT, and there is a lot of potential therein for both, he added. 

Compared to the rest of the region, Sri Lanka has a lot of space to grow in almost every sphere the group is already invested in, and our potential in every sector is immense, the Chairman opined. In the short-term there may be over capacity, but as businesses and traffic numbers grow there will be demand for more services. It is in this content, JKH is looking at large integrated development like Cinnamon Life, he explained, pointing to tremendous potential for retail and entertainment sectors.

Balendra said there would be no real change in terms of sector focus for JKH, adding the Cinnamon Life development will be completed well before the Port City is finished, with over 65% of apartments already sold. The Port City will help increase development for property, he added. It is important to manage new supply of hotel rooms to ensure people who have already invested to get returns, he noted. 

HNB Managing Director Jonathan Alles said Budget 2021 provides several interesting areas for the banking sector with a lot of impetus to supporting SMEs, entrepreneurship and local production. The Minister alluded to renewable energy and this is a vital area we are looking to support,” he added. The banking sector must not ignore the fact it must continuously be available to support the requirements of the grass root sectors and make funds available,” he stressed.

Execution of the Budget becomes very important and that is where the value addition comes in. The cost of procrastination is billions to Government and the private sector, Alles explained. He enthused at the Minster pointing to significant new foreign investments materializing over the course of next year, and Sri Lanka must keep telling its story and get these transactions off the ground without just letting them be stories. 

Alles however opined that normal economics suggest it would be difficult to hold interest rates down with domestic funds being used to bridge the deficit. Interest rates can also marginally move upwards if credit growth picks up. Having said that rates are at unprecedented lows, so even if they inch up marginally it would still be very affordable, he explained. 

Credit growth could be moderate in the first half of 2021, and asset quality will continue to be under pressure, and banks need to watch what entities are able to start repayments after the moratorium is over. The country needs consistent taxation and it is hoped this would prevail over the coming years, Alles said. 

We expect the banking sector tax to come down from 28% to 24%. The 0.25 insurance fund is not going to go down too well because it will have a significant impact on the bottom line. The risk weighted provisioning suspension; it has an impact on your capital adequacy, but then some of us banks are more than adequately capitalised. So, we would want a rating upgrade really, because currently we are impaired on account of LGD and likely to see some further impairments on account of the downgrade of Moody’s.

Moratoriums are taken as modifications as far as accounting is concerned and not as rescheduling which means you don’t have to impair. Prudency would require banks to asses every customer and transaction, and whilst you have provided that cover is it fair and right for you to take cover under this and keep them under the current bucket? In this light you will see the industry taking a position and then taking an estimate and identifying accounts that even post moratorium will have certain challenges. You might see us staging them from 1 to 2, which will then automatically entail a higher level of impairment which we have actually projected and forecasted. Those that we feel don’t have a chance and don’t have ancillary, we might be compelled to move straight into non-performing and start looking at full impairment and other courses of action. It will be based on individual clients,” Alles stated. 

He praised the Government’s initiative to encourage overseas workers to bring in money through official channels, as these then get recorded and the government can calculate and know these amounts coming in. This would be worth the Rs. 2 paid in the short term, he opined, and it will help banks to leverage those individuals and do business with those beneficiaries for those funds coming in, he said. 

To be continued……………………..

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ඉවත දමන කාබන් පෑන් හා දත් බුරුසු ආරක්ෂිතව  ප්‍රතිචක්‍රීකරණය කිරීම උදෙසා පරිසර අමාත්‍යාංශය හඳුන්වාදෙන ප්‍රතිචක්‍රීකරණ බහලුම ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට භාරදීම අද 2020.12.03 දින සිදුවිය.

පරිසර අමාත්‍ය මහින්ද අමරවීර මහතා විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු සංකීර්ණයේ පිහිටි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේදී මෙම ප්‍රතිචක්‍රීකරණ බහලුම අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට භාර දෙන ලදී.

නීතියක් නොව විනයක්” තේමාව යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක මෙම පරිසර හිතකාමී ව්‍යාපෘතිය රටපුරා පාසල් හා ආයතන මට්ටමින් ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම කාලීන අවශ්‍යතාවක් බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙහිදී  පෙන්වා දුන්නේ ය .

මෙරට පාසල් පද්ධතිය තුළින් පමණක් දිනකට පරිසරයට බැහැරවන කාබන් පෑන් ප්‍රමාණය  කිලෝ ග්‍රෑම් අසූවක් පමණ බව අමාත්‍ය මහින්ද අමරවීර මහතා හෙළි කළේය.

පරිසර අමාත්‍ය මහින්ද අමරවීර මහතාගේ සංකල්පයක් මත, මෙතෙක් අවධානය යොමු නොවූ මෙම පාරසරික ගැටලුවට පිළියමක් ලෙස ආරම්භ කළ ආරක්ෂිත ප්‍රතිචක්‍රීකරණ බහලුමක් හඳුන්වා දීමට, පරිසර අමාත්‍යංශය පියවර ගැනීම  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ඇගයීමට ලක් විය.

භාවිතයෙන් ඉවත දමන කාබන් පෑන් 3000ක් හා දත් බුරුසු 500ක් මෙම එක් බහලුමකට දැමිය හැකිය.

මෙම බහලුම් සියලු ම පාසල්වලට නොමිලේ ලබාදෙන අතර INSEE සමාගම හා ඇට්ලස් සමාගම ඒවා මිලදී ගැනීමට නියමිතය.

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

A recycling drop box for disposable pens and toothbrushes was handed over to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa by Mahinda Amaraweera. 

This initiative was launched based on the shared theme of Discipline, Not Law” to promote recycling and find economic-based sustainable waste solutions in Sri Lanka. 

The government’s sustainable agenda to collect empty carbon pens and used toothbrushes for recycling will play a prominent role in reducing the amount of plastic released to the environment. Every day, 80KG of carbon pens are used in schools, which makes it a significant environmental issue. 

The Ministry of Environment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with INSEE Cement and Atlas Sri Lanka to support this recycling project. Under this agreement, discarded waste material such as carbon pens and toothbrushes will be collected and repurposed by INSEE and Atlas. 

Each school and state institution will be given a especially-designed drop box that will hold 3,000 used pens and 500 used toothbrushes.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa appreciated this initiative, which helps tackle the recycling issue and works towards a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly Sri Lanka.

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ

කොවිඩ් -19 වෛරසයට එරෙහිව කෑගල්ල ප්‍රදේශයේ දේශීය වෛද්‍යවරයෙකු නිෂ්පාදනය කළ හෙළ ඔසුව පිළිබඳ අවසන් සායනික පරීක්ෂණවල නිගමනය ඉදිරි මාසය ඇතුළත රජයට දැනුම්දෙන බව ආයුර්වේද බලධාරීන් පවසයි.

හිටපු පළාත් ආයුර්වේද කොමසාරිස් වෛද්‍ය නිමල් කරුණාසිරි මහතා ඒ බව හෙළිකළේය.

දේශීය වෛද්‍ය රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය සිසිර ජයකොඩි මහතා සඳහන් කළේ එම ඖෂධය සාර්ථක වුවහොත් මෙරට ජනතාවට එය නොමිලේ ලබාදීම පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා සිදුකෙරෙමින් පවතින බවය.

කොවිඩ් – 19 වෛරසය රෝගීන්ගේ ශරීරයෙන් ඉවත් කළ හැකි දේශීය ඖෂධයක් කෑගල්ල ප්‍රදේශයේ ධම්මික බණ්ඩාර මහතා විසින් හඳුන්වා දී ඇති අතර අද දෙරණ ඉකුත් නොවැම්බර් 29 වැනිදා එය අනාවරණ කිරීමෙන් පසු සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ ප්‍රධානීන්ගේ අවධානය ඊට යොමු විය.

අනතුරුව, එලෙස දේශීයව නිෂ්පාදනය කළ හැකි ඖෂධය පිළිබඳ වැඩිදුර පරීක්ෂණ රාජ්‍ය අනුග්‍රහයෙන් මේ වනවිට සිදු කෙරෙමින් පවතී.

ඒ ඊට පත්කළ විද්වත් කමිටුවක අධීක්ෂණය යටතේ ය.  

ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දක්වමින් වසංගතරෝග විද්‍යා අංශ ප්‍රධානී විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය සුදත් සමරවීර මහතා පැවසූවේ “එක පැත්තකින් ආයුර්වේද විද්වත් කමිටුවක් හරහා මේ දේශීය ඖෂධයේ තිබෙන ගුණාත්මකභාවය පිළිබඳ පරීක්ෂණය කිරීමටත් අනෙක් පැත්තෙන් වෛද්‍ය විද්‍යාව පිළිබඳ මහාචාර්යවරුන්ගෙන් සමන්විත කමිටුවක් හරහා නිසි ක්‍රමවේදයකට පරීක්ෂණයක් පවත්වා තීරණයක් ගැනීමටත් නිර්දේශ වුණා.” යනුවෙනි.

හිටපු පළාත් ආයුර්වේද කොමසාරිස් වෛද්‍ය නිමල් කරුණාසිරි මහතා පෙන්වා දුන්නේ “මේ ඖෂධයේ විශාල ප්‍රතිඵලයක් තියෙනවා කියලා සහතිකය දීලා තියෙන්නේ බටහිර වෛද්‍ය කණ්ඩායමක්. දේශීය වෛද්‍ය ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ බෙහෙත් වට්ටෝරු හැත්තදාහක් විතර තියෙනවා. ඒ බෙහෙත් හදන්නේ වෛද්‍යවරුම නෙමෙයි,” යනුවෙනි.

දේශීය වෛද්‍ය රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය සිසිර ජයකොඩි මහතා සඳහන් කළේ මෙම ඖෂධය පිළිබඳව තවත් දින කිහිපයක් සායනික වශයෙන් අධ්‍යනය කරන බවය. 

“මේ ගැන තවදුරටත් අධ්‍යනය කිරීමෙන් පසු රෝගීන් වෙත ලබා දීමට සුදුසුදැයි යන්න පිළිබඳ නිර්දේශය ලැබෙයි,” යනුවෙන් ද සඳහන් කළේය.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

කොරෝනා මර්දනය සදහා නිපදවා ඇති දේශීය ඖෂධය මේ වන විට අවසන් සායනික පරීක්‍ෂණ සදහා යොදවා ඇතැයි රාජ්‍ය ඇමති සිසිර ජයකොඩි මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

එම සායනික අධ්‍යනයෙන් අනතුරුව එය රෝගීන් වෙත ලබා දීමට අවශ්‍ය නිර්දේශය ලැබෙනු ඇතැයි තමන් විශ්වාස කරන බව ද ඔහු පැවසීය.

ඉන් අනතුරුව මෙම දේශීය ඖෂධය කිසිදු මුදල් අය කිරීමකින් තොරව සමස්ත ලංකාවාසීන්ටම නොමිලයේ ලබා දීමට කටයුතු කරන බවද ඇමතිවරයා කියා සිටියේය.

ඒ පිලිබදව වෙද මහතා සමග දැනටම සාකච්චා කර ඇති බවද ඇමතිවරයා තව දුරටත් පැවසීය.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

දේශීය වෙද මහතකු වන ධම්මික බණ්ඩාර මහතා විසින් හඳුන්වා දෙනු ලැබූ කොරෝනා මර්දන ඖෂධය ගුණාත්මක භාවයෙන් ඉහළ බව පවසන ලද්දේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් උනන්දුව දැක් වූ බටහිර වෛද්‍යවරුන් කණ්ඩායමක් විසින් බව හිටපු පලාත් ආයුර්වේද කොමසාරිස් නිමල් කරුණාසිරි මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

එම ඖෂධය පලමු හා දෙවන අවස්ථාවලදී සාර්ථකත්වයක් පෙන්නුම් කර ඇති නිසා ඒ ගැන යලිත් ප‍්‍රශ්ණ කල නොහැකි බවද ඔහු කියා සිටී.

ඖෂධය හදුන්වා දී ඇති ධම්මික බණ්ඩාර මහතා වෛද්‍යවරයෙක් නොව බොරුකාරයෙක් බවට ඇතැමුන් මතයක් සෑදීමට උත්සාහ කලද එවන් පුරෝකථනයන් නොදිය යුතු බවද ඔහුගේ අදහසයි.

අදටද ආයුර්වේද ඖෂධ නිෂ්පාදනය කරන ඇතැම් සමාගම් වෛද්‍යවරුන් 70000ක් පමණ ඇති ඖෂධ වට්ටෝරු ඔ්නෑම අයෙකුට නිදපවිය හැකි බවත් එනිසා ඒවාට අවමන් නොකල යුතු බවද ඔහු කියා සිටියේය.

එවන් තැනැත්තන් ආරක්ෂා කළ යුතු බවත් පවසන හිටපු කොමසාරිස්වරයා අදාල පරීක්ෂණය වාර්තාව මාසයක් ඇතුලත මාසයක් ඇතුළත ලබා දෙන බවද පැවසීය.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The peak of the second wave may be over but PCR tests were being conducted.

Colombo, December 3 (Daily Mirror) – Health authorities yesterday said that following a downward trend recorded in COVID-19 cases reported from isolated areas in the Western Province, the peak of the second wave may be over but PCR tests were being conducted across the country to detect any further clusters.

Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena told Daily Mirror that a majority of new COVID-19 cases were now being reported from the prison cluster while new patients being detected from isolated areas, were seeing a downward trend.

The peak of the second wave maybe over as we are seeing a flat line now. But this is if there is no other cluster detected. We are continuing our surveillance and conducting PCR tests in factories, BOI companies, vegetable markets, fish markets across the island.

That is how the Akaraipattu and Kandy cases were detected,” Dr. Gunawardena said. He said if the flat rate continues, without fresh clusters being detected, authorities will be able to bring the situation under control by mid December or by end of December. Presently, Colombo North, Colombo Central, a few areas in Slave Island and a few streets in Dematagoda continue to be hot spots in the Western Province.

A widely circulated message on social media yesterday claiming that over 150 patients were detected in Wellawatta and over 100 patients in Kirulapona is false and areas such as Kolluptitiya, Bambalapitiya, Wellawatta, Dehiwala and Mount Lavinia have not detected many patients in recent weeks. A few weeks back cases were reported from construction sites in Kollupitiya but that is settled,” Dr. Gunawardena said. (Jamila Husain)

Courtesy International Fedaration of Journalists

The BBC has closed the Sinhala Radio service broadcast due to financial crisis, effective from November 30. The International Federation of Journalists and its Sri Lankan affiliates the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU) express concern at the closure of BBC’s Sinhala broadcast and urge the media organisation to reconsider its decision.

The BBC made the urgent ruling to cease the broadcast from the end of November, stating that the closure would save £180,000 (242,000 USD) annually, despite original intentions to close the radio service from March 2021. Employees who were expecting to work till March, 2021, were informed of the decision on November 20, just ten days before the closure of the broadcast. The BBC has said it will continue its service via social media and online services; the Sinhala service was previously comprised of a radio broadcast with regular bulletins transmitted through partner stations across the island, and the deliverance of journalism through various social media platforms.

The decision impacts the right to information to free and impartial news in the local language of more than 833,000 listeners, representing around 7 per cent of the total Sinhala-speaking population of Sri Lanka. Although the BBC claims to be expanding the Sinhala broadcast service digitally through an online service and social media, the current reach of Sinhala Radio through these platforms remains at just 80,000 people, a much smaller audience compared to its number of radio listeners.

The closure has been widely criticized in both the UK and Sri Lanka. Three members of parliament in the UK tabled a motion named ‘Human Rights in Sri Lanka and the Relocation of the BBC Sinhala Service’, to highlight the need for continuity of the Sinhala radio broadcast at the time of political instability, increased human rights violations and degenerating security in Sri Lanka. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK issued a press release on the same day urging the BBC to reconsider the decision. Likewise, media fraternity in Sri Lanka have been voicing their concerns against the decision. 

The FMM Convenor, Seetha Ranjanee, said: The decision to close the Sinhala radio broadcast by BBC at a time when Sri Lanka is going through the violation of media rights, press freedom and human right,  is not appropriate. The FMM hopes that the BBC will reconsider their decision and continue Sandeshaya radio program.”

The FMETU General Secretary, Dharmasiri Lankapeli, said: The impending closure comes at a crucial time when Sinhala audiences are increasingly deprived of accurate and independent information. We opine that this move deprives Sri Lankan people from the right to know the impartial and accurate news. We urge the BBC management to reconsider the decision.”

The IFJ said: The Sinhala radio broadcast has earned a good reputation among the Sri Lankan population, providing 833,000 populations with accurate, balanced and credible local and international news in their local language. The proposed plan to conduct the Sinhala service online and via social media platform serves merely the urbanities and thereby deprives a large portion of the rural population from credible information in their native language. Therefore, the IFJ urges the BBC to reconsider its decision.”

Zinara Rathnayake, independent journalist  Courtesy BMJ 2020

Sri Lanka had no prehospital emergency medical service until 2016. The arrival of a new ambulance service changed that, and it has proved vital in the pandemic, writes Zinara Rathnayake

In 2013, Harsha de Silva was travelling with his friends and family in Kuchchaveli, a small town in eastern Sri Lanka, 297 km from the capital, Colombo. They found themselves driving in a cyclone warning. One of their vehicles skidded, hitting lamp posts and a tree. His friend was thrown out of the back window on to the road, critically injuring herself.

She required immediate surgery. They went to the Base Hospital in Kanthale, requesting an ambulance. But there was none, so they had to drive her to Colombo.

Thankfully, his friend had successful surgery and recovered with time. But things could have been different. An ambulance would have made all the difference. That day I thought if I could do anything to change the prehospital emergency healthcare system in Sri Lanka, I will do it,” says Harsha, who was then an opposition member of parliament.

In 2015, Harsha became deputy minister of national policies and economic affairs. The Indian government had offered a grant of $7.55m (£5.65m; €6.34m) to Sri Lanka as a token of friendship between the two countries.1 Harsha presented the prime minister with a proposal: a modern emergency medical service with an ambulance network.

On 28 July 2016, 1990 Suwa Seriya—which translates as the telephone number and vehicle of health”—was launched as a free emergency prehospital healthcare service along with a toll-free hotline (the 1990 in the name). Eighty-eight ambulances operated in Western and Southern Provinces. It was a collaborative effort between Harsha and engineer Dumindra Rathnayake, who volunteered as the technology expert of Suwa Seriya.

Initially we faced a lot of difficulty and criticism from the Government Medical Officers’ Association, representing doctors working in public healthcare facilities, and the opposition party,” says Harsha. When they didn’t let us park the ambulances in hospitals, I decided to speak with the police.”

Filling a void

Sri Lanka has a free healthcare system, and in spite of overcrowding, long waiting times, limited specialised care, and an unequal distribution of resources,2 it achieves impressive results, with a high life expectancy of 77 years3 and the lowest maternal mortality rate in South Asia.4 The country achieved malaria-free status in 2016.5

Yet ambulances are few and they mainly belong to expensive private hospitals in the cities. Most citizens, particularly those in rural areas, have to fend for themselves in emergencies.

In a car accident, another vehicle on the road will transfer the injured patient to the hospital,” says Sabith Liaquat, a medical officer working at the state run Base Hospital in Puttalam, 138 km north of Colombo. In remote areas of the country, he adds, when patients had any sort of pain they would rely on over-the-counter painkillers such as acetaminophen and wait until the next day. You wouldn’t realise it in Colombo, but when you work in outstations, you realise that some patients waited the entire night to come to the hospital. They didn’t have the means of transport.”

Working in remote areas early on in his career, Liaquat saw the impact this had. Patient admission delays during an accident will result in blood loss. With no emergency care before the patient was admitted to the hospital, on very unfortunate occasions, it means we were losing a life that could have been saved.”

The situation is not uncommon in South Asia. In Pakistan, ambulance services are mostly offered by non-profit organisations.6 In India, they are publicly funded by the central and state governments, but the services including drivers and paramedics are employed through private agencies. According to a report in the Indian social science journal Economic and Political Weekly,7 India’s service suffers from unattended calls, poor response times, and frequent conflict between employees and contracting private agencies, leading to an increase in the risk of medical errors and consequent loss of clinical quality of EMS [emergency medical services].”

Sri Lanka’s service is modelled on India’s 108 emergency medical service, but has gone beyond that,” says Harsha, with better equipment and continuous staff training to ensure services run efficiently. He sympathises with his Indian counterparts, who serve a population of over one billion.

With 297 ambulance units, Suwa Seriya covers the entire island, allocating ambulance units based on the area population density, with a total workforce of 1500. The ambulances are parked at police stations around the country, a step taken by the project initiators after the Government Medical Officers’ Association first rejected the service on political grounds.

The association, who backed the opposition party at the time, criticised the inclusion of a defibrillator as part of the ambulance’s standard toolkit, worrying that staff were not properly trained to use it. The association’s secretary, Nalinda Herath, warned the public not to board the Indian Ambulance Service” because they ran the risk of getting electrocuted.8 They also expressed anxieties about a flood of Indian employees, although the staff at Suwa Seriya are entirely Sri Lankan.

But perseverance has won through. Although initially drawing on the Indian grant, Suwa Seriya is now funded entirely by the Sri Lankan government as an arm’s length body with autonomy from the health ministry and has won over the Government Medical Officers’ Association.

The service has proved highly effective, particularly during a terror attack on Easter Sunday 2019, when several places in Sri Lanka including churches and luxury hotels were bombed, leading to more than 250 casualties, including 38 foreign visitors, and injuring at least 500 people.

Harsha says more than 650 000 patients have been transported by the service so far, with an estimated 66 000 lives saved. It also counts over 200 successful emergency childbirths in its ambulances, coinciding with Sri Lanka lowering its infant mortality rate from 7.5% in 2015 to 6% in 2019.9 One of the mothers even named their newborn baby after Harsha: I told my wife I had nothing to do with it!,” he says.

Tested by the pandemic

Suwa Seriya fields 5300 calls and handles 1000 cases a day on average. This has increased during the pandemic to 9000 calls and 1500 cases a day, said Sohan de Silva, chief executive officer of Suwa Seriya in a Facebook Live on 20 June. The service has an average response time of 11.25 minutes across the island, outperforming places like New South Wales, Australia (11.4 minutes).10

With the outbreak of covid-19, our work has been increased,” said Sohan. Public awareness programmes, social media campaigns, and mass advertising by the Ministry of Health on electronic media tell people to dial 1990 if they have covid-19 symptoms, with the ambulances transferring suspected and confirmed cases to testing centres and hospitals, minimising their exposure to the public.

We are disinfecting each ambulance after a patient transfer now,” said Sohan. We are in a pandemic. But it doesn’t mean other emergencies don’t arise. Road accidents happen every day. There are critical patients with heart diseases.”

Sohan applauded the commitment and dedication of his staff. Sometimes our staff were asked to relocate their accommodation because their landlords suspected they carried the virus. So they would spend their shifts at the police station. Not a single staff member complained.”

In late March, Sri Lanka’s health minister, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, highlighted the important role of Suwa Seriya on the frontline.11 Staff of the Suwa Seriya ambulance service should receive national honour for their service of picking up patients as soon as they are informed,” she said during a press conference in March. They go and pick up patients whether or not they are infected with covid-19, taking a high risk on themselves.”

A lot of people are aware of [Suwa Seriya] now,” says Liaquat. They know they have to call 1990 in case of a medical emergency.” Still, he says, conducting more awareness campaigns for the public would help spread the message to the remotest corners of the country, which electronic media does not reach. He adds that improving the quality of life of the ambulance staff by giving them proper accommodation, washrooms, and other facilities would also have considerable impact on their service.

Courtesy Adaderana

Another person infected with novel coronavirus has died today (04), the Director-General of Health Services confirmed.

The victim was identified as a 72-year-old male from Piliyandala area.

He was admitted to the National Institute for Infectious Diseases (NIID) after testing positive for the virus and passed away earlier today while receiving treatment.

The cause of death was cited as heart disease and bacterial infection exacerbated by Covid-19 pneumonia.

This brings Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 death toll to 130.

Courtesy Adaderana

Attorney General Dappula de Livera has submitted a note of clarification to Singapore today (04), regarding the request to extradite former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran.

State Counsel Nishara Jayarante, the Coordination Officer of the Attorney General stated that the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice has been informed of the clarification note.

The Attorney General has further told the Justice Secretary that the extradition request on Arjuna Mahendran is still pending.

Arjuna Mahendran is one of the major suspects wanted by the authorities in connection with the Central Bank bond scam case.

Two days ago, Minister of Justice, President’s Counsel Ali Sabry stated that he has sought a report on Arjuna Mahendran’s extradition from the Attorney General.

The Attorney General had tendered the extradition request to the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry last year for necessary authentication and transmission to the Singaporean government after the Permanent High Court at Bar issued an arrest warrant on him.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later informed that the Singapore Government would consider the extradition request once the necessary supporting information and documents were received.

In September 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarded the extradition request on Arjuna Mahendran, to the Sri Lankan High Commission in Singapore.

The extradition request was then forwarded to the Government of Singapore for necessary action.

Several months ago, that International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) informed Sri Lanka that the former Central Bank Governor has changed his name to ‘Harjan Alexander’

Courtesy Adaderana

The Covid-19 infected man who spat on health workers and obstructed their duties at Atulugama in Bandaragama has been arrested and produced before the court today (04).

He was accordingly placed under remand custody until the 17th of December.

The man in question had spat on the face of two Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) on Wednesday (02) refusing to be hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19.

Following the incident, PHIs temporarily withdrew from performing duties in Atulugama and the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Office in Bandaragama called off the PCR tests that were scheduled to be carried out in the area yesterday.

The chairman of Kalutara District Public Health Inspectors’ Union, P.C. Senaratne stated that the two fellow PHIs are currently undergoing the quarantine procedure.

They warned to resort to a trade union action if they continue to face such incidents in the future.

The Bandaragama Medical Officer of Health had filed a complaint with the Bandaragama regarding the matter.

Courtesy Prvda

Individuals who have suffered from the coronavirus infection, even in a mild form, may experience premature aging of the body, scientists have noticed. Ancha Baranova, Professor at George Mason University in the United States, referred to the results of the study that was published in November, RIA Novisti reports.

A group of doctors examined patients who had come through COVID-19 in moderate to mild form. According to Professor Baranova, those who had a very mild illness, in 70 percent of cases developed pathology of internal organs. The main pathology was not heart, but liver related – mainly fatty hepatosis (the liver deterioration), as well as fatty degenerations of the pancreatic tissue. Such diagnoses are common with people over 60, but, as it appears, such symptoms can be diagnosed with 40-year-old inviduals from the post-COVID group, Ancha Baranova believes. 

Thus, the coronavirus disease makes the human body age a lot faster, the biologist noted, adding that scientists still have to study the consequences of the infection in detail.

Igor Sergienko of the National Medical Research Center of Cardiology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation believes, however, that conclusions about premature aging after COVID-19 are untimely.

“There is too little scientific research about the long-term impact of coronavirus on the human body in terms of aging,” he told TASS.

Earlier, Baranova said that there is a decline in the birth rate in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

In Russia, a recent study conducted among those who recovered from COVID-19, said that the Russians, who had suffered from the novel coronavirus infection, complain of problems with memory and concentration. As for neurological consequences, severe neuromyalgia, pains in the outer surface of legs are most common symptoms among neurological consequences of the disease. Specialists attribute such complaints to psychosomatics, stress and fear, the neurotoxic effect of the coronavirus infection and impaired lung function.
Читайте больше на https://english.pravda.ru/news/health/145347-covid_age/

By M D P DISSANAYAKE

The Head of Catholics in Sri Lanka has issued a stern warning to the Sri Lankan Government that the government will be handed over to an alternative group if the current regime fail to punish the culprits of the Easter attack.   This is a serious threat to overthrow the current government by the power-hungry wealthy Catholic Action dominated by Tamil Terrorists. Westerners  against the Sinhala Buddhist Nation.

Easter attack took place during Yahapalana Regime.  The Holy Father did not bring pressure on  Ranil Wickremasinghe headed anti-Sinhala Buddhist government.  From April 2019 till early November 2019, this puppet Holy Father could have effectively pioneered a campaign to overthrow the Ranil Wickremasinghe government.   He did not do it.  His followers did not do it. .      In spite of Easter attack, Catholic / Christian dominated most areas were safely voted for the UNP candidate during Presidential election.

Now, he has become too big for his shoes, as if he was primarily responsible for the formation of the current regime. The Cardinal’s threat to overthrow the government must be taken seriously.  We are fully aware of the power of Catholic Action during the period of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, where imperialists joined hands with the senior Police officers to throw her government.  

We urge the IGP to instruct the CID  to summon Almighty Cardinal to question and fully investigate his statements, plans, financiers,  leading up to  and including instituting legal action for an attempted coup to throw the government.

Quote: You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog.” Ashin Wirathu (Burmese Buddhist Monk)