Courtesy Hiru News

Police Curfew will be imposed in Katunayaka police area from 5.00 am tomorrow.

Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva stated that Police curfew will be imposed in Katunayake police division from 05:00 a.m. tomorrow (15 October) until further notice.

Army Commander states that employees in the Export Processing Zone can submit their identity cards to go to work, using it as a curfew pass.

Stanley Gunaratne 

After Sarath Weerasekera finally stating what patriots have long stated regarding the Indo Lanka Accord (in stark contrast to the “India first” mantra foolishly and treacherously stated by other members within the government),  I share part 2 in the hope that citizens will call for an urgent correction of our nation’s laws.

This article is a continuation of the previous suggestions raised in the Lankaweb article “No more excuses. Get things done. 13A and Indo Lanka Accord be Gone” – https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2020/08/11/no-excuses-now-2-3-so-get-things-done-13a-indo-lanka-accord-be-gone/

Correcting the disastrous Language laws, Education Mediums and Lack of Opportunity for the Sinhalese

Before the disastrous segregation and disparity of resources (rural schools got neglected) of the Mrs. Bandaranaike administration, Ceylon had an excellent education system. Kannagara instituted free education for all under the DS government. The plan was to have “Central Schools” funded by the taxpayer, providing scholarships to all rural children based on merit. They would be taught in the English medium, whilst also learning their mother tongue. Thus resulting in a bilingual Ceylonese – much like the Singapore education system today (except on a much larger scale given the size of our island). 

Singapore

In Singapore, you do not get Singaporean Tamils (or Sinhalese) learning in their own mother tongue segregating from other children. They learn their mother tongue, BUT THE MEDIUM is either Mandarin, or English. This makes sense from the demographics of Singapore to publicly fund Mandarin, or English schools. It would make little economic sense to spend good money on having 4 mediums there (the country has 4 official languages) – money which could be put to better use at providing computers to all schools, and giving a proper science education etc.

Similarly, it makes more sense in Sinhale/Ceylon to have Sinhala, and English medium schools. Any child will learn in one of these two mediums (depending on which school they choose to attend). They will also learn their own personal mother tongue (from a choice of Sinhala, or Tamil). 

ALL students will therefore become bare minimum bilingual in their mother tongue and English. They will know both of these languages to a first class standard. This does not account for any other foreign languages (Mandarin, Spanish, French, Korean etc) that the education curriculum might opt to offer also. 

Tamil students in Singapore, learn with their fellow Singaporeans in English medium schools (a few might even attend Mandarin medium schools there). They do not segregate themselves to Tamil medium schools. 

Similarly, in Ceylon, in the past, especially in places like Kandy, you used to get Sinhalese, Burgher, Tamil, Moor children all learning in ONE CLASSROOM in the same school. There were even Burghers who spoke Sinhala. 

This is all from the primary school age (kindergarten). So a child already will become ready and able to learn in English if that is their chosen school. 

The future

The rationale why Sinhala and English should be offered is the same reason as Singapore. The overall demographics. Around 70% of the population is Sinhalese and the national language that developed here was Sinhala. Therefore, that is why Sinhala medium is proposed as one of the mediums. English of course is the lingua franca of international business, trade and diplomacy (at present). Therefore it makes sense for us to ensure our children have the best possible grasp of English irrespective of their families’ connections, or affluence. 

It seems very unlikely – just like in Singapore – that those of other ethnicities would want to segregate from everyone else, just to learn in their own mother tongue just for the sake of it. In an integrated Ceylon – just like pre 1956 (when the Settlement Schemes were aborted by Bandaranaike) and just like Singapore today – they would be interacting with their fellow ethnicities from birth. It is not like a Ceylonese Tamil is going to only encounter a Sinhalese, or Burgher at secondary school age. They would already have been pals from the day they could walk. In Singapore also there is national service, which some have proposed here to further mix people together (and develop skills/training). 

Ethnic Integration Policy

I reiterate the economic argument that we must focus taxpayer’s money on providing a first class teaching of English, sciences, computing etc. And we must not segregate students.

All of this would be in conjunction with mixed districts without ethnic ghettos. Like in Singapore, as I have stated above, ALL citizens of Ceylon would have the right to fill in forms, to have assistance in their affairs with public institutions, courts etc in any of the 3 official languages (Sinhala, Tamil and English). Thus jobs in the Civil Service, Police, Hospitals etc, would most likely have roles where there are designated on duty personnel who can translate at a moment’s notice if a patient/citizen needed assistance in a different language. The working language of administration of the nation should be in Sinhala and/or English.

The Official Languages of the nation must be corrected in a brand new constitution that undoes that disastrous nonsense of the 1958 language Law, the 13th, 15th and 16th amendments – all of which impose Indian style ethno-linguistic states, regional languages and separate education mediums which is contrary to “one law”. 

The national flag

The national flag should be restored to the ORIGINAL flag raised in 1948 which has been our historic national Lion flag representing one people. This flag used since ancient times represented the Sinhalese kingdoms of old. EW Perera of the Independence movement rediscovered the same flag lowered in 1815 at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London. It was duly returned by Britain and re-raised on February 4th 1948 upon the Sinhalese nation regaining its independence. Sinnalebbe, MP for Batticloa, was the member of the State Council who proposed it be made the national flag once more. The flag had zero stripes, or Indian motifs demarcating separate identities. Instead, the Lion represented us all. If necessary, the pinnacles present then can be made the four bo leaves that are present today. However, there should be no stripes or division. 

A national language and official languages are different things

There seems to be a total lack of understanding of what a national language is. In Singapore – part of peninsula Malaya – Malay is the national language since it is the language that originated there. English is not the national language, but is an official language. 

Similarly, the only language which originated here is Sinhala and thus Sinhala should be the only national language. For some absurd reason, some Sinhalese “nationalists” (who are actually Marxists) want to remove English, yet promote Tamil as a national language which makes little sense. 

English is the language of international business and like Singapore, it would serve us well to ensure every child knows it. In order to avoid politicians removing this on a whim, it would be best to make it official which will also give us a business edge. 

As for Tamil, we must either take the Burma route or the Singapore route as shown below. Tamil can be official, or not official. But it cannot be a national language here. It would be the height of stupidity to force the Sinhalese to learn Sinhala only, or Sinhala and Tamil, and deny them English (a worldly language).  

Proposed Constitutional clause on Languages

Either of the following options must prevail regarding languages islandwide:

OPTION 1

National Language and anthem – Sinhala 
Official Languages – Sinhala and English 
Working Languages/Mediums – Sinhala and English 

OR

OPTION 2 (The Singapore Model)

National Language and anthem – Sinhala 
Official Languages – Sinhala, Tamil and English 
Working Languages/Mediums – Sinhala and English 

Whichever option is chosen, the law must apply nationwide with zero regional laws.

Proposed Ethnic Integration Housing Clause

We must ensure zero ethnic ghettos. All areas must have mixed populations conforming to the overall national demographics.

An “Ethnic Integration Policy” (EIP) for Ceylon must be put in place to preserve the Ceylonese identity and promote ethnic integration and harmony. It will ensure that there is a balanced mix of the various ethnic communities in all Districts, monitored by a designated Civil Service Housing Board. The EIP limits shall be set at block/neighbourhood/estate levels based on the ethnic make-up of Sinhale/Ceylon.

– For the purchase of a flat, land, or house, a household with members of different ethnic groups can choose to classify their household ethnicity under the ethnic group of any owner or spouse (co-owner or occupier)

– Bands will be set for each district that conform to the overall national demographic of the country according to the latest population census (e.g. a minimum of 60% Sinhalese, and a maximum of 20% of another ethnicity)

(This policy of EIP is the same as the one maintained by Singapore’s Housing Board, HDB)

– This is easily achievable by restarting the Gal Oya Schemes that were started by DS Senanayake.

I hope sanity will prevail. But with the same pack of useless Parliamentarians (the old Parliament simply reshuffled for the most part) and continued Indian bootlicking with “India first” being publicly announced by policymakers, our nation appears to be on a slow path to nowhere.

Can we regain our former glory? Lambasting China, Britain, the US, ASEAN, Japan, the UN etc and remaining silent on India is like fiddling whilst Rome burns. The number one problem is India.

ABOLISH THE INDO LANKA ACCORD – which is illegal under the Vienna Conventions on Treaties and has stripped us of our independence. ABOLISH THE 13A NOW.

Sunil Yatalamatta Gamage 

Many countries especially western world wants our country to be vulnerable for attacks. They don’t want our country to be politically stable with strong national security! they will use NGO’s and various elements to destabilize the government.

The people of this country had given the mandate to make that change immediately but constitutionally. The democratic mandate already has been given and there is no any other mandate needed any further. It is us came forward to form this government and it is our wish the country is governing according to will of the people of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, not by the NGO’s. It is alright to discuss about the 19^th amendment and what really happen in the ground. People are afraid of 19^th amendment. But politicians NGOs and certain groups in this country discuss in favour of 19^th amendment. The ground reality was so dangerous and people of this country experienced of it by sacrificing their precious lives. That is the truth. Certain politicians, some Buddhists prelates and NGO’s favoured analysts bringing different kinds of a devil and discuss in a bubble. But the person who is going to get those powers is a patriot of this country, he gave leadership to arm forces to defeat terrorism of this country, and people of this country has the confidence of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse. He has proved himself what kind of a leader is he. People need his leadership to this country. In a short period of time he has proved he is capable to have those executive powers to drive the country move forward for prosperity. I am certain the people who are in discussions made enormous facts and theories which are actually not relevant. The country need to move forward in many fronts and we have enormous human resources & only a leadership needed. The only personality that could be achieved through Hon Gotabhaya Rajapakse. We haven’t had such a visionary leadership forever in this country.

The discussions were based on non existence ground realities. Everybody brought their ideas what will happen to country constitutions, he will be like this & that and every tom dick and harry has being created in these discussions. Those arguments were not strong enough to convince the public. Public only aware one of the dangerous experiences due to 19 amendment and they voted to abolish 19^th.

Some of the experiences of 19th amendment

1. Country was unsafe and was vulnerable for terrorist attacks and it happen in the country and lost precious lives.
2. State rule was fragile and nobody was taking responsibility on state security.
3. Decision taking was very poor in the country. There wasn’t anybody responsible for state security. Public safety was in jeopardy. 
4. The whole country was engulfed with drug abuse and freely drugs were selling everywhere of the country.
5. President and Premier was not seen together in decision making.
6. Foreign interference was quite high
7. State ministers were doing businesses illegally (Rishad Bhadurdeen)
8. Law and order of the country was in complete turmoil. The independent commissions established were malfunctioning.
9. Country was in poverty state assets were selling and was converting to enterprise.
10. Instability was looming throughout the country, unemployment was high, university students were on the street protesting against the government.

Presidential election and parliament election was held and people selected their government with one voice in both occasions. People trust who should be in power and who should rule the state. The mandate was very powerful and that mandate was given to rule. That rule included of immediate abolition of 19^th amendment. That is what people want from this government and bring in 20^th instead. It is because people want to have a stable country until the new constitution is formed.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa pretending himself knows everything in his capacity as the opposition leader. When he talks of Atoms he is trying himself to pretend him just like Albert Einstein, when he speaks of literature pretending himself just like William Shakespear. When talks about art pretending himself like Micheal Angelo. When speaking economics pretending himself just like Alan Greenspan of United States. But when it comes to politics he is exactly the same like Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Hemasiri Fernando & Pujitha the former defense secretary & police chief hate by all Sri Lankans by now. Because of their diriliction of duty being in the most important security position of the state. They answered to panel of judges having little laugh in their faces quite recently. Well that is Hemasiri Fernando and Pujitha. For me all these answers are excuses not to charge against them. They will deserve capital punishment for the deriliction of their duties. There were many involved and responsible for this crime including. Now the hearing is enough we want to see action and clearly identifying the real inventors of this crime. Hemasir, Pujitha, Saharan any others only the carriers of the crime. The master brain behind this must be a different. That is important to come out and finding the truth behind the attach.

Many countries especially western world wants our country to be vulnerable for attacks. They don’t want our country to be politically stable with strong national security. They want our country exactly like middle east country such as Lebanon. Then the BBC & CNN has news to broadcast in their media. They never make news in favour of our country whether it is the paradise in the world. That is not a news for BBC. They are news channels always broadcast Asian poverty, African starvation, Middle east religious unrest and ethnic troubles. They are imperialists channels funneling capitalist addenda. That is why they were very much interested to previous government. It was fragile, they never want to focus on national security. If the country continuing with poverty and malnutrition, fragile economy, by allowing drug lords to continue their businesses, ISIS pockets to thrive in this land; which is the new world order. Furthermore, none of the governments in the world will work against their security forces. But notorious Mangala Samaraweera accepted and agreed to world body to work against his own motherland. Our own intelligence wing members were imprisoned and was making false allegations to them. Shani Abeysekara was making reports against them and making false allegations against them. The previous government made our country a golf ground for American empire. Now that empire has fallen. People friendly government in place in Sri Lanka. The western world don’t want our country to be like that. Any political stability, security enhance in the country will be a problem for them. The western world will use human right organization through NGO & will try their best through bogus reports to blame the country. Tamil politicians are not in favour of the Tamils in this country only this government would be able to prosper Tamils in the country. The world human right organizations is a disgusting organization. They don’t have a right to request Swiss government to stop extraditing so called Nishantha de Silva a traitor of this country. I am surprised the media the so called Keerthi Thennakoon, United National Party member never ever say anything about the court order of extraditing and arresting of Nishantha de Silva. People must be aware the reality of these politicians and so called patriots. We as true patriots lot more to do to defeat these bogus patriots of this country. We must strongly believe state security is utmost important in this country more than ever before now. Political stability equally important at this moment for foreign investments. If you are Sri Lankan don’t worry about the price of a coconut; which is seasonal and already steps have been taken to control the price. Be a patriot to your motherland. And protect this government. The present government is the only government we could hope which will deliver the Sri Lanka you, & your children and I want to own. Which is a powerful hope everybody need to write down in their hearts and minds as patriots.

Most importantly due to Covid-19 new cases; the country is in a difficult moment and patriots are in collaboration with professionals, government, health officials, security officials, public health officers to control the spreading. At this difficult moment everybody has a duty. Please follow the government and health officials advises to the letter.I am sure we will back to normal quite soon.

Shivanthi Ranasinghe

This is in response to the October 06, 2020 The Island editorial titled Lajja!”. This particular editorial had most unfortunately deviated from its usual high standard of professionalism. Instead, this is quite presumptuous and in fact caters to fake news. It is true that the release of MP Rishad Bathiudeen’s brother has raised eyebrows. However, equally of concern is the manner in which this is being reported.

It is with grave concern we note that a certain media channel seemed to be reporting this news with a deliberate twist. It appears that they are hoping to cause an embarrassment to the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Administration. It is most unfortunate that you too have added to this false narrative.

To clarify, it is been assumed by this editorial that Mr Riyaj Bathiudeen’s release is somehow linked with the garnering of support for the proposed 20th Amendment. It is thus been erroneously stated that Bathiudeen has promised to support the 20th Amendment to the Constitution” after the police have suddenly found that there is no evidence to press charges against Bathiudeen’s sibling.”

In actuality, MP Bathiudeen has not expressed his support to the 20A. Instead, his rather ambiguous reply to a media query was that while certain clauses of the 20A are acceptable to his party, others are not. He further stated that his party will take a final decision on this matter on the day of the voting.

One may infer that this answer indicates support for the 20A and that MP Bathiudeen is in the process of building bridges with the Gotabaya Administration. Conversely, one may argue that he was sending a message to his political partner, the SJB. It is not a secret that the Muslim political parties are disappointed that they have not been accommodated in the SJB National List despite the support given. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has vowed to defeat 20A and this might be MP Bathiudeen’s way to rattle the Opposition Leader’s confidence. Either way, at this moment these are all only assumptions and it is quite possible that even MP Bathiudeen has not yet decided which way he would vote.

It must be pointed out that the incumbent Administration did not seek MP Bathiudeen’s support at either the Presidential or Parliamentary elections. Both these were decisive elections. The common misconception was that it would be impossible to win these two elections without the block votes from the minority communities. Yet, this support was not sought simply because these small political parties have an unhealthy tendency to hold the main party hostage to their parochial demands at the cost of national interest. Thus their partnership would have been a severe impediment to the vision that President Gotabaya is determined to deliver.

In this background, to assume that MP Bathiudeen’s support would be sought to pass a constitutional amendment is illogical. The decision MP Bathiudeen takes with regard to the 20A is really not a concern of this Administration. If he chooses to vote for the Amendment, then it is of course good. However, if he chooses not to, it is still not an issue for the Gotabaya Administration. It would be far better to fall short on the required two-third majority needed to pass the 20A than to have it passed but be forever beholden to a political entity that is not in line with the President’s manifesto.

President’s Facebook statement clearly spells out this stance. However, due to two reasons this statement has not yet soothed the suspicion that arose with the release of Riyaj Bathiudeen from the CID custody. The first was the sudden exoneration of Bathiudeen from the Easter Attack investigations. The second, been the manner in which the news was linked to create a certain narrative as to the reason for his release.Releasing Riyaj Bathiudeen from CID Custody.

When Mr Bathiudeen was arrested in April, the Police issued a press statement to the effect that the evidence against him indicates a close connection with the Cinnamon Grand bomber Inshaf Ahamed. However, less than five months later he was released sans judicial proceedings. The Police explained that evidence is insufficient for the investigation to proceed. However, this explanation is a contradiction of the statement made earlier by the Police. This unexpected development had clearly taken the Administration also by surprise.

In response to the immediate assumption that a political hand might be behind this release, the President categorically stated that he will not allow Police matters to be decided by politicians. As such, neither he nor his political arm will instruct the Police as to who to be detained or released.

In the meantime, DIG Nuwan Wedasinghe, who was in charge of the CID, had been transferred as the Acting DIG Western Province (North) with immediate effect. DIG SP Ranasinghe is now in charge of the CID. The Cabinet Spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella stated that this change of CID head is a decision solely taken by the Administration of the Police.

This is a positive response from the Police to the genuine concern expressed by Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith on this matter. Detaining a person who was truly innocent for any length of time or releasing a suspect due to lapses or undue influences should not be taken lightly.

In the past, we have seen excellent Police work as in the Swiss Embassy Garnier case. Even the ongoing war on narcotics attests to the professionalism and commitment of our Police Force. However, there had also been instances of failure due to prejudice and haste to fit the evidence to meet a preconceived conclusion. The manner the investigations were conducted on the case of the five-year-old, who was abducted while she was sleeping beside her mother and raped to death, is a case in point. Had DNA not come to the rescue, an innocent man would have been coerced into admitting guilt to a crime he never committed. The President, hence, in his statement assured that he will not hesitate to rectify if the investigators had faulted in any manner.Creating News to Fit into a Preconceived Narrative.

Perhaps, drawing from past experience, an assumption was made by many that Riyaj Bathiudeen was released in lieu of a political deal” with his sibling. However, most contentiously a certain media structured its news sequence in a manner that actively catered to this assumption. They only highlighted the images of Minister Chamal Rajapaksa greeting MP Bathiudeen at a State function in Vavuniya. The other politicians, including the Opposition who were present, were excluded from this news coverage. Then, extremely mischievously this news edited the Defense Secretary’s speech and completely distorted it so as to support this assumption.

This is exactly what happens in failed Police investigations as well. Instead of allowing facts to build the story, facts are distorted to fit into a preconceived notion. Needless to say, this is neither fair nor correct. It is noted with regret that some other news agencies and channels also blindly followed this insinuation. In this instance, by failing to draw independent conclusions from the facts at hand and by allowing to be persuaded by another’s narrative, the independence of the media had been compromised by none other than these media institutions itself.

The Police have taken steps to address the concerns raised with regard to the Easter Attack investigations. Minister Chamal Rajapaksa informed the Parliament that not only the reasons for Riyaj Bathiudeen’s release would be investigated but also the contradicting statements made by the Police.

In the same manner, all those who advocate media freedom should call for a similar exercise by the media channels that pandered to an assumption still to be supported by facts. After all, media freedom is not the freedom to create news. It is the freedom to report without bias so that the public may form their own opinion based on ground realities.

Shivanthi Ranasinghe

President’s Media Division

By Sri Lanka Study Circle

This is a response to the article by Shenali Waduge on MCC and relating it to the claim by a MP that the MCC will be signed but subject to Sri Lankan Law. Unfortunately, the statement from this MP has come AFTER the article showing how foreign laws will prevail after signing MCC. It makes a mockery of the MPs statement.  [Daily Mirror article The proposed Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement will be signed only after studying and subjecting it into Sri Lankan law, a government MP told Parliament .http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/MCC-will-only-be-signed-subject-to-SL-laws-Govt-MP/108-197496]

Public are alarmed  and they raise questions —

1]  Excellent intelligent question,  by  Mr Sanjeeva Weerawansa was published. He asked the most relevant question —  – Does anyone know what the Bim Saviya program is? They’re walking around my neighbourhood demanding copies of the title and survey plan to issue a new digitalized title. So do we now have a digital land registry? If that’s already done why does MCC have $80M to build one?!

2] If you read the MCC you will find the answer. In the pretext of  introducing e registration, which is already done; International  law and a foreign law are   coming into the country.    Sinhala name is  given to the law and is referred to as ‘ Bim Saviya’ which is known internationally as the  Torrens law or Title registration.   In USA the law is referred to as the Torrens law and many states have rejected the law.  USA rightfully believes that a country does not require to change the law to introduce technology

3] It is laughable that the Sinhala inappropriate name  Bim Saviya is given to the Australian law. it is also  laughable that the MCC uses this name.

4] The main feature  of this detrimental law is  ——It repeals the fundamental right to access court That is if a land owner is affected by fraud or forgery, he cannot claim his land back.  – It is undeniable that this law  inherently and necessarily includes a risk for all owners who will have no deeds in the future.   Deeds are replaced with certificates.   Once an owner is registered by virtue of an illegal deed,  previous owner’s record is deleted, that is the  history of ownership cannot be found.   How did the law makers eliminate deeds from the e register when the Electronic  Transaction Act states in section 23 deeds must be available for owners for all land transactions. 

5] Alarming  news for owners —   Once  defrauded the  remedy is to obtain  financial compensation from an Assurance Fund maintained by the Government  ,  Can the government compensate owners? Will the MCC give the funds ? Is this economically viable ?

6] The counter argument is that Bim saviya is an old law? Yes, World Bank introduced the design says the MCC.  The government tried to introduce the law for  20 years and failed .  It is a failed law. 

Why did it fail .  Government Officer in charge explains — —- Extract From Commissioner Title   Performance Report of 2018https://www.parliament.lk/uploads/documents/paperspresented/performance-report-land-title-settlement-department-2018.pdf  –‘’How far it is pragmatic to supervise and manage an island wide office system centrally to change the land law. Therefore an  urgency arises to re-evaluate the entire Bim Saviya program  as well as the viability of this  law ‘’

Impossibility of the task  is also given in the Samarasekera Report expert lawyers  Committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse when the Bar Association pointed out the detrimental effects of this law .  Refer —Book- Title Insurance- By Hon  Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe..  

7]  Even the MCC says it is a failed law They are aware that the  ownership rights of local landowners cannot  be included into the  ‘law-and –order’  framework of  Australia^..

^{They are recommending amendments .  MP’s  need to be aware of this – why should they request such amendments? .}

Can any one guess  the period   require  to implement this law it may take over a century ? 

Annex 1-21 of MCC says for 20 years the MCC will have only  5 million beneficiaries.    .  Government says it needs over 100 years see Commissioner Title Report   of 2018 given above .   

I am sure   MP’s,  most of them who are  lawyers will understand that an e register does not require a country to change the laws familiar to owners and lawyers.  Please refer the Samarasekera report and the amendments made by the Bar Association  before accepting amendments recommended by MCC to push this law into our country. After MCC admitting it is failed law in Annex 1 –31  

The e register like in any other nation only requires  simple laws for  the  identification of the owners before land transactions are executed in order to prevent fraud.  This has been already provided  under   the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006.”  of  Sri Lanka http://fiusrilanka.gov.lk/docs/ACTs/FTRA/Financial_Transactions_Reporting_Act_2006-6_(English).pdf.   Hope the MP’s will propose the necessary laws

Sri Lanka need to be cautious as over-reliance on funding agencies and their legal advice  have shocked nations –What happened Papua New Guinea?  A victim Kaputin charged that the right to access court being withdrawn  was deliberately introduced in PNG by the Australian colonial administration in order to protect foreigners’ land titles [ By John ugambwa*]http://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol05/2.shtml

What happened in Malaysia — Malaysia–Adorna Properties v Boonsom Boonyanit [2001] 1 MLJ 241.The  first judgment on this law country learnt the seriousness of this law.  Adorna Properties the company that registered the name with a forged land deed was awarded the land. 

Wise word of Dr A.R.B Amerasinghe in his book ‘ Title Insurance’—-   ‘’ their  immediate object was the repeal of every law and the abolition of every institution which impede the easy transfer of land  as they consider lands should be easily saleable as a watch. [ economist call this access to land]   According to Hon Justice Amerasinghe  we require an acceptable law   for our society  as our assumption is that  land should be readily available for maximum use and not to be bought and sold as a watch’’ Just for a paltry $480m Sri Lanka’s Ministers should not fall into this US trap and moreover put Sri Lanka & its citizens into jeopardy 

By Sri Lanka Study Circle

Dilrook Kannangara 

Summary: At Least 40% of Chinese Loans to Sri Lanka Had Immediate Economic Benefits to Sri Lanka Private Sector

All Chinese loans to Sri Lanka are for the construction of valuable physical assets. Even if only 40% of those projects are given to Lankan organisations and individuals, that is highly profitable. In other words, 40% of the loan that was taken for the project has immediately come back to Sri Lanka’s private sector by way of labour and material purchases. It is true the government holds 100% of the project debt. But when taken as a nation as a whole, only 60% of the loan that equates to the portion of the project given to Chinese contractors is a net outflow from Sri Lanka with interest. Even for them, an equal amount (60%) of services have been received by Sri Lanka. Once the project is complete, the net outflow of 60% is covered by economic benefits earned and costs saved from the physical asset constructed. Therefore, Chinese loans are doubly beneficial to Sri Lanka. However, it gets even better!

Background: Thank You American Ambassador for Saying 40% of Chinese Loans Immediately Benefitted Lankan Private Sector

In a recent interview with Daily Mirror, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz mentioned the following:

[Quote] A 2019 World Bank study concluded that more than 60% of People’s Republic of China (PRC)-funded Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects are allocated to Chinese companies and stressed that tender processes are opaque. [Unquote]

http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Sri-Lanka-should-engage-with-China-in-ways-that-protect-its-sovereignty-Alaina-B-Teplitz/231-197159

Well madam ambassador, what about the remaining 40%?

Even she agreed that it comes back to the host nation (Sri Lanka) at the time the project asset is constructed. For instance, if a certain Chinese project costed $1.5 billion, $0.6 billion of it immediately came back to Sri Lanka by way of Sri Lankan labour and material purchased from Sri Lanka even before the asset was constructed in full! That’s an enormous economic injection to the Sri Lankan private sector. That’s not all. Chinese labourers working on the project consume goods and services in Sri Lanka while they are stationed. They pay for their food, rent, entertainment and travel locally which is an added boost to Sri Lanka’s private sector. Although the amount cannot be quantified and totaled, it is substantial.

Then the asset is constructed and operated it generates income directly and indirectly. Direct income (for instance the Southern Expressway, Katunayake-Colombo Expressway, Colombo South Port Terminal, powerplants) is recorded while indirect income earned by the nation’s private sector is not quantified. Chinese built infrastructure also leads to cost savings that are not quantified. For instance, although the Mattla Airport is not making profit, Sri Lanka saves a massive amount of money by having a second international airport. Planes need not be diverted away from Katunayake International Airport (KIA) to Indian airports after Mattala came into operation. Essential and preventive repairs of KIA can be carried out without any disruption to air traffic. This was never the case before Mattala International Airport.

When considered as a nation, all Chinese loans are profitable.

The Confusion: Government Taken Separately from the Nation as a Whole Gives the Wrong Impression

Confusion prevails when looked at the loan purely from the government point of view. The government is liable to repay the full loan and interest. That includes 40% of the project cost that came back to Sri Lanka’s private sector, goods and services purchased by Chinese workers in the island and paid by them to the private sector and indirect economic benefits earned by Sri Lanka’s private sector during the construction stage.

This is what ails Indian, American and NGO lobbies. They conveniently forget the massive economic benefits already earned by Sri Lanka’s private sector (40% plus much more) even before the project is complete. They also forget indirect economic benefits that are continued to be earned by the private sector after the project asset is operational.

It is not that they forget these; they maliciously disregard these benefits to Sri Lanka.

Debt Trap: The Unfortunate Leftover of US and Indian Pushed Reconciliation

Sri Lanka is sadly in a debt trap. This is not due to Chinese loans as Chinese loans have already showered Sri Lanka with more than 40% of the loan value as private sector economic benefits even before project completion! Debt trap is due to commercial bonds issued in various western capitals at commercial USD bond rates. These are Sri Lanka Sovereign Bonds and Sri Lanka Development Bonds. They have no identifiable physical asset and most went for reconstruction of the north and east, reconciliation and resettlement of Tamil IDPs until 2013. Since then most monies raised by new bonds were used to repay old bonds and interest. Interest rates vary from 6.75% on USD to even 10%. These debt holders are individual investors in the EU and the US. Worth mentioning again: these debt holders are individual investors in the EU and the US.

Indian debt also falls into this category as Indian debt including currency swaps have no construction of physical assets that generate income. What’s more, most destruction to the environment is caused by Indian funded projects like housing projects for Indian Tamils in environmentally vulnerable hill country which is the catchment area of most rivers and most endangered wildlife. The recent spike in leopard encounters and unfortunate killing of a large number of leopards is the direct result of these invasive and useless Indian projects.

No wonder, the US ambassador avoided mentioning them!

Comparing Lease and Other One-Sided Deals

In addition to loans, Sri Lanka has entered into lease and other agreements with China, India and USA. Hambantota Port and Port City have leases entered with Chinese companies. These are profitable to Sri Lanka as the Chinese companies pay a lease rent and share profits of commercial ventures they carryout with a Sri Lankan stake. For instance, Sri Lanka Ports Authority has a significant stake in the Hambantota Port. Efficiencies of Chinese management result in profit for the Sri Lankan shareholding too.

However, this is not the case with the leases Sri Lanka entered into with India over the Trincomalee oil tank farm. The lease rental is not worth it and an Indian company is using tanks for its commercial ventures in Sri Lanka with no return to the island by way of a profit share or tax on profits or assets.

Same goes for assets leased and continue to lease to USA. There is no profit share or tax income for Sri Lanka.

In addition to these, Sri Lanka has entered into military deals with USA and India that binds Sri Lanka to provide logistics facilities to them. One example is ACSA. Unfortunately, these deals are not with the paper they are signed in! Providing them logistical facilities including airlift by SLAF is not cheap but the agreement states they are either not paid for or paid a very nominal amount. In 1987 Sri Lanka entered into the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord which imposed worthless white elephants called provincial councils. They continue to bleed the Lankan economy with no benefit whatsoever.

Therefore, even on the leasing front Chinese deals are far more profitable to Sri Lanka than US and Indian deals.

Way Froward: Review All Commitments Economically and Politically, Retain the Beneficial and Scrap the Unprofitable to Sri Lanka as a Nation

Impact of the debt trap has been worsened by the COVID-19 induced economic crisis. Sri Lanka must critically evaluate all its deals particularly with foreign parties and their resultant local matters. Provincial Council system must be done away with immediately as it is a massive white elephant. Indo-Lanka Peace Accord must be rescinded officially. India-Sri Lanka lease agreement over Trincomalee oil tanks must be scrapped as it offers no economic benefits. Progressive taxes must be imposed on all foreign owned commercial ventures in Sri Lanka where they compete against local entities, especially government entities. Property in Sri Lankan owned by Sri Lankans living in foreign nations as their permanent residents or citizens must attract a tax on property value and government pensions paid to Sri Lankans residing abroad must be reduced or removed. These are tough measures that are essential to meet tough economic challenges faced by the nation. China is the hen that lays golden economic eggs and further inroads must be made for Chinese investments in the island. At the same time no country should be allowed to dictate terms to Sri Lanka and influence Sri Lanka’s policy matters. Sri Lanka is an independent, sovereign and proud nation that is more than capable of own policy decisions.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

දෙදහස් දහනවය වසරේ පහ ශ්‍රේණිය ශිෂ්‍යත්ව විභාගය සමත්වූ සේවා නියුක්තයන්ගේ භාර අරමුදලේ සාමාජිකයන්ගේ දූ දරුවන්ට ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ප්‍රදානය සඳහා ලබාදෙන රුපියල් මිලියන 90ක් (රු.89,895,000) වටිනා චෙක්පත අද 2020.10.13 දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාට පිරිනැමිණි.

සේවා නියුක්තයන්ගේ භාර අරමුදල් මණ්ඩලයේ සභාපති ශ්‍රියාන් ද සිල්වා විජයරත්න මහතා විසින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට මෙම චෙක්පත භාරදෙන ලදී.

2019 වර්ෂයේ ශිෂ්‍යත්ව විභාගය සමත් වූ දූ දරුවන් 5993 දෙනෙකු වෙනුවෙන් පළමු අදියර යටතේ ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ප්‍රදානය සඳහා මෙම මුදල් මහජන බැංකුවට යොමුවනු ඇත.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා 1994 වසරේ කම්කරු අමාත්‍යවරයාව සිටියදී රටේ කම්කරු ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් කරන උපහාරයක් සහ දැයේ දරුවන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපනය නංවාලීමේ අරමුණ ඇතිව සේවා නියුක්තයන්ගේ සමාජික දරුවන්ට ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ප්‍රදානය කිරීම ආරම්භ කළේය.

ඒ අනුව 1994 සිට අඛණ්ඩව ක්‍රියාත්මක මෙම වැඩසටහනට අදාළව සෑම වසරකම පහ ශ්‍රේණිය ශිෂ්‍යත්ව විභාගය සමත්වන සේවා නියුක්තයන්ගේ භාර අරමුදලේ සාමාජිකයින්ගේ දූ දරුවන් 9000ක් සඳහා එක් අයෙකුට රුපියල් 15000 ක් වටිනා ශිෂ්‍යත්වයක් ප්‍රදානය කෙරේ.

මහජන බැංකුව ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ලාභී දරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් අදාළ මුදල් සිසු උදාන ගිණුමක තැන්පත් කරයි. ශිෂ්‍යත්වලාභි දරුවන්ගේ ගිණුම් විවෘත කරන අවස්ථාවේදී මහජන බැංකුව මලලසේකර සිංහල ඉංග්‍රිසි ශබ්දකෝෂයක් තිළිණ කරන අතර සමාන්‍ය පොලී අනුපාතයට වැඩි ප්‍රතිශයක්ද එම ගිණුම් සඳහා ලබාදෙයි.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට සේවා නියුක්තයන්ගේ භාර අරමුදල් මණ්ඩලයේ සභාපති ශ්‍රියාන් ද සිල්වා විජයරත්න, මහජන බැංකුවේ සභාපති සුජීව රාජපක්ෂ මහත්වරු ඇතුළු සේවා නියුක්තයන්ගේ භාර අරමුදල් මණ්ඩලයේ හා මහජන බැංකුවේ නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ටවර් හෝල් නාට්‍ය හා රංගකලා පාසලේ සිසුන්ට ලබා දෙන රුපියල් දෙදහසක්වන මාසික ශිෂ්‍යත්ව අරමුදල රුපියල් තුන්දහස දක්වා වැඩිකිරීමට ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා අද 2020.10.13 දින උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

ටවර් හෝල් රඟහල පදනමේ 296 වැනි භාරකාර මණ්ඩල රැස්වීම අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී පැවැති අවස්ථාවේ මෙම තීරණයට එළැඹිණි.

මෙයට අමතරව ටවර් හෝල් නාට්‍ය හා රංගකලා පාසලේ වාර්ෂිකව විශිෂ්ට දක්ෂතා දක්වන සිසුන්ට ලබා දෙන රුපියල් 5000ක මුදල් ත්‍යාගය රුපියල් 10000ක් දක්වා ඉහළ දැමීමට ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක මහතා ඊට අදාළ යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කළේය.

ටවර් හෝල් පදනමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් නීතිඥ ඩග්ලස් සිරිවර්ධන මහතා එම යෝජනාවට අදාළ පත්‍රිකාව ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් දුරබැහැර පළාත්වල සිට පැමිණෙන නාට්‍ය හා රංගකලා පාසලේ සිසුන් පසුගිය කාලය පුරාවට විශිෂ්ට දක්ෂතා පෙන්නුම් කර ඇති බවත්, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ප්‍රතිපාදන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ ඒ ශ්‍රේණියේ පාඨමාලා සහතිකය ඊට හිමිව ඇති බවත්  අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

කලාකරුවන්ට රජයෙන් ලබාදෙන නිවාස පසුකාලීනව විකිණීමෙන් කලාපුරය වැනි ස්ථානවල තිබෙන වැදගත්කම හීන වී යනබව පැවැසූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා එසේ රජයෙන් කලාකරුවන්ට ලබාදුන් නිවාස විකුණන්නේ නම් ඒවා නැවත රජයට පවරාගැනීම පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කරන්නැයි පැවසීය.

ඊට අමතරව කලාපුරයේ දැනට සංවර්ධනය නොකළ රජයට අයත් භූමියේ කලාකරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් නිවාස සංකීර්ණයක් ඉදිකළ හැකිබව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ගාමිණී සෙනරත් මහතා පෙන්වා දුන් අතර ඊට අදාළ සොයා බැලීම් කරන්නැයිද අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා පැවැසීය.

අනුරාධපුරය, නුවරඑළිය, මොනරාගල සහ යාපනය ප්‍රදේශවල කලාකරුවන් වෙනුවෙන්ම වෙන්වූ නව නිවාඩු නිකේතන ඉදිකිරීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙළක් සකස් කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය භූමිය වෙන්කරගැනීමේ කටයුතු සොයා බලන්නැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක හා  බුද්ධ ශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන මහත්වරුන්ට දැනුම් දුන්නේය.

ටවර් හෝල් රඟහල පදනම සහ කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ, ශ්‍රීපාලි මණ්ඩපයේ අනොන්‍ය අවබෝධතාවය අනුව පාඨමාලා සහ නාට්‍ය උළෙලක් පැවැත්වීමට අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ අනුමැතිය මෙහිදී හිමිවිය.

නාට්‍ය හා රංගකලා පාසලේ දක්ෂතා දක්වන දරුවන්ට විදේශ ශිෂ්‍යත්ව පිරිනැමීම පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කරමින්, ඉන්දියාව, රුසියාව ඇතුළු නාට්‍ය කලාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් විදෙස් ශිෂ්‍යත්ව පිරිනැමිය හැකි විශිෂ්ට පාඨමාලා පවතින රටවල් සම්බන්ධයෙන් සොයා බලා ඔවුන්ට ශිෂ්‍යත්ව පිරිනැමීමට ද මෙම රැස්වීමේදී තීරණය විය.

කලාකරුවන්ට ලබාදෙන හදිසි අනතුරු රක්ෂණ මුදල් පිරිනැමීමේදී වේදිකා නාට්‍ය කලාකරුවන්ට පුමුඛත්වය දෙමින් මුල් අදියරේදී එම මුදල් පිරිනැමීම ආරම්භ කිරීමට  මෙම හමුවේදී තීන්දු විය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට අමාත්‍ය ජනක බණ්ඩාර තෙන්නකෝන්, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ගාමිණී සෙනරත්, බුද්ධ ශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය අතිරේක ලේකම් චමින්ද කුලරත්න, ජාතික උරුම, ප්‍රාසාංග කලා හා ග්‍රාමිය කලා ශිල්පී ප්‍රවර්ධන කටයුතු රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් එස්.ටී.කොඩිකාර, ටවර් හෝල් පදනමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් නීතිඥ ඩග්ලස් සිරිවර්ධන, පාලන හා සංවර්ධන අධ්‍යක්ෂ නිපුන දිසානායක, වැඩබලන සංස්කෘතික අධ්‍යක්ෂ තරණි අනෝජා ගමගේ, මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශයේ නියෝජ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂිකා කුලෝජා පීරිස්, ටවර් හෝල් පදනමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩල සාමාජිකයින් වන, චරිතා ප්‍රියදර්ශනී පීරිස්, හෂීම් ඕමාර්  මහත්ම මහත්මීන් ඇතුළු ටවර් හෝල් පදනමේ නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today

The scientific community believes that all activities of the cosmos are governed by nature. Some believe that there is a massive force embracing gravity that consists of ‘the weak force; electromagnetic and the strong force’. These fundamental forces together seem to govern everything that occurs in the universe. It is called the universal force.

Various religions identify this natural force by many names. Christians believe it to be the Almighty God, Muslims call it Allah and the Hindus call it Lord Siva and so forth. Buddhism has no creator or God to explain the origin of the universe. Instead, it teaches that everything depends on everything else, viz:  ‘present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events’ known as the law of Karma (cause and effect). It simply means positive or negative ‘action’ in man’s spoken words, thoughts, and deeds.

The scientists’ answer to Gravity (i.e.: The weak force, electromagnetism and the strong force) is a manifestation of just a single great force of the universe. One may question, if that is so, then each force should merge with other forces. Apparently there is evidence towards this.

Astrology 

Astrology consists of a number of accepted systems and ensures that a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world. Astrology is rejected by scientists for not being able to testify by explanatory power for describing the universe, except by dabbling in various planetary movements! Scientific experiments find no evidence to support the purported effects outlined in astrological practices.

In Sri Lanka

Astrologers in Sri Lanka lost their reputation with false predictions, especially during the Presidential Elections. The science of astrology may be accurate and precise, but thus far, Sri Lankan astrologers managed successfully to demonstrate their predictions as a pseudoscience.

If one focuses on the recent Presidential Election, many astrologers predicted their prejudiced and partisan personal opinions or got their calculations wrong!  During the previous Presidential Election too, an eminent astrologer advised Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former President of Sri Lanka, to follow his (astrologer’s) guidelines that lead towards the dissolution of Parliament two years in advance. That caused Mahinda Rajapaksa to lose.

During the 8th Presidential Election in 2019, numerous astrologers, including a well-known yogi, claimed that his predictions had never gone wrong, foresaw Sajith Premadasa as the winner. They apparently worked on planetary positions of Sajith Premadasa’s horoscope. They also claimed not only Sajith Premadasa would win the Presidential Election, due to a Raja Yoga in his birth chart, but he had a brighter future beyond the Presidential level. They mentioned about a planetary transit (Guru Maruwa), which was due to take place on the day of the Election, which meant the SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa would lose. Repeatedly they maintained that Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s chances of winning the Presidential Polls were minimal. Indika Thotawatte, who was regarded as one of the most talented astrologers in Sri Lanka also went wrong in his predictions, causing an uproar within the Sri Lankan society.

Universal forces 

Apart from astrologers there are separate groups who claim to have a dialog with the Universe during meditation. They affirmed that the Universe exists to reflect consciousness of man.During their dialog with the Universe; they were advised through the law of attraction how the Universal Force works. They confirmed a message received from the Universe that when a world leader becomes erratic and irrational his people get depraved.  Nature then becomes irascible and punishes the entire country. In this regard, as a global punishment, people could expect natural  disasters such as  floods, hurricanes, wild fires, earth slips and dangerous viruses akin  to COVID-19, HIV Aids, Chikungunya and Dengue  as a direct result of the wrath of the  Universe.

The Universe, according to this group, appears to be quite incensed with environmental destruction caused by man. In Sri Lanka, they were advised that people were becoming utterly selfish, despondent and miserable; equally through political debility citizens were getting morally and monetarily debauched.

Those communicators with the Universe did come up with a unique message.  Due to the exploitation, dishonesty and deceitfulness of Sri Lankan politicians and not paying any heed to protect the environment, the Universe chose to send a principled leader who could save this blessed country and work towards harmony and a complete fulfilment. Everyone who communicated with the Universe came with the same perception (on YouTube ) that Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the  chosen saviour  from the Universe  to run the country. Naturally the astrologers were uneasy with such notions. 

Miracle

Miraculously, the theory of the Universe came true beyond belief when Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the November 2019 Presidential Election with a popular vote of 6,924,255

(52.25 per cent ). Nearly seven million people voted him with absolute faith and confidence taking his immeasurable experience in handling the terrorist war, which lasted for nearly thirty years. 

During his Election campaign, Gotabaya Rajapaksa travelled throughout the country and made a single request to the people Give me a mandate to form a new Government, with a two thirds majority, to put the country back on the rails.” The result was a clear indication how people reacted to his appeal. Lo and behold, the miracle materialised and the main opposition party the UNP disintegrated completely.  There was internal squabbling within the UNP and reached a breaking point. Many UNP MPs and the supporters of the party wanted Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign and abandon politics altogether. Such bickering and backbiting caused an irreparable setback for the UNP, the oldest party in Sri Lanka, which was in power intermittently from the time of independence in 1948. The total collapse was unbelievable and the UNP was completely washed out. Sajith Premadasa, who was the deputy leader of the UNP, launched the SJB.

Universal Force choose a Saviour

The choice by the Universe in making Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the new President of Sri Lanka became a reality from the moment he was sworn in officially. It was the first time in Sri Lankan politics that someone who is not a politician became President of the country. He was a good administrator with an Army discipline-background who demonstrated his mettle as the Defence Secretary, during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.

From the time he was sworn as President of the country, people respected him  for  his simplicity,modesty,fairness, objectivity and far thinking ability.The  entire world accepted that Sri Lanka was fortunate to have Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President during the COVID-19 pandemic.His qualities became transparent when he visited remote villages and entered poor peoples’ huts to discuss their problems. Immediately he advised the appropriate authorities (on the phone) to rectify whatever the problem was. It did not bother him whether it was a school kid or poor suffering old villager, but when he saw a problem his intention was to promptly advise the appropriate authorities, from wherever he was, and made the responsible officers attend to the matter forthwith.

 In an isolated case where he saw how a poor citizen’s housewas demolished by a wild elephant, he immediately ordered the responsible authorities to find a solution to the ‘elephant-man confrontation’ within two years.Simultaneously,the President ordered the Forces to build a new house to replace the demolished house by the elephant. Within 2-3 days the house was completed. Such was his discipline and administration on all matters. People in Sri Lanka had never seen a leader of such a high calibre before!  The writer has a first-hand experience where he appealed to the President personally about the lassitude of his town Council. Despite the writer sending numerous requests to the Chairman of the Council, in both Sinhala and English for years, the council turned a blind eye to the situation. Within a few days, the Director of Environment attached to the Presidential Secretariat visited the writer and the problem was resolved.

19th Amendment

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received an overwhelming mandate in the recent Parliamentary Elections. In his inaugural address to Parliament, on 3 January 2020, he reiterated the peoples’ mandate to abolish the19th Amendment, as a matter of priority and work on a new Constitution suitable for Sri Lanka. Former President Maithripala Sirisena reformed the country’s political system by reducing the President’s power.

The Opposition members seem to think the 20th Amendment is a major hindrance to the Nation. In fact, the Yahapalana regime introduced the 19th amendment to the Constitution during their administration. Repealing of the 19th Amendment and introducing a brand-new Constitution, suitable for Sri Lanka will strengthen Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s hand in bringing the country back on track. In conforming to the mandate given by the people to repeal the 19th Amendment, the Government is scheduled to go ahead with it despite the opposition going to Courts protesting about it. A final Court’s decision was reached at the time of compiling this article with the Speaker until 20 October 2020.  President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is facing many limitations to execute his plans for the betterment of the country because of the 19th Amendment.

It appears there are forces within the Government and outside attempting to block his programmes and the progress of the country. One wonders whether Kuveni’s curse is still on the Sinhala people that no two Sinhalese can get on with each other in harmony. It boils down to nothing but only as traitors without an iota of national feeling? 

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Yoshitha Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Several issues cropped up after a relative of an LTTE member was appointed to a high position of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) by the previous government, former president Maithripala Sirisena told the PCoI into the Easter Sunday attacks.

He said due to such issues, he had summoned the HRCSL’s former chairperson and questioned her about is functions.

Mr. Sirisena said the HRCSL had informed the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva that human rights violations were taking place in Sri Lanka during his tenure and that it had caused various problems.

He said the HRCSL had reported allegations of human rights violations, especially by the Armed Forces and the Police.

“According to the HRCSL, there had been reports of harassment of people at Police stations, but the HRCSL had reported the matter to the UNHRC before completing investigations into such matters,” Mr. Sirisena said.

He said due to the complaints lodged by the HRCSL, Sri Lankan military and Police officers had lost the opportunity to join the UN peacekeeping forces, which was a major source of earning foreign exchange.

“I, therefore, summoned the then Chairperson of the HRCSL and asked what they were doing. Later I came to know that a member of the family of deceased LTTE member had been appointed to a high post in the HRCSL and that individual was the one who did such things,” Mr. Sirisena said.  

Courtesy Adaderana

Most Ven. Napane Pemasiri Thero, the Mahanayake of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya, says that he was not aware of the press conference held yesterday (12) with the participations of the Chief Secretary Thero of the Ramanna Maha NIkaya.

The Sri Lanka Amarapura – Ramanna Samagari Maha Sangha Sabha, holding a press conference, said yesterday that immediate action should be taken to deactivate the 20th Amendment to the Constitution which is against democracy.

However, the Chief Prelate of the Ramanna Nikaya told the media today (13):

I do not travel much because of physical exertion. So I do not know what happened yesterday. If there was a meeting of the Nikaya, I should have been informed.

The secretaries must know that it is not appropriate to issue statements without the knowledge of the Mahanayake Thera. Others should also know. There is no one to claim responsibility of statements made without our knowledge.”

The Mahanayake Thero has further stated that according to the discourse of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya, the Maha Sangha of the sect has been told not to get involved in politics.

Accordingly, commenting on matters related to politics should not have happened, the Thero said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has dispatched 06 police teams to arrest MP Rishad Bathiudeen, the Police Spokesperson said.

Earlier today (13), the Colombo Fort Magistrate ruled that the Police can proceed to arrest MP Bathiudeen and the two other suspects who are accused of misappropriating public funds during last year’s presidential election, without a warrant.

Thereby, Attorney General Dappula de Livera directed the Police to arrest MP Bathiudeen, Project Director at the Ministry of Resettlement Mohamed Yaseen Samsudeen and the Accountant of the Project Alagarathnam Manoranjan according to the law.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), upon the direction of the Attorney General, had sought the Colombo Fort Magistrate to issue a warrant to arrest the three suspects on charges of criminal misappropriation of public funds and violation of election laws.

The magistrate turned down the CID’s request for a warrant to take the suspects into custody, however, ruled that the arrests can be executed without a warrant.

The suspects had allegedly misused 222 buses belonging to the state-owned Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) for transporting internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Puttalam to polling stations in Silavathurai during the 2019 Presidential Election.

AG’s Coordinating Officer State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne had stated that there is sufficient evidence to claim that the suspects have violated Article 82(1) of Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981 and misappropriated public funds to the tune of Rs. 9.5 million.

Courtesy Hiru News

Total number of Covid-19 cases reported in Sri Lanka exceeds the 5,000 mark (5,038); 3328 recoveries & 1,697 still receiving treatment.

Brandix Cluster update : 145 more coronavirus infected persons reported – Country total crosses 5,000

Another 145 from Minuwangoda Brandix cluster tested positive for Covid-19.

Among them 48 are from quarantine centres & 97 are close contacts.

The country total has crossed 5,000 cases. 

Courtesy Hiru News

The government has decided to remove import duties on several essential commodities.

Accordingly, import duties on dhal, canned fish, onions and sugar have been removed.

The government has taken this decision considering the current cost of living and the difficulties associated with Covid-19.

Due to the tax exemption, canned fish (big) can be bought for Rs. 200, a kilo of B-onion for Rs. 100 and a kilo of sugar for Rs. 85 from tonight.

The President’s Media Unit stated that arrangements have been made for customers to purchase a kilo of dhal at Rs. 150 when purchasing items worth over Rs. 500 from Sathosa, including these essential items.

Meanwhile, the Coconut Development Board, Kurunegala Plantation Company and Chilaw Plantation Company have increased the supply of coconuts to the city of Colombo.

The President’s Media Unit stated that therefore, consumers will be able to obtain coconuts at reasonable prices from CWE outlets

Courtesy Hiru News

Two CID teams sent to MP Rishad Bathiudeen’s Colombo and Mannar residences to arrest him.

Courtesy Hiru News

Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage today (13) informed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that a court warrant is not required to arrest a person on charges under the Public Property Act.

The Cour stated the above was rejecting a request by the CID to issue a warrant for the arrest of three suspects, including MP Rishad Bathiudeen.

The Attorney General ordered the Acting Inspector General of Police today (13) to arrest of MP Bathiudeen on which the CID requested the Court to issue a warrant for his arrest.

>The suspects have been charged with criminally misusing public property and violating election laws by transporting displaced voters from Puttalam to Mannar by SLTB buses on the day of the last Presidential Election.

Courtesy RT

Through constant vigilance and some good fortune, astronomers have managed to capture the moment a supermassive black hole in a galaxy 215 million light-years away tore a star apart.

The so-called ‘tidal disruption event’ (TDE) is the closest such death of a star humanity has ever witnessed. 

Astronomers were alerted by the intense flash of light, visible hundreds of millions of light years away, just before parts of the star disappeared into the black hole’s event horizon after being ‘spaghettified’ by the immense gravity. 

The TDE, named AT2019qiz, was spotted in September 2019 and observed by astronomer Matt Nicholl of the University of Birmingham and his team over the course of the next six months. 

Such stellar TDEs are almost impossible to predict and are only ever witnessed through constant surveillance of the sky, combined with a bit of good fortune. When the massive flare erupted during this particular TDE, astronomers responded incredibly quickly, pointing a vast array of telescopes at the constellation of Eridanus where it occurred. 

We immediately pointed a suite of ground-based and space telescopes in that direction to see how the light was produced,” said astronomer Thomas Wevers, who was based at the University of Cambridge during the research. 

The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and New Technology Telescope, the Las Cumbres Observatory global telescope network, and the Neil Gehrels Swift Satellite all participated in the observing the event, providing data over multiple wavelengths of light, including ultraviolet, radio, optical and X-ray. 

Given that TDEs mostly glow in optical and ultraviolet, it was incredibly fortunate that all of these resources could be amassed and directed so quickly to capture such a rare event.ALSO ON RT.COMExtremely rare TIME BOMB star system discovered breaking all the rules 8,000 light years from Earth

The flare itself is the result of almost unfathomable gravitational and frictional forces within the strands of cosmic spaghetti, which is made up of material from the soon-to-be-extinct star. The process is so intense, in fact, that at certain points, the TDE event outshines its host galaxy for a time before slowly fading over time until there’s nothing left. 

Based on their observations, the researchers determined the star was at one point roughly the same mass as our own Sun, and lost half of its mass to the black hole which is approximately a million times more massive. 

Observations of the TDE finally provided direct evidence for the outflowing of gas during these events, which had long been theorized and debated but never observed. In fact, researchers now know that, at least in this case, the black hole launched powerful jets of dust outward at velocities up to 10,000 km/s as it was eating the star. ALSO ON RT.COMScientists spot MONSTER black hole with 6 entire GALAXIES trapped in its gravity well

This explains past optical and radio emissions detected by astronomers studying black holes over the years that were left somewhat under explained and little understood. 

This event is teaching us about the detailed physical processes of accretion and mass ejection from supermassive black holes,” said astronomer Edo Berger of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The researchers themselves described AT2019qiz as a Rosetta stone for interpreting future TDE observations” ahead of much anticipated observations from elsewhere in the scientific and astronomical community. 

Courtesy RT

The World Health Organization has warned against the idea of allowing Covid-19 to simply spread through society, calling this herd immunity” approach to fighting the pandemic unethical.”

Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic,” WHO chief Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus said during a virtual briefing on Monday, calling the idea unethical.”

Tedros added that herd immunity to a virus is usually achieved when the vast majority of the population – 80 percent, in the case of polio – is vaccinated, rather than deliberately infected.ALSO ON RT.COMYour chances of dying from Covid-19? If you’re healthy & under 65, a 40-mile daily commute by car is more likely to kill you

The vast majority of people in most countries remain susceptible to this virus,” he said, adding that allowing a dangerous virus that we don’t fully understand to run free is simply unethical. It’s not an option.”

Tedros’ words came days after the WHO’s Dr. David Nabarro warned world leaders against using lockdowns as their primary control method” against the virus.

Nabarro explained that lockdowns only buy healthcare systems time to reorganize, regroup, [and] rebalance your resources,” and have disastrous economic consequences that worsen poverty and inequality in society.

The WHO did not always oppose lockdowns, but it cautioned at the outset of the pandemic that, unless accompanied by proper systems of isolation and contact tracing, they would only pause the spread of the virus. Additionally, the organization advised against travel restrictions back in January and February.ALSO ON RT.COMA scientific review of the science behind lockdown concludes the policy was a MISTAKE & will have caused MORE deaths from Covid-19

However, localized lockdowns are one tool currently being used in an effort to get a grip on the rapidly resurging virus. In the UK on Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a three-tiered system of local restrictions, dependent on the rate of infection in different areas, while the French government last week declared that some local restrictions would remain in place until at least the end of 2020. In Ireland, disease specialists have warned the public that Dublin could be under lockdown for years, though official advisers haven’t made any such bold statements yet.

Not all have followed the same approach though. In Sweden, the government never implemented a lockdown, and while cases there have begun to rise in recent weeks, deaths remain extremely low, with none reported since Friday. However, deaths were high in Sweden at the outset of the pandemic, with the majority occurring in nursing homes.

Worldwide, nearly 38 million cases of Covid-19 have been recorded, along with more than a million deaths. The United States has seen the highest number of cases and deaths in the world, with 7.7 million and nearly 215,000 respectively.

By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Express

To stem Chinese advance in Sri Lanka, US would like Sri Lanka to sign the MCC compact and SOFA, both of which have raised the hackles of nationalists.

Colombo, October 11: The Sri Lankan government will not bend to the United States on the issue of the Millennium Challenges Corporation Compact (MCC) or the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) when the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits for talks with Lankan leaders, a top government source said.

The Gunaruwan committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had gone into the MCC compact and has suggested that it be renegotiated to make it compatible with the Sri Lankan constitution and law. It remains to be seen if the Americans will agree,” the top source said. As for SOFA , it cannot be on the agenda now because we would like to take up issues one by one,” he added.

SOFA, like the MCC, has also come under heavy flak from Sri Lankan nationalists and the media on the grounds that it violates Sri Lankan law and constitution.

Pompeo will be here on a scheduled visit at the end of October as part of a tour of various countries.

The ranking US official is currently busy sewing up Quad” an alliance of US, Australia, Japan and India. He had visited Japan, had a powwow with its newly elected Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and emerged from it confident that Abe’s successor is in line with the anti-China policy of Abe and the US. Pompeo would like to firm up his ties with India and hope to rope Sri Lanka into the alliance giving its strategic position in the Indian Ocean where China’s maritime activity is increasing with the construction of ports in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan, facilities which could be used for military purposes in the future. On September 10, the US signed a Framework for U.S. Department of Defense-Maldives Ministry of Defence Defense and Security Relationship” agreement to keep the Chinese away.

The US is worried about Chinese investments and loans advances to Sri Lanka as it fears that Sri Lanka will become a Chinese satellite. To stem the Chinese advance in Sri Lanka, the US would like enter into the SOFA agreement with the island nation and also create for itself an economic base by using the MCC compact of US$ 480 million. It has warned Sri Lanka not to fall into a Chinese debt trap and lose its sovereignty to China.

In a recent newspaper interview, the US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz made this plain invoking the wrath of the Chinese Embassy which asked her not to break diplomatic etiquette by fomenting trouble between the host country (Sri Lanka) and a third country (China).

Earlier In the interview to the Colombo-based Daily Mirror, US Ambassador Teplitz questioned China’s trade deals with Sri Lanka and asserted the need to ensure that global standards of free trade and a fair investment climate are in place for the benefit of Sri Lankan and US businesses.

Teplitz noted that the US believes partnerships between countries should be open, transparent, and mutually beneficial – and if this is what Sri Lanka’s relationship with China embodies, then the US will encourage it.

Our concern is that Sri Lanka is not vulnerable in its relationships, and that this country is able to negotiate the best deals supporting sustainable, environmentally sensitive, and affordable results,” Teplitz said.

She noted that a 2019 World Bank study concluded that more than 60 percent of PRC-funded BRI projects are allocated to Chinese companies and stressed that tender processes are opaque.

‘The World Bank called for open and transparent public procurement to increase the likelihood that BRI projects are allocated to the firms best placed to implement them. Sri Lankan think tank Verité Research analyzed 50 high value loans from the PRC to Sri Lanka. All but one loan (where data was available) were 100 percent ‘tied’ – meaning the loan terms dictated that contracts and tenders be awarded to Chinese contractors, limiting the ability of Sri Lankan and global firms to compete for these projects. Fair competition would lower prices and ensure better quality,’ she said.

The Ambassador noted that Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation and it is not up to the United States to dictate the quality of Sri Lanka’s partnerships, but the US does believe it is better for countries if transactions are transparent and cost-effective, and if they create jobs and other material benefits for local people.

Courtesy The South China Morning Post

• Island’s president asks Beijing for help to disprove that Chinese-funded megaprojects involved impossible repayments
• Financial injection follows visit to Colombo last week by Politburo member Yang Jiechi

China announced Sunday that it was providing a US$90 million grant to Sri Lanka, two days after the island nation’s president sought help from a visiting Chinese delegation in disproving a perception that China-funded megaprojects are debt traps”.

Calling the financial help a timely grant”, the Chinese embassy in Colombo said it would be used for medical care, education and water supplies in Sri Lanka’s rural areas. and that it would contribute to the well-being of [Sri Lankans] in a post-Covid era”.

The announcement follows a visit to the Indian Ocean island nation on Friday by a Chinese delegation led by Yang Jiechi, a Communist Party Politburo member and a former foreign minister.

During talks with Yang, Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa asked China to help him in disproving a perception that China-funded megaprojects are debt traps” aimed at gaining influence in local affairs.

Sri Lanka seeks to balance India ties even as China presence grows26 Sep 2020

China considers Sri Lanka to be a critical link in its massive Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure building drive, and has provided billions of dollars in loans for Sri Lankan projects over the past decade. The projects include a seaport, airport, port-city, highways and power stations.

Critics say the Chinese-funded projects are not financially viable and that Sri Lanka will face difficulties in repaying the loans.

In 2017, Sri Lanka leased out a Chinese-built port located near busy shipping routes to a Chinese company for 99 years to recover from the heavy burden of repaying the Chinese loan the country received to build it.

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The facility is part of Beijing’s plan for a line of ports stretching from Chinese waters to the Persian Gulf. China has also agreed to provide a US$989 million loan to Sri Lanka to build an expressway that will connect its tea-growing central region to the Chinese-run seaport.

As China-India tensions escalate, can Sri Lanka avoid becoming a pawn in a big power game?14 Jul 2020

China expanded its footprint in Sri Lanka during the leadership of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the older brother of the present leader. Mahinda Rajakapaksa, who is now prime minister, held separate talks with Yang on Friday.

China’s economic influence over Sri Lanka has worried its closest neighbour, India, which considers the Indian Ocean region to be its strategic backyard.

Yang’s visit came days after the top diplomats of four Indo-Pacific nations – the United States, Japan, India and Australia – met in Tokyo to increase their involvement in a regional initiative called Free and Open Indo-Pacific” aimed at countering China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondent Courtesy Nikkei Asia

Sri Lanka’s government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion in foreign debt. (Source photos by Reuters) 

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s ultranationalist government looks set to receive a financial lifeline from China rather than an International Monetary Fund bailout to avoid defaulting on foreign debts, affirming the Asian giant as lender of the last resort to the strategically located South Asian island nation.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion dollars owed to foreign creditors. China eased some of the tension earlier this year by injecting $500 million as part of a $1.2 billion syndicated loan from the China Development Bank.

“We have been in touch with the China Development Bank,” Nivard Cabraal, minister of money and capital market and state enterprise reforms, told Nikkei Asia. “We are now negotiating the additional $700 million.”

The second tranche is wanted for the end of the year. “There are options available for Sri Lanka to have inflows coming in from our bilateral partners, and we are confident that they will materialize,” said Cabraal, who was governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for nearly nine years until 2015.

“If we have to go and hold the IMF’s hand — or if the IMF has to hold our hand — that, I think, is a danger signal,” he said. “We know we have to get our debt situation under control. Do we need the IMF to say that? No.”

Sri Lanka’s preference for China is tied to the country’s complex history with the multilateral lender in Washington D.C. Colombo has needed IMF bailouts 16 times over the past 55 years. That places it second only to Pakistan, which has gone to the IMF 20 times — making it the most IMF-dependent of the world’s debt-strapped nations.

Only nine of the 16 IMF programs in Sri Lanka were completed. Sri Lanka last went to the IMF in 2016 during the right-of-center coalition government that preceded the incumbent Rajapaksa government. It sought a $1.5 billion extended fund facility, which came to an abrupt end with the new administration produced by elections in November.

“Sri Lanka has a bipolar relationship with the IMF,” Nishan De Mel, executive director of Verite Research, a Colombo think tank, told Nikkei. Like the World Bank, its Bretton Woods twin, the IMF is seen as having “imperial and colonial” trappings. “Part of Sri Lanka’s political tradition views the IMF with suspicion, and going to it is presented as having a negative outcome,” he said.

Sri Lanka had $50.8 billion of foreign debt on its books as of June, and China makes up about 10% of the total. Chinese funding mostly supported an infrastructure spree that included development of Colombo’s port. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)

Consequently, Sri Lanka has become a hunting ground for Chinese creditors with deep pockets. The Rajapaksa government was voted into power on the back of ultranationalist sentiments, and needs dollars to service its multibillion dollar international debts and to run a current account deficit estimated at $1.1 billion annually.

In 2018, Sri Lanka secured a syndicated loan from China Development Bank. Later that year, another Chinese bank offered to buy the entire $1 billion sovereign bond issue, a banking source in Colombo told Nikkei. The previous government declined “in the interest of diversity” — ensuring it did not appear completely under obligation to Chinese creditors — the banking source added.

October provided another glimpse of the ticking national debt clock. Sri Lanka settled a $1 billion maturing international sovereign bond at the beginning of the month by digging into its foreign reserves, which duly shrank to $6.4 billion. Far bigger debts loom with annual settlements of $4.5 billion to $5 billion due for the next three years.

The $88 billion economy generates some grim reading. Public debt rose to 83% of gross domestic product at the end of 2019, and is expected to exceed GDP by the end of this year. Sri Lanka’s trade deficit has been averaging $10 billion annually, and that has only been reduced this year by heavy import restrictions imposed after exports were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka had $50.8 billion of foreign debt on its books as of June, mostly from borrowings in international markets. The debt to China is about 10% of this, mostly used for an infrastructure spree over the past decade. There is also debt to Japan worth $4.4 billion, once the country’s largest lender for development projects.

Sri Lanka’s efforts to borrow more have been thwarted by downgraded ratings. Bonds were reduced to junk status after Moody’s Investors Service recently downgraded the country two notches from B2 to Caa1. It was another blow to the anemic economy, which is facing growth of just 0.5% in the wake of COVID-19. In April, Fitch Ratings downgraded the country to B1 with a negative outlook.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, right, was behind a series of China-funded infrastructure projects when he was president from 2005 to 2015, and cultivated a close relationship with President Xi Jinping.   © Reuters

Local analysts believe an agreement with the IMF would help with financial markets, and enable Sri Lanka to borrow again.

“An IMF program puts Sri Lanka on a debt-sustainable path, and that creates credibility when you go to the markets,” said Murtaza Jafferjee, managing director of JB Securities, a financial consultancy in Colombo. “After the Moody’s downgrade, and without an IMF program, Sri Lanka will not be able to access the markets.”

Some foreign analysts consider the government as being cavalier with regard to the dire economic assessments. “Sri Lanka cannot ignore the views of the ratings agencies,” said Prasanna Athukorala, a former senior portfolio manager at the Sydney-based AMP Capital Investors. “They are widely accepted for their independent, objective and composite view of creditworthiness of a sovereign issuer.”

He argued that if the government ditches the IMF course, ratings upgrades will only emerge with self-imposed discipline, he said: “A credible and secure medium-term financing strategy should ensure the cost of debt is maintained at manageable levels and there is a sustainable buildup of foreign exchange inflows.”

But geopolitics may come into play if Sri Lanka is unable to raise dollars normally and turns to China to settle debts with Western lenders.

“China doesn’t want its money to be used to repay Western creditors,” said de Mel of Verite Research. “After the first six months of next year, Sri Lanka will be on thin ice.”

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Ceylon Today

Members of the opposition Samage Jana Balawegaya who make irresponsible remarks on the pandemic should follow the example set by its leader Sajith Premadasa.

Colombo, October 12: The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most dangerous challenges we Sri Lankans have faced in our lifetime. It is a human crisis with severe health and socio-economic consequences. In the second phase, what initially began as a single case of a 39-year-old employee of a garment factory testing positive for COVID-19, shot up to 1000 infections in just 48 hours. The infected patients were from the ‘Minuwangoda Brandix Factory Cluster’ in Gampaha district.

Alarm bells began to ring across the country at a time when most people were becoming complacent. Many had ignored health regulations in the mistaken belief that the dreaded pandemic was well under control.

Tracing Difficulties

While the health and defense authorities managed to trace all those who were infected in the first two clusters within a short duration and take effective measure to treat and quarantine them to defuse the situation, this time, there were major difficulties in tracing some of the people who were associated with infected persons.

As President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assured the people, our health, security and other services are doing their best to save us from this pandemic. He urged everyone to follow the instructions given by the health authorities in respect of COVID-19 and told them not to fall prey to false propaganda. In a Facebook post, President Rajapaksa recalled that when the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping the globe, Sri Lanka defeated it together as a strong nation. Today, COVID-19 is getting activated in our country. As before, our health, security and other services are doing their best to save us from this pandemic.

In this challenging situation, I urge you to follow the instructions given by the health authorities and obtain the necessary information from official government information services without being deceived by false propaganda spread by various groups,” he said.

Wasting Parliament Time

It is unfortunate that some politicians try to fish in troubled waters when the country is battling the pandemic. On Friday the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP, Lakshman Kiriella, wasted the valuable time of Parliament by attempting to score brownie points on the current COVID-19 phase. He referred to a comment of Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi made some time ago that the pandemic was under control and it had not spread to the society. He took that comment out of context, ignoring the fact that the Minister in the same statement had cautioned the people that the pandemic could resurface if they did not adhere to health regulations strictly.

Parliamentarian Kiriella’s unsavoury comments were quite in contrast to fellow SJB leader Sajith Premadasa’s praiseworthy statement that the opposition would not try to gain political mileage from the pandemic. He said that he was willing to extend cooperation to the government in its efforts to curb the pandemic. The former Leader of the House, Kiriella, as an experienced politician, should learn from his leader.

False Propaganda

Minister of State, Prof Channa Jayasumana, condemned the false propaganda at a time of national calamity. He pointed out that there had been discussions on the imposition of curfew on the basis of recommendations of health and security experts. But there was fake news with regard to the curfew and the closure of some institutions. There was another allegation by the opposition that the number of PCR tests being conducted was not sufficient. That is not true, the State Minister pointed out.

The gravity of the COVID-9 pandemic is evident from the speed of its spread. Arrogant US President Donald Trump, who earlier ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to stop negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on COVID, later called for cooperation with the Senate and the Congress to immediately approve additional relief packages.

New Standards for COVID-19 Vaccines

While Trump was also infected, there were over 210,000 fatalities in the United States since February. Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior policy adviser, was the latest administration official to test positive for COVID-19. The White House approved tough new standards for COVID-19 vaccines after weeks of delay.

US Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are in isolation after a top Coast Guard Admiral tested positive for COVID-19. The disclosure has raised new questions about the White House’s handling of a 27 September event for the family members of fallen U.S. troops.

In contrast to the irrational attitude of Trump, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered cancellation of the 71st Army day celebrations in view of the detection of infected COVID-19 clusters in Gampaha district. Army Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva issued instructions to suspend all commemorative arrangements in connection with the forthcoming anniversary scheduled for 10 October. A series of religious ceremonies and other formalities was earlier scheduled to be held at Galle Face Green, graced by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces as the Chief Guest on the Army Day.

Opposition Leader’s Offer

Despite this, Opposition leader Premadasa’s constructive offer of cooperation, some SJB Parliamentarians continue to indulge in diverting the attention of the August House on irrelevant issues. MP Harin Fernando called for conducting PCR tests on all MPs to ensure that they did not have COVID-19.He said so in his response to SLPP MP Premanath C. Dolawatte’s accusation that Fernando had deliberately put other lives in danger by coming to Parliament. Dolawatte said that Harin Fernando had put up a post in his twitter account that he underwent a PCR test on Tuesday.

To undergo the PCR test, the MP should have felt some complications. Has he shown any symptoms of COVID-19? Please let us know the results of his test,” Dolawatte demanded.

Time For Unity

However, some members only raised important issues. Gampaha District SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna said there was no police curfew in some areas in Gampaha District and people continued to move about freely.

If the Government declares curfew in the remaining areas, it might help contain the spread of the pandemic, he said. He also referred to the need for arrangements to deliver food and essential items to the curfew areas.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres said: Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences”. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called on the opposition to extend cooperation, and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s positive response will be appreciated by the people.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Education Minister Professor G.L. Peiris today said there will be no legal requirement to go for a referendum in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution’s draft when the government incorporates all proposals, if any, recommended by the Supreme Court.

Speaking at the weekly SLPP news briefing, Minister Peiris said the Supreme Court’s determination on the constitutionality of the draft of the 20A will be presented in Parliament on October 20 by the Speaker.

If the Supreme Court has made any proposals to change the draft, the government will incorporate them at the committee stage in Parliament. Based on the recommendations made by the Supreme Court, the government is ready to make more changes to the 20A. In that way, there is no legal necessity to go for a referendum. Supreme Court proposals will be added to the final draft and with a two-thirds majority, the 20A will be legalised,” he said.

When the 20A is taken up for a second reading in Parliament, Minister Peiris said party leaders and the Committee on Parliamentary Business will decide on a date to debate the 20A and for how many days the debate will last.

He said the government’s position to add more changes to the 20A during the committee stage has already been expressed to the Supreme Court by the Attorney General.

Apart from the government’s amendments, we will add more amendments to the 20A based on the Supreme Court recommendations,” he said.

When asked about concerns raised by Government MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Minister Wimal Weerawansa over the 20A, Minister Peiris said he hoped all stakeholders in the government will consent to the legislation in line with the collective responsibility. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Former President Maithripala Sirisena informed the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks today that several Non-Governmental Organisations and politicians were directly involved in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquires, hampering it from conducting independent inquiries during the former Government’s tenure.

The former President made the above statement while responding to a question raised by the representative from the Attorney General’s (AG) Department regarding a statement made before the Commission by former Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka.

Earlier, testifying before the Commission, Mr. Ratnayaka said that pressure was bought upon Investigation Officers by former President Maithripala Sirisena when conducting inquiries, especially related to Army officers.

When the AG’s department official posed the question on blaming former Minister Ratnayaka and CID officers for conducting certain inquiries, the former President had accepted the fact that he had blamed the former Minister and the officials.

However, former President Sirisena admitted that he was not aware that the CID was reporting facts to the Magistrate’s Court according to provisions under Criminal Procedure Code regarding the above inquiries.

“I never asked to halt the independent inquiries but I blamed the CID officers and the former Minister for involving several NGOs and politicians when conducting these inquiries,” he said.

Referring to some previous incidents, the former President said that due to certain political pressure that came upon current State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director, Brigadier Suresh Salley, he had taken steps to send him to Malaysia, highlighting LTTE threats.

“The CID was trying to arrest Salley politically and I had taken steps to send him to Malaysia with the assistance of the former Army Commander,” he said.

The former President also said that the CID had taken former heads of tri-forces and the former Defence Secretary to the Courts against a bribery case, without his knowledge.

“Dilrukshi Dias Wickremesinghe was then Director-General of the Bribery Commission (BC) and she has taken unnecessary decisions without informing me. She was working at the BC in the mornings and she was doing politics at Temple Trees in the evenings,” he said.

The former President also said that during his tenure he had difficulty in conducting the Kandy Esala Perahera because certain NGOs and politicians had said that using elephants in the Perahera festival was animal cruelty.

“These NGOs and politicians made use of elephants for other purposes and claimed that using elephants in the Perahera festival was animal cruelty. These actions by certain politicians in the previous government had affected the country’s Sinhala- Buddhist traditions,” he said. (Yoshitha Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday said it decided to stop all public agitations against the proposed 20th Amendment due to the latest outbreak of COVID-19, its National List MP Eran Wickramaratne said yesterday.

Mr. Wickramaratne said the party would carry out its campaign against this piece of legislation via social media and the mainstream media. We have cancelled the programmes planned earlier against the 20th Amendment and decided to confine our agitation campaign only to the platforms of social and mainstream media,” he said.

The MP said his party is not against the Executive Presidency as long as long as there are checks on it to ensure democracy. We are against the repealing of the section in the 19th Amendment which provided for anyone to file fundamental rights applications against the President. SJB is also against the reducing of powers of the Auditor General where the Auditor General will not be able to carry out audits on 100 state-owned institutions under the 20th Amendment. It is important that the Auditor General is able to carry out audits on institutions such as SriLankan Airlines,” the MP said.

Besides he said Sri Lanka should make a note of the fate of countries such as Iran and Iraq which having been having a system based on Executive Presidency. (Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Negotiations were underway for a 10 billion RMB (Renminbi) currency swap agreement between the Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China, a Minister said yesterday.

He said the currency swap would boost liquidity in the country.

Money, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Daily Mirror this would help the government tide over the present difficulties.

He said there was a similar agreement signed by him, as the then Governor of the Central Bank.

We are seeking a similar arrangement with People’s Bank of China which is the Central Bank of China.,” he said.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed an agreement for extending a $400 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka to boost foreign reserves and ensure the financial stability of the country. (Kelum Bandara)

Courtesy Adaderana

The Attorney General met with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)’s Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and officers today (12).

This is as the Attorney General summoned the DIG in charge of the CID and its Chief Investigating Officer over the release of Riyaj Bathiudeen, brother of MP Rishad Bathiudeen, who was recently released after being detained in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The CID officers were asked to bring the investigative material related to the release of Bathiudeen.

However, upon meeting, the Attorney General noted deficiencies in the stalled investigations against suspect, stated the Coordinating Officer of the Attorney General State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne.

In addition, the Attorney General has directed the CID to conduct further comprehensive investigations on specific matter.

Further, Attorney General Dappula de Livera has informed the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) that stalling investigations in the case of Riyaj Bathiudeen by the CID is unjustified.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former President Maithripala Sirisena says that he fought a line battle, when the former government, in which he was President, attempted to imprison pioneers of Sri Lanka’s victory in the conflict with the LTTE terrorists.

His comments came during the proceedings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, during which he also criticized his own Defence Secretaries.

He also told the Commission, that former Defence Secretaries lied to him about holding intelligence coordination meetings weekly, when he was shown evidence, that they weren’t.

The former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former IGP Pujith Jayasunadra, and the former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Nilantha Jayawardena who were named as respondents over the failure to prevent the attacks were at the premises to witness the testimony of the former President who appeared before the Commission for the second day today (12).

The State’s Additional Solicitor General asked the former President as to why 5 Defence Secretaries were sporadically appointed during his tenure as the Head of State.

The witness responded saying that when some defense secretaries were appointed to control those in military uniforms their mentality changes and some defense secretaries encountered serious health issues leading to their transfers.

He also told the Commission that some reasons for the change in defense secretaries should be given without media presence, and submitted them to the Commission in writing.

The Additional Solicitor General then put to the witness that, state officials that testified before the commission said that they faced practical issues in conveying information pertaining to national security, owing to the sporadic change in Defense Secretaries.

The former President responded, There was an intelligence coordination meeting every Tuesday, with the attendance of Director SIS, Director of Army Intelligence Directorate, the tri-forces commanders, and the State Minister of Defense. As such, change in defense secretaries was not a hindrance for responsible factions to be aware on national security.”

The Additional Solicitor General then asked the former President whether he can confirm that the intelligence coordination meetings were held once a week during your tenure, as it was held weekly on every Tuesday before 2015.

The former President’s response to that was, There were no reports of the intelligence coordination meetings not being held, and it looked to have been held continuously.”

At this point, the Additional Solicitor General showed former President Sirisena records from 2015 to 2018 depicting lapses in holding the intelligence coordination meetings.

After perusing the records, former President Maithripala Sirisena said, So these records make it apparent as to why I changed defense secretaries from time to time. They had even lied to me saying that it’s held weekly.”

The Additional Solicitor General then questioned the witness whether he summoned personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and made enquiries about on-going investigations, when Sagala Ratnayake was the Minister of Law and Order.

The former President said, Yes, I summoned then-Minister Sagala Ratnayake and senior officials of the CID and made an enquiry. It wasn’t as much an enquiry, but a severe criticism, because by then, pioneers of the war victory, former defense secretary, and the tri-forces commanders were set to be taken to court.

They worked together with NGO’s to imprison one of the chief contributors to the war victory, Officer Suresh Salley. It was I who gave Salley a position and sent him to Malaysia to save him from being imprisoned.

There was a day when the pioneers of the war victory, former defense secretary, and the tri-force commanders were taken to court, but I wasn’t aware of it until it happened. They were taken to court under a bribery and corruption case.

I severely criticized it at a function held at the Foundation Institute the very next day. The former Directress of the Bribery Commission took the initiative in these. She was at the Bribery Commission during the day and engaged in politics at Temple Trees at night. After I severely criticized her publicly, she left the position two days later.

Processions at Buddhist temples too had to be stopped during that time. Elephants were taken over to the government, citing animal cruelty. There were also issues when conducting the procession of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

I fought alone. The last blast in the end was the removal of Ranil Wickremesinghe and the appointment of Mahinda [Rajapaksa] as Prime Minister.”

The former President also told the Commission that he instructed the Cabinet to crackdown on extremist ideologies during this time.

The Additional Solicitor General asked the witness as to how the explosions happened at 8 different locations on April 21, 2019, if instructions were given to that tune.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena replied, After Ranil Wickremesinghe returned as Prime Minister, my instructions were never enacted. Ranil Wickremesinghe had even instructed Ministers and officials to disregard my letters.

A situation like this was caused, as the given instructions were not passed down.”

Courtesy Hiru News

Attorney General informs Acting IGP that stalling investigations in the case of Riyadh Bathiudeen by the CID is unjustified.

Courtesy Hiru News

Update: Another 51 from Minuwangoda cluster have tested positive for Covid-19.

Among them 15 are from quarantine centres while 36 are close contacts of apparel factory workers.