The Joint Opposition has claimed a significant victory in the election held yesterday (10) to elect members for the General Assembly of the Katugampola Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society (MPCS).
The opposition bloc secured a commanding majority, effectively taking over the management of the society.
According to our correspondent, the Joint Opposition polled 113 votes to establish its dominance, while the National People’s Power (NPP) managed to secure only 06 votes.
The election covered 31 out of the 36 regional branches belonging to the society.
Authorities were forced to nullify the voting in 05 regional branches due to a lack of quorum.
Although the General Assembly originally intended to elect 133 members, the final number of members elected yesterday stood at 119 due to the cancelled polls in those specific divisions.
This victory ensures that the Joint Opposition will be responsible for the future administrative and operational decisions of the Katugampola Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society.
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Subject: Urgent actions to develop marina, repair & maintenance (R&M) and leisure-yacht infrastructure at Galle and strategic fishery harbours (including Modera) to capture high-value nautical tourism and marine services export opportunities.
Prepared by: Dr Sarath Obeysekera
Executive summary
Sri Lanka has an immediate, realistic opportunity to develop a world-class cluster for luxury leisure craft, yacht repair & maintenance (R&M) and nautical tourism anchored on Galle Harbour and strategic fishery harbours (Modera, minor marinas). Over 15 years of advocacy has not translated into delivery. The result: lost investment, missed exports and jobs, and underused port assets. With relatively modest public-private investment, clear governance, and an immediate RFP for Galle marina development plus pilots at Modera, Sri Lanka can capture regional yacht traffic and service chains that could realistically generate hundreds of millions (and scale toward multi-billion dollar) annual GDP contribution over a decade, while creating skilled jobs, stimulating shipyard growth, and growing tourism receipts.This brief sets out: the current problem, strategic rationale, immediate actions (including an RFP template and governance model), financing and legal clarifications required, and a pragmatic 24-month implementation roadmap.
Problem statement
Inaction despite clear demand. The Chamber and advisory groups have promoted marina and R&M development for years; however, political and administrative inertia persists. Ministers cite legal disputes and governance issues while strategic windows (seasonal yacht movements, regional cruising circuits) are lost.
Blocked land/asset use at Galle. Key infrastructure (e.g., slipways, berths) remains underused or physically obstructed (scrapped barge, derelict equipment), and SLPA and other bodies have not acted decisively to clear and reassign for productive use.
Missed economic opportunity. The global superyacht and leisure boating market is expanding; a functioning regional marina and R&M cluster could attract refit, repair and provisioning work and high-spend visitors, multiplier effects include hospitality, chandlery, marine engineering and training.
Fragmented governance & unclear procurement. Lack of a clear procurement mandate (no RFP issued) and competing ownership/interest claims (Ministry of Fisheries, SLPA, private claims) block investor confidence.
Strategic case & benefits
Export earnings and FDI: Yacht refits and high-end marine services are high value per tonne of input. Each medium refit can inject hundreds of thousands to millions USD locally; servicing dozens of vessels annually is significant revenue.
Jobs & skills: Creation of skilled jobs (marine welding, composites, electrical, upholstery, marina ops), apprenticeship pipelines and vocational curricula (link to Fabweld / IDM style programs).
Tourism uplift: High-spend yacht crews/owners and transient visitors increase occupancy at premium hotels, restaurants and tours — Galle’s cultural/destination strengths amplify the yield.
Cluster advantage: A coordinated cluster (Galle hub + Modera mini-marina network) spreads capacity, reduces seasonal pressure, and leverages local shipbuilding and repair capabilities.
Immediate recommended actions (high priority)
Committee of Export Ministers: issue an instruction to tender (RFP) within 30 days to develop Galle Marina (shortlist PPP / concession, minimum standards). This directive should clarify the government’s procurement intent and remove administrative log-jams.
Form an Empowered Project Board (EPB) co-chaired by EDB and the Chamber (plus SLPA, Ministry of Fisheries, Galle Municipal/Provincial rep, legal advisor). EPB will oversee RFP, site clearance, environmental review and contract award.
Immediate site remediation: Instruct SLPA/Ministry to clear obstructive scrap (e.g., removed steel barge) within 60 days under emergency public works, with costs recoverable from successful concession or via penal notices.
Issue a two-stage RFP for Galle Marina (stage 1: qualifications & concept; stage 2: detailed proposals & bidding). Include clear deadlines, evaluation criteria and a transparent dispute resolution clause.
Pilot micro-marinas at Modera and 2 fishery harbours under license to private operators under short concession terms to demonstrate viability and quick wins.
Suggested RFP outline (high level)
Project type: Design, finance, build, operate (DFBO) or long-term concession (20–35 years) for marina + R&M yard and adjacent services.
Scope: Berths (up to 50 multi-size), dedicated refit slip(s), hardstanding, boat lift / travelling gantry, chandlery and provisioning centre, waste oil & hazardous waste handling, fuel berth, security & customs zone for yacht clearances.
Legal clarity: Prior agreement between SLPA and Ministry of Fisheries on land/asset control or clear conveyance for the concession area.
Financing & incentives
Public land + concession model to reduce upfront land cost for private developer.
Soft support: EDB / BOI fast-track permits, tax breaks for initial 5 years for refit capex, duty concessions on imported specialised refit equipment for first 3 years.
Blended finance: Use EDB guarantees, concessional loans (local development bank) + private equity.
Donor grants for training: Seek technical assistance from international marine industry bodies or development partners for workforce training.
Legal & regulatory fixes
Rapid dispute resolution mechanism: central legal cell to triage historic legal cases that block port assets; impose strict timelines to prevent indefinite delays.
Clarify planning vs licensing for short-lets and R&M operations; provide single window at EDB/SLPA for approvals.
Environmental compliance: Ensure baseline EIA scoping and wastewater management rules for refit yards.
Risk mitigation
Environmental risks: Strict waste and antifouling management, licensed disposal contractors.
Political risks: EPB cross-party oversight, public transparency, contract arbitration via ICC/LCIA clause as needed.
Commercial risks: Stage gated milestones with performance bonds; step-in rights for government.
This 24-month implementation roadmap (summary)
Month 0–1: Cabinet/Committee instruction to tender; form EPB.
Month 1–3: RFP published (stage 1), site clearance mandate.
Month 9–18: Construction of initial berths, hardstanding, boat lift.
Month 18–24: Commissioning, marketing to regional yacht networks; launch Modera pilot marinas simultaneously.
Key performance indicators (first 3 years)
Berths commissioned (number) — target: 20+ by year 2.
Annual refits completed — target: 30+ medium refits by year 3.
Jobs created (direct & indirect) — target: 500+ by year 3.
Training completions and apprenticeships — target: 200 certified technicians.
Export earnings / local revenue from marine services — baseline reporting from year 1.
Closing call to action
The Chamber should urgently request a meeting of the Committee of Export Ministers with a concise resolution: approve RFP for Galle Marina within 30 days; form EPB; instruct site clearance. Attach this brief, an economic-impact memo and a short investor pack demonstrating demand from regional yacht agents and shipyards. The photographic evidence of existing idle capacity (attached image) underscores the lost value and urgency.
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
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NDB Bank reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to empowering Sri Lanka’s SME and MSME sectors by participating in the Revive Sri Lanka, Rising Stronger initiative, held on 20th December at Kandy City Centre. Organised by Kandy City Centre under the guidance of its Chairman, Mr. Thusitha Wijayasena, the programme brought together over 800 participants, including entrepreneurs, business owners, and key stakeholders, united by a shared purpose of restoring livelihoods and rebuilding confidence among enterprises affected by the recent DITWA cyclone.
Revive Sri Lanka served as a platform to engage directly with entrepreneurs, understand their immediate challenges, and reaffirm institutional support during a critical phase of recovery. The programme reinforced the importance of public-private collaboration in strengthening the backbone of the economy and enabling businesses to rise stronger from adversity.
The initiative was graced by the presence of the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, as the Chief Guest, alongside the Chief Secretary of the Central Province, Mr. G.H.M.A. Premasinghe. The event reflected a strong spirit of collaboration, with the collective participation of leading financial institutions including Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank, People’s Bank, Sampath Bank, NDB Bank, DFCC Bank, and HNB Bank, underscoring the banking sector’s unified support for national economic recovery.
Representing NDB Bank at the event, Sanjaya Perera, Senior Vice President – Personal Banking and Customer Experience, highlighted the Bank’s long-standing focus on SME and MSME empowerment. Commenting on the initiative, he stated, At NDB, we firmly believe that the resilience of our nation is built on the strength of its entrepreneurs. Supporting SMEs and MSMEs during times of disruption is not just a responsibility, but a commitment we take seriously. Revive Sri Lanka reflects the collective effort required to restore confidence, rebuild livelihoods, and enable businesses to move forward with renewed optimism.”
NDB Bank’s participation at Revive Sri Lanka | Rising Stronger aligns with its broader mission to support inclusive economic growth, particularly within the SME and MSME segments that play a vital role in employment generation and regional development. Through continued engagement, tailored financial solutions, and advisory support, the Bank remains dedicated to standing alongside Sri Lankan businesses as they navigate challenges and pursue sustainable growth.
As Sri Lanka continues its journey of recovery, NDB Bank remains committed to partnering with communities, institutions, and enterprises to create lasting impact and contribute meaningfully to national resilience and progress.
NDB Bank is the fourth-largest listed commercial bank in Sri Lanka. NDB was named Sri Lanka’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs at Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025 and was awarded awards Domestic Retail Bank of the Year – Sri Lanka and Islamic Banking Initiative of the Year – Sri Lanka at the Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2025. NDB is the parent company of the NDB Group, comprising capital market subsidiary companies, together forming a unique banking and capital market services group. The Bank is committed to empowering the nation and its people through meaningful financial and advisory services powered by digital banking solutions.
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From my perspective, it is an obvious fact that Sri Lanka as a country/nation is still left in the lurch politically, economically and morally. The biggest problem is that there is no inspiring leadership. Strong moral leadership is a key component of good governance. ‘Raja bhavatu dhammiko’ (May the ruler be righteous) is the perennial chant of the bhikkhus we hear every morning. A country’s moral leadership is interwoven with its ethical foundation, which, in Sri Lanka’s case, is built on Buddhist moral values, which resonate with the best found in other faiths.
The two dynamic social activist monks, mentioned towards the end of Part I of this article, are being targeted for severe public denunciation as rabid racists in the media in Sri Lanka and abroad due to three main reasons, in my view: First, they are victims of politically motivated misrepresentation; second, when these two monks try to articulate the problems that they want responsible government servants such as police and civil functionaries to address in accordance with the law, they, due to some personality defect, fail to maintain the calm sedateness and composure normally expected of and traditionally associated with Buddhist monks; third, (perhaps the most important reason in this context), these genuine fighters for justice get wrongly identified, in public perception, with other less principled politician monks affiliated to different political parties. Unlike these two socially dedicated monks, monks engaged in partisan politics are a definite disadvantage to the parties they support, especially when they appear on propaganda platforms. The minstrel monk mentioned later in this writeup is one of them.
The occasional rowdy behaviour of Madakalapuwa Hamuduruwo is provoked by the deliberate non-responsiveness of certain greasy palmed government servants of the eastern province (who are under the sway of certain racist minority politicians) to his just demands for basic facilities (such as permits for plots of land and water for cultivation) for traditional Sinhalese dwellers in some isolated villages in the area ravaged by war. That is something that the government must take responsibility for. The well known Galagoda-aththe Himi had long been warning about the Jihadist threat that finally led to the Easter Sunday attacks, but he was in jail when it actually happened. The Yahapalana government didn’t pay any attention to his evidence-based warnings. Instead they shot the messenger. Had the authorities heeded his urgent calls for alarm, the 270 innocent men, women and children dead, and the 500 or so injured, some grievously, would not have met such a calamity.
The Mahanayakes should have taken a leaf out of the Cardinal’s book. The Cardinal knows that his responsibility is to look after his flock as a single unanimously approved/accepted leader within the Christian Church. He fulfills that responsibility well. But, the Mahanayakes couldn’t have resorted to the Cardinal’s strategies which he chooses in accordance with his Catholic/Christian conscience (ultimately fashioned by Christian moral values). The Mahanayakes however, like the Cardinal, could have brought pressure on any one or all of the presidents and prime ministers elected/appointed since the end of the separatist conflict in 2009 to implement Article 9 of the existing Constitution in its letter and spirit and the powerful earlier Antiquities Ordinance of 1940 fully (I hope it is not in abeyance now) to protect the extensive Buddhist archaeological heritage sites spread throughout the North and East provinces that have been encroached on and vandalized for decades now, and to look after the poverty-stricken Sinhalese peasants who have somehow managed to survive in the isolated wartorn villages of the Batticaloa district. The Cardinal’s strength is the unanimous call of the united Church demanding reparation for Easter Sunday attack victims that he broadcasts. In contrast, the Mahanayakes have failed to elect or proclaim a unified leadership (in the form of a powerful prelate) having undisputed authority over all the monks in the country.
These few errant monks, in my opinion, owe their existence primarily to the failure of two groups of people, as already hinted: opportunistic politicians and the indifferent Sangha leadership, to put it plainly. Politicians use monks for securing the Buddhist vote to come to power, with the connivance of the Mahanayake theras, who fail to take a united stand against them. As a rule, politicians forget about monks after getting elected to power, apparently, in the hope of not alienating non-Buddhist voters, who naturally favour candidates of their own at elections. Their leaders acquire the influence they need to survive in politics by rubbing those in power the right way. But those non-Buddhist voters are as innocent and peace-loving as the traditionally hoodwinked Buddhist voters.
In this context I remember having watched a YouTube video uploaded over four months ago featuring MP Namal Rajapaksa. The video (2025-08-30) contained a news clip taken from a mainstream TV channel that showed the young MP being snubbed by a certain Anunayake Himi in Kandy. This was when the MP, during his audience with the high priest, mentioned to him how a retired senior naval officer who had done so much selfless service in ridding the country of Tamil separatist terrorism had been arrested and remanded unjustly (as it appeared) under the present government which is being accused of succumbing unnecessarily to global Tamil diaspora pressure. The monk’s dismissive and insensitive comment in response to MP Namal Rajapaksa’s complaint revealed the senior monk’s blissful ignorance and careless attitude: We can’t say who is right, who is wrong.” Are we any longer to believe that the Maha Sangha that this monk is supposed to represent are the Guardians of the Nation?
Please remember that the country has been plunged into the current predicament mainly due to the opportunistic politicians’ policy of politics for politics’ sake and the Mahanaykes’ inexplicable can’t be bothered” attitude. It is not that they are not doing anything to save the country, the people, and the inclusive, nonintrusive Buddhist culture. Both groups are members of a gerontocracy that has outlived its expiry date. By stating this plain truth, I do not mean any disrespect towards the venerable monks and the veteran politicians, if any, who are sincerely desirous of serving the nation until their last breath.
A young political leadership must emerge free from the potentially negative influence of both these factors. SLPP national organizer MP Namal Rajapaksa, among a few other young politicians like him of both sexes, is demonstrating the qualities of a person who could make a successful bid for such a leadership position. In a feature article published in The Island in September 2010 (well over fifteen years ago) entitled ‘Old fossils, out! Welcome, new blood!’ I welcomed young Namal Rajapaksa’s entry into politics on his own merits as a Sri Lankan citizen, while criticising the dynastic ambitions of his father, president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Namal was already a cabinet minister then, I think. I have made complimentary observations on his performance as a maturing politician on several occasions in my subsequent writings, most recently in connection with the Joint Opposition ‘Maha Jana Handa’ rally at Nugegoda that he organized on November 21, 2025 on behalf of the SLPP (The Island December 9 and 16). A novel feature he had introduced into his programme was having no monk speakers. I, for one, as a patriotic senior Sri Lankan, wholeheartedly approve of that change from the past. Let monks talk about politics, if they must, from a national platform, not from party political stages. That is, they should provide a disciplined, independent ethical voice on broad societal issues. Ulapane Sumangala Thera is approximating that in his current outspoken criticism of PM Harini Amarasuriya’s controversial sex education reforms. But I am not sure whether he will continue with non-partisan politics and also infuse some discipline and decency into his speech.
My advice to MP Namal is: Please avoid the trodden path in a plausible manner. Get rid of the minstrel monk who insists on accompanying you wherever you go and tries to entertain your naturally growing audiences with his impromptu recitations”.
This monk reminds me of Rafiki the old mandrill in the 1994 The Lion King animation movie. But there is a world of difference between the monk and the mandrill. The story of The Lion King is an instructive allegory that embodies a lesson for a budding leader. One bright morning, while the royal parents are proudly watching behind him, and, as the sun is rising, Rafiki, the old wise shaman, presents lion king Mufasa’s new born cub, Simba, from the top of Pride Rock to the animals of the Pride Lands assembled below. Rafiki, though a bit of an eccentric old shaman, is a wise spiritual healer, devoted to his royal master, the great king Mufasa, Simba’s father. The film depicts how Simba grows from a carefree cub to a mature king through a life of troubles and tribulations after the death of his father, challenged by his cruel younger brother Scar, Simba’s uncle. Simba learns that ‘true leadership is rooted in wisdom and respect for the natural order, a realisation that contrasts Mufasa’s benevolent rule with Scar’s tyranny’.
Years later, another dawn, animals gather below the Pride Rock, from where Rafiki picks up the wiggling little first born cub of King Simba and Queen Nala and raises him above his head. All the animals cheer and stamp their feet.
The film closes with Simba standing at the top of Pride Rock watching the sun set beyond the western hills.
Everything is all right, Dad”, Simba said softly. You see, I remembered ……….”. He gazed upward. One by one each star took its place in the cold night sky.
The film describes the Circle of Life, the interconnectedness and interdependence of all living things, and the cycle of birth, death, and renewal. For me, this is a cheerful negation of T.S. Eliot’s pessimistic philosophical reflection on life: Eating and drinking, dung and death”.
Namal has already developed his inherited political leadership skills, which he will be capable of enhancing further with growing experience. Let’s hope there are other promising, potential young leaders of both sexes as well, to offer him healthy competition eventually, so that, in the future, the country will be ruled by the best leaders.
Concluded
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National Development Bank PLC (NDB) proudly represented Sri Lanka at the prestigious Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2025, held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with the nomination of its award-winning digital solutions, TradeLinc 2.0 and Secure360 2.0. This regional recognition follows the Bank’s recent success at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) 2025, where both platforms secured top honours, reinforcing NDB’s position at the forefront of technology-driven banking innovation.
APICTA 2025 brought together some of the most advanced technology solutions across the Asia-Pacific region, with 205 teams and 256 nominations competing from 12 economies. Against this highly competitive backdrop, NDB’s presence underscored the growing maturity of Sri Lanka’s digital capabilities and the Bank’s ability to develop solutions that stand shoulder to shoulder with regional and global counterparts.
At the heart of NDB’s participation was TradeLinc 2.0, the Bank’s flagship digital Supply Chain Financing platform that continues to redefine how businesses access working capital. Built with a strong focus on efficiency, transparency, and scalability, TradeLinc 2.0 addresses long-standing challenges in trade finance by replacing manual, paper-intensive processes with a fully digital, end-to-end ecosystem. By enabling faster onboarding, real-time visibility, and seamless collaboration between buyers, suppliers, and financiers, the platform plays a pivotal role in empowering SMEs and corporates alike, supporting one of the most critical engines of economic growth.
Complementing this was Secure360 2.0, NDB’s advanced, AI-powered security vulnerability and defence platform. Designed to proactively safeguard the Bank’s digital infrastructure, Secure360 2.0 leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify, analyse, and mitigate cyber threats before they materialise. In an era of escalating cyber risks, the platform reflects NDB’s commitment to resilient, future-ready banking by prioritising data protection, operational integrity, and customer trust.
The nomination of both solutions to APICTA 2025 is a strong affirmation that NDB’s digital innovations are not only relevant to the local market but are also competitive by international standards. It highlights the Bank’s strategic focus on building scalable, intelligent solutions that respond to real-world challenges faced by businesses and financial institutions across the region.
Representing NDB at APICTA 2025 was a cross-functional team that reflects the collaborative effort behind these innovations, comprising Sampath Kadupitiyage, Senior Manager – IT Security and Networking; Rukmal Dharmadasa, Chief Manager – Supply Chain Finance; Roshan Kalinga, Deputy Manager – Software Development; Pasindu Bandara, Junior Executive – IT Security; Isuru Rajaguru, Manager – Security Operations Center; and M.K. Shyamal Indika, Associate Manager – Software Development. Their participation underscores the depth of in-house expertise and the culture of innovation fostered within the Bank.
NDB’s journey from national recognition at NBQSA to regional representation at APICTA exemplifies its sustained investment in technology as a strategic enabler of growth, resilience, and competitiveness. By developing homegrown solutions that meet evolving customer needs while aligning with global best practices, the Bank continues to contribute meaningfully to Sri Lanka’s digital advancement.
As NDB moves forward, it remains committed to harnessing technology to deliver smarter, safer, and more inclusive financial solutions, demonstrating that Sri Lankan innovation can successfully take its place on the global stage.
NDB Bank is the fourth-largest listed commercial bank in Sri Lanka. NDB was named Sri Lanka’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs at Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025 and was awarded Domestic Retail Bank of the Year – Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Domestic Project Finance Bank of the Year by Asian Banking and Finance Magazine (Singapore) Awards 2024. NDB is the parent company of the NDB Group, comprising capital market subsidiary companies, together forming a unique banking and capital market services group. The Bank is committed to empowering the nation and its people through meaningful financial and advisory services powered by digital banking solutions.
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The Irrigation Department has issued an urgent warning as water levels in major reservoirs across Sri Lanka have reached 80% to 90% capacity.
Speaking at a press briefing this morning, Irrigation Engineer L.S. Sooriyabandara confirmed that 25 out of 73 major reservoirs are already spilling over, with significant concerns for the Eastern, Central, Northern, Southern, and Uva provinces.
Specific warnings have been issued for the Senanayake Samudraya and Maduru Oya reservoirs, as well as several water bodies in the Batticaloa, Jaffna, and Padaviya regions, where sluice gates have been opened to manage the surge.
Officials have noted that twenty-four central reservoirs are currently releasing water, and residents in downstream areas are being urged to remain on high alert as the intensity of the ongoing rainfall could lead to sudden and rapid increases in water levels.
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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) expects the economy to grow by 4% to 5%, while inflation is projected to gradually rise and reach the target level of 5% by the second half of 2026, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said.
Addressing the launch of the Central Bank’s Policy Agenda for 2026 and beyond, Dr. Weerasinghe also announced a review of the inflation target agreement with the government and the introduction of a benchmark exchange rate aimed at strengthening transparency in the foreign exchange market.
Inflation target to be reviewed
Dr. Weerasinghe confirmed that the Central Bank will reassess the current inflation target framework this year, in line with legal requirements.
As required by law, there will be a review of the agreement with the government regarding the inflation target this year. This is an important part of monetary policy,” he said.
Under the previous administration, the CBSL had secured an inflation target band of 5% as the floor and 7% as the ceiling.
We would like to thank stakeholders who have already expressed various views on target-setting. The Central Bank will conduct a thorough review of economic developments and structural changes in the economy, followed by an analytical assessment of the target. After this assessment, consultations with relevant stakeholders are also planned, as we did in 2023. We will continue this process to agree on an appropriate inflation target,” Dr. Weerasinghe added.
Benchmark exchange rate to be introduced in 2026
One of the key announcements made at the event was the introduction of a benchmark spot exchange rate, a first for Sri Lanka.
Last year, we announced that the Central Bank would review and optimise the Strategic Reserve Ratio (SRR) framework. Accordingly, the SRR framework was reviewed in 2025 to align further with international best practices. This year, several modifications to the SRR framework will be implemented,” he said.
Dr Weerasinghe noted that extensive studies on introducing a benchmark exchange rate were completed in 2025.
As announced last year, the necessary studies to implement a benchmark spot exchange rate were carried out throughout 2025. Accordingly, a benchmark rate will be introduced for the first time in 2026 to foster a transparent foreign exchange market,” he said.
He explained that the benchmark rate would help guide market participants, improve pricing transparency, and support innovation in the foreign exchange market.
This benchmark rate is expected to guide market participants, help manage volatility, and promote more competitive pricing on a given date, thereby enabling the introduction of more innovative foreign exchange products that will also help stabilise the exchange rate,” the Governor added.
Growth outlook and disaster recovery
Expressing optimism about economic resilience, Dr Weerasinghe said Sri Lanka is better positioned to recover from recent cyclonic impacts.
Continuing the growth momentum reported over the past two years, the economy is expected to grow by around 4–5%, according to our estimates. There are both upside and downside risks, depending on the pace of structural reforms and additional government expenditure on rebuilding and reconstruction,” he said.
He added that progress in strengthening fiscal, external, monetary, and financial buffers has enhanced the economy’s ability to rebound faster than in the past.
Counter-cyclical capital buffers in 2026
Highlighting the risks posed by climate-related shocks, the CBSL Governor announced plans to introduce counter-cyclical capital buffers to strengthen banking sector resilience.
Recurring natural disasters highlight the broader risks climate-related shocks pose to financial system stability. This underscores the importance of building buffers during periods of stability,” he said.
In 2026, we will introduce counter-cyclical capital buffers to strengthen the resilience of the banking sector. These are designed to promote the build-up of capital during good times so that it can be released during periods of stress,” Dr. Weerasinghe explained.
Push for offshore banking
Dr. Weerasinghe also outlined the Central Bank’s plans to promote offshore banking activities, particularly in the Colombo Port City.
The Central Bank will continue to support offshore banking activities through appropriate regulatory and supervisory oversight. We expect much more active offshore banking activity this year, especially in the Port City area,” he said.
He added that efforts to strengthen the financial sector would continue under the master plan for the consolidation of banks and finance companies.
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Bandula Kendaragama, Independent Dam Safety Consultant
Dear Sir / Madam,
As I understand, several mobile networks which were working in a satisfactory condition in the potential inundation area of the Kotmale Dam, were not functional or failed on 27 to 30 November 2025.
In my view, if the mobile network had been operating satisfactorily, the contents of the dam emergency letter dated 26 November 2025—issued by the Engineer-in-Charge of the Kotmale Dam—and the decision to open the spillway gates should have reached Gampola town, located only 18 km downstream of the dam, as well as its suburbs within the potential inundation area, well in advance. This would have provided residents with sufficient time to evacuate from the threatened areas. Under such circumstances, it is likely that the number of fatalities could have been reduced.
Having drawn your attention to the above facts, I now kindly request you to provide the non-confidential information specified in the table below.
No
Provider of the Mobile Provider / Identification No. of the Telecommunication Tower
Also, could you provide answers to following questions.
1) Does the TRCSL periodically verify the existence, operation, and functionality of backup power system(s) installed for mobile network operations?
2) If any deficiencies or issues were identified with the existence, operation, or functionality of such backup system(s), did the TRCSL formally notify the relevant mobile network operators and subsequently verify that corrective actions were taken and that proper operation was restored?
3) If your response to Question (2) above is No, please state the reasons or provide an explanation for not informing the mobile network operators and not verifying the proper operation of the mobile network.
I urge you to conduct an internal inquiry into the matters raised in Questions (1) and (2) above. I would appreciate it if a copy of the findings could be released to the mainstream media and to the organizations involved in the decision to open the Kotmale Dam gates, as referred to in this letter.
If you have any questions or clarifications regarding the contents of this letter, could you please contact me by Email Bandula.Kendaragama@gmail.com
Thanking You,
Yours faithfully,
Bandula Kendaragama
Independent Dam Safety Consultant
WhatsApp +61403204066
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Colombo, Sri Lanka – XpressJobs, Sri Lanka’s leading recruitment technology company, has entered into a strategic partnership with ESOFT Uni (ESU) to support structured, industry-aligned internship opportunities for undergraduate students, strengthening the link between higher education and real-world employment.
The partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the shared objective of improving graduate employability by providing students with direct access to relevant internship and trainee-level opportunities across key industries.
About ESOFT Uni
ESOFT UNI is the dedicated university arm of ESOFT Metro Campus, established to deliver degree and postgraduate education, while ESOFT continues to lead Sri Lanka’s vocational and professional education sector. Building on decades of academic excellence, ESOFT Uni represents a next-generation, premium university offering focused on globally relevant, future-ready education.
About XpressJobs
XpressJobs is a leading job portal backed by powerful recruitment technology. Trusted by over 11,000 employers, the platform has processed 6+ million applications across Sri Lanka. It offers advanced recruitment tools including application tracking, smart filtering, AI-powered screening, and CV-less hiring solutions designed especially for skilled and frontline roles.
How the ESU × XpressJobs Integration Works
The partnership has been designed specifically to support ESOFT Uni students seeking internship and early-career exposure.
As part of the integration, internship and trainee-level opportunities published on XpressJobs will be automatically displayed on the ESOFT Uni internship portal. This ensures students gain direct visibility into active, market-driven opportunities across a wide range of industries, enabling more meaningful and relevant work exposure during their academic journey. Internship opportunities can be accessed via https://www.esu.lk/internship.
Under the partnership framework, ESOFT Uni joins XpressJobs as an education partner, while XpressJobs becomes the recruitment partner for ESOFT Uni. Beyond platform integration, XpressJobs will also support ESOFT Uni’s broader career development initiatives through participation in guest lectures, workshops, and career guidance sessions focused on employability and workforce readiness.
This ensures students are exposed to active, real-market opportunities, rather than simulated or short-term placements, enabling more meaningful industry engagement.
With daily exposure to employer requirements and hiring patterns across industries, we are well positioned to support students as they transition from education to employment,” said Dr. Oshadie Korale, Chief Operating Officer and Director at XpressJobs. This partnership allows us to extend that insight into the academic environment and support structured internship pathways that are aligned with real workforce needs.”
Building Industry-Ready Talent, Together
This partnership reflects a shared commitment to employability, practical learning, and future-ready education. By aligning recruitment technology with academic pathways, XpressJobs and ESOFT Uni aim to ensure students graduate not only with qualifications, but with direct access to industry exposure, internships, and career opportunities that prepare them for long-term success.
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The sixth volume of the Mahavamsa, covering the period 1978-2010 has been rendered into Tamil by N. Saravanan, a well-known Tamil journalist and activist based in Norway. The first three volumes of the Mahavamsa (including the Culavamsa) are now a part of the UNESCO world heritage. They were the work of individual scholar monks, whereas the modern volumes (V to VI) were produced through state-sponsored collective efforts [1].
Although state-sponsored writing of history has been criticised, even the first Mahavamsa, presumably written by the Thera Mahanama in the 5th CE, probably enjoyed Royal Patronage. Furthermore, while it is not at all a sacred text, it is clearly a Buddhist chronicle” compiled for the serene joy of the pious” rather than a History of Ceylon, as compiled by, say the University of Ceylon. The latter project was a cooperative venture modeled after the Cambridge Histories. Unlike the Mahavamsa, which is a religious and poetic chronicle, the University effort was an academic work using critical historical methods and archaeological evidence. Hence the criticism [2] leveled against the Mahavamsa editorial board for lack of inclusivity” (e.g., lack of Muslim or Hindu scholars in the editorial board) may be beside the point. The objection should only be that the ministry of culture has not so far sponsored histories written by other ethno-religious Lankan groups presenting their perspectives. In the present case the ministry of culture is continuing a unique cultural tradition of a Pali Epic, which is some nine centuries old. There has been no such continuous tradition of cultural historiography by other ethno-religious groups on this island (or elsewhere), for the cultural ministry to support.
Consequently, there is absolutely nothing wrong in stating (as Saravanan seems to say) that the Mahavamsa has been written by Buddhists, in the Pali language, to promote a Sinhala-Buddhist historical perspective”. There IS no such thing as unbiased history. Other viewpoints are natural and necessary in history writing, and they too should be sponsored and published if there is sufficient interest.
While this is the first translation of any of the volumes of the Mahavamsa into Tamil, there were official translations of the Mahavamsa (by Ven. Siri Sumangala and others) into Sinhalese even during British rule, commissioned by the colonial government to make the text accessible to the local people. Although the Legislative Council of the country at that time was dominated by Tamil legislators (advisors to the Governor), they showed no interest in a Tamil translation.
The disinterest of the Tamil community regarding the Mahavamsa changed dramatically after the constitutional reforms of the Donoughmore commission (1931). These reforms gave universal franchise to every adult, irrespective of ethnicity, caste, creed or gender. The Tamil legislators suddenly found that the dominant position that they enjoyed within the colonial government would change dramatically, with the Sinhalese having a majority of about 75%, while the Ceylon Tamils” were no more than about 12%. The Tamil community, led by caste conscious orthodox members became a minority stake holder with equality granted to those they would not even come face to face, for fear of caste pollution”.
There was a sudden need for the Tamils to establish their ownership” of the nation vis-a-vis the Sinhalese, who had the Pali chronicles establishing their historic place in the Island. While the Mahawamsa does not present the Sinhalese as the original settlers of the Island, colonial writers like Baldeus, de Queroz, Cleghorn, Emerson Tennant, promoted the narrative that the Sinhalese were the original inhabitants” of the Island, while Tamils were subsequent settlers who arrived mostly as invaders. This has been the dominant narrative among subsequent writers (e.g., S. G. Perera, G. C. Mendis), until it was challenged in the 1940s with the rise of Tamil nationalism. Modern historians such as Kartihesu Indrapala, or K. M. de Silva consider that Tamil-speaking people have been present in Sri Lanka since prehistoric or proto-historic times, likely arriving around the same time as the ancestors of the Sinhalese (approx. 5th century BCE). Given that Mannar was a great seaport in ancient times, all sorts of people from the Indian subcontinent and even the Levant must have settled in the Island since pre-historic times.
Although Dravidian people have lived on the land since the earliest times, they have no Epic chronicle like the Mahavamsa. The Oxford & Peradeniya Historian Dr. Jane Russell states [3] that Tamils had no written document on the lines of the Mahavamsa to authenticate their singular and separate historical authority in Sri Lanka, a fact which Ceylon Tamil communalists found very irksome”. This lack prompted Tamil writers and politicians, such as G. G. Ponnambalam, to attack the Mahavamsa or to seek to establish their own historical narratives. Using such narratives and considerations based on wealth, social standing, etc., a 50-50 sharing of legislative power instead of universal franchise was proposed by G. G. Ponnambalam (GGP), including only about 5% of the population in the franchise, in anticipation of the Soulbury commission. Meanwhile, some Tamil writers tried to usurp the Mahavamsa story by suggesting that King Vijaya was Vijayan, and King Kashyapa was Kasi-appan, etc., while Parakramabahu was two-thirds” Dravidian. These Tamil nationalists failed to understand that the Mahavamsa authors did not care that its kings were Sinhalese” or Tamil”, as long as they were Buddhists! Saravanan makes the same mistake by claiming that Vijaya’s queen from Madura was a Tamil and suggesting a race-based” reason for Vijaya’s action. This would have had no significance to the Mahavamsa writer especially as Buddhism had not yet officially arrived in Lanka! However, it may well be that Vijaya was looking for a fair-skinned queen from the nearest source, and Vijaya knew that south Indian kings usually had fair-skinned (non-Dravidian) North Indian princesses as their consorts. In fact, even today Tamil bride grooms advertising in matrimonial columns of newspapers express a preference for fair-complexioned brides.
The 1939 Sinhala-Tamil race riot was triggered by a speech where GGP attacked the Mahavamsa and claimed that the Sinhalese were really a mongrel race”. It was put down firmly within 24 hours by the British Raj. Meanwhile, E. L. Tambimuttu published in 1945 a book entitled Dravida: A History of the Tamils, from Pre-historic Times to A.D. 1800. It was intended to provide a historical narrative for the Tamils, to implicitly rival the Sinhalese chronicle, the Mahavamsa. SJV Chelvanayakam was deeply impressed by Tambimuttu’s work and saw in it the manifesto of a nationalist political party that would defeat Ponambalam’s Tamil congress. So, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, seeking a high degree of self rule for Tamils in their exclusive traditional homelands”, saw the light of day in 1949, in the wake of Ceylon’s independence from the British.
G. G. Ponnambalam and SWRD Bandaranaike were the stridently ethno-nationalist leaders of the Tamils and Sinhalese respectively, until about 1956. After the passage of the Sinhala only” act of SWRD, Chelvanayagam took the leadership of Tamil politics. The ensuing two decades generated immense distrust and communal clashes between Sinhalese and Tamils parties, with the latter passing the Vaddukoddai resolution (1976) that called for even taking up arms to establish an Independent Tamil state – Eelam– in the exclusive” homelands of the Tamils. It is a historical irony that Vaddukkodai was known as Batakotta” until almost 1900 and indicated a garrison fort” used by Sinhalese kings to station soldiers (bhata) to prevent local chiefs from setting up local lordships with the help of south Indian kings.
The last volume of the Mahavamsa that has been translated into Tamil by N. Saravanan, covers the contentious period (1978-2010) following the Vaddukkodai resolution and the Eelam wars. This is the period regarding which a militant Tamil writer would hold strong dissenting views from militant Sinhalese. The tenor of Saravanan’s own writings emphasises what he calls the genocidal nature” of Sinhala-Buddhist politics” via vis the Tamils. He asserts that the Sri Lankan state used this Mahavamsa-based ideology” to justify the Eelam War and subsequent actions he characterises as genocidal, including the alleged Sinhalisation” of Tamil heritage sites.
We should remember that the Eelam wars spanned three decades, while many attempts to resolve the conflict via peace talks” failed. A major sticking point was the LTTE’s position that even if it would not lay down arms. Saravanan may have forgotten that the Vaddukkodai resolution, though a political declaration, used the language of a sacred fight” and its demand for absolute separation provided the political framework for the ensuing civil war. So, if the justification for the Eelam wars is to be found in the Mahavamsa, no mention of it was made at Vaddukkoddai. Instead, the sacred fight” concept goes back to the sacrificial traditions of Hinduism. The concept of a sacred” or righteous” fight in Hinduism is known as Dharma-yuddha. While featured and justified in the Mahabharata and Ramayana, its foundational rules and legal frameworks are codified across several other ancient Indian texts. The Bhagavad Gita provides the spiritual justification for Arjuna’s participation in the Kurukshetra War, framing it as a righteous war” where fighting is a moral obligation. The Arthashastra is a treatise that categorises warfare, distinguishing Dharmayuddha from Kutayuddha (war using deception) and Gudayuddha (covert warfare). While acknowledging Dharmayuddha as the ideal, it pragmatically advocates deception when facing an unrighteous” enemy.
Saravanan claims that the most controversial portion is found in the first volume of the Mahavamsa. He highlights specific passages, such as the Dutugemunu-Elara episode, where monks allegedly tell the king that killing thousands of Tamils” was permissible because they were no better than beasts”. This statement is untrue as the monks did not mention Tamils.
What did the monks say to console the king? The king had said: ‘How can there be peace for me, venerable ones, when countless lives have been destroyed by my hand?’ The Theras replied: ‘By this act, there is no obstacle to your path to heaven, O ruler of men. In truth, you have slain only one and a half human beings. One of them sought refuge in the Three Jewels, and the other took the Five Precepts. The rest were unbelievers, evil men who are not to be valued higher than beasts.
This discourse does not even single out or target Tamils”, contrary to Saravanan’s claim. It mentions unbelievers. The text is from the 5th Century CE. As a person well versed in the literature of the subcontinent, Saravanan should know how that in traditional Hindu scripture killing a Brahmin or a holy person is classified as one of the most heinous sins, ranked higher than the killing of an ordinary layman or killing a person holding onto miccātiṭṭi – (misbelief). The ranking of the severity of such sins is given in texts like the Manusmriti and Chandogya Upanishad, and align with the concepts in the Hindu Manu Dharma that dictate how low caste” people have been treated in Jaffna society from time immemorial. Hence it is indeed surprising that Sravanan finds the discourse of the monks as something unusual and likely to be the cause of an alleged genocide of the Tamils some 16 centuries later. It was a very mild discourse for that age and in the context of Hindu religious traditions of the sacred fight” invoked at Vaddukoddai.
Furthermore, Sarvanan should be familiar with the Mahabharat, and the justification given by Krishna for killing his opponents. In the Mahabharata, Krishna justifies the killing of his opponents by prioritising the restoration of Dharma (righteousness) over rigid adherence to conventional rules of war or personal relationships. This was exactly the sentiment contained in the statement of the monks, that Oh king, you have greatly advanced the cause of the Buddha’s doctrine. Therefore, cast away your sorrow and be comforted.’
So, are we to conclude that Sarvanan is unaware of the cultural traditions of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism and the ranking of sins that exist in them, and is he now using the Human Rights concepts of modern times in trying to damn the Mahavamsa? Does he really believe that the majority of the 15 million Sinhala Buddhists have read the Mahavamsa and are activated to kill unbelievers”? Does he not know that most of these Buddhists also frequent Hindu shrines and hardly regard Hindus beliefs as Mithyadristi? How is it that the majority of Tamils reside in Sinhalese areas peacefully if the Sinhalese are still frenzied by the words of the monks given to console King Dutugamunu 16 centuries ago?
Instead of looking at the ranking of sins found in Indian religions during the time Mahanama wrote the Mahavamsa, let us look at how unbelievers were treated in the Abrahamic religions during those times, and even into recent times. As unbelievers, infidels and even unbaptised men and women of proper faith were deemed to certainly go to hell, and killing infidels was no sin. Historical massacres were justified as divine mandates for the protection of the faith. The Hebrew Bible contains instances where God commanded the Israelites to utterly destroy all (unbelievers) that breathed”. Medieval Christian and Islamic authorities viewed non-believers or heretics as a spiritual infection.” Prelates like Augustine of Hippo argued for the state’s use of force to correct” heretics or eliminate them. Some theologians argued that God being the creator of life, His command to end a life (specially of an infidel”) is not murder”.
In contrast, in the Mahavamsa account the king killed his enemies in battle, and the monks consoled him using the ranking of sins recognised in the Vedic, Jain and Buddhist traditions.
If looked at in proper perspective, Sarvanan’s translation of the last volume of at least the Mahavamsa is a valuable literary achievement. But his use of parts of the 5th century Mahavamsa that is not even available to the Tamil reader is nothing but hate writing. He or others who think like him should first translate the old Mahavamsa and allow Tamil-speaking people to make their own judgments about whether it is a work that would trigger genocide 16 centuries later or recognise that there is nothing in the Mahavamsa that is not taken for granted in religions of the Indian subcontinent.
[3] Jane Russell, Communal Politics in Ceylon under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931-1948. Ceylon Historical Journal, vol. 36, and Tisara Publishers, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka (1982).
by Chandre Dharmawardana chandre.dharma@yahoo.ca
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Plant compound shows promise in slowing growth of smaller aneurysms
Key Takeaways
Ohio State is the first in the U.S. to enroll a patient in a trial using a plant compound to see if it is effective in slowing the growth of small and medium size abdominal aortic aneurysms.
The treatment uses a minimally invasive procedure to deliver the plant compound, which helps strengthen the aortic vessel wall and may reduce the need for surgery in the future.
The clinical trial offers hope for patients worried about living with smaller aneurysms.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is the first in the United States to randomize a patient in a clinical trial looking at whether a plant compound derived from mangoes is effective in slowing the growth of small and medium size abdominal aortic aneurysms.
An aortic aneurysm is a weakened or bulging area on the wall of the aorta, which carries blood from the heart to the body. Aortic aneurysms most often occur in the abdomen but can also occur in the upper chest (thoracic aortic aneurysm). Aneurysms that burst or dissect (a tear in the inner layer of the aorta) can cause severe internal bleeding, which can be fatal. About 10,000 Americans die from aortic aneurysm-related deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Physicians use an ultrasound or CAT scan to monitor patients who have smaller abdominal aortic aneurysms to see how much they are growing and how quickly. Surgery is recommended for women whose aneurysms are larger than 5 centimeters or 5.5 centimeters in men. Patients can live with aortic aneurysms for decades without needing intervention.
Some patients are really worried about living with an aneurysm because of their family history or they have a friend who suffered aortic rupture. Some describe it as a ticking time bomb and can become mentally incapacitated. The potential benefits of this novel approach are enormous for these patients, and it has minimal risk,” said Kristine Orion, MD, site principal investigator of the trial, vascular surgeon at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and director of the Ohio State Aortic Center. She works closely with Subhashish Das who is the trial’s coordinator at Ohio State.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are caused by a breakdown of elastin in the aortic wall. In the clinical trial, surgeons deliver pentagalloyl glucose (PGG), a natural plant compound, to directly treat the aortic vessel wall using a balloon catheter. PGG has been found to bind to the elastin and collagen, strengthening the wall and slowing the growth of aneurysms, which can lead to rupture. The outpatient procedure takes about an hour and is minimally invasive.
The FDA has granted the Nectero EAST system both breakthrough and fast-track therapy designations. The average growth rate of an aneurysm is 2 to 3 millimeters per year. In an earlier feasibility trial, patients treated with PGG had significantly slower aneurysm growth, in particular for those with smaller aneurysms.
Results from the early phase of the trial are really exciting. It’s possible that this treatment will mean patients won’t ever reach the threshold for needing surgery,” said Orion, who is also a clinical professor of surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and holds the Philip Barbour Hardymon Professorship in Surgery.
The Nectero EAST trial is one of five aortic clinical trials currently being conducted at the Aortic Center. The Ohio State University is in the Top 10 nationwide for clinical trials.
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Colombo, January 7 (Daily Mirror) – Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that information uncovered during investigations suggests that Pulasthini Mahendran, also known as Sarah Jasmine and linked to the 2019 Easter attacks, is not dead.
He also said there was no indication that Sarah Jasmine is currently in India.
The Minister added that if required, the government would move to obtain a warrant for her arrest.
Minister Wijepala said investigations into the Easter attacks are ongoing and that legal action has already been initiated based on the information gathered. He noted that the new government is probing whether there was a conspiracy behind the attacks, describing the inquiry as an in-depth investigation. He added that certain details could not be disclosed in Parliament as doing so would hinder ongoing investigations.
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The world community must make clear that US intervention in Venezuela is a violation of international law that makes the world less safe, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
US forces ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a surprise operation at the weekend. He faces four criminal charges in the US, including narco-terrorism, and Maduro’s vice president has been sworn in as interim president.
It is clear that the operation undermined a fundamental principle of international law, that states must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” said the Office.
The international community needs to come together with one voice to insist on that,” chief spokesperson for the Office, Ravina Shamdasani, told reporters.
Far from being a victory for human rights, the military intervention damages the architecture of international security and makes every country less safe, she said.
It sends a signal that the powerful can do whatever they like,” she added.
The future of Venezuela must be determined by its people alone, she said, adding instability and further militarization would only make the human rights situation there worse.
Source: Reuters
–Agencies
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National People’s Power (NPP) Parliamentarian Shantha Padmakumara, currently accused of assaulting a police constable, is already serving a suspended prison sentence.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam shared this information during a press conference held in Colombo today (6).
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‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
e-Con e-News 28 December 2025 – 3 January 2026
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‘They took all of our oil…’‘We are going to run the country’ – USA
The New York Times & Washington Post proudly admit how they were told in advance of the US military attack on Venezuela, and the planned kidnapping of its leaders, and loyally ‘held off publishing what they knew’ (see ee Media). On the contrary, it is not a matter of ‘holding off’: their news media actively censors, diverts, whitewashes and enables the military, economic, and political intrusions of their paymasters. While the US media likes to claim ‘unprecedented mutual hostility’ with the current US regime, the close collaboration between this media & the US security state is nothing new, or unusual.
The English media have tried to downplay the steady guiding role by the monopoly capitalist interests behind each US regime, blaming policies on the quirks & clownishness of its leaders, sometimes even claiming the USA is tired of war & seeks peace. The recent US National Security Strategy (NSS) document is a case in point, which makes claims about the USA’s withdrawal from Asia (another pivotal turn around). The wilful naiveté of the capitalist media is endless. The continued dependence on US & European media systems (including so-called social media) and educational institutions sabotages any pretense to ‘independence’. The primitive use of AI videos to spread misinformation is also much more widespread. Meanwhile, the USA’s Meta (Facebook, etc.) is schooling the Sri Lankan government about data protection (see, ee Industry)!
What may be new, with its current actions, is the steady wiping away of the mists: The USA still aims to be the top imperialist, the sole hegemon. Along with its fellow settler satellites & non-settler satrapies, alongside the older colonial powers of Europe, they view & treat Sri Lanka & much of the world as its colonies.
The kidnapping and/or killing of leaders, therefore, is also not new to Sri Lanka. It’s more rarely broadcast on TV, and with such glee. In 2022 – as only now being slowly revealed – the USA & India attempted to kidnap & kill Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapakse (see ee Sovereignty, Julie or Gopal). Prior to that, leaders exhibiting any attempt at straying off the English script charted for Sri Lanka, were assassinated or blown up (with the non-governmental varieties, shot or incinerated – again, not broadcast live).
English media has been repeatedly reporting the ‘capture‘ (rather than a ‘kidnapping‘) of yet another leader (& his spouse) in the Americas. They even decorate it as an ‘extraction’, after a ‘surgical strike’, adding there were no Venezuelan casualties, even as 32 Cubans & other civilians were also killed in the recent invasion. In October 1983, when the US invaded socialist Grenada, they first targeted the Cuban and other foreign civilians helping to rebuild that country. As the first English-speaking Caribbean country, to strive to be truly independent, the US viewed Grenada as ‘the threat of a good example.’
The latest US ‘surgery’ is said to have involved 150 planes & the ‘largest armada ever assembled in South America’s history’, by their own admission. An operating theatre. The costs of such surgery are also to be borne by US citizens (many of whom cannot afford their own healthcare) to enable the owners of Exxon (Standard Oil, of New Jersey) to gain access to the largest oil reserves in the world. But it is even more than that.
*
I spent 33 years & 4 months in active military service
& during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class
muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Sreet & the bankers.
In short, I was a racketeer; a gangster for capitalism. I helped
make Mexico & especially Tampico safe for American oil
interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti & Cuba a decent place
for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped
in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the
benefit of Wall St. I helped purify Nicaragua for the
International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-12.
I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar
interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American
fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that
Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it,
I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do
was to operate his racket in 3 districts. I operated on
3 continents. – Major General Smedley Butler,
War is a Racket, 1935
*
Indeed, the role that such corporate ‘titans’ as Exxon (richer than most countries) have played in such acts of gore are not new, either. They determine US policy, & not just foreign policy. The act was committed just after the USA’s meeting with the leader of their fellow white settler satellite, Israel, to extract more blood money from their Zionist patrons, who have already prepared the world, with their display of real-time horror, that even Hollywood’s copious splashing of tomato sauce, pales in comparison.
The latest ‘surgery’ involves a larger attempt to exclude ‘non-hemispheric actors’ from the Americas. Exclusion recalls the legislative acts to remove Chinese people from Anglo North America (as a ‘reward’, perhaps, for introducing citrus farming to turn western USA into the world’s largest granary, while building the railroads there to carry out those harvests).
Meanwhile, the US envoy in Colombo who failed to kidnap & kill Gotabaya Rajapakse (she has previous hemispheric experience in Haiti, Peru, Bolivia, etc) has (again?) been recalled (by 16 January) for failing to accomplish said assignment. She has kept repeatedly blabbering, along with all her fellow peripatetic officials their embassy has had to host, about the US’ desire for a ‘free & open Indo-Pacific’ (though no one has so vociferously heard of a free-&-open North Atlantic!).
The envoy has apparently sought to remain here by any means, including tattooing (self-mutilating?) a washable map of Sri Lanka on her crusty ankle to show dedication to finish a job she was sent to do, to apply the final coup-de-grace to an operation begun by her predecessors. Perhaps only Frank Sinatra has been retired so often, and it had to take death for him to finally get to do things his own ‘way’. The envoy’s replacement, told their Senate in wintry Washington this week:
‘Sri Lanka’s strategic location makes it a focal point
for US efforts to promote a free & open Indo-Pacific
& counter adversarial influences, including China’s
growing presence in the region.’
Someone should quietly inform the new envoy, that as ‘presences’ go, China has always been in Asia, and part of this ocean now called Indian, long before the USA was even dreamed of…
*
• Every 1 January has forced the USA, on this their settler New Year’s Day, to recall through gritted teeth, the liberation of Cuba on that day in 1959. 2025 sees Cuba enter the 67th anniversary of their ‘libertad’. The US government now says it envisions a path to invading Cuba (again), through their purported ‘capture’ of Venezuela, with the pigs baying for blood, as it were (Playa Giron –Bay of Pigs – was the site of a 1961 failed US attempt at invading Cuba).
Jan 1st this year was also the222nd anniversary of the victory of the Haitian people, in 1804, who defeated 3 imperialist European armies, to declare their independence from Spain, France & England. These once-were-slaves set up the first ‘free’ Republic in the Americas, banning slavery, an act which the USA failed to accomplish for decades (some say a century & 3 score years hence, if waiting until the 1964 Civil Rights Act) thereafter. This Haitian act of liberation drove the white slave powers of the Americas into a frenzy, hastening the English to drive out and replace the Dutch in Sri Lanka in 1795, and turn to Asia to continue their slavery under that label called ‘indentured slavery’, or the ‘coolie’ trade.
The sharp defeat inflicted by the Haitians informs the very core of the North Atlantic’s epistemologies (knowledge systems) & ontologies (theories of being) to this very day. It is a memory they keep seeking to erase. The then-US President, Thomas Jefferson, who is passed off as a democrat, even as he was an ardent slave owner, called the free Haitians, ‘Cannibals of the terrible republic,’ where the ‘course of things in the neighboring islands of the West Indies [appeared] to have given considerable impulse to the minds of the slaves… a great disposition to insurgency has manifested itself among them’.
Haiti is indeed linked to Sri Lanka, as it was Spain’s invasion of Hispaniola (now Haiti & Dominican Republic) in 1492, that made a Borgia Pope divide the world into 2, sending the Portuguese to invade Lanka. Both Sri Lanka & Haiti have struggled to fight off European invaders for 500 years. Haiti supported Venezuela‘s war of independence from Spain, after Simon Bolivar promised to ban slavery in the Spanish Americas. In 1802, France invitedHaiti’s leader Toussaint l’Ouverture for peace talks & kidnapped him to France, where he died in jail. In 2004, the US, Canada, France & England kidnapped Haiti’s president JB Aristide. In 1915, US Marines invaded & took all the gold in Haiti’s Central Bank and deposited it in Rockefeller’s Citibank of New York. As we have to keep saying, it is not new or unusual.
Germany’s attempt to colonize South America’s Paraguay in the 19th century was fronted by the husband of the sister of the German ‘philosopher’ Frederick Nietzsche. Nietzsche argued that ‘reason & morality’ were a creation by slaves, and not for masters. Another European ‘philosopher’ French Marquis de Sade, decreed that if a thief robs you, it is you who must be put on trial for allowing such theft. The US & European governments have long practiced such Nietzschean & Sadist ideas. The USA’s recent invasion of Palestine was a dress rehearsal for open genocide, sans claim to reason & morality.
The real backer of this ‘surprise’ invasion of Venezuela, and related kidnappings & unreported mass murder, is Rockefeller’s Exxon – Standard Oil, the chief beneficiaries of such depredations; the ‘oilers’ who determine US foreign policy. Yet this too shows there is ‘reason’ behind the unreason.
The US government is now brazenly taking the veil off what European & their settler governments have always done, sometimes surreptitiously sometimes openly, for the last 500 years.
*
• The Sunday Times suggests that the Indian High Commission here forced employees of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat to provide extended applause as India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) announced an ‘aid’ package of US$450million. It was broadcast off Google’s Youtube (their preferred means of Indian compunction these days) after the EAM was sent here on an hurried emergency mission as the Indian PM’s special representative, to take the shine off a visit by a Chinese delegation scheduled for 24 hours later. India’s ‘aid’ package comprises: ‘$350mn in concessional Lines of Credit & $100mn in direct grants’. As MDD Peiris, a former servant who is called ‘civil’ (as opposed to all the uncivil servants), recalls for us (see ee Random Notes, Rejecting Rs900mn Grant), such ‘concessional’ charity comes with handcuffs…
*
‘The same blind eagerness for plunder
that in the one case exhausted the soil,
had, in the other, torn up by the roots
the living force of the nation…
Capital cares nothing for the length of life
of labour-power. All that concerns it is simply
& solely the maximum of labour-power,
that can be rendered fluent in a working day.
It attains this end by shortening the extent of the
labourer‘s life, as a greedy farmer snatches
increased produce from the soil by robbing it
of its fertility.’ – Karl Marx, Capital Vol 1
*
‘Sri Lanka’s agriculture as a whole is using over 50%
more fertiliser per acre compared to India
while yielding less per acre’ – D Pathirana
*
• This ee Focus reproduces Dhanusha Gihan Pathirana’s intricate survey of the depth of the destruction wrought by the recent ‘weather event’, but also by historical practices that cannot go on. He concludes that the government must prioritize the recovery & restructuring of affected agricultural land, also by creating industrial employment. He also explains how the overextension of agricultural cultivation has been a trap, catalysing climate-related disaster. However, any large-scale agricultural & industrial transformation would be impossible by depending on an extremely vulnerable external sector: ‘Foreign reserves declined particularly in Nov 2025 to $6,090mn.’ He calls for the increasing of national savings through ‘restricting luxury imports, particularly personal vehicles, and reducing the foreign debt burden through creditor renegotiation (despite the alarms by so-called central bankers). The government is relying on luxury import taxes that deplete reserves to generate revenue, and Pathirana wants savings channelled into ‘a dedicated Treasury foreign exchange account through Central Bank (CBSL) market purchases’, to transform agriculture & industry.
Mechanization is vital to increase agricultural productivity, as Sri Lanka’s agriculture is using more fertilizer than India & high-income economies, while the ‘massive increase in chemical input has not translated into better yields’. Rural industrialization is a must, as the historical dependence on unproductive methodss ha:
…likely left the civilisation vulnerable
to invasions due to the difficulty of sustaining
a large standing army on a fragile food base.
(see ee Focus)
Pathirana of course could also help us understand the odds against carrying out such progressive endeavours. One of the earliest US-sponsored coups d-etat in South America, was carried out in Guatemala in 1954, against the government of Jacobo Arbenz, who had dared attempt minor agrarian reform, opposed by the USA’s United Fruit Co. It was a coup, whose propaganda was devised by Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays – the ‘father’ of US ‘public relations’, and functionary of banker JP Morgan’s General Electric (GE).
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• The Nazi war machine’s industrial infrastructure was by 1941, reinforced by 250 US corporations, recalls Roy Singham as ee Focus also continues his invaluable rendition of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War (WAFW). He uncovers the links in the vast scale of US corporate collaboration & capital infusion into Nazi Germany’s war machine. Even more startling is his exposure of the rehabilitation of German & Japanese war criminals. The Quandt dynasty, enriched by concentration camp labour yet never prosecuted, became BMW billionaires, and are today Germany’s richest family. Japan’s war criminals were given even greater protection.
While many major German war criminals & their organizations were banned, zero Japanese organizations faced prohibition. Instead, they were transformed into Japan’s current Ruling Elite. The Japanese army’s Unit 731,which conducted horrific experiments on Chinese & Korean prisoners, recounted here in macabre detail, were given immunity along with their leader, Emperor Hirohito, with war criminals made cabinet ministers. This infamous unit was later let loose on Koreans, during the US war there in the 1950s. Ryoichi Sasakawa, ‘the world’s wealthiest fascist’, has a Nippon Foundation, which still operates openly in Sri Lanka. While the zaibatsu corporations – Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Nissan, Sumitomo – which ‘exploited 40,000 Chinese prisoners & 100,000s of Koreans’, are now ‘respectable’ multinationals also operating in Asia and elsewhere (see ee Focus).
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‘The difficulties of taking over metropolitan investments,
without action that is revolutionary in its character &
comprehensive in scope, are seen in the backtracking of
the Sri Lanka government (1970-7) on its program to
for fear of retaliation by the foreign interests. Within a
few days of his appointment the (Trotskyist) Minister of
Plantation Industries expressed the likelihood of action
being taken against the foreign interests. He declaimed to
newsmen: ‘The international monopolies will not retreat
without dealing counter-blows.’ 3 months later the Chairman
of British Exchange Banks Association in Sri Lanka cleared
the air when after a meeting with the (Trotskyist) Finance Minister,
he announced, ‘We shall go on banking’!’
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• The reasons for the failure of Sri Lanka & other non-settler colonies to truly break free of colonialism and develop modern (industrial) societies is examined in great detail, as ee Focus continues Chapter 5 of SBD de Silva’s classic The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (1982). Particularly fascinating is his description of the role played by India’s merchants & workers in Myanmar (Burma), as well as his comparisons of countries in North Africa.
Whereas the settler colonies were able to make decisive economic breaks with the imperialist powers, the non-settler countries failed to do so. This is because the imperialists now operate through compradore elements, and were able to even expand their economic interests. Operating ‘impersonally from abroad through large corporate enterprises’, they have deployed public-relations machineries to polish their public image, indigenizing business management, using national languages to a certain extent. The unreported corruption by foreign multinational corporations (MNCs), of politicians & bureaucrats,has enabled their ownership & control of the import-export game. The MNCs’ control extended ‘over the whole of the colonial export economy including the financing, marketing & sale of plantation or mining products, and its roots are not easy to unravel let alone exterminate’.
‘Remote control’ has given foreign capital an immunity from interference by national governments – an advantage which settler investors lacked. The removal of the ‘strong complementarity between export economies, heavily dependent on metropolitan markets, & the metropolis’, requires a ‘bold political program’. MNC-based industrial capital now invests directly without the mediation of the merchant firms which had managed & controlled the plantation interests, with a considerable share of foreign involvement being in the service sector, comprising banks, insurance & shipping companies and trading-cum-managing agency firms’… (see ee Focus)
There is a clear misunderstanding of the political measures and economic mechanisms needed to rebuild countries. This misunderstanding extends to those who claim to be ‘radical’, ‘Leftist’, ‘Socialist’ and ‘Marxist’, and yes, ‘independent.’ The widespread propaganda and demonization against USSR leader Joseph Stalin and China’s Mao Zedong, have left the world bereft of the real policies needed to modernize countries. Meanwhile the genocidal policies of the settler colonies in the Americas, Americas, Asia and the Pacific, have been whitewashed and transformed into ‘dream’ destinations, where the nightmares emerge only under the covers of a pliant media.
As 2026 begins, what a strange planet we find ourselves on. The two great empires of my youth, the Soviet Union (now Russia) and my own country, are clearly experiencing some version of imperial decline, even if Vladimir Putin is acting otherwise in Ukraine (as is Donald Trump in his own strange fashion in the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela).
No less curiously, the country visibly on the rise, China, is distinctly not acting like a typical imperial power of history (at least the history I’ve known) in my 82 years. In a world where the United States still has 750 or so military bases around the world, China, as far as I can tell, has at most just one (in Djibouti, Africa). While its economy has become significant globally (imperially significant, you might say), unlike essentially every imperial power from the Portuguese and Spanish in the 15th and 16th centuries on, it has no colonies and only the most minimal military presence abroad, though it does continue to build up its military power (and its nuclear arsenal) at home.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that we are distinctly on a different planet than the one any of those older powers inhabited. And even if America’s great man (my joke!), President Donald J. Trump, doesn’t seem to know it, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, certainly does.
Vladimir Putin’s version of imperial aggression is, at present, aimed at Ukraine in a war that will in the end undoubtedly prove a disaster, not just for Ukraine but for Russia and the rest of the planet, too. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s version of imperial aggression, which is likely (again, in the end) to prove disastrous, is for the time being (and, with him, you always have to add a qualifier) aimed at the Caribbean Sea, the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and Venezuela (which he now seems intent on turning into an oil colony), even as he prepares to build his own golden fleet,” including Trump-class” (old-fashioned) battleships. On the other hand, China’s major aggression” (and indeed, that word does have to be put in quotation marks!) is aimed — setting aside the island of Taiwan (which it claims not as a colony but as a part of China itself) — at the conquest of the future global green economy.
Or put another way, to give credit where it’s due, despite the fact that China continues to open coal plants in an unnerving fashion, its great-power desires are at least aimed at something — in fact, the thing — that truly matters on this distinctly beleaguered planet of ours. It is intent on becoming the Earth’s global powerhouse when it comes to the sale of green energy and the ways to produce it. Consider that its imperial target, one unlike any other in history (though perhaps a comparison could be made to the industrialization of what became imperial Great Britain in the nineteenth century). Moreover, it’s already selling and delivering green energy production units to countries globally, while far outpacing anyplace else on this planet in producing electric vehicles (EVs).
At War with the World
Last year, China installed more wind turbines and solar panels than any other country, indeed more than the rest of the planet combined. And as the New York Timesreported earlier in 2025, Not only does China already dominate global manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, EVs, and many other clean energy industries, but with each passing month it is widening its technological lead.”
While Donald Trump’s America is putting so much of its energy (so to speak) and money into coal, oil, and natural gas production, China’s government has been giving hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to wind, solar, and electric car manufacturers. And it is now hard at work spreading the products for producing wind and solar power globally. As the Times also reported, Chinese firms are building wind turbines in Brazil and electric vehicles in Indonesia. In northern Kenya, Chinese developers have erected Africa’s biggest wind farm. And across the continent, in countries rich with minerals needed for clean energy technologies, such as Zambia, Chinese financing for all sorts of projects has left some governments deeply in debt to Chinese banks.”
And of course, China is unequaled in the production of electric vehicles. There are now at least 129 brands selling such vehicles in China and they are exporting more than one-fifth of their products globally, while Chinese companies continue to out-innovate those elsewhere on this planet.
On the other hand, Vladimir Putin, who once joked that global warming might be good for Russians because they could then spend less on fur coats,” at least now acknowledges its reality. Nonetheless, he only recently signed a decree that would allow his country, already heating up 2.5 times faster than the global average, to increase its emissions of greenhouse gases 20% by 2035. And of course the United States is now led by a president who all too bluntly ran for office the second time around on the campaign slogan drill, baby, drill” and is making policy based on ending the green new scam.”
Only recently, in fact, his administration paused” the leases on and halted the building of five major wind projects under construction off the east coast of the United States, supposedly due to national security risks.” In essence, Donald Trump and crew have been doing their best to dismantle or get rid of anything in this country that might effectively impede climate change and the future broiling of Planet Earth. That is, in fact, the definition of his America, which is also the definition of decline on a scale that once would have been unimaginable. And remember, I’m talking about the same president who, last fall, told delegates from nations around the world at the United Nations that climate change was the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” while insisting that, If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”
In the bluntest terms, the greatest imperial power of the past century, the United States, is now in the Trumpian process of sending itself into a steep imperial decline on a distinctly beleaguered planet itself undoubtedly in decline. And part of the reason for that, Trump aside for a moment, is that we humans just can’t seem to stop making war on ourselves. After all, in addition to killing and wounding staggering numbers of us and doing untold damage to (even destroying) whole regions of the planet, wars also release stunning amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as do what still pass for peacetime” armies. In fact, the U.S. military, even when not at war, still releases more greenhouse gases than whole countries like Sweden or Norway. As it happens, it may be the single largest institutional emitter of such gases on planet Earth.
And worse yet, at such an increasingly dangerous moment in history, there are at least three significant wars underway on this planet of ours. In this distinctly post-modern age, there should be a term for such wars and the way — in addition to the hell on earth they have created since time immemorial — they are now helping produce an environmental hell through the release of greenhouse gases in vast quantities into the atmosphere. There is, of course, the never-ending war in Ukraine, the one (in partial — but only partial — remission) in the Middle East, and the brutal ongoing one in Africa. I’m thinking of Sudan, of course. (And don’t forget the more minor but still brutal one underway in the Congo.)
And when it comes to one conflict for which we have some figures on greenhouse gas emissions, the Guardianreported that, in the first 15 months of Israel’s war in Gaza, those emissions were greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries.” It similarly reported that the climate cost of the first two years of Russia’s war on Ukraine was greater than the annual greenhouse gas emissions generated individually by 175 countries.”
A Long-Term Definition of Suicidal on Planet Earth
So, at a time (and what a time!) when we’re experiencing one record hot year after another, ever fiercer forest fires, ever more horrific floods, ever more severe droughts, and so on (and on and on) — at a moment, in other words, when it increasingly seems as if humanity is ever more at war with this planet, the old form of imperial power, the one involving wars, colonies around the world, and global military bases, seems increasingly passé, even if the leaders of neither the U.S., nor Russia seem capable of recognizing that reality.
And in that context, those two imperial powers of the last century aren’t simply following the pathways of other imperial powers whose time was up. Yes, they are both distinctly heading downhill, but both of them, in an eerily purposeful fashion, seem (in climate-change terms) to be intent on taking down much of the rest of the planet with them. And none more purposefully (or so it seems) than Donald Trump’s America, which is distinctly focused on ensuring that, at least in the United States, wind power projects will be cancelled, solar energy projects avoided or wiped out, and ever larger areas from Alaska to more than a billion acres of ocean waters opened to the production of yet more fossil fuels. If you need a long-term definition of suicidal” at both a national and a planetary level, that obviously should be it.
And it’s in just such a world that China, the rising power on this planet, is neither spreading its military might globally, nor creating military bases and seizing colonies around the world. Instead, its leaders are doing their damnedest to take control of the universe of green energy and so plowing new imperial ground by potentially becoming the unparalleled green-energy power on planet Earth.
Of course, it shouldn’t really be a surprise that, on a planet changing before our eyes in the most basic fashion, the meaning of the very word imperial would change or that the old war-making, colonizing version of it would be left to the history books (and to the increasingly ancient and outdated great powers whose leaders can no longer seem to imagine the actual nature of our future).
And this brings me to myself. In some ways, in my 82nd year on this planet, I just can’t believe the world I’m in, nor could I ever have guessed that it would be quite this way. Donald Trump, president of the United States… really? At a moment when it should have been all too obvious that humanity was in danger of creating an all-too-literal hell on earth, a near majority of my compatriots elected (for a second time!) a man who not only refuses to faintly grasp what’s happening but has made a clear and conscious decision to worsen our situation by promoting the further use of fossil fuels in every imaginable way.
All too sadly, though it’s not normally used that way, the word suicidal” seems a reasonable description of his policies. I mean, what needed to be done really shouldn’t have been all that complicated — not on a planet where the most recent years have been the hottest in human history, the last 10 the hottest decade, 2024 the hottest year ever (and unsurprisingly, when the final figures are in, 2025 will undoubtedly be right up there, too); not on a planet where Arctic ice is melting, sea levels rising, and the weather (from storms to droughts) is growing ever more extreme by the year.
And yet, obvious as all that may be, Trump and crew have decided to actively intensify the ongoing disaster. And if that isn’t the definition of a once great imperial power going down (and attempting to take the rest of us with it), what is? To the extent that great power global politics even matter anymore, President Trump is literally turning this world, economically and ecologically, over to China, lock, stock, and rain barrel.
And all of that makes me wonder: How did I — how did any of us — end up here?
Yes, we’re clearly entering a new imperial age with China potentially at the helm of a planet that, in weather (and human) terms, will be going down, down, down.
It may be hard to believe, but that’s our reality — and I must admit that I find it painful to leave such a planet to my children and grandchildren. They truly deserved better.
Senior Venezuelan official says civilians, soldiers among dead as US aircraft target air defenses to capture President Maduro
HAMILTON, Canada
At least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed during a US military operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to a report by the New York Times late Saturday.
Citing a senior Venezuelan official, who spoke anonymously, the report said: “At least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in the attack.”
US officials told the New York Times that the assault involved a large-scale aerial operation aimed at disabling Venezuelan air defenses before ground forces were deployed.
“More than 150 US aircraft were dispatched to knock out air defenses, so military helicopters could deliver troops who assaulted Mr. Maduro’s position, US officials said,” it noted.
There was no immediate public confirmation from the White House or the Pentagon regarding casualty figures or the scope of the operation.
US forces captured and flew Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife early Saturday in a dramatic overnight operation, President Donald Trump announced, declaring that the US would run Venezuela until a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” is secured.
The Maduros are accused of trafficking “tons of cocaine” into the US, along with other crimes, in a new indictment unsealed early Saturday by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.
Critics warn the operation violates international law, bypasses Congress, and risks further instability across Venezuela and the region.
One of the most flawlessly executed special forces operations of the last half-century took place in 1979 when Soviet commandos stormed Afghanistan’s heavily defended presidential palace, killing Hafizullah Amin and several of his top aides. This allowed Moscow to install a replacement government much more congenial to its interests, though the result was the long Afghanistan war against Muslim guerillas.
Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, elderly and decrepit and not long for this world, must have felt tremendous pride at that successful action, as did his equally superannuated Politburo colleagues. I’m sure they all believed it demonstrated that the Soviet Union and its powerful military were still just as robust and vigorous as all their propagandistic Pravda editorials always proclaimed.
But despite that momentary military success, the Soviet economy and political system continued to decay. Just a dozen years later the USSR collapsed and disintegrated, with its Russian successor state soon entering one of the worst periods in its entire national history.
Arjuna Herath, the Chairman of the Board of Investment, the one stop shop for attracting investments in December announced that he would step down from his post by the end of this month, just under 16 months into his tenure
Any tax incentive that the BOI wants to offer beyond what is currently there needs the IMF’s rubber stamp
Sri Lanka does not offer any compelling reason for global industrialists or investors to relocate to Sri Lanka with its current tax policy and challenges
Although the headline economic numbers are still solid, dissatisfaction and frustration is brewing under the surface among business circles over the manner in which the government has become a hostage to the IMF
Colombo, January 5 (Daily Mirror) – While Sri Lanka has managed to push its Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) slightly atop the billion dollar mark in 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies have put the country in a bind in having polices, particularly when it comes to taxation in making the country an attractive destination for international investors.
Sri Lanka has estimated to have attracted FDIs of around US $ 1.1 billion for 2025, little under twice as much as the US 614 million the country received in 2024.
Arjuna Herath, the Chairman of the Board of Investment, the one stop shop for attracting investments in December announced that he would step down from his post by the end of this month, just under 16 months into his tenure.
Any tax incentive that the BOI wants to offer beyond what is currently there needs the IMF’s rubber stamp and it is not forthcoming as the IMF considers them as revenue leakage.
It has transpired that during successive meetings held with the IMF by the government every revenue related proposal has been looked at by the IMF with heavy skepticism and they have shot them down under the premise that they tantamount to revenue leakage.
A Deputy Minister who engaged in discussions with the IMF said that the latter fails to look at these proposals holistically in light of the overall benefit to the entire economy. Instead they are only concerned about getting the revenue targets up, that too in isolation.
This is while there are many ways that the government can get its revenues up by providing concessions to the private sector.
Even the budget 2026 passed in parliament was very light on tax concessions and instead the government brought the value added tax threshold for businesses down to Rs.36.0 million per annum from an earlier Rs.60.0 million per annum.
Although the headline economic numbers are still solid, dissatisfaction and frustration is brewing under the surface among business circles over the manner in which the government has become a hostage to the IMF.
It isn’t immediately clear if Herath’s resignation has anything to do with his inability to get the government to shift away from the current rigid tax policy, aimed at attracting new investments.
Sri Lanka does not offer any compelling reason for any global industrialists or investors to relocate to Sri Lanka with its current tax policy and challenges.
The government has recently announced that they would moot the highly unpopular property tax by 2027 despite the Treasury coffers overflowing.
And all indications are also that the government is unlikely to disengage from the IMF come the completion of the four year programme next year.
This has raised concerns that the government lacks a coherent economic strategy and a clear understanding of the structural challenges facing Sri Lanka’s economy. Analysts warn that such gaps risk eroding market confidence and public trust, potentially undermining the administration far sooner than anticipated.
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Education reforms are being implemented haphazardly without the necessary safeguards seen in developed nations, leading to the “obscenity” of the current curriculum.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, speaking to the media in Mirigama today (5), criticised the government for launching new educational programs without proper formal frameworks like White Papers or Green Papers.
The controversy centres on the new Grade 6 English module, which recently drew heavy criticism for including a link to an inappropriate website.
Premadasa asserted that the government, the Education Minister, and relevant officials must bear responsibility for this oversight, describing it as an unpardonable violation of children’s rights.
He emphasised that the temporary resignation of the National Institute of Education’s Director General is insufficient and called for a completely independent and impartial investigation.
Furthermore, the Opposition Leader highlighted other flaws in the reforms, such as the exclusion of History as a subject.
He argued that while the opposition supports the use of new technology, it must be implemented through transparent dialogue and proper consultation rather than unilateral, “arrogant” decisions that risk the mental well-being of the nation’s children.
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