(Introduction to Sena Thoradeniya’ s book- Galle Face Protest: System Change or Anarchy?)
(Introduction to Sena Thoradeniya’ s book- Galle Face Protest: System Change or Anarchy?)
‘US foot prints at GF protest site’ deals with the international players involved in the Aragalaya. In the article ‘Who were most afraid of Galle Face protesters?”, he deals with the main group and sub groups of local players in the Aragalaya.
The sub-groups involved were so diverse and numerous it is almost impossible to keep track of their composition. They ranged from altruistic youth to tele drama actresses, criminals, terrorists, rapists, perverts, and drug peddlers. They were all well-looked after by the benefactor. One such actress admitted to having earned seven lakhs.
The main groups were easy to be identified. ST had been able to identify twenty such groups. They ranged from the Anti-Rajapaksa group, to differently abled youth, ex- servicemen, LGBTO activists. I do not want to reproduce them here.
Sena Thoradeniya’ s article on Wimal Weerawansa’s speech at the SLFI is a panegyric full of praise for the valiant task he had performed. I too cannot think of anyone in the opposition ranks who would have had the guts to perform that task.
Quoting Mao, Thoradeniya refers to it as a cyclone. It was certainly a cyclone which by now has swept many off their feet. Julie Chang has been hit by it so hard, she has not only been swept off her feet but has also lost her balance.
Within twenty-four hours, she without even reading the script or the book has concluded it as fiction. Apparently, she does not seem to realise that good fiction is based on facts. Probably she is influenced by the fiction that is manufactured today in the West and served globally bolstered with such prizes as the Booker. They are certainly not based on facts or reality. They are based on fantasies of alienated sick minds far removed from reality and a sense of social awareness. The recent Booker prize for a novel by a Sri Lankan living abroad is a good example. Obviously, there is an undisclosed pro-Western, anti-nationalist ideology that guides the selection of these works.
While praising Wimal for his valiant revelation ST refers to two events that mired the occasion.
The introductory speech by the professor was a distraction.
ST calls it a ‘hotch-potch of sterile theory which has no practical value’. Apart from being hotch-potch it was a distraction for many in the audience who were eagerly waiting to listen to Wimal Weerawansa.
The other event that mired the occasion was trying to make a hero of that protester who belonged to the Aragalaya fraternity. He was shot by the Police when he attempted to set fire to the petrol bowser. The following observation by ST is valid.
The author makes the fallen protester a hero also dedicating the book to the wife and children of the dead person. The author fails to see that the protesters countrywide were looking for blood, a dead body and how this death caused to stage funeral proceedings, dirges and wailing at the Galle Face Protest site.
(Nine; The Hidden Story Wimal Weerawansa’s valiant Revelations, May 1st 2023)
In spite of these minor shortcomings, we should be indebted to Wimal Weerawansa for exposing the truth contained within that Golden Bowl which deceives many even today.
In concluding this fragmentary review of ST’s articles I wish to bring into focus an aspect of Aragalaya of which there is hardly any awareness among many, including some Buddhists who were ardent supporters of the Aragalaya. ST has made brief references but has not delved deeply into it.
According to what I observed it was obvious that within the Aragalaya there was a well- planned strategy to denigrate the Buddhist Civilisation of this country. To do it successfully they knew that the younger generation, the generation after ’77, had to be mobilised, for they are the heirs and bearers of that civilisation.
The Colonisers who came here realised that it was the Sinhala Buddhist Civilisation that had kept this country intact for millennia. And they knew once that civilisational base was destroyed, the edifice was bound to crumble.
Prior to Independence this was done with the Bible and the sword. After Independence more subtle methods were used. Those methods were too numerous and diverse to be enumerated. I will provide a bare outline since it would take me pages to provide an exhaustive account.
Bandaranaike founded the SLFP in 1952 to resuscitate the Sinhala Buddhists Civilization that was in decay. In 1956 people put SWRD in power to bring back the Sinhala Buddhist society that was there prior to the advent of the coloniser.
According to the US State Department papers released recently, US State Secretary Foster Dulles had spent five million dollars to defeat Bandaranaike at the elections. Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1956.That the hidden hand of the CIA was there behind this assassination came out at the Commission investigating this assassination. Sirima Bandaranaike who came to continue the Bandaranaike legacy had to face a military coup- to dislodge her, by anti-Sinhala and anti -Buddhist elements. The Rajapaksas were put in power by the people to carry on this Bandaranaike legacy. With the help of the Sinhala nationalist Buddhist forces Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to destroy Prabhakaran and his terrorist outfit. This was an unbearable humiliation for the Western powers (Defensce Ministers of the UK and France flew down to take away Prabhakaran). In 2015 Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated at the elections for which 30 million dollars were spent as admitted by John Kerry.
In 2019 when the entire Sinhala Buddhist people voted to bring Gotabhaya back to power; it would have been a shock to these Western powers. The only way to prevent a repetition in the future was to alienate the youth who were destined to continue the traditional role as bearers of that civilisation, and also, to get them to despise and disown their inheritance.
Some of them were for a secular multi-religious, multi- cultural multi-ethnic State, some others went further. They were for a completely secular materialist state. With that end in view, the eyes of the Bandaranaike statue were covered with a black cloth. Religious symbols were desecrated. The Tooth relic was called a labba. A female named Tirikkale of a city university, donned the cassock of a catholic nun. Many drug peddlers were put in saffron robes. Catholic nuns were offering dana to sarwaagamika priests. Then there was that bizarre spectacle- Wesak was celebrated with the lighting of black Wesak lanterns, probably to indicate what is in store for the Buddhist civilisation in this country. No doubt Jerome and Natasha (activist at Aragalaya) would have been emboldened to contribute their share to the campaign.
That this campaign was a total success was announced by no lesser a person than Omalpe Sobhitha thero, one of the God fathers of the Aragalaya when he made the following pronouncement jubilantly. Aragalaya has destroyed the Sinhala Buddhist supremacy’. That is exactly what Uncle Sam wants. Omalpe Sobhitha thero should congratulate himself for achieving what was not possible during the last two thousand years!
This aspect of the Aragalaya should draw the attention of the Sinhala Buddhists who get agitated by the slightest insinuation as an insult to Buddhism.
I am honoured to have been invited to write this introduction to Sena Thoradeniya and his contribution.
Sena Thoradeniya needs no introduction by me. He is far more knowledgeable on these matters than I am.
Reading these dispatches by Sena Thoradeniya (ST) to the Lanka web, I was reminded of a Vedic stanza I came across many years ago -I quote from memory.
It is an admonition given to the seeker of truth. Do not be dazzled by the glitter of the gold outside. Open the lid and there you will see the truth concealed within it.What Thoradeniya has dared to do, is to open that lid with these dispatches. He is probably the only intellectual who has dared to do so. He and Shenali Waduge were the two individuals to have initiated this truth-seeking process.
Now he has made those dispatches into a book so that they will reach a wider public.There is no doubt that these dispatches will be invaluable in understanding the true nature, the truth, contained in the Golden Bowl.
The promoters of the Golden Bowl –Aragalaya – were the so-called intellectuals, professors, professionals, media wizards and their mentors abroad. They presented the Aragalaya as a microcosm of the Utopian state that is to be. The Aragalaya protesters were made out to be some rare selfless ethereal species imbued with the highest of human values striving to bring about the fulfilment of Human Rights, Individual Rights, Democracy and Humanism. The Galle Face Green was turned into ‘an Adara Gedara’ – an abode overflowing with love, compassion and tolerance.
That was the façade that was needed to get the moral sanction – public approval and to conceal the diabolical plan within it. To see it in terms of an innocent phase, initially, and a violent phase, latterly, due to high jacking by external forces is too simplistic and naive. It cannot be phased out in that way. There was a holistic approach, right from the beginning.
I remember how a senior journalist, writing to a Weekly, labelled it as a unique instance in the history of world revolutions where a regime change – chasing away a President and a Prime Minister – was achieved without any blood shed and by mere protests!
Those protests and slogans were by no means innocuous. ‘Gota Go Home’ was no request as interpreted by that ‘know-all’ scribe. It was a threat – a life threatening – one as such to be carried out if the ‘request’ was not acceded to.
Surely that journalist cannot be so naïve as to have bestowed such adulation unless he was being brainwashed by Julie Chang at one of the garden parties.The adulators of the Aragalaya appear to have taken a step back now and are attempting to rationalize their behaviour by resorting to esoteric theories while ridiculing Wimal Weerawansa ‘for concocting conspiracy theories; and warning the general public of a possibility of a repetition of the Aragalaya. Their tone suggests that they are looking forward to such a repetition.
Julie Chang is the guiding spirit behind the Aragalaya; she is really a remarkable woman, an ambassador, the like of whom we have never witnessed before. She not only gives garden parties, but also advises both Gotabaya Rajapakse and the Aragalaya protesters. She patronizes the JVP. She gives hope and succor to the Red Sahodarayas in their pursuit of the armed struggle, knowing too well that it would provide an opportunity for Ranil Wickremasinghe to accede to the fourth request of the CIA chief to bring in his troops to the country.
She is truly a remarkable diplomat, with acumen, a vision, well aware of the shape of things to come. You can’t help having the highest admiration for her.What triggered the Aragalaya? According to our so-called intellectuals, and their foreign mentors, it was the economic hardships, non-availability of essentials, economic deprivations that brought about those massive protests at the Galle Face Green. (Strangely the most deprived class – the rural farmers – were not there).
They seem to assume that all of us have short memories. It is not the first time we faced such economic hardships. Between ’70-’77, long queues were a daily feature. We had to wait in a queue for hours to obtain anything. The bread queues started before dawn and we had to wait for hours to get a loaf of bread. There was no sugar or flour. In addition, we had to undergo much harassment at the ‘hal polu’ and ‘miris polu’.
People suffered in silence and did not rush on to the streets. There were no violent protests. To explain this difference in behaviour one may adduce many factors. Things have changed over the years. The present generation is aware of their rights and not prepared to take things lying down.
The insurrections (the JVP and the LTTE) have made violence and terrorism a part of our dally existence, morally sanctioned by us, the Marxism of the earlier period has given way to Bakunininism. There may be an element of truth in these observations.
But can they explain the creation of a mini city overnight – a city with all those attractions, such as theatres, cinema halls, eating houses, restaurants, salons replete with song and dance? Hundreds of protesters were housed day and night within them.
Who provided the funds and finances for such a massive project? It is only reasonable to assume that there would have been a great benefactor with enough funds to keep this city going.Who that great benefactor is disclosed by Thoradeniya in his article ‘US foot prints at the Galle Face protest site’.At the beginning of his article, ST refers to Wimal Weerawansa’s speech made on 27th July in the parliamentary debate on emergency regulations.
M.P. Wimal Weerawansa, participating in the debate on Emergency Regulations on 27th July said that the CIA, through USAIAD and NED (National Endowment for Democracy), have funded various Sri Lankan Non-Governmental Organizations aiming regime change and protesters were attempting to destroy the State with the aid of external forces. He disclosed the amount spent by NED in Sri Lanka from 2016 to 2020 and named some recipient organizations and the number of projects funded by it.
He further stated that the script of the present protest was written by foreign powers, how YouTubers were paid by their foreign masters and how the US Ambassador in Sri Lanka pressurized GR, on a daily basis, not to take any action against the protesters. He tabled a document to support his arguments.’ (US Footprints at the Galle Face Protest Site -August 20th 2022)
ST, in his article, elaborates on the institutions and agencies that Wimal had referred to in his speech.ST makes use of two articles Sonali Waduge had written ‘Regime change – Role of International Republican Institute (IRI) in Sri Lanka’ and ‘Who is NED and what is its role in Sri Lanka?’
NED and IRI are two main institutions with global reach that are operating in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eurasia. NED’s local version NDI was created by the CIA in Sri Lanka in 1983.At the end of his long article, ST gives a brief account of the activities conducted by the NED.
The list of countries that had suffered by NED’s intervention is too long to mention. Suffice to state that it happened all over the globe. Following are some activities conducted by NED all over the world: Funding pro-US political parties, including media, training and unifying opposition parties, insurrection training and instigating riots, influencing social media for political campaigns and generating anti-government slogans, promoting hate campaigns under different themes, tasking NGOs and civil society to do these work, funding disruptive news, building networks of academics, professional groups, artists and writers, dig up corruption and abuse of power, labelling rulers as dictators and autocrats, organizing protest marches and occupy movements and providing campaign skills – in Sri Lanka, in general, and at Galle Face, in particular, we saw all of these taking part simultaneously”(US Footprints at the Galle Face Protest Site – August 20th 2022)
The article written by ST is so comprehensive that it should be compulsory reading for anyone who is out to seek the truth contained in that Golden Bowl which has misled many an innocent onlooker.
‘US foot prints at GF protest site’ deals with the international players involved in the Aragalaya. In the article ‘Who were most afraid of Galle Face protesters?’, he deals with the main group and sub groups of local players in the Aragalaya.
Addressing the 51st Session of the Human Rights Council, the UN Acting High Commissioner stated: Thirteen years since the end of the war, tens of thousands of survivors and their families continue to seek justice and to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones. They remain in need of reparations. The Sri Lankan State has repeatedly failed to pursue an effective transnational justice process and uphold victims right to truth, justice and reparations. Rather, as described in our previous reports, successive governments have created political obstacles to accountability, actively promoted and incorporated some military and former paramilitary officials credibly implicated in alleged war crimes into the higher levels of government, and have failed to present a shared understanding of the conflict and its root cause”.
Continuing, the Acting High Commissioner stated: It is the hope of this office that the Government will now seize the opportunity offered by the changed circumstances in the country to re-embark on these fundamental processes that promote national reconciliation by ensuring accountability for past human rights violations and abuses. In the absence of current and effective accountability options in Sri Lanka, the High Commissioner has called on States to pursue alternate strategies to advance the accountability at the international level, including through consideration of targeted sanctions against alleged perpetrators as well as cooperation to initiate prosecutions on the basis of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction.
The focus of this article is on the comment that The Sri Lankan State has repeatedly failed to pursue an effective transnational justice process and uphold victims right to truth, justice and reparations”.
EXPERIENCES of TRUTH and JUSTICE
MECHANISMS
If Sri Lanka is to seize the opportunity offered by the changed circumstances”, a significant contribution towards this endeavour could be made by the UNHRC by clearly outlining what it means by an effective transitional process” and propose a suitable framework for Sri Lanka to seize the opportunity, instead of repeatedly referring to the failure of the Sri Lankan State. Judging from the variety of processes adopted by other countries and their experiences, no country has succeeded in developing an effective transitional process”, least of all the much hyped TRC of South Africa that focused on a restorative process of healing the nation” and therefore not on a retributive process of prosecution. Therefore, for the sake of all concerned, the Acting High Commissioner should at this juncture outline whether Sri Lanka should adopt a restorative process with reconciliation in mind, or adopt a retributive process and resort to prosecutions, bearing in mind the inevitable consequences that are associated with each choice.
A word of caution to the Acting High Commissioner is not to expect transitional justice processes for Sri Lanka to be similar to the processes adopted by South Africa, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Cambodia and Bosnia and Herzegovina because they were all internal armed conflicts, while the conflict in Sri Lanka was a Non-International Armed Conflict, as provided in Common Article 3 of all the Geneva Conventions. This difference was recognized by the UNHRC in their OISL Report (OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka – OISL).
As for the internationally recognized TRC of South Africa, its legacy, according to Dr. Desmond Tutu, was: The TRC was confronted by a number of challenges, as it was not accepted by all parties to the conflict. The top echelons of the military did not cooperate with the commission. It was mainly the foot soldiers in the security forces and those who were already imprisoned or were facing charges who applied for amnesty. Senior politicians in the former government and senior leaders in the security forces did not apply. In the case of the liberation movements, the members argued that as they had conducted a just war,” they were not required to apply for amnesty because their actions did not constitute gross violations of human rights”.
Unlike in the case of domestic settings where human rights violations are addressed through criminal investigations, prosecution and possible conviction, the experience of countries that have attempted to establish Truth and Justice Mechanisms following serious crimes in the context of internal armed conflicts is to prosecute only those believed to be most responsible while for the rest the Mechanism only serves as an opportunity to present their narrative as the truth”.
An article that confirms such outcomes titled Retribution and Reconciliation: War Crimes Tribunals and Truth Commissions – can they work together?” By Howard Varney, in Our Freedoms states: At an international level the global community has reacted to massive human rights atrocities in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda with the establishment of international criminal tribunals. Smaller hybrid courts, involving both local and foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators have been set up in Sierra Leone, East Timor, Cambodia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In most of these cases the attempts to deliver justice have been confined to the prosecution of only those regarded to be most responsible for the violation of human rights. This strategy is born out of necessity”.
If this is the outcome of Truth and Justice Mechanisms, as far as the victims in Sri Lanka are concerned, the several Presidential Commissions provided the opportunity for them to convey their truth” in the form of their narratives, and the justice that followed is in the form of ongoing reparations paid to them. As for prosecution of those responsible for serious violations of human rights and/or humanitarian law is concerned, existing legal provisions are in place through High Courts and Courts of Appeal assisted by the Human Rights Council of Sri Lanka for anyone who has access to credible evidence to avail themselves of this legal framework. This approach conforms with the procedures adopted under provisions of Individual Penal liability”. This topic was dealt at length in a book titled Our Fundamental Rights of Personal Security and Physical Liberty” (Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe).
However, such prosecutions invariably polarize communities as has been the case in other countries, thus ending up being a deterrent to reconciliation. It is for this reason that many authorities find retributive approaches to address violations being incompatible with reconciliation; which incidentally, is the end goal following serious conflicts.
RECOMMENDATIONS of OISL REPORT of the OHCHR
Whether or not the approach as stated in the Report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reaches the threshold of effective transitional justice”, they have advocated that Article 3 common to all Geneva Conventions is applicable to the armed conflict that took place in Sri Lanka.
Furthermore, Paragraph 182 of the above Report states: Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions relating to conflicts not of an international character is applicable to the situation in Sri Lanka, with all parties to the conflict being bound to respect the guarantees pertaining to the treatment of civilians and persons hors de combat contained therein. Common article 3 binds all parties to the conflict to respect as a minimum, that persons taking no direct part in hostilities as well as those placed hors de combat shall be treated humanely”.
Paragraph 183 states: In addition, the Government and armed groups that are parties to the conflict are bound alike by the relevant rules of customary international law applicable in non-international armed conflict”.
Therefore, even if Sri Lanka has not ratified Additional Protocol II of 1977, Sri Lanka and the LTTE are bound alike by customary law, and taking civilians hostage and using them as a human shield, is a war crime and therefore a violation of customary law; a fact incorporated in Article 13 (6) of Sri Lanka’s Constitution that states: Nothing in this Article shall prejudice the trial and punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal according to general principles of law recognized by the community of nations”.
RELEVANCE of PARAGRAPH 183
If, as Paragraph 183 states the Government and armed groups that are parties to the conflict are bound alike” by customary international law applicable to non-international armed conflict”, it must then follow that the act by the LTTE of taking of tens of thousands hostage and using them as a human shield is a war-crime for which they must be held accountable. Furthermore, by doing so the LTTE not only violated the provisions codified in Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions […] relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflict, but is also responsible for being the cause for the disproportionately high number of deaths in the conflict zone.
This makes all the difference between internal armed conflicts as in the countries cited above, and those as in Sri Lanka that come within the purview of Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions relating to Non-International Armed Conflicts. This cardinal fact makes the intention of the Government to appoint a Truth and Reconciliation Commission modelled on South Africa’s TRC, totally inappropriate. Furthermore, the fact that Paragraph 183 binds the Government and the LTTE alike, the accountability for the deaths in the conflict zone and the reparations for the victims should be a shared responsibility and not entirely the responsibility of the Government, as conveyed repeatedly in UNHRC Resolutions.
CONCLUSION
The position being consistently taken by the Acting High Commissioner and her predecessors is that the Government of Sri Lanka is solely responsible for the human rights and humanitarian law violations. This is because they have categorised the conflict in Sri Lanka as an internal armed conflict, similar to conflicts that occurred in countries such as South Africa, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Cambodia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, as stated above, this is NOT the case with the armed conflict in Sri Lanka; a fact that is recognised and acknowledged in the OISL Report of the OHCHR – a part of the very Institution that the Acting High Commissioner represents. Furthermore, if political obstacles to accountability are not to be created, the UNHRC should caution the Government about setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, modelled on South Africa’s TRC.
Therefore, instead of continuing to sing the same old refrain of Transitional Justice as being appropriate, it is about time that the UNHRC accepted the procedures laid out to address Accountability in the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions as being the most appropriate as recommended in the OISL Report of the OHCRC. Furthermore, it should be acknowledged that the most serious violation, amounting to a war crime, was committed by the LTTE when they took hundreds of thousands of civilians, in the conflict zone, hostage and used them as a human shield for which there is no parallel.
Neoliberalism is often misunderstood, but it is very important to understand this ideology that has dominated global economics and politics for decades. Ben Norton discusses the history of the neoliberal “Washington consensus”, and how it was imposed on the world. How China became the world’s industrial superpower – and why the US is desperate to stop it.
The Belgium Government expressed consent to provide modern European technology required to develop Sri Lanka’s ports.
The decision was announced during a special discussion held between Belgium Ambassador to Sri Lanka Didier Vanderhasselt and Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva this morning.
The Minister requested Belgium’s support in the development of the ports of Trincomalee and Galle, while also extending lucrative opportunities for Belgian investors to actively participate in these undertakings.
Discussions were also held seeking possibilities to train local youth at the Belgium yacht boatyard in southern Sri Lanka aiming at providing employment and also to establish a yacht marina at the Galle Port.
The minister said discussions were taking place for plans to strengthen maritime development activities between Sri Lanka and Belgium and expressed gratitude to the Belgium Ambassador for all the support and assistance extended to make such efforts successful. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)
The Sri Lankan government has decided to initiate diplomatic discussions with Japan on the revival of the Japan-funded Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. The Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday (July 04) approved a proposal made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on the matter. Accordingly, the government will prepare a timeframe to revive the previously scrapped LRT project and enter into an agreement following discussions with the Japanese diplomatic mission in Colombo. In March 2019, the Japanese government agreed to grant loan assistance of USD 1,800 million for the LRT system project which was to be implemented that year and completed by 2026, as a solution for the traffic congestion in the city of Colombo and its suburbs. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had agreed to provide financial facilities under concessionary credit conditions while the Oriental Consultants Global Company of Japan had agreed to provide consultancy services in collaboration with several other companies. On March 11, 2019, Japan and Sri Lanka signed the loan agreement and exchanged notes pertaining to the project, which had been designed to construct a 17km-long elevated rail track including 16 stations to cover important and major intersections from Malabe to Colombo Fort. Under the project, it had been proposed to deploy 25 trains for the service and each unit was supposed to comprise four air-conditioned passenger compartments to accommodate 800 passengers The total estimated cost of the project was Japanese Yen 246,641 million, and JICA was to provide JPY 200,415 million (approximately USD 1,800 million) as a concessionary loan. The company had provided the facility of paying the said loan over a period of 40 years including a grace period of 12 years and the annual interest rate thereon was 0.1 percent. However, in September 2020, the then-Cabinet of Ministers gave the nod to terminate the project citing heavy operating costs, and environmental damage among other reasons. A report compiled by the National Audit Office in December 2022 revealed that Sri Lanka incurred a loss of Rs. 5,978 million after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government unilaterally terminated the LRT project. In May 2023, the current Cabinet of Ministers decided to green-light the revival of the project days before President Wickremesinghe departed for Japan for an official visit. The decision was taken in a bid to restore Sri Lanka’s credibility with the international community.
The Colombo Stock Exchange’s All-Share Price Index (ASPI) continued its upward momentum today (July 05), gaining 99.49 points at the end of trading today to close at 10,176.13 points.
This is an increase of 0.99 per cent.
Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 index also moved up by 35.97 points to close at 3,009.09 points at the end of today’s trading, recording an increase of 1.21 per cent.
The market generated a turnover of more than Rs. 4.945 billion today.
Ivor Jennings did not sign the Kannangara Committee Report on Free Education. Following are a few excerpts from his Rider. His stance on the country not being able to absorb commercial and technical qualified products was perhaps one of the reasons that practical education was neglected.
“THOUGH there is much in the Report with which I agree, I regret that I am unable to sign If, however, education really became compulsory and if pupils of all classes were encouraged by free education to remain at school up to the age of 16, there might be as many as 22,500 (15 per cent of 150,000) leaving school every year with commercial and technical qualifications. I see no evidence that the Island is likely to be able to absorb even half that number. I appreciate the difficulty (which perhaps weighed with the Committee) that many pupils are receiving a wholly inappropriate ” academic” education in secondary schools. I think the solution is partly to alter the bias of secondary education and partly to improve the quality of the other schools and to encourage them to specialize.
There are other paragraphs in the Report with which I could not agree.
I regret, for instance, the racial definition of “Mother Tongue” in paragraph 90. There are many ways of encouraging the use of Sinhalese and Tamil and if it is so desired) discouraging the use of English, without attempting the impossible task of dividing the people of Ceylon according to ”race”. I should not have dissented merely because of minor differences of this character. My chief objection is that the Committee, after 87 meetings, suddenly changed the basis on which the Report was compiled. Since I agreed with the proposal to make education free, I was quite prepared to start again; but the Committee decided otherwise and I am therefore unable to sign the Report. I should like to add, however, that there are many Chapters, especially Chapters XVI to XIX which should help to improve the Ceylon system of education.”
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, peace be on him, Promised Messiah and Imam-al-Mahdi and Holy Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, in 1905, he warned the world in the following words:
Remember, God has informed me of many earthquakes. Rest assured, therefore, that as earthquakes have shaken America and Europe, so will they shake Asia. Some of them will resemble the Day of Doom. So many people shall die that rivulets of blood shall flow. Even the bird and the beasts will not be immune against this death. A havoc shall sweep the surface of the earth which shall be the greatest since the birth of man. Habitations shall be demolished as if no one had ever lived in them. This will be accompanied by many other terrible calamities which the earth and the heavens will send forth, till their extraordinary nature will become evident to every reasonable man. All the literature of science and philosophy shall fail to show their like. Then mankind shall be sorely distressed and wonder what is going to happen. Many shall escape and many perish. The days are near, in fact, I can see them close at hand, when the world shall witness a terrible sight; not only earthquakes, but also many fearsome calamities shall overtake man, some from the skies, and some from the earth. This will happen because mankind has stopped worshipping their true God and have become lost in their affairs of the world with all their heart and their effort and their intent. If I had not come these afflictions would perhaps have been delayed a little. But with my coming the secret purposes of an affronted God which were hidden so far, became manifest.
Says God: ‘We never punish until We send a Messenger’.
Those who repent, shall find security and those who fear before calamity overtakes them shall be shown mercy. Do you think you will be immune to these calamities?
Or can you save yourselves through artifice or design? Indeed not. That day all human schemes shall fail. Think not that earthquakes visited America and other continents but that your own country shall remain secure. Indeed, you may experience a severe hardship.
O Europe, You are not safe, and O Asia, you are not immune. I see Cities fall, and settlements laid waste. The One and the Only God kept silent for long. Heinous deeds were done before His eyes. He said nothing. But now he shall reveal His face Majesty and Awe.
Let him who has ears hear that the time is not far. I have done my best to bring all under the protection of God, but it was destined that what was written should come to pass
Truly do I say that the turn of this land, too, is approaching fast. The time of Noah shall reappear before your eyes, and your own eyes will be witnesses to the calamity that overtook the cities of Lot. But God is slow in his Wrath. Repent that you may be shown mercy! He who does not fear Him is dead, not alive.” (Haqiqathul Wahi – pp: 256, 257).
Note: The time of Noah refers to the people who rejected Prophet Noah – and had become lost in the affairs of the world, punished by God with mighty floods. Similarly Prophet Lot – the people who rejected him and extremely had foul practice of sodomy – because of, they were punished by God through devastated earthquakes.
July 4 (Xinhua) – A program to gauge the resistance of buildings and new constructions against earth tremors is being conducted across Sri Lanka, the country’s Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) said on Monday.
Several small tremors have been felt in the country in the past year, said senior geophysicist of the GSMB Mahinda Seneviratne on TV. Seneviratne said they are paying special attention to buildings in Colombo due to the high density of structures in the city.
He added that a 5.8-magnitude earthquake was reported in the seas off the southeast coast of Sri Lanka on Saturday, and the GSMB has received many inquiries about the safety of buildings, especially following Saturday’s tremor.
The tremor was located around 1,260 km from Colombo and took place in the deep seas, the GSMB official said, adding that residents of Colombo and Galle districts reported feeling the tremor.
As the summer travel peak approaches, Air China and other Chengdu-based airlines are increasing domestic and international flights to seize the market
According to Air China, its Southwest Branch, which is based in Chengdu, a hub city in Southwestern China, will launch, resume, and put extra flights from Chengdu to multiple international destinations this July to cope with the upcoming summer travel peak.
New and resumed international routes to foreign capitals
Among them, starting on July 2nd, Air China launched a new direct flight from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (TFU) to the capital of the Philippines, Manila, operating three flights per week. The outbound flights will be on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, while the return flights will be on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Yesterday, on July 3rd, Air China resumed the direct flight from Chengdu Tianfu Airport to the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, with three flights per week, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Additionally, on July 19th, a new direct flight from Chengdu Tianfu Airport to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, will commence with four flights per week, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
During the initial period of these new routes, Air China launched some promotional activities. For example, the one-way economy class ticket from Chengdu Tianfu to Manila starts from 750 yuan ($104), and the round-trip fare starts from 1,090 yuan ($151).
After the operation of the routes mentioned above, Air China will have launched a total of 13 international destinations in Chengdu. These destinations include cities such as Frankfurt, London, Singapore, and Bangkok, expanding the route network to cover Asia and Europe.
An alarming number of cases reported of people dying or suffering severe visual impairment after routine eye surgeries. Some doctors say the cause is an anesthetic purchased by the ministry in India from companies on the blacklist of unreliable products. But the government in Colombo rejects the allegations.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – Alarm is growing in Sri Lanka over several cases of patient deaths, including a woman pregnant with twins, that have occurred in Sri Lankan hospitals, which may be linked to an uncertified anesthetic drug purchased on the black market from the Ministry of Health.
There are also many people who underwent routine surgeries-such as cataracts-at hospitals in Nuwara Eliya (in the country’s central province), Anuradhapura, and Polonnaruwa (in the north-central area) and lost their eyesight because of the corrupted drug. They are now awaiting compensation from the authorities.
Many experts and health system workers themselves consider this affair one of the biggest failures of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA). White coats who found themselves operating with these products are of the opinion that they were purchased by the Ministry of Health on the black market from an Indian company.
Among them are surgeons Gayantha Meddegoda, Nilupuli Waidyaratna, and Dinesh Herath, who told AsiaNews that they had checked the labels of the pharmaceuticals: “Most of those imported in recent months were from some companies on the blacklist of unreliable and uncertified products. We reported this to senior officials in the Ministry of Health and NMRA, but instead of ensuring patient safety, they turned a blind eye to this problem.”
Sriyalatha Manampaeri (62) and Karunawathie Nissanka (49) from Teripehe and Hunnasgiriya in Central Province are some of the family members of the victims of these substandard drugs who have protested “this negligence of the health authorities.”
Similarly, the parents of Gunapala Rathnasiri (42), Miyuru Pathiraja (38) and Yasawathie Sedara (44) from Anuradhapura, who became blind overnight when they simply had to undergo cataract surgery in the hospital.
Coming from families in economic poverty, this situation makes it impossible to care for their relatives and go to work. “So now we will have to decide who will stay at home sacrificing their jobs to take care of our parents who have been disabled by the health service,” they explain.
In Colombo at a press conference, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella dismissed the allegations, saying that “even when you buy 100,000 U.S. FDA-approved drugs, some may turn out to be defective.”
Similarly, when questioned in Parliament on the issue of the anesthetic drug imported from India linked to deaths and visual impairment, he simply recalled that “initial investigations revealed that the controversial drug was used on only five patients, the others are to be ascertained.”
Meanwhile, Mihiri Tillakaratne, a lawyer who is providing free legal assistance to relatives of the victims, is of the opinion that “people who trivialize the sanctity of human life and dismiss with contempt accidental or negligent hospital deaths are not worthy of being responsible for the nation’s health.”
It is crystal clear that the language is powerful engine of human intellect and creativity, allowing for ultimate combination of words to generate an endless number of new structures and ideas out of ‘old’ ones. It has the main role in the human brain. It directs how we specify visual attention, explain and memorise events, categorise objects, distinguish smells and musical tones, present mental mathematics, make financial judgments, experience and express emotions, allow communication, which leads to exchange information, build relationships and create art.
On the other hand, the brain is a complex organ that controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger and every process that regulates our body.
This three-pound organ is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of body movements and controller of behaviour. Lying in its bony shell and washed by protective fluid, the brain is the source of all the qualities that define our humanity. It is the crown jewel of the human body.
The brain is like a group of experts. All the parts of the brain work together, but each part has its own special responsibilities. The brain can be divided in to three basic units; the forebrain, the midbrain and the hindbrain.
The hindbrain includes the upper part of the spinal cord, the brain stem and a wrinkled ball of tissue called the cerebellum. The hindbrain controls the body’s vital functions such as respiration and heart rate.
The cerebellum coordinates movements and is involved in learned rote movement, when you play the violin or hit the cricket ball you are activating the cerebellum.
The uppermost part of the brainstem is the midbrain, which controls some reflex actions and is part of the circuit involved in the control of eye movements and other voluntary movements.
The forebrain is the largest and most highly developed part of the human brain. It consists primary of the cerebrum and the structures hidden beneath it.
When people see picture of the brain it is usually the cerebrum that they notice, the cerebrum sits at the topmost part of the brain and is the source of intellectual activities. It holds your memories, allows you to plan, enables you to imagine and think. It allows you to recognise friends, read books and play games.
The cerebrum is split into two halves by a deep fissure. Despite the split, the two cerebral hemispheres communicate with each other through a thick tract of nerve fibres that lie at the base of this fissure.
Although the two hemispheres seem to be mirror images of each other, they are different, for instance, the ability to form words seems to lie primarily in the left hemisphere, while the right hemisphere seems to control many abstract reasoning skills.
It is evident that the right cerebral hemisphere primarily controls the left side of the body and the left hemisphere controls the right side.
When one side of the brain is damaged, the opposite side of the body is affected for example a stroke in the right hemisphere of the brain can leave the left arm and leg paralysed.
It is a significant fact that the two hemispheres in our brain are connected by a thick bundle of nerve fibres called the corpus callosum. Those fibres, called the corpus callosum, ensure both sides of the brain can communicate and send signals to each other.
You may have even heard the term ‘GoldenBrain.’ Used to refer to people who used both side of their brain equally. This is very similar to how most people are either right handed or left handed and some people are even Ambidextrous!
However, if we use both sides of our brain, it will help improve learning and memory, the left side of the brain controls logical thinking and speech while the right side handles our imagination and spatial awareness, when we use either hand to write, we activate these two parts of the brain at once; this gives us an edge over those who only use one half.
It is high time to see the role of the brain in language processing. The Broca area is in the brain’s frontal lobe and is responsible for language processing.
Pierre Paul Broca provided the first anatomical proof of what part of the brain was responsible for what, Neuro, scientists say the Broca area can understand language through memories, meanings and emotions.
Broca’s area is associated with speech production and articulation. Our ability to articulate ideas, as well as to use words accurately, in spoken and written language, has been attributed to this crucial area.
Studying a language engages memorisation skills (learning new words and rules) as well as recalling the producing of new language in class activities. So it is no surprise that people who regularly use a second language have more powerful memories. Those are the benefits of the language on the brain.
Broca’s and Wernike’s areas are cortical areas specialised for production and comprehension of human language, respectively. Broca’s area is found in the left inferior frontal gyrus and Wernicke’s area is located in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus.
Wernicke’s area controls the ability to understand the meaning of words, Broca’s area in conjunction with the motor cortex, controls the ability to speak those words.
It Broca’s area is damaged there is a break down between one’s thought and one’s language abilities. Patients often feel that they know what they wish to say but are unable to translate their mental images and representations into words. Remembering earlier movements is also part of Broca’s area functions.
Damage in particular areas of the brain can lead to disrupted language because the means of processing language is damaged.
This phenomenon is commonly called language disorder. Written language and spoken language differ in many ways. Injury to language centres of the brain leads to a condition called aphasia, there are different levels of impairment and the term, dysphasia refers to partial loss of language.
If the brain spilts, the messages sent to the hemispheres cause different responses, for example objects place in the left hand (Right hemisphere) object can be used but not named. Object placed in the right hand (Left hemisphere) object can be named and described immediately.
Many patients with spilt brain syndrome retain intact memory and social skills. Split brain patients also maintain motor skills that where learned before the onset of their condition and require both sides of the body for example walking, swimming and biking.
On the other hand, using only one hemisphere to engage in a task leaves the other hemisphere free to engage in other functions, this provides evidence for the advantages of brain lateralisation and demonstrates how it can enhance brain efficiency in cognitive tasks.
Anyone who undergoes hemispherectomy will have some functional limitations, for example when half of the brain is damaged, disconnected or removed, it causes weakness on the opposite side of the body.
When the left cerebral hemisphere is removed, one will lose most, but not all of their linguistic competence to speak and process complex syntactic patterns and will retain some language comprehension ability.
When his right cerebral hemisphere is removed one will find it difficult to understand jokes and metaphors.
He or she cannot use loudness and intonation as cues to whether a speaker is angry, excited or merely joking. So the right hemisphere also has a role in normal language use.
Last but not least, the brain plasticity is very important. It is the ability of the brain to modify its connections or re-write itself without this ability. Any brain, not just the human brain, would be unable to develop from infancy through to adulthood or recover from brain injury. The child hemispherectomy patients are able to reacquire a linguistic system.
Albeit delayed, but in adults the right hemisphere cannot take over linguistic functions any more.
The memory capacity of a human brain was testified to have equal to 2.5 petabytes of memory or a million gigabytes so that the average adult human brain can accumulate the equivalent of 2.5 million gigabytes of memory.
The human brain can work 24 hours a day without rest and about six minutes after the heart stops the brain essentially dies.
(R. Madidaran is a Senior Lecturer of English, British Way English Academy)
In the wake of the elephant Muthu Raja who was badly abused while being kept at a Buddhist temple, several Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are attempting to publicize the notion that elephants should be removed from the perahera culture, Asgiriya Chapter Venerable Narampanawe Ananda Thera said.
He told the media that Muthu Raja was a well-tamed elephant.
This is a planned propaganda that NGOs always resort to during every perahera season, Thera said.
“Every nation in any country has its own culture. In the Sinhala Buddhist culture, we used to use elephants. In England, horses are used for their royal ceremonies as part of their own culture,” he said.
According to the reports issued by the Wildlife Department, a large number of elephants were killed during the human-elephant conflict in 2022. But none of the tamed elephants have died yet due to abuse.
While condemning the statement made by Venerable Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thera, the Asgiriya Chapter said that there is no vocational training or education that can be given for the care of elephants, and that always comes from practice.
Therefore, people should stand against those NGOs to protect our own perahera culture, the Thera added. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)
The Sri Lankan government’s proposal for treatment of domestic debt marks a significant step towards resolving uncertainties around the impact of the sovereign’s debt restructuring on the local banking sector, but complications may arise from a number of factors, says Fitch Ratings.
The proposal excludes banks’ holdings of Sri Lankan rupee-denominated treasury securities, which will alleviate some of the pressure on their already stressed capital positions from weakening loan quality and the rupee’s depreciation.
Fitch’s base case did not expect treasury bills held by banks to be subject to restructuring, but assumed banks’ treasury-bond holdings would be. Bank holdings of Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs), which are foreign-currency denominated but governed by local law, will be affected, as we had anticipated, and we still expect an impact on international sovereign bonds (ISBs) as well.
However, these together account for only about 5.5% of banks’ combined assets, a much smaller share than treasury securities (26.4% for Fitch-rated domestic banks). The proposal also includes a restructuring of foreign-currency bank loans to the government (less than 1% of combined assets for Fitch-rated banks), though without detailed plans.
The government has outlined three treatment options for SLDBs. We expect banks will generally opt for the choice involving conversion of such debt into local currency-denominated instruments; banks have so far opted to convert maturing SLDBs to rupee-denominated treasury bonds since the announcement of suspension of foreign debt servicing in April 2022.
Provisioning should help to moderate the hit to bank capital from the debt treatment. Fitch-rated Sri Lankan banks have already made provisions of 35% or higher for ISBs, with SLDBs being subject to lower provisioning due to the possibility of obtaining rupee-denominated treasuries.
Nonetheless, worsening impaired loans (end-May 2023: 13.3% of system loans, from 1Q22: 8.4%) in line with the economic stress associated with the sovereign default and the unwinding of forbearance provided during the Covid-19 pandemic are already exerting pressure on banks’ thin capital buffers.
We do not believe a restructuring of the sovereign’s local-currency obligations is likely to trigger a loss of depositor confidence in the banking system, based on the proposed plans. However, funding stress remains a negative sensitivity for bank ratings.
Fitch-rated Sri Lankan banks’ national ratings remain on Rating Watch Negative (RWN) to reflect the potential for the banks’ creditworthiness relative to other entities on the Sri Lankan national ratings scale to deteriorate. This reflects heightened near-term downside risks to credit profiles from capital and funding stress.
A downgrade of the sovereign’s ‘CC’ Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating would not automatically drive a downgrade in Sri Lankan bank ratings. To resolve the RWN on these ratings, we will need to assess the impact to the banks’ capital once debt treatment terms are finalised, including the effects of any present value reductions from an exchange of bonds and those of any regulatory or accounting forbearance.
We may resolve and affirm the banks’ ratings if we think risks from funding and capital stresses have abated, at both the individual bank and the sector level, to the extent that we believe the banks’ ability to service obligations in local and foreign currency is not hindered and/or banks are able to continue as a going concern and avoid failure.
Although the government’s domestic debt treatment announcements go some way towards resolving uncertainties over Sri Lankan bank ratings, many risks remain. It is still unclear, for example, whether the government’s proposals have received support from the sovereign’s key external creditors. If not, the risk of further domestic debt restructuring could linger, resulting in further instability for the banking sector.
Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has assured that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is on a path towards achieving financial stability.
Participating in a media briefing held at the Presidential Media Centre themed ‘Collective path to a stable country’, Wijesekera expressed confidence in the government’s program, led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, to promote financial stability in both the Electricity Board and the Petroleum Corporation.
Meanwhile, addressing accusations from various parties regarding the electricity price revision, the Minister highlighted that in June’s price revision, the government provided a significant 55% relief in electricity prices to 3.5 million out of the total 6 million consumers.
Addressing the press conference the minister said;
In the past year, our country faced challenges such as fuel queues and power cuts. However, under the decisions made by the new government, significant progress has been achieved in eliminating fuel queues and ensuring continuous electricity supply.
The revision of electricity prices took place in January and June, benefiting around 6 million household consumers. A 55 per cent price reduction was implemented for approximately 3.5 million consumers using 30 to 60 units of electricity.
Additionally, concessions were provided to the industrial sector during the price revision. There are approximately 40,000 registered religious shrines, and about 15,000 of them consume less than 30 units of electricity.
The electricity board had been facing significant financial losses, with a total loss of Rs. 409 billion in the past.
However, last year’s loss was reduced to Rs. 167.2 billion. The government has successfully completed all payments to suppliers and has created a favourable environment for initiating new renewable electricity projects.
Additionally, steps have been taken to remove a Rs. 120 billion debt from the balance sheet of the Petroleum Corporation, resulting in the electricity board’s improved financial position.
With the strengthened financial position, the electricity board plans to resume maintenance work and provide new connections that were put on hold in the past three years.
Out of the 36,000 new connection applications received, 20,000 connections have already been completed, and efforts are underway to fulfil the remaining connections within the next two months.
Furthermore, the Petroleum Statutory Corporation has established contracts with two new agencies for a consistent supply of fuel since September last year.
These agencies are scheduled to commence fuel supply by the end of this month, and the first fuel shipment is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka at the same time. Around 150 fuel stations have been registered by these agencies so far, ensuring reliable fuel availability.
After the arrival of their ship in Sri Lanka, fuel distribution was initially carried out under the name of Ceypetco.
However, future distribution will be conducted under their own company name. To address outstanding debts, including those owed to Indian and Iranian creditors as well as fuel suppliers, the Ministry of Finance has imposed a tax of Rs.50 per liter of fuel during distribution.
The Petroleum Corporation has successfully repaid all loans owed to the Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank, resulting in its strengthened financial position.
Despite this, the restructuring process of the Petroleum Corporation will continue as planned. The revised draft for the restructuring of the Electricity Board has been forwarded to legislators, and once received, it will be submitted to the Attorney General and subsequently presented to the Cabinet for recommendations.
There is a possibility of passing a new act in this regard. There is no pressure on the employees of the electricity board, and efforts are being made to verify the status of employees who have completed NVQ courses but are currently unemployed.
Legal actions are being taken against fuel stations that failed to maintain oil stocks during the fuel price revision. One such station, the Rajagiriya petrol station, has already been taken over by the government.
Complaints have been received regarding 120 fuel filling stations that did not comply with stock maintenance requirements during fuel price revisions, and future plans involve implementing appropriate legal measures.
The decision has been made not to hire new employees, as the current number of employees in the Ministry and its associated institutions is deemed sufficient.
The President, along with the Prime Minister and the government, has planned to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of government institutions based on collective decisions.
Investors who previously submitted tenders for renewable energy have not yet responded. It has been discovered that some of the organizations that were awarded tenders have sold them to other entities.
As a result, the tender call for 500 megawatts of renewable energy is expected to be cancelled in the upcoming cabinet meeting, and a fresh tender call will be issued.
Additionally, the necessary permissions have been granted to the ‘Adani’ company for the construction of a 500 MW renewable energy power plant. Their energy generation is projected to be integrated into the national grid by December of next year.
While the majority of employees from these institutions have expressed their desire for the restructuring of the Petroleum Corporation and the Electricity Board, some protests have emerged due to concerns regarding potential loss of trade union privileges.
However, granting salary increments and bonuses to loss-making organizations is not deemed acceptable. Such practices are not prevalent in any country worldwide. A 25% salary increase every three years for the 24,000 employees of the Electricity Board has been discontinued.
Salary increments are allocated exclusively to employees who are actively working and demonstrate productivity.
It is a common practice worldwide to provide salary increments selectively rather than uniformly across an organization. Similarly, bonuses distributed in April and December is contingent upon the company’s profitability and is awarded solely to employees who contribute effectively.
In collaboration with Indian loan assistance, plans are underway to equip government institutions and religious sites with solar panels. Each religious place will be provided with a five kilowatt solar panel, while government institutions will receive solar panels suitable for their roof sizes. The implementation of this project is scheduled to commence within the next two months.
Attention has also been directed towards exploring nuclear energy options, with plans to incorporate it into the 2023-2042 generation plan.
A comprehensive evaluation will determine the suitability and viability of nuclear energy for our country, and subsequent decisions will be made accordingly.
The Colombo Stock Exchange’s All-Share Price Index (ASPI) showed significant performance today (July 04), gaining 633.69 points at the end of trading today to close at 10,076 points.
As a percentage, this is an increase of 6.71 per cent.
Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 index also moved up by 279.17 points to close at 2,992.82 points at the end of trading today, marking an increase of 10.29 per cent.
The market generated a turnover of more than Rs. 7.41 billion today.
When Sri Lanka ended the ethnic war fourteen years ago, many analysts expected that the declining trend of additional military expenses, combined with the reducing of many public expenditures, improving productivity, would be positively accomplished the economic potential of the country and the external value of Sri Lanka rupee will increase. Addition to the above gains, the increasing of economic performance and the growth of merchandise exports and the development of export related services would be supported to an increase in external value of the Sri Lanka rupee. Despite such expected progress, rupee value has not been improved during the past fourteen years and it is a question for many. When critically evaluating the problem, the significant reason was foreign debt service that demands a large volume of foreign reserves to make debt service during the one and a half decade and political influence by corruption also contributed to the problem.
While giving major reasons for not improving rupee value, another vital factor to consider is whether the proceeds of foreign loans have actually been used for the purpose and did political leaders in the country have misused the proceeds of foreign loans. If foreign loans have been used for productive purposes, a positive impact on the economy would have incurred an increase in foreign exchange earnings. People don’t know how spent the earned foreign exchange, but responsible persons who were in the monetary authority have an accurate picture about it and the members of the authority were back scratchers of powerful politicians and the truth was camouflaged.
The outcomes generated from the economy are not encouraging and shown as an opposite direction than expectation. The external value of the Sri Lanka rupee during the past 10 years has in a declining trend with a slight improvement in certain situations, and some experts express that the external value of Sri Lanka rupee would be improved by the worldwide de-dollarization process. How far this idea would become practical could not exactly express, however, the size of economic transactions of the country might not provide supportive evidence for the positive outcome of exchange reserves. The trade between India and Sri Lanka for a reasonable volume has supported for a barter system and if this situation expands to transaction between China and Sri Lanka, the de-dollarization might support to improve Sri Lanka rupee. However, such changes would not be positive as long as an enormous volume of foreign reserves needs for debt service.
The official statistics published by the government and the annual report of the Central Bank evidence that the external value of the currency unit has been declined rather than an improvement during the past ten years. It is an actual result despite the expectation, and when many considered the foreign value of rupee, the debt servicing related exchange costs have not taken into consideration and the holding of debt service would not be a positive policy action for the external value of Sri Lanka rupee. Although the president of Sri Lanka states that the economy will recover in September, it is just estimation and if the president could make the way to write-off, the foreign debt it might positively support.
Import costs have been increased during the past 10 years, supporting the upward inflation and declining the foreign value of the currency unit. It was a significant reason for the decline in foreign value, despite expected improvement? The other factors were growing foreign debt and spending earned foreign exchange for foreign debt service than the cost of imports. The importing goods and services and gaining foreign loans had resulted in the corruption and misuse of exchange earnings.
Policymakers introduced various rules and regulation however, they were not working in the economy, and corruption that was supported by the political authority allow to misuse of foreign exchange earned. They were major contributing factors for not improving the external value as expected. Compared to many countries in the world, ruling political parties unreasonably being worked against the value determination of the currency unit and the market operation of the currency unit gained a declining trend.
The administration of foreign exchange earned by the country was par with the regulation issued by the Central Bank. Regulation was flexible to break them by politicians and many evidence recorded that earned exchange was misappropriated by politicians and their associates.
The practice of Sri Lanka regarding the foreign asset management has not been accustomed to generate benefits to the country despite the public talks. The other nature that negatively affected on the foreign value of rupee was increasing foreign debt, which increased to above 35% of GDP. Increasing foreign debt was caused the increase in payment (expenditure) of foreign exchange, it has been affecting the external value of the currency unit. The authority knew this situation and did not advise the politicians to stop misuse of foreign reserves. And the monetary authority made a blind eye and allowed politicians to decide what they want.
Many politicians and their henchmen used foreign exchanges earned by the country for personal using purposes, violating regulation and the monetary authority directed the blind eye to these corruptions.
However, now the authority attempts to explain that the external value of Sri Lanka rupee has been improved after the agreement with IMF since this year, and such analysts have not given detailed reasons for the sudden improvement of the external value, they are reluctant to openly talk about the influence of a de-dollarization campaign in the world for the improvement of rupee value. A considerable reason is changing the economic environment of the world after the COVID-19 downturn, resulting the new environment for international business. Influence of the de-dollarization is negligible to the external value of the Sri Lanka rupee because the quantum related to international transaction of Sri Lanka is diminutive and it is not comparable to oil transactions of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Demand and supply of foreign exchange will be the fundamental factor for the foreign value of Sri Lanka’s rupee and when it considers the power of Sri Lanka’s economy, the possibility of influencing the Sri Lanka Rupee is negligible. However, the quantum of foreign exchange earned and carefully spending such earned exchange would be influenced the determination of external value.
The factors which are influencing the improvement of external value of Sri Lanka rupee are macroeconomic in nature, and the reviving the economy after the downturn of COVID-19 is the major reason, and if the Sri Lankan analysts consider the impact of the de-dollarization is misleading. Mathematically, the price elasticity as a factor of export demand and supply may be calculated and my opinion is it would be tiny that would the imperceptible portion. Many analysts in Sri Lanka are stuck with micro economic factors, because they are in a difficult situation to identify them or nothing in a position to count them. Therefore, many analyses are not realistic analysis.
Although the campaign of de-dollarization appeared like a dream by the supporters of the US Dollar at the beginning, now it shows de-dollarization will be a reality. Many countries have used other currencies, such as Indian rupees, Chinese currency for large bill settlement in international trade. There were various factors concerning with the campaign of de-dollarization and, for instance, Sri Lanka uses Indian rupees for the settlement of bills with India. It reduces the stress of Sri Lanka’s economy.
The currency authority in the world must understand that the US Dollar based settlement system procreated many problems to developing countries and making small credit supports is not give a successful solution to stick in US Dollar base payment system. The US authority should have understood this truth and should have proposed a more reasonable payment system like a multiple currency system on the globe. If such a system originated from the USA, the de-dollarization headache would not arise and more harmonise system works throughout the world.
The sudden improvement of the external value of the Sri Lanka rupee concerns with several factors and they are macroeconomic elements and all factors relate to this economic consequence cannot be openly discussed because macroeconomic factors like various plants in a jungle. Sometimes, they may not be all elements because complex of influence, and many factors are hidden and the value of factors influencing needs to be mathematically calculated. The best action is to conduct mathematical research that identifying factors and calculating the relationship between factors and the value of the improvement of the external value. A multi-correlation investigation would be an excellent method and many analysts have not done such detailed research and express views.
According to assumption, de-dollarization may have a strong relationship with the improvement of the external value of the Sri Lanka rupee, but it is not a truth acceptable and subject to scrutiny. Public speaking of many analysts who gain benefits from the Western funded research institutes are reluctant to talk about the subject and they attempt to show silence on the matter.
De-dollarization and many embargos for Russia might be influenced to improve the external value of currencies of developing countries. After the conference of BRICS could be known about this and financial analysts in Sri Lanka should not scare to express independent opinion.
Bitcoins are a type of digital currency, often referred to as cryptocurrency.
They exist only in digital form and are not physical coins or notes that you can hold.
Just like regular money, you can use bitcoins to buy goods and services, but they are mainly used for online transactions.
Bitcoins are created through a process called mining.
However, it’s not like traditional mining where you dig the ground.
In Bitcoin mining, powerful computers perform complex calculations to validate and record transactions on a public ledger called the blockchain.
Miners compete to solve these calculations, and the first one to solve it correctly gets rewarded with newly created bitcoins.
This is how bitcoins came into existence.
Unlike traditional currencies that governments or central banks control, bitcoins are decentralized.
This means that no single person or entity controls them. Instead, they are governed by a computer network that participates in the Bitcoin system.
This decentralized nature is one of the key features of bitcoins, as it makes them resistant to censorship and manipulation.
As for the future of bitcoins, it’s challenging to predict with certainty.
Some people believe that cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, have the potential to revolutionize the financial system and become widely accepted as a mainstream form of payment.
Others are more sceptical and see bitcoins as highly volatile and risky investments.
The value of bitcoins can fluctuate significantly in a short period, which makes them attractive to some investors but also risky.
Additionally, the regulatory environment around cryptocurrencies is still evolving in many countries, which can affect their future adoption and acceptance.
In summary, bitcoins are digital currencies created through a process called mining, and they are controlled by a decentralized network of computers.
Their future is uncertain, with some seeing them as a transformative technology while others consider them risky.
It’s important to remember that investing in bitcoins or any cryptocurrency carries risks, and it’s advisable to do thorough research and exercise caution before getting involved.
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Jayatunge, R.M. (2018). Essays On Psychology. Godage International Publishers. Colombo.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil (BGE), trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Vintage Books, 1989 [1886]).
Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science (GS), trans. Josefine Nauckoff, ed. Bernard Williams (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001 [1882]).
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, trans. Adrian del Caro, ed. Adrian del Caro, Robert Pippen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
Santaniello, W. (2007) Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Religion, Ars Disputandi, 7:1, 136-138, DOI: 10.1080/15665399.2007.10819958.
The country faces the challenge of restructuring its foreign and domestic debt ahead of an IMF deadline.
COLOMBO China will not join” the official creditors’ platform negotiating a common debt treatment plan with Sri Lanka, but Colombo is very confident” of Beijing’s bilateral support to the island’s economic recovery, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said.
We are very hopeful of China’s cooperation. I was recently in China and met with the Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, and Chairman of the Exim Bank [Export-Import Bank of China]. They have said they will not come on board the common platform…but will support us bilaterally. We are very confident,” he told a media conference in Colombo on Monday.
In May this year, 17 countries that have extended loans to Sri Lanka formed an official creditor committee”, co-chaired by India, Japan, and France, to discuss Sri Lanka’s request for debt treatment, after last year’s debilitating financial crisis pushed the country to a sovereign default.
China has attended the committee’s meetings as an observer, but its decision to stay out of the official creditors’ committee complicates the exercise for Sri Lanka, especially with other creditors repeatedly underscoring creditor equitability. While private creditors holding International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs) have the largest share of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, China is the island’s biggest bilateral lender, followed by Japan, and India.
Issuing a statement following the first meeting of the creditors’ committee the Paris Club — an informal group of official, mostly western, creditor nations — highlighted President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s assurance of transparency and comparability of treatment for all external creditors, and that no side arrangements inconsistent with comparability of treatment” will be made with any creditor.
Reiterating Mr. Wickremesinghe’s promise, Minister Sabry said on Monday: All bilateral debt treatment will be comparable. That means no one will get anything better than the other. So, it is understood that ultimately, everybody must agree to the same kind of treatment,” he said, implying that regardless of whether China joins the creditors’ committee, or negotiates its debt treatment bilaterally with Sri Lanka, the terms will be the same.
China’s bilateral debt, the Minister said, is three-fold”, including loans from the Chinese government, the Exim bank of China and the China Development Bank. Although not part of the platform, China is taking part as an observer, that means they know exactly what is being discussed, what kind of relief is required,” he added.
Sri Lanka is racing against time to restructure both its foreign and domestic debt, ahead of the September deadline set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for its first review after the Fund extended a nearly $3 billion package to the debt-distressed island.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan parliament on Saturday approved the government’s plan to restructure its domestic debt, by recasting pension funds, a decision that has drawn a strong backlash from the political opposition and government critics.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe urged the Opposition and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa to prioritize national interests over politics.
Addressing the “Amaraviru Abhiman 32” commemoration ceremony held in Hambantota today, the President urged them to fulfill their responsibilities to the people and help rebuild the country, President’s Media Division (PMD) said.
Speaking at the tribute ceremony,he emphasized the development of the agriculture and livestock sectors to not only fulfill domestic demands but also establish them as export-oriented industries.
