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Former US President Barack Obama has referred to Sri Lanka’s North and East war in his latest book.

Obama's “A Promised Land” topped the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list by selling more than 1.7 million copies in North America in its first week, roughly equal to the combined first week sales of memoirs by his two immediate predecessors and among the highest ever for a nonfiction book.

The reference on Sri Lanka, though very short, is likely to stir controversy in Sri Lanka and overseas.

In it, he notes that UN member states lacked either the means or the collective will to reconstruct failing states like Somalia, or prevent ethnic slaughter in places like Sri Lanka.

He is referring to the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka during which time he was the President of the UNited States.

At that time, Obama had made a statement in front of the media calling on the LTTE to release trapped civilians and the then government to stop using heavy weapons.

In his book, Obama also says UN peacekeeping missions, dependent on voluntary troop contributions from member states, were consistently understaffed and ill-equipped.

“At times, the General Assembly devolved into a forum for posturing, hypocrisy, and one-sided condemnations of Israel; more than one U.N. agency became embroiled in corruption scandals, while vicious autocracies like Khamenei’s Iran and Assad’s Syria would maneuver to get seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council," he said

However, he also says that despite all its shortcomings, the UN served a vital function.

Nearly 120 State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) including the debt ridden SriLankan Airlines will be exempt from government audit under the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

Among other state owned business entities to be excluded are Lanka Electricity Company (LECO), Sri Lanka Insurance, Lanka Hospitals PLC, Litro Gas Lanka Ltd, Lanka Sathosa and Lanka Coal Company Ltd. among many others.

The draft proposal drew strong protest from the Sri Lanka Audit Service Association (SLASA) and opposition parliamentarians.

The 20th Amendment was taken up for discussion at today's (16) cabinet of ministers meeting, government sources said.

On Tuesday (15), a nine-member committee appointed by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to study the 20th Amendment handed over its report to the Premier.

Meanwhile, former State Minister of Finance Eran Wickremaratne stressed that the power to audit government finances, funds, and public institutions should remain independent of the executive.

“However, the National Audit Service Commission has been revoked by the proposed 20th Amendment. The independence of the auditor has been stripped completely," he said.

“Under the 20th Amendment, all the power to appoint persons to all the Commissions, including the Auditor General, will be centralised with the President,” Wickramaratne pointed out adding that it is not the character of the person who is in the seat of power that will ensure democracy, justice, and equality, but a robust system with check and balances.

Offices of the President and the Prime Minister exempted!

Opposition MP J.C. Alawathuwala has hit out at the government for exempting the President’s and the Prime Minister’s offices from being audited under the 20th Amendment.

“We wish to ask the President and the Prime Minister what is the objective of doing that? ” the SJB parliamentarian queried.

He pointed out that the Prime Minister had recently said that he was unaware of the provision until the amendment was sent to be gazetted.

He said that the inability of the government to reveal who drafted the 20th amendment is an indication of the type of new constitution that is to be introduced in the future

When State owned companies, in which the government is a majority shareholder, are audited by private entities, the reports are not required to be submitted to Parliament, the union said. This would undermine parliamentary financial oversight.

The 20th Amendment also seeks to abolish the National Audit Service Commission which, the union says, was established to comply with international and global requirements related to independence in public finance and governance. And it does not propose an alternative.

The qualifications required of an Auditor General which were more defined under Article 153(1) of the Constitution have been removed and the method of appointment changed to allow direct nomination, by the President, without the Constitutional Council’s involvement.

The taxation of women’s sanitary products became the topic at Sri Lanka's budget debate yesterday with the opposition claiming that the government has increased taxes on sanitary products in order to support the country’s struggling economy.

“Two years ago, Scotland took the bold step of providing free access to sanitary products for students. Today, they are on the verge of enacting free access to all. I wonder how long it would take Sri Lanka to realize the value of such a humane approach toward humanity,” Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said, criticizing what he termed the unfair taxation of women’s sanitary products.

Premadasa, the defeated candidate at the last Presidential election, promised to provide women with free sanitary products drawing ridicule from some sections of the current ruling party.

They gave Premadasa the nickname ‘Pad Man’ which he proudly used until the end of his election campaign.

However, the renewed debate on the matter came to a head when the government introduced a CESS of 15% on women’s sanitary products. Nevertheless, the government said the market prices of sanitary products would remain unchanged.

“We wish to inform you that taxation on sanitary towels has not been increased. Pre-budget, a 30% "Custom Import Duty" (CID) was charged. Post budget, CID is reduced to 15% and a CESS of 15 % is introduced. Therefore taxation remains the same," State Minister Shehan Semasinghesaid.

"Further, we are compelled to retain the CID as a measure to ensure protection of local producers. As such, the government has not taken any measures which results in a price increase of sanitary towels,” Semasinghe said, clearing the air on the matter.

Many young members of the ruling party, including Minister Namal Rajapaksa and State Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, echoed Semasinghe’s views on the matter. However, the seemingly progressive views of the "Young Turks" of the ruling party on this issue were marred by a remark made by MP Geetha Kumarasinghe who said national security was more important than sanitary products.

Despite the government's assurance, activists in Sri Lanka continue to demand total removal of taxes on sanitary products as a way of ending “period poverty” — a dire issue faced by low-income women across the country.

After the Sri Lankan government set the ball rolling for a new Constitutional Amendment (20th Amendment) that would remove many of the curbs placed on presidential powers, there have been rising concerns of both local and international organisations. Most of the provisions brought by the 19th Amendment will be swept away if the current amendment is passed. The provision of full immunity to the president will be restored.

The Constitutional Council, which had the right to approve several key appointments, will be turned into an advisory body, with the composition changed to have only members of parliament.

It also allows dual citizens to stand for presidential elections and reduces the age limit of candidates to 30.

The wariness among the western countries about the new Rajapaksa regime remains, but there will not be an immediate reaction.

One of the key ways to express their disenchantment was to bring resolutions against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC, which did not occur in the past five years.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution may negatively impact on the independence of key institutions, including the National Human Rights Commission.

While delivering the opening statement of the 45th session of the Human Rights Council on Monday, Ms. Bachelet said she was troubled that the new Government of Sri Lanka is swiftly reneging on its commitments to the Human Rights Council since it withdrew its support for resolution 30/1.

Ms. Bachelet said the pardon given in March to a former Army sergeant convicted of participating in unlawful killings, appointments to key civilian roles of senior military officials allegedly involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity, and moves within the police and judiciary to thwart the investigation of such crimes, set a very negative trend.

Capacity building for higher education in Sri Lanka is to be further improved with the assistance of the European Union, The EU Mission in Colombo revealed. The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in collaboration with the University of Peradeniya announced the EU-funded Capacity Building for Higher Education (CBHE) projects for 2020 .

The announcement took place at the University of Peradeniya together with 15 other participant institutions.

The EU in Sri Lanka is funding nine capacity-building projects in 2020 through the Erasmus+ programme, which aims to promote the sustainable development of its partners in the field of higher education.

 “Education, research, and development are key EU priorities for its external relations with partner countries such as Sri Lanka and that higher education institutions play a key role in advancing societies," Frank Hess, Head of Cooperation noted.

He explained that Erasmus + offers a broad range of funding opportunities which allows university staff, including academic and administrative staff, to benefit from CBHE projects.

Prof. Upul B. Dissanayake, Vice-Chancellor, University of Peradeniya said that the University has thoroughly focused on initiating both Capacity Building and International Credit Mobility (ICM) Programmes with European Universities under both Erasmus Mundus and ERASMUS+.

He also added that from 2015 until now, the University of Peradeniya has been a recipient of most of these awards in Sri Lanka, as a partner in many applications that were successful in winning the grants.

He also mentioned that as the No.1 Ranked University in Sri Lanka, University of Peradeniya has taken the leading role in a collaborative effort with other Sri Lankan Universities as well in this venture.

Fifteen universities are participating in the EU-funded CBHE projects. They are the Universities of Moratuwa, Ruhuna, Eastern, South Eastern, Sabaragamuwa, Uva Wellassa, Colombo, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence  Jayawardenepura, Rajarata, and Jaffna.

Other participatory  higher educational institutions are Sri Lanka Institute of Information and Technology, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association, and the SLT campus.

Sri Lanka has arbitrarily decided to terminate the Japanese-funded, US$ 2.2 billion Colombo Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, stretching from Malabe to Colombo Fort on the directions of presidential secretary Dr. PB Jayasundera. In a letter to Transport Ministry secretary Monti Ranatunga, he noted that this project is "very costly and not the appropriate cost effective transport solution for the urban Colombo transportation infrastructure."

Therefore, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed to terminate the implementation of the project and close the project office with immediate effect, he informed. 

This decision has created confusion and misdeed among authorities of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which has already signed the loan agreement and the transport ministry has called tenders to award the contract to build the Colombo LRT system, informed source said.

The government’s priorities have shifted from mega projects to micro-level initiatives such as irrigation, agriculture, the 100,000km road project and 150,000 household water connections, he said. “Since the JICA agreement is an official loan contract, the government has to start negotiations and cancel it,” a senior treasury official said.

A cabinet committee that is reviewing projects is yet to present its report. However, various government sources indicated from earlier this year that the JICA-backed LRT was off.

They also said the project was likely to be a public-private partnership (PPP) rather than loan-funded.

This prompted JICA to urge the Sri Lanka Government in writing to follow “due process” if it intended to shift from Japanese funding to a PPP.

In a strongly worded letter to the Treasury Secretary in June this year, JICA’s Sri Lanka Representative Fusato Tanaka expressed “great shock” at hearing that “the current government has decided not to obtain JICA loans and instead to implement the project as a Public Private Partnership, and that necessary action would be taken to select a private investor."

However, the Ministry of Transport said that it has decided to temporarily suspend the Colombo-Malabe Light Railway Track System Project.

Transport Secretary Monti Ranatunga said that the Finance Ministry officials advised to suspend the project following foreign exchange concerns.

Interest rate of just 0.1%

In March last year, JICA signed a loan agreement with the Sri Lankan government to provide an official development assistance (ODA) loan to introduce a LRT system with 16 stations distributed over 15.7 kilometres of track in and around Colombo.

The project would use Japanese technology including rolling stock and electromechanical equipment. Completion was due in April 2026. The loan has a 12-year grace period and the interest rate is 0.1 percent.

Early termination to cost $100 million?

The government will have to incur a loss of around US$ 100 million if the LRT project is suspended or if there is a delay as a result of renegotiations. The entire project is currently scheduled to be completed by early 2025.

In addition, there will be certain penalties from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – the funding agency of the project – as Sri Lanka has already signed an agreement on the project, a senior official closely connected to negotiations with JICA revealed.

The total consultancy cost of the project is estimated at around US$ 140 million for seven years, including the feasibility review, detailed design, evaluation assistance, and construction supervision inclusive of all government taxes.

Minister of Highways Johnston Fernando has stated that he will personally visit every district in Sri Lanka to monitor the progress of the 100,000 km road development project launched in accordance with the "Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour' national policy framework of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Minister expressed these views while participating in a meeting held at the Ministry of Highways.

Indian High Commissioner Gopal Bagley initimated the Indian government's willingness to assist Sri Lanka  in areas such as capacity building and skill development. This was revealed during a meeting between High Commissioner Baglay and the State Minister of State for Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research and Innovation, Dr. Seetha Arambepola, on 15 September 2020.

Sri Lanka has launched a leadership and skills development military training programme for 50,000 graduates, recruited to the public sector in line with the President’s ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ policy statement. The phase one of this new Army orientation-training programme began on Monday (14) in 51 island-wide Army Centers including, Security Force HQs, Regimental HQs and Training Schools, consequent upon guidance given by Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army.

The purpose of this one month long residential programme, implemented under five phases, is to absorb 10,000 graduates under each phase to cover all 50,000 graduates within a period of five months.

It is implemented together with the Directorate of Training in order to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes of those recruited graduates to ensure the effective contribution to nation-building as a trained, fully-fledged and energetic workforce.

The project is to be closely monitored by the Ministry of Defence and coordinated and supervised at all seven Security Force HQs.

Each phase through this methodology is set to train 10,000 graduates and achieve the full potential of the public sector simultaneously, covering subjects such as ‘Leadership and Team-Building Training’, ‘Management Training’, ‘Training in Private and State sector Establishments’, ‘Project Work and Field Studies’, ‘Cohesiveness and Resilience,’ etc, critical in developing an efficient public sector employee while mitigating poor productivity.

The training would also impart knowledge on managerial skills, understanding of the objectives of the government mechanism, commitment, interest and dedication, self-confidence, innovation, flexibility, visualization, respect and recognition in society.

In addition, an opportunity would be made available to the participants to engage in project work and field studies to improve their skills by identifying issues and possible solutions in relevant fields.

It is focused on the critical requirement to change the mindset of the public sector employee right from recruitment to retirement.

The Army training course aims at developing their conceptual understanding on leadership, management, focus, confidence and competence to work effectively and efficiently on long term goals and short term goals.

The devastation caused to Sri Lanka's forest cover by stooges connected to powerful provincial politicians of the ruling alliance is continuing unabated amidst slow action of the police and state forest conservation authorities, environmentalists complained.

Sri Lanka’s marine life has been affected due to a fuel leakage from the 'MT New Diamond' oil tanker that caught fire in local territorial waters, officials said on Saturday.

"A fuel leakage about 2 centimetres thick had been detected," Dharshani Lahandapura, the chair for the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) said.

She pointed out that experts had observed turtles, fishes and penguins in the sea area in which the oil had leaked from the oil tanker.

The ‘MT New Diamond’, which caught fire, is currently 45 nautical miles off the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Navy said adding that the ship is safely anchored in the deep sea using tug boats.

Meanwhile, a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers has been deployed to obtain a statement from the captain and crew of ‘MT New Diamond’. A senior CID official stated that the relevant team of officers left for Galle yesterday (12).

Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne recently ordered the CID to conduct an investigation into the fire of the ‘MT New Diamond’.

Meanwhile, merchant shipping specialists have pointed out that Sri Lanka faces the risk of receiving compensation due to the involvement of salvage companies.

“If they (salvage companies) tow the vessel further away and claim money for that, they will receive it,” Capt. Isharaka Perera, a merchant shipping specialist said.

He added that Sri Lanka had lost an opportunity to receive compensation when 12 vessels had sunk in the Kankesanturai area after a US company had intervened.

The Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) has held discussions on the future course of action regarding ‘MT New Diamond’ which caught on fire in Sri Lankan waters. Director-General of MEPA, Dr. Turney Pradeep Kumara said that a final decision regarding the ill-fated oil tanker would be taken soon after concluding discussions with all parties involved in the firefighting.

MEPA says that there is no risk in the oil tanker being brought ashore as it has been confirmed that there will be no damage caused by the ship.

Dr. Turney Pradeep Kumara says that further action regarding the tanker will be taken after the relevant conditions are fully ascertained.

Further, measures are being taken to cover the expenses incurred to Sri Lanka in the fire fighting activities of the tanker, said MEPA Director-General.