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UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa have agreed to appoint a 10 member committee comprising of 10 senior UNP parliamentarians to resolve certain issues faced by the United National Front. Five names each have been submitted by the Ranil faction and the Sajith faction respectively.

Accordingly, the committee includes Sajith Premadasa, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, John Amaratunga, Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayake, Lakshman Kiriella, Navin Dissanayake, Kabir Hashim and Malik Samarawickrama.

The committee has also agreed to make a final decision with regard to the symbol on Friday. As such, the Working Committee meeting that was scheduled for Friday has been postponed.

However, sources from the Sajith faction stated that a favourable response was given by Ranil Wickremesinghe during last night's discussion on the proposed new alliance. Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim had also joined Sajith Premadasa for the discussion.

The former Chairman of People's Bank Mano Tittawella has passed away this morning in Melbourne, Australia.

Tittawella functioned as the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM), which is entrusted with coordinating transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka.

He also served as the Senior Adviser to the former Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera.

Tittawella was the Senior Presidential Advisor on Economic Affairs and was the Senior Director General – President’s Office from August 2003 to November 2005.

He was the first Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of the Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA), which was an initiative that he promoted to bring better accountability, good governance and enhanced performance to the largest public enterprises in Sri Lanka.

Apart from serving on the Board of National Council for Economic Development (NCED), which was the apex body, coordinating all economic development activities in Sri Lanka, he served as Chairman of Task Force to Rebuild the Nation (TAFREN), which was set-up to handle post-tsunami reconstruction and recovery of the country.

Tittawella has held many other key positions in the State sector, such as Director General of Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC) – the then privatisation agency of the Government of Sri Lanka and Chairman of People’s Bank – a State-owned bank in Sri Lanka, along with many board positions in some of Sri Lanka’s largest state sector enterprises. Tittawella has over 35 years’ experience in senior positions in the private sector as well.

He has an MBA in Capital Markets & Finance, from the University of Edinburgh and a Post-graduate Diploma in Human Computer Interaction from the British Open University. He was also a Member of the International Board of Trustees (IBT) of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK, from 2000 to 2003.

The proposed alliance led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was finalized this morning and sent to the Elections Commission for registration, The Sunday Morning reported.

A political party affiliated to United National Party (UNP) MP Mangala Samaraweera – “Ape Jathika Peramuna” – has been reconstituted to be registered as the alliance led by Premadasa.

It is reported that the name proposed for the Premadasa led alliance is “Samagi Jana Balawegaya.”

The symbol of the proposed alliance is the “heart.”

A senior UNP MP has told The Sunday Morning that the documents to register the new political alliance were sent to the Elections Commission this morning (10) and that they were awaiting approval from the Elections Commission.

Health officials continue to see high numbers of dengue fever during the beginning of 2020.

During January, health officials saw 8,435 cases, including more than 1000 cases in Colombo and Trincomalee districts, data from the Ministry of Health showed.

This comes as Sri Lankan officials plan to launch a pilot project to combat dengue by means of Wolbachia bacteria on Feb. 17.

National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) Director Dr. Anura Jayasekera said the bacteria ‘Wolbachia’ is to be injected into the bodies of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and will commence in Dematagoda and Nugegoda areas.

Wolbachia, inside the body of the vector, competes with the virus for food and energy, making it hard for the virus to reproduce inside the mosquitoes, inhibiting the transmission of the virus. The bacterial is naturally passed on from one mosquito generation to another through eggs. Safe for humans and the environment the release of Wolabachia induced A. aegypti by the NDCU is scheduled to happen during the first two weeks of February.

Meanwhile, the cause for high-rise of the dengue patients, during the past two months of January and December 2019 is due to the changing weather patterns and the latent serotype being active (DENV3), said Dr. Jayasekera.

State Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said that former President Maithripala Sirisena will not be allowed to contest in the Polonnaruwa district under the 'Pohottuwa' symbol and that the SLFP should contest independently in the upcoming general election.

He further said that he requests Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and SLPP founder Basil Rajapaksa to facilitate arrangements towards this end.

According to surveys, the SLFP could win only four seats in the country if they contest independently, Minister Ranasinghe pointed out. He made these comments while addressing media in Polonnaruwa.

SLPP against the conditions set by SLFP

Meanwhile, parliamentarian D.V. Chanaka said that the conditions laid down by the SLFP in forming a new alliance for the upcoming general election were unfair.

He said that SLPP would be subjected to injustice due to these conditions.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ordered a fresh investigation Sunday into a multi-billion dollar aircraft purchase involving the island’s loss-making national carrier, days after Airbus settled corruption probes in Europe and the U.S.

A French court on Friday (31) approved a deal allowing Airbus to pay €3.6 billion ($4 billion) in fines to Britain, France and the U.S. to settle corruption cases sparked by suspicious equipment sales.

One of the allegations cited in a judgment and released by a London court Friday concerned the purchase of aircraft by SriLankan Airlines.

Investigators had accused Airbus of failing to prevent persons associated with the company from bribing directors or employees of the airline to “obtain or retain business or advantage.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said the president had ordered a comprehensive investigation into the reports.

Sri Lanka’s previous government also called for a criminal investigation into the 2013 purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft, but it petered out without conclusion.

Sri Lanka’s national carrier is deeply in the red, with estimated accumulated losses of $1.24 billion and debt of about $750 million.

Former minister Patali Champika Ranawaka is to be named as the national organiser of the new alliance led by UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa, sources from the Opposition Leader's Office said.

It is said that he will leave the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and join the UNP.

The Parliamentary group of the UNP which convened on February 5 had decided to nominate former minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a senior member of the UNP, as the general secretary of the new alliance.

Sources also said that Sajith Premadasa is planning to present these proposals to the UNP Working Committee which is scheduled to meet on February 10 and to register the new party as soon as it is approved.

A new wish: Sajith, Champika to begin a new journey

Meanwhile, MP Champika Ranawaka is planning to organise a series of seminars to bring opposition leader Sajith Premadasa to the public.

Arrangements have been made to have the first seminar at the Grand Monarch Hotel in Thalawathugoda on February 9 at 2.45 pm.

Dhanapala Bandara Herath Pilapitiya, the father of High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya, passed away at a private hospital in Colombo this morning after having been hospitalized due to a heart attack.

Mr. Herath Pilapitiya had been in severe shock over the past few days after the Attorney General ordered the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) to obtain a warrant and arrest his son over the controversial telephone conversation with MP Ranjan Ramanayake.

The funeral will take place at Kalawana, tomorrow (30).

Speaker meets Attorney General

Meanwhile, Attorney General Dappula de Livera has met Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. The Parliament Media Unit stated that the meeting had taken place pertaining to matters discussed at the Constitutional Council regarding the directive issued by the AG to arrest former High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya.

Particular attention was paid to the request made by the Attorney General to arrest Judge Pilapitiya when the Constitutional Council chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya convened.

It has been discussed at length in the Constitutional Council that the AG's order would jeopardize public confidence in the judiciary and affect the independence of the judicial system and the professional dignity of judges.

Accordingly, it has been decided to summon the Attorney General to the Constitutional Council to inquire into the matter.

The National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Minister Wimal Weerawansa said in Parliament yesterday that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ordered the immediate suspension of the interdicted High Court Judge Gihan Pilapitiya.

The highest level of court in Chhina, Supreme People’s Court, is expected to give an approval on Friday for the mass killing of coronavirus patients in China as sure means of controlling the spread of the deadly virus, Chinese media reported.

The State tells the court that China is on the verge of losing its health workers to Coronavirus as at least 20 health workers contract the virus daily.

The State argues that coronavirus patients admitted at hospitals only have their deaths delayed and infect many others while receiving care at the hospital.

China has been under criticism for human rights violations and organizations have questioned China’s approach in dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak and it is believed the country has already killed many of its coronavirus patients.

Source: City News - https://ab-tc.com/china-seek-for-courts-approval-to-kill-the-over-20000-coronavirus-patients-to-avoid-further-spread-of-the-virus/

The deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 4,500 people and spread to 15 countries since emerging in China, has also spawned many false claims on social media.

Here's a selection of misinformation debunked by AFP's Fact Check service.
 
Fake death projections

In Sri Lanka, a Facebook post shared thousands of times claimed doctors were projecting that the entire population of Wuhan -- a city of 11 million people -- would likely die of the novel coronavirus.

This is false; Chinese authorities have made no such projection.

There is currently no vaccine for the new strain of coronavirus. But the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stated that most people will recover on their own.

The post also claimed the virus could be caught by eating the meat of the Chinese cobra but this has not yet been established.

Sydney food not contaminated

In Australia, multiple Facebook posts shared hundreds of times claimed to show a list of foods and locations in Sydney which have been contaminated by the new coronavirus strain first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December.

One post, published on January 27, identified different types of rice, cookies and onion rings that allegedly contain traces of the virus. It also claimed that a "bureau of diseasology" had run tests and discovered the strain in several Sydney suburbs.

But the local health authority told AFP the locations listed posed no risk to visitors, and the foods named did not appear in the New South Wales food authority's list of recalls and advisories.
 
Not Wuhan market

A video viewed more than 88,000 times on Facebook purported to show the market in Wuhan where the virus strain materialised. In reality, it was filmed at an Indonesian market.

The misleading post was published on an account in the Philippines on January 26, 2020. The footage showed bats, rats, snakes and an assortment of other animal meat products being sold at a bustling market.

However, a reverse image search using key frames extracted from the video led to another identical YouTube clip uploaded on July 20, 2019.

AFP was able to confirm the video was in fact captured at the Langowan market in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province.

Salt water can't kill virus

Multiple posts on Weibo, Twitter and Facebook shared in January claimed top Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan had told people to rinse their mouths with salt water solution to prevent infection from a new virus outbreak.

But the claim is bogus; the expert's team said saline would not "kill" the new virus and urged people not to believe or share medically-inaccurate online rumours.

The World Health Organization also told AFP there was no evidence that saline solution would protect against infection from the new coronavirus.
 
Conspiracy theories

Multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter alleged that the novel coronavirus was created on purpose -- with theories including that it was manufactured by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The posts included patents to buffer their claim. But these were in fact patents registered in an effort to combat different strains of coronavirus, for example by developing vaccines.
 
False alarm in France

In France, several social media posts have circulated with claims that people had been contaminated with the novel coronavirus in the departments of Val d'Oise, Savoie, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrenees-Orientales.

These false reports were accompanied by images made to look like they were screenshots from several French news sources -- including AFP.

However, these images were digitally manipulated. No cases have been confirmed in these departments.

Sri Lanka will soon commence construction on a world class theme park along the country's southern coast in order to promote adventure tourism.

Leading international theme park developer and operator, Sim Leisure Group Ltd, entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka's Elpitiya Plantations PLC, to set up its world-class ESCAPE theme park in Galle, a statement from Elpitiya Plantations said.

The statement said having been granted the preliminary approval to commence construction and barring unforeseen circumstances, Sim Leisure aims to commence the construction of "ESCAPE Sri Lanka" in March 2020.

The theme park will be located halfway between capital Colombo and the main beach resort of Galle.

"I see tremendous opportunity in the Sri Lankan market with its population of over 20 million. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries, which is unspoilt and green. The country's unpolluted coastline and beaches bring tourists from all over the world and its tourism industry is growing at an incredible pace," said Sim Leisure CEO Sim Choo Kheng.

He also highlighted that Sri Lanka has tremendous untapped potential for family leisure, compared to East Asia, with a natural advantage by setting up the first large-scale theme park in Sri Lanka.

The theme park will include an outdoor adventure theme park and water park and approximately 40 themed rides and attractions in three categories - Adventureplay, Waterplay and Gravityplay. (Xinhua)

An issue that has surfaced and which is causing heartburn among Tamil-speaking citizens is the likelihood that the national anthem will not be sung in Tamil at the forthcoming National Independence Day celebrations on February 4.  Government members have been making contradictory statements on this issue.  Some of them have openly declared that the national anthem will not be sung in Tamil on this occasion whereas Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that no final decision has been taken on this matter.  

The National Peace Council (NPC) in a statement today said that they are concerned about the government’s delay in taking a decision on this issue.  

"Adding to our concerns is the provocative action of a government minister who went to the predominantly Tamil-speaking north and ordered the name board of an institution under his ministry to be redone so that the Sinhala wording comes on top and the Tamil wording below it," NPC said.

The national anthem issue is deeply upsetting to Tamil-speaking citizens in general, and not only in the north, who see the step motherly treatment meted out to the Tamil language.  The issue of language was a key dividing factor in the early years of Sri Lanka’s independence and one of the root causes of the ethnic conflict that escalated into a three decade-long internal war.  

"We need to learn from the past. The National Peace Council calls on the government to take this issue seriously as it affects the sense of dignity, equality and sense of belonging of those who are Tamil-speakers. It is a travesty that this issue should be re-ignited today a full decade after the end of that war by those who do not believe in the plural nature of our multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual and plural society.  The Sri Lankan constitution gives equal place to the Sinhala and Tamil languages, and also ensures that in Tamil will be the language of administration in Tamil majority areas," the statement said.

 In his inaugural speech at his swearing in ceremony, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa noted that he has been elected by the Sinhala Buddhist majority, but he would be the president of all Sri Lankans whether or not they had voted for him.  He was elected by the people to develop the country and to ensure national security. As Sri Lanka has a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual and plural society it is important that the president should be responsive to this reality in his decision making.  

The development and national security that Sri Lanka needs will be best secured by citizens who feel that they are treated equally by the state and equally belong to the country.  The NPC said that they believe that the president, as the head of state and head of government is the person who can and should make the decision regarding the singing of the national anthem in Tamil prior to Independence Day, on which day he will take the centre stage as the president of all Sri Lankans.