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Lihiniyakumara noted that the NMSJ has no plans whatsoever to form a new political movement as reported by the Aruna newspaper.

"The National Movement for a Just Society is a civil society organisation that publicly advocates for social justice as well as for democractic principles of our society," he said.

"As such, our organisation has never stood for political power in this country and that policy will be pursued in the same manner. Therefore, our organisation has no need to be structured as a political movement," he added.

Under the contract agreement, if the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project is suspended or delayed due to renegotiation, the Government will incur a loss of around USD 100 million, in addition to penalties from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The treasury, on the advice of Presidential Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, has informed JICA it could not proceed with the LRT for the next five years because it did not have borrowing space.
 
It is not clear how the JICA project would affect the Government’s financial situation as the project contract includes a 12-year grace period for the commencement of loan repayment.

The USD 270 million JICA loan for the project is provided under Special Terms for Economic Partnership, carrying interest rates of 0.1% per annum for civil works and equipment cost.

It has offered 0.01% p.a. for engineering services cost with a 40-year repayment period including a 12-year grace period, in order to promote technology transfer and economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and Japan.

The LRT project was expected to boost transportation capacity, save travel time, and improve the safety and comfort of public transportation over 15.7 kilometres of track with 16 stations in and around Colombo.

The Sri Lanka government has already spent a sum of around LKR 3 billion from the loan facility for the project obtained under the loan agreement signed on 11 March 2019.
 
State Minister Nalaka Godahewa noted that the government has to pay a penalty for the termination of the project which will amount to twice the total cost incurred to build the Hambantota port.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic hit Sri Lanka, the daunting problem faced by the ceramic tiles and sanitary ware industry was that their manufactured goods piled up in large quantities without being sold due to surge of imports of cheap ceramic and sanitary ware to the country.

As part of India’s unwavering commitment to positively contributing towards the Capability Building of Sri Lankan Armed Forces, a Webinar was conducted by the Defence Wing, High Commission of India on 13 January 2021 at Hotel Taj Samudra between officers of Indian and Sri Lankan Armed Forces along with representatives from Indian defence manufacturing companies.

The Webinar was chaired by Vinod K. Jacob, Deputy High Commissioner and Maj Gen AWAPK Thilakarathne psc, Chief Signal Officer, Sri Lanka Army. The Sri Lankan delegation had large number of representatives participating from all three services.

The Deputy High Commissioner, highlighted the impetus being given by India to further the interest of Sri Lankan Defence Forces and the opportunities that can be provided by the highly evolved defence production industry in India.

During the Webinar, products of interest of Sri Lankan Defence Forces were presented with the aim that such close interactions with Sri Lankan Armed Forces would valuably contribute in effectively countering common security threats in the region and towards realisation India’s Vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).

In a letter dated January 15 addressed to the missions of the 47 member states of the UNHRC, they called on to establish an evidence gathering mechanism such as the one on Syria with a strict one-year time frame.

They urged for a new resolution on Sri Lanka’s accountability. Sri Lanka faced three consecutive UNHRC resolutions since 2013 which called for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes committed by both government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the final phase of the civil war back in 2009.

The Tamil and civil society groups in the letter recalled that the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2009 after his tour to Sri Lanka’s battle zones had said that the Sri Lankan government had agreed to investigate violations of rights and international humanitarian law.

The groups say that UNHRC is due to meet next month and in March to evaluate Sri Lanka’s commitments made.

They called for a fresh resolution, saying Sri Lanka has failed and that resolution must stipulate that the UN Security Council must take up the matter and take suitable action through the International Criminal Court and an effective international accountability mechanism to inquire into Sri Lanka’s alleged abuses of human rights.

The current government had already withdrawn from the resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka in 2015, 2017 and 2019 under the previous government.

According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during Mahinda Rajapaksa''s regime that brought an end to nearly three-decades long civil war in Sri Lanka with the defeat of LTTE in 2009.

This proposal takes into consideration the sustainability of both the industry and livelihoods of plantation workers, the Planters Association said in a media release.“After a very productive meeting with the Minister, RPCs have arrived at a final consensus on what we can sustainably offer, while providing the highest possible earnings potential for our workers. Our final offer amounts to a 30% increase in earnings on the fixed model, and there is no upper limit to what workers can earn under the productivity-linked components," RPCs noted.

"This is the first step to modernising our entire industry, and moving beyond a basic daily wage system which is a relic of the colonial era and long overdue for an update.

We have gone well beyond the LKR 1,000 daily wage demand of trade unions, and this follows a 40% increase from just two years ago.

At a time when others in the apparel and leisure sectorS are slashing wages and retrenching workers, ours is one of the precious few export industries which has shielded our employees from the negative impacts of the pandemic, and is actively pursuing a wage increase.

This is no easy feat, and without improvements in productivity, it will still be extremely difficult for any RPC to remain financially sustainable.

There is clear understanding from the Government on our position, and it is now up to trade unions to make the right decision."

Under the final proposal, RPCs are offering a fixed daily wage of LKR 1,105, with the re-introduction of attendance and productivity incentives - a feature which trade unions had strongly and consistently opposed in the past, but have since reversed their position in the most recent negotiations.
 

At a news conference, Suga explained that the government had changed its position to temporarily halt all business travel as new COVID-19 infections spread domestically, saying that additional steps needed to be taken at borders to prevent new coronavirus variants from entering the country.

“To protect people’s lives and livelihoods, and to remove potential risks (over the pandemic), I have decided to temporarily suspend” the entry of foreign business travelers, Suga said.

In addition to “the deeply troubling” domestic coronavirus situation, there were cases of a cluster attributed to a variant from an individual who returned from the U.K. and of another new variant from several individuals who returned from Brazil, Suga said, explaining the reason behind the decision.

The entry restrictions will take effect from Thursday through Feb. 7, when the state of emergency declared for 11 prefectures is set to expire.

Immigration authorities already halted new entries of nonresident foreign nationals in December following the discovery of a deadly new strain of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom. However, authorities preserved the travel mechanism for business travelers to minimize disruptions to economic activities, Suga’s top priority.

Japanese and foreign nationals with valid legal statuses are permitted to return to the country under the latest entry restrictions.

The prime minister had previously said last week that business entry would be immediately suspended once a variant is detected in a participating country.

The latest policy announcement is essentially a concession by Suga, who had been said to be hesitant to halt business travels over the economic repercussions. Even some of his fellow conservative Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have pressed him to implement restrictions on business travels to beef up border control measures.

The countries and regions affected are: Vietnam, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Japan has additionally concluded mutual “business track” agreements with China, Vietnam, South Korea and Singapore to facilitate exchanges. Under the framework, business travelers from those four countries as well as Japan are exempted from quarantine at an airport but are required to obtain a negative result from a virus test before departing. The travelers are exempted from a 14-day self-quarantine period in exchange for the submission of an activity plan.

Between Jan. 4 and last Sunday, as many as 11,546 people, mainly from Vietnam and China, had entered Japan using the reciprocal business travel programs, according to Justice Ministry data.