News

Malaysia will support Sri Lanka’s application to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato Seri Diraja Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said, during discussions with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees in Colombo today (09).

The Prime Minister stated that Sri Lanka’s entry into RCEP would bolster its economic connectivity within the broader South East Asian region and the Malaysian Minister assured fullest support to Sri Lanka and said, “Sri Lanka belongs to our region.” The Prime Minister affirmed the government’s alignment with the future vision of ASEAN for the Indo-Pacific area, pledging full support for the advancement of this economic perspective, the PM’s Office said.

The Prime Minister and the visiting Minister discussed bilateral relations with special emphasis on cooperation in regional groupings such as Indian Ocean Rim Association for enhancing trade and investment cooperation.

Premier Gunawardena invited Malaysian entrepreneurs to enter into new areas of investments in Sri Lanka in in the growing hospitality industry, education and pharmaceuticals industry. Malaysia was amongst the top 6th investment partner of Sri Lanka in recent years.

The Prime Minister thanked the Government and people of Malaysia for the support given during last year’s economic crisis, the statement said.

Referring to the high-level contacts, historical links, people-to-people contacts, and geographical proximity and the deepening bonds of friendship with Sri Lanka, Minister Zambry Abd Kadir said his government was looking forward to increase the economic and trade cooperation.

The high-level Malaysian delegation included Under Secretary Generals Dato Syed Mohamed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman and Ahmed Kamrizamil Reza and High Commissioner Badli Hisham Adam.

State Minister Suren Raghavan, MP Yadamini Gunawardena and Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake also participated in this meeting.

The President’s Media Division (PMD) says Sri Lanka cannot endorse the idea of international investigations into the island’s internal matters.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka and all other existing laws do not provide for conducting international investigations, the PMD said further, explaining that carrying out such investigations would be in violation of the law.

These remarks were made in a statement on Friday (Oct. 06) in which the PMD raised concerns about the editorial published in the local Catholic newspaper ‘Gnanartha Pradeepaya’ dated October 08 (Sunday), as well as the article titled “An international investigation team is needed for an independent, transparent, and thorough investigation and monitoring.”

The PMD says Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, on April 20, 2023, had delivered 88 volumes and 48,909 pages of the presidential commission report on the Easter attack to Most Rev. Bishop Harold Anthony, following a request made by him.

Additionally, during a recent telephone conversation with Minister Tiran Alles, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Harold Anthony had mentioned that he was personally reviewing the report.

In light of this, the PMD said President Ranil Wickremesinghe is preparing to engage in discussions with representatives of the Bishops Conference.

The statement read that the idea of international investigations into Sri Lanka’s internal matters cannot be endorsed, explaining that the Constitution of Sri Lanka and all other existing laws do not provide for conducting international investigations.

The PMD said a committee, led by a retired Supreme Court judge, has been established to conduct an inquiry and produce a report regarding the Channel 4 television program.

“The government also intends to engage in further discussions on this issue once the Bishops’ Conference have thoroughly reviewed the report from the Presidential Commission.”

The funeral of veteran Sri Lankan actor Jackson Anthony, who passed away this morning, will be held this week.

According to family sources, the body of the late actor will be placed at the ‘Jayaratne Respect Home’ Funeral Parlour in Colombo from 07.30 am to 11.00 pm tomorrow (Oct 10) and will be open to the public to pay their respects.

The body of the actor will be placed at his residence in Kadawatha on Wednesday (Oct 11) and Thursday (Oct 12).

The final rites of veteran Sri Lankan actor Jackson Anthony will be performed on Thursday (Oct. 12) at the St. Peter & Paul’s Church in Ragama at 03.00 p.m.

Jackson Anthony passed away at the National Hospital in Colombo this morning (09). He was 65 at the time of his demise.

The actor passed away after undergoing treatment at the Colombo National Hospital following an accident in July 2022.

Jackson Anthony was hospitalised after the accident in which his vehicle collided with a wild elephant in Thalawa.

Jackson Anthony is one of the most popular artists in Sri Lanka and has won the national award for Best Actor for a record sixteen times.

He was also well-known for his immense talent and versatility as a director, producer, singer, screenwriter, television host, novelist, columnist, lyricist, historian and traveller.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena, chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), has highlighted that there are no plans for the SLFP to join hands with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Speaking to the media in this regard, Sirisena noted, however, that the SLFP aims to present a manifesto targeting the upcoming election, and to expand its work at the district-level.

The high-speed passenger ferry between Sri Lanka and India is scheduled to commence operations tomorrow (Oct 10), it was reported.

The ferry service will operate from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, India to Kankesanthurai port in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

Indian media reported in September that the passenger terminal was being set up at the Nagapattinam Port and that the works were to be completed ahead of the commencement of the ferry service.

The route would cover a distance of 60 nautical miles and the ferry would have at least 150 passengers with the journey taking around two hours.

The operations would be initiated by the Shipping Corporation of India and controlled by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Extreme Weather: Red Alerts were issued for landslides in several divisional secretariat areas in Galle, Kalutara and Matara districts, the National Building Research Organisation said.

Landslide Early Warnings issued for several divisional secretariat areas in Kegalle, Kandy, Ratnapura, Colombo, Gampaha and Hambantota districts.

The Department of Meteorology has issued an ‘Amber’ level advisory for severe lightning in parts of the island.

Accordingly, thundershowers accompanied by severe lightning are likely to occur at several places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and in Kandy and Matale districts during the evening or night, the Met. Department said.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity, it added.

Furthermore, the Department of Meteorology advises the people to seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees, avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms, avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms, avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc., beware of fallen trees and power lines and for emergency assistance to contact the local disaster management authorities.

The low-lying areas of the Nilwala River valley belonging to Matara, Malimbada, Kamburupitiya, Tiihagoda, Athuraliya and Akurassa Divisional Secretariats have been threatened with a MajorFlood Situation.

The residents of the area and drivers of the vehicles running through those areas are requested to pay high attention in this regards in order to save lives and properties.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts.

Fairly heavy showers above 75mm can be expected at some places in Western,Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in Eastern and Uva provinces and in Polonnaruwa, Matale and Mullaitivu districts during the evening or night.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued a directive, urging against the use of his images on billboards, cut-outs and posters.

He has also called upon fellow political leaders to avoid incorporating their photos in their campaign materials.

President Wickremesinghe emphasized the importance of addressing the people’s needs over the politics of slogans, noting that such practices have adversely affected the country’s economy.

The President reiterated his long-standing opposition to the use of slogans and cut-out-based politics and encouraged everyone to embark on a new political journey together.

These remarks were made during his participation in the 149th-anniversary celebration of Chenkaladi Central College in Batticaloa this morning (08).

Additionally, the President instructed the relevant parties to remove a large cut-out displayed near Chenkalady Central College in Batticaloa, following his participation in various programs in Batticaloa over the past two days.

Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian women's rights advocate serving 12 years in jail, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a decision likely to anger Tehran's theocratic government. Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the first one since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award in 2021 jointly with Russia's Dmitry Muratov.

"This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran, with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The Nobel prize also came just over a year after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic's dress code for women, whih sparked months of protests across Iran against the government.

Authorities jailed Mohammadi in 2021 after she attended a memorial for a person killed in violent 2019 anti-government protests in Iran over rising gas prices. The award-making committee said the prize was testimony to all those behind recent unprecedented protests in Iran and called for the release of Mohammadi, who has campaigned for both women's rights and the abolition of the death penalty.

“The more of us they lock up, the stronger we become,” she once wrote from prison in an opinion piece for the New York Times.

The U.N. human rights office said the Nobel award highlighted the bravery of Iranian women. "We've seen their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention," said its spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell. "They've been harassed for what they do or don't wear. There are increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them.They are an inspiration to the world."

The Minister of Industries, Ramesh Pathirana states that no new recruitments will be made for any jobs in the public sector in the future, except for the most essential areas of the public service.

Minister Pathirana claimed that the public service has become an ‘unbearable issue’ for the government at present.

He also mentioned that Sri Lanka has one of the highest public employee-to-population ratios in the world.

“There are 1.5 million public employees in the country, whilst the population of the country is 21 million. There is a government employee for approximately 12 people of the population. This is one of the highest ratios of public employees in the world”, he said.

“This means that we bear a huge ‘national burden’. We can’t do this further”, the minister added.

The Supreme Court in a landmark judgment today (06) determined that the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress' decision to expel Minister Naseer Ahamad from the party membership is legally valid.

With this Supreme Court judgment, Naseer Ahamad's expulsion will lead to the loss of his parliamentary seat.

The Supreme Court three-judge-bench bench headed by Justice Preethi Padman Surasena observed that there is no reason to interfere with the decision of the party to expel petitioner Naseer Ahamad from party membership.

The application of the petitioner was dismissed accordingly without costs.

The SLMC decided to expel Environment Minister Naseer Ahamad following his decision to vote in favour of the budget at the Third Reading on December 10, 2021.

The High Command of the SLMC had unanimously resolved to expel the petitioner from party membership.

Sanjeeva Jayawardena PC with Ruwantha Cooray, Rukshan Senadheera and Punyajith Dunusinghe appeared for the petitioner.

M.A. Sumanthiran PC with Viran Corea, Anne Kulanayagam and Divya Mascranghe appeared for the SLMC.

(dailymirror.lk)