News

In a significant development ahead of the upcoming presidential election, bonds were deposited for Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the candidate representing the National People’s Power (NPP).

The deposit was made at the National Election Secretariat in Rajagiriya.

Notable attendees at the deposit submission included MPs Vijitha Herath, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, and Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe described Venerable Galaboda Gnanissara Nayaka Thero as a great Sangha, noting his extensive religious and social contributions in various roles.

Emphasizing that the Thero never cared about caste or religion, President Wickremesinghe highlighted his dedication to the well-being of all people. He stated that the highest tribute to him would be to protect and advance the Dharma and the social centre known as Gangarama Temple.

The President made these remarks while attending the cremation ceremony of Venerable Galaboda Gnanissara Nayaka Thero at Hunupitiya Gangarama Temple in Colombo. The ceremony was conducted with full state honours today (05), at the temple premises.

Addressing the gathering President Ranil Wickremesinghe further elaborated,

Forty years ago, “Podi Hamuduruwo” and I organized the cremation ceremony for Vachissara Nayaka Thero. Today, I am here to attend the cremation ceremony of our Gnanissara Nayaka Thero. I am participating in this occasion as both the President of the country and a member of the Dayaka Sabha of this temple. Additionally, I represent the Wijewardene family, the oldest Dayaka family of this temple. Thus, I have many connections with Gangarama Temple.

I have known Ven. Devundara Vachissara Thero since my childhood. Rathanajothi Thero was also active during that time, and I met our “Podi Hamuduruwo” then as well. When I was about to attend university, he had left Vidyodaya campus and gave me advice about university life.

I was closely associated with him, and when I stood as a candidate for the Biyagama electorate, he offered me tremendous support and advice.

He once mentioned that Colombo needed a Perahera, and after discussions with President Jayawardena and Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, we initiated those activities. Today, this Nawam Perahera has become a major event in the country, thanks to the boundless dedication of our “Podi Hamuduruwo”. Additionally, he worked tirelessly to support temples in remote provinces and the little monks residing in them. We owe him our gratitude for that.

Theros from all provinces were brought to Colombo to carry out this work, and a four-story building was constructed because the temple could not accommodate these activities. His educational mission extended beyond this, as he established connections with Buddhist countries worldwide. The King of Bhutan was invited to Sri Lanka, initiating relations with the Bhutanese government. Additionally, contacts were made with Thailand, Vietnam, China, Korea, and Japan.

Today, at Gangarama Temple, not only is Buddha’s Dharma shared, but Chinese and Korean Buddhism and other sects also have the opportunity to engage with each other. By constructing new buildings, he significantly contributed to the temple’s development, transforming it into a Buddhist centre—a truly challenging task.

He also established vocational training centres for youth from poor families in these areas. This initiative not only provided them with vocational skills but also encouraged companies to hire these trained youths.

He also contributed too many other societal activities, such as building houses for the poor and helping everyone in need. We should remember this admirable quality of his. He did not discriminate based on religion or caste. During the riots of 1983, when it was difficult to deliver food to refugee areas, our “Podi Hamuduruwo” instructed other theros to board every lorry, ensuring subsidies reached those in need. He later went to Vavuniya to assist the villagers there.

Our “podi Hamuduruwo” was a leadership figure with exceptional administrative talent and made significant contributions to political affairs. He worked closely with J. R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and me. When people faced problems, they would often approach the “Podi Hamuduruwo” to communicate their concerns to the president or prime minister.

We will never meet great characters like him again. He possessed unique qualities, and thanks to his talents, this temple has made significant progress today. Our challenge now is to continue the work he accomplished. Let us all commit ourselves to protecting and advancing this centre of Dharma and society known as Gangarama Temple.

The Trinitarian Maha Sangha led by Maha Nayaka Theros, Anu Nayake Theros, and lay priests, other religious leaders, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and local and foreign devotees were attend at the event.

Sri Lankan middle-distance runner Tharushi Karunarathna’s Olympics track kit is set to be displayed in the International Olympics Committee Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The 19-year-old Sri Lankan track and field athlete has donated one of her competition kits used in the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics for this purpose.

Issuing a statement, the National Olympics Committee of Sri Lanka said Karunarathna donated one of her competition kits to the International Olympics Committee (IOC) for display in the IOC Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The National Olympics Committee of Sri Lanka further said that the autographed kit was presented to Ms. Anne Jaccard, Senior Manager of Exhibits and Programs of the IOC Museum at the Games Village.

In recognition of this gesture, Tharushi will receive a certificate signed by the IOC President, it added.

Sri Lankan athlete Tharushi Karunaratne competed in the Women’s 800m event at the Paris Olympics, but her journey concluded after she finished 7th in Heat 4 of the Repechage round.

The youngest athlete to represent Sri Lanka at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Tharushi Karunarathna clocked a time of 2:06.66 in the Repechage round.

The National Convenor of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena says that he will extend his support to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the upcoming Presidential Election, bowing to the wishes of the people in his constituency.

Speaking at an event held today (04), Abeygunawardena also stated that there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics.

“The true political rival we have, or the political enemy in your language, is the JVP and the SJB. So, we cannot stand for them or with them”, he added.

Addressing the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Summit 2024 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel , Colombo today (06), President Ranil Wickremesinghe outlined Sri Lanka’s commitment to achieving sustainable development goals and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The president highlighted several rapid methods to achieve these objectives, including harnessing renewable energy, modernizing agriculture, and addressing water shortages.

The president emphasized that attracting global financial facilities through commercial investments is a key part of Sri Lanka’s strategy. He detailed plans to transform the plantation sector into agribusinesses, promote sustainable tourism, and enhance product improvement and digitization.

The conference, held under the theme “Sustainable Pathways for a Brighter Future,” features presentations from approximately 15 experts in environment, society, and governance, who are sharing crucial knowledge and innovative solutions for achieving sustainability.

During the event, President Wickremesinghe presented the ESG Excellence Awards to micro, small, and medium-scale entrepreneurs, recognizing their contributions to environmental, social, and governance initiatives.

Addressing the gathering the President further elaborated:

“I must thank you for taking up the ESG on which you have been holding your conferences for the last three years. It’s good because you have to learn how the world is changing, especially the private sector and commitment to economic, social, and governance. We have to push it further. And I think we are the best of all the countries in South Asia to do so. The Maldives is like us but a bit too small. The rest, I don’t think they are ready. So we must be the first.

But while I commend the private sector globally and here for moving in this direction, you must also remember the geopolitical situation in the world today seems to be coming in the other direction. All the hurrah of the SDGs and of the Paris Climate Summit and even Glasgow have got stuck. We have not made very much progress since then. And the situation also is not good. The world is still recovering from COVID-19, a year or two.

The Chinese economy is not performing at its best. It will take a few more years. Even the US economy, they talked of a boom, but they have talked now that the job market is disappearing. So we should look at the two major economies in the world. You can’t say this very much of Europe either. I mean, they are going ahead, but there are problems. So it’s going to take a few more years. So it’s in this background that we are looking at the Sustainable Development Goals. How do we achieve them? For us, where are the funds? How many countries can spend money on this? And you see a turnaround, well, how ESG will be treated, and the approach if Trump becomes president, is an open question.
But more disturbing was what happened in the UK. Under Boris Johnson, the Glasgow Conference and the Principals were welcomed by everyone. Within two years, his own successor, Rishi Sunak, had gone back on everything just to get the right-wing vote from reform which he failed also. Today we have a new government in the UK who want to turn it back but remember UK no longer has the money.

We have been talking of all the funds that we are to get. We talk at COP 27, 28, 29. This time I am going to wear a hat and go there because each time they mention this, I will raise my hat because it’s like an old friend passing me by. I don’t think there’s anything more you could do but there’ll be a good fight there. How much money are we giving? We went to Paris for the debt meeting, but results are still not out yet. And to make it worse, I don’t know how the Paris assembly would react to it. But where is the money? They are short of money. In the meantime, the US alone has spent more money on Ukraine and Israel.

I think that money could have helped us out. Then take what Europe is now giving on this. And we don’t know how much Russia has spent.

So all that money could have been used. It’s not being done. Secondly, the Middle East situation is such, Iran seems to be wanting to retaliate. To retaliate is going to be bad for everyone, including Sri Lanka. I have just got a paper on the repercussions. I don’t think anyone would like to read it. Just think of the countries that are worse off than us.

Think of a country like Bangladesh, which is in turmoil. I don’t want to speak about the politics of Bangladesh, a friendly country, but it had to erupt at some time. While Sheikh Hasina has left, I still remember her because she gave us $200 million when we were really in need of money. So I think it’s only fair to say some good word about a person who’s really down at the moment. I also welcome the fact that Khalida Zia had been released from jail. If Sheikh Hasina had done it long ago, she would have still been Prime Minister. Let’s hope there’s tranquillity in Bangladesh. I have no doubt there will be tranquillity.

We should not panic. We are the largest investors; we are providing jobs in that country. So having said that, the world situation per se is not good. But that doesn’t mean that Sri Lanka is moving out of it.

In this global context, steps have been taken to establish the International Climate Change University on 600 acres in Sri Lanka, with legislative work planned by early next year. The Tropical Regions Initiative aims to use tropical regions and the Indian Ocean for carbon absorption, focusing on commercial investments. Sri Lanka is striving to meet sustainable development goals and achieve zero emissions by 2040 through renewable energy, modernizing agriculture, and addressing water scarcity issues. To this end, attracting global financial facilities through commercial investments is key. The transformation from plantation businesses to agribusiness, promotion of sustainable tourism, and product improvement and digitization are main objectives. Additionally, four new technical universities are being established to support technical education and innovation.”

Prominent attendees included Professor HD Karunaratne, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo; Mark Surgenor, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC for Sri Lanka and the Maldives; university faculty; businessmen; senior officials from the private business sector; officials of the Colombo University MBA Alumni Association; scholars; and other distinguished guests.

The leader of Mawbima Janatha Party (MJP), entrepreneur Dilith Jayaweera was named as the Presidential Candidate of the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ alliance, a short while ago.

Executive member of ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ MP Wimal Weerawansa announced this during the alliance’s convention currently being held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo.

Several key members of ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ alliance including MP Wimal Weerawansa, MP Udaya Gammanpila, entrepreneur Dilith Jayaweera, MP Gevindu Kumaratunga and several others were present at the occasion.

The agreement for obtaining USD 300 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the implementation of power sector reforms and financial sustainability program has been signed by the Government of Sri Lanka and the ADB.

The Government of Sri Lanka had discussions with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to mobilize three policy-based loans (PBL) amounting to USD 300 million to implement the Power Sector Reforms and Financial Sustainability Program.

The relevant Power Sector Reforms and Financial Sustainability Program, consists of three subprograms and a loan of USD 100 million will be mobilized once the policy actions relevant for each of the subprograms are completed, according to the ADB.

The Program will support the establishment of independent and financially sustainable electricity utilities. Also, it will support streamlined and accelerated development of renewable energy sources for electricity generation under the reform areas.

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies will be the Executing Agency of the above Program and the Ministry of Power and Energy will implement the Program, in collaboration with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) and Lanka Electricity Company Pvt Ltd (LECO).

Since the relevant agencies have successfully achieved all pre-policy actions related to Subprogram 01, the relevant loan proceeds of USD 100 million will be disbursed to the Treasury once the loan agreement declared effective. The loan will be provided under concessionary terms at a fixed interest rate of 2.0% per year with a repayment period of 25-years, including a 5-year grace period.

The loan agreement for the policy-based lending for Subprogram 01 was signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank on 05 August 2024 at the Treasury in Colombo.

Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana and Mr. Takafumi Kadono, Country Director of ADB Sri Lanka Residence Mission, placed the signatures on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank, respectively, the ADB added.

The SLPP’s electoral Bala Mandayala in Wariyapola has adopted a resolution in support of president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Meeting today (03), its members agreed to further support the president in his nation-building and at the upcoming presidential polls too.

State minister D.B. Herath convened the meeting, attended by former Pradeshiya Sabha members, cooperative directors, party conveners and other activists.

Wariyapola comes under Kurunegala, whose district leader Johnston Fernando is yet to support Wickremesinghe.

Sheikh Hasina, who stepped down from the post of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and fled the turmoil-hit nation today, may not return to politics, her son and former Chief Advisor has said. Disappointed by the strong public sentiment against her government despite her efforts to transform the country, she has decided to quit, Sajeeb Wajed Joy said at BBC’s World Service’s Newshour program.

“She has turned Bangladesh around. When she took over power it was considered a failing state. It was a poor country. Until today it was considered one of the rising tigers of Asia,” Mr Joy said.

Over the last month, more than 300 people died in Bangladesh amid violent protests, which though started over quota, shortly transformed into a call for the Prime Minister to step down.

Sheikh Hasina’s critics accused her not just of corruption and nepotism but also high-handedness and curtailing of civil liberties. These, many alleged, overshadowed the economic progress and development she had brought about.

Her son rejected allegations that the government had been heavy-handed in dealing with the protestors as well.

“You have had policemen beaten to death - 13 just yesterday. So what do you expect the police to do when mobs are beating people to death?” he said. Sheikh Hasina had been considering resigning since Sunday and had left the country for her own safety after her family insisted, he added.

Source: NDTV

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP Dayasiri Jayasekera says that he will support Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming Presidential Election.

Holding a press conference in Colombo today (03), Dayasiri stated that both the SLFP’s Central Committee and Executive Committee arrived at this decision to back SJB’s “Samagi Jana Sandhanaya.”

Speaking further he said: “This is a historic decision for the SLFP. We were in an anti-government ideology for the past period, so we cannot turn that back now… We are continuing with the decision that the party arrived at on November 11, 2023 to not join the government.”

Several members of the party including Thilanga Sumathipala and Rohana Luxman Piyadasa were also present at the occasion.

The deadline to accept postal voting applications, which was scheduled to end at midnight today (05), has been extended, the Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake said.

Accordingly, the relevant deadline has been extended until 12.00 midnight on August 09 (Friday).

The Elections Commissioner General said that this decision was made in consideration of the possible postal delays and several requests made by the public to the commission.

Furthermore, the election regulatory body highlighted that the deadline for accepting the relevant applications will not be extended further under any circumstances.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared the immediate initiation of the “River for Jaffna” project, which is designed to provide a comprehensive solution to the water scarcity issues in the northern region of Sri Lanka.

The President made these remarks while attending the opening of the Thalaiyady Seawater Desalination Plant, part of the Jaffna-Kilinochchi Water Supply Project, this morning (02).

President Wickremesinghe further stated that it has been 15 years since the end of the civil war in the north. He emphasized the need for everyone to continue working together on development and expressed his goal to transform the north into a developed province within the next 5-10 years.

The Thalaiyady Sea Water Desalination Plant, part of the Jaffna-Kilinochchi Water Supply Project, is managed by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board under the Ministry of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development, with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka.

To address the drinking water needs of Jaffna and Kilinochchi, the Government of Sri Lanka launched the Jaffna-Kilinochchi District Water Supply and Sanitation Project (JKWSSP) in 2011 with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the French Development Bank (AFD).

Currently, there are 2.5 million water connections nationwide, and the Water Supply and Sanitation Project aims to add 60,000 new connections.

The main objective of the project is to provide safe drinking water to 300,000 people and improve sanitation facilities for 80,000 people in the Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province.

President Wickremesinghe revealed plans to renovate the port of Kankesanthurai in collaboration with India and that an investment zone will be established at the site of the former cement factory.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I have taken the necessary steps to implement the agreements we reached, and the signing of these agreements is currently underway. We are collaborating with Amul to enhance liquid milk production. We should focus on increasing the country’s income and continue this program. This will help improve the economy and transform Jaffna into a major economic hub," he added.

Ministers Douglas Devananda and Jeevan Thondaman, State Ministers Dr. Suren Raghavan, K. Kader Masthan, MPs Dharmalingam Sithadthan, Angajan Ramanathan, National Security Advisor and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayaka, former Minister Ravi Karunanayake and former State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran also attended.