By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan in Ceylon Today, Nov 25, 2023The challenges faced by Sri Lankan workers abroad, enduring harassment and exploitation, is a common global concern, with paymasters having the upper hand on their hapless workers. Yet, an alarming and unusual trend has emerged with workers facing mistreatment, being denied time for meals and encountering deceit regarding EPF, ETF, and insurance schemes by a particular Chinese company operating near Medawachchiya in the North Central Province.…
Posts published in “Sri Lanka”
report in The Sunday Times, Nov 26, 2023—President claims it comes under the executive branch but opposition say, it is part of the legislature —*Sumanthiran says his party has right to appoint member to CC and questions President’s commitment to solve the Tamil national issuePresident Ranil Wickremesinghe has triggered a political debate with his declaration in Parliament that the “Constitutional Council is part of the executive” and not the legislature as widely believed. The statement,…
report in The Island, Nov 26, 2023A Minister warns of emerging racism in the island nation targeting ethnic minorities ahead of 2024 elections while regretting the past racism-led events including riots and insurrections since the 1948 independence. Sri Lankan politicians have historically used racism to divide the country and win elections with the help of their own ethnicities and religious groups.The island nation is expected to hold presidential and parliament polls next year. A parliamentary…
report in Daily Mirror online, Nov 25, 2023 at 07:31 amCOLOMBO – The appointment of the tenth member to the Constitutional Council (CC) has been hampered over differences within the opposition, eventually leading to its activities being hamstrung, Daily Mirror learns. According to the Constitution, the current vacancy which has existed for more than one year should be reserved for a member of the third-largest party in Parliament, not represented either by the Prime Minister…
report in ECONOMYNEXT, Nov 25, 2023– Sri Lanka is eying to earn $200 million annual income from foreign ships traversing in its water by developing Electronic Navigation Charts (ENCs), the State Defence Minister said as the island nation is in the process of coming out of an unprecedented economic crisis. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Defence Minister, has already issued a gazette for navy to start the creation of ENCs, State Defence Minister…
report in Economy Next, Nov 24, 2023 at 11:37 pmSri Lanka has already started “right sizing” its strong military gradually to 150,000 by 2030 without any impact on national security while strengthening them with modern technology, State Defence Minister Minister Premitha Bandara Tennakoon said. He said the government is in the process of reducing the army to 100,000, navy to 30,000, and air force to 20,000 by 2030 from the current numbers, which he did…
By Rathindra Kuruwita in The Island, Nov 24, 2023The mastermind behind the procurement of a stock of substandard intravenous human immunoglobulin (IVIG) and misappropriating a huge amount of public funds had to be revealed, the secretary of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), Dr. Haritha Aluthge told The Island. “There is a broad public discussion on how this transpired, what the government has done, and the status of the investigation, especially following the recent arrests.…
By Methmalie Dissanayake in Ceylon Today, Nov 24, 2023Minister of Public Security, Tiran Alles, claimed in Parliament yesterday (23) that, in his view, deploying the Police and Military exclusively to address the Aragalaya and its associated incidents for about a year, resulted in diverting the attention of the law enforcement agencies away from underworld activities and drug-related issues in the country. Speaking during the Committee Stage debate on Expenditure Heads on Defence and Public Security,…
by Sumudu Chamara in The Daily Morning, Nov 23, 2023 * Seek collective measures for ‘lack’ of Budgetary support, new Bill, Indian poachingA group of Northern fishermen yesterday (22) revealed that they have planned to hold discussions with Southern fishermen in order to consider collective measures to a host of issues faced by Sri Lanka’s fisheries community. They claimed that the Budget 2024 has failed to provide the much needed support for the economic crisis-affected…
by Sahan Tennekoon in The Daily Morning, Nov 23, 2023The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) of the Parliamentary Opposition said that the Legislature is yet to appoint a member to the Constitutional Council (CC) representing the ethnic minorities, even though this matter had been raised on many an occasion. Speaking in Parliament yesterday (22), TNA Parliamentarian, President’s Counsel (PC) M.A. Sumanthiran said that even though they had named TNA MP Dharmalingam Sithadthan for the vacant seat…