Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne paid a courtesy call on Minister of Tourism and Sport, Sudawan Wangsuphakitkosol at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of Thailand on 19th December 2023.

Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakitkosol warmly welcomed Ambassador Chaminda Colonne, and Ambassador congratulated the newly appointed Minister.

Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakitkosol assured her fullest support and cooperation for strengthening Thai-Sri Lanka relations in the field of Tourism, especially to enhance Buddhist Religious Tourism, and two-way Tourism exchanges.

Ambassador also requested Ministry of Tourism and Sport of Thailand to encourage Thai investors to invest in the hospitality and tourism sectors in Sri Lanka.

Ambassador further highlighted that the Government of Sri Lanka has recently waived off the visa fee for Thai Nationalities in order to promote Sri Lanka as a destination for Thai tourists.

The invitation extended by the Ambassador Chaminda Colonne to Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakitkosol to visit Sri Lanka at a convenient time in the near future, was warmly accepted.

Head of Chancery, A.W.S. Samanmali and the First Secretary (Commercial), Vireshika Bandara accompanied the Ambassador for the discussion.

Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Bangkok
22 December 2023

The newly appointed High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne (Rtd.) presented credentials to the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi at a formal ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr (Presidency) in Islamabad on Tuesday, 19 December 2023.

The credential ceremony included a guard of honour followed by the presentation of credentials and a cordial discussion with the President of Pakistan. High Commissioner Wijegunaratne conveyed warm greeting from the President of Sri Lanka and highlighted the strong relationship between the two nations in the areas of trade, culture, defence and people to people.

The President of Pakistan extended his best wishes to President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the people of Sri Lanka and wished that Sri Lanka will overcome economic challenges soon.  He thanked the Sri Lanka government for providing more than 35,000 Eye corneas to Pakistani people. Further, the President of Pakistan underlined the need for enhancing and strengthening cultural linkages between the two countries, besides exchanging visits at the political and cultural levels.  The President acknowledged that Sri Lanka was the first country that entered into a Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan and highlighted the need for increasing the volume of bilateral trade for the mutual benefit of two countries. The High Commissioner extended his gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the support extended to the Government of Sri Lanka at various levels.

The High Commissioner, Admiral Ravindra began his career in the Sri Lanka Navy in the year 1980 and was promoted to the rank of Admiral/ Chief of Defense Staff (Tri-Forces Commander).  He has 40 years active service in Sri Lanka Armed Forces.  He completed his BSc (Hon) (War Studies) in Karachi University and MPhil (Defense and Strategic Studies), Madras University.  He has also specialized in Anti-Submarine Warfare and served as the First Secretary/Defense Adviser of the Sri Lanka High Commission, New Delhi from 2001-2005.  Before appointing as the High Commissioner, he served as the Managing Director of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Chairman of Trinco Petroleum Terminals (Pvt) Ltd.  The High Commissioner is a past student of Royal College, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka.

During his tenure in the Forces, he was awarded several medals from Sri Lanka and Nishan-e-Imtiyaz Medal from Pakistan.

The High Commissioner was accompanied to the credentials ceremony by his family, Minister of the Sri Lanka High Commission in Pakistan Christy Ruban and Minister Counsellor (Defence) Brigadier Kaminda Silva.

High Commission of Sri Lanka

Islamabad.

21 December 2023

Colombo (LNW): The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported a 52 per cent increase in new COVID-19 cases over the past four weeks, with over 850,000 new cases recorded during this period.

Despite this surge, new deaths decreased by 8 per cent, with over 3,000 fatalities reported.

Globally, since the onset of COVID-19, there have been over 772 million confirmed cases and nearly seven million deaths as of December 17.

The WHO highlighted over 118,000 new COVID-19 hospitalisations and more than 1,600 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, marking a 23 per cent and 51 per cent increase, respectively, on a global scale.

As of December 18, 2023, the JN.1 sub-lineage of the BA.2.86 Omicron variant has been designated a separate variant of interest (VOI) due to its rapid increase in prevalence.

Despite its low global public health risk, the WHO suggests that JN.1 could contribute to the burden of respiratory infections, particularly with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

The WHO continues to monitor the evidence and risk associated with JN.1 and emphasises that current vaccines remain effective against severe disease and death from this variant.

Additionally, the WHO notes the circulation of other respiratory diseases such as influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia.

The organisation advises individuals to adopt preventive measures, including wearing masks, maintaining a safe distance, practicing respiratory etiquette, regular hand hygiene, and getting tested for COVID-19 or influenza if symptomatic or exposed.

Colombo (LNW): In the ongoing special island-wide operation ‘Yukthiya’ (Justice) targeting narcotics, Sri Lankan security forces conducted a 24-hour mission concluding at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday (23), resulting in the arrest of numerous suspects.

The Ministry of Public Security reported a total of 1,676 suspects apprehended during this period.

Financial asset investigations have been initiated for 45 suspects, with 112 individuals referred for rehabilitation. Detention orders were secured against 119 suspects.

The drugs seized in the special island-wide operations include:

• 692g of heroin
• 393g of methamphetamine (‘Ice’)
• 42.1kg of Cannabis
• 20,615 narcotic pills
• 235,680 Cannabis plants
• 534g of Hash
• 11kg of ‘Mawa’

Since the initiation of special raids under the ‘Yukthiya’ operation on December 17, security forces personnel have made over 11,500 arrests and confiscated substantial amounts of narcotics.

Simultaneously, the Illegal Assets and Properties Investigation Division of the police have seized assets worth millions of rupees belonging to notorious criminal figures and drug traffickers.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka trade ministry’s irregular measures to import 50,000 metric tons of keeri samba rice in lieu of the festive season without following proper procedure allowing10 selected importers to carry out the task in their own way, commodity exporters complained.

The Ministry has selected those importers from a list of companies engaged in rice importation indicated in a SMS received by the relevant officers without proper evaluation of their eligibility, they said.

It has been revealed that the trade ministry has not followed any registration procedure for the selection of these importers and it has not considered previous experience in importing rice and the quantity of rice that they are going to import.

Azeez Brothers, Benson Traders, RTS Foods Ltd, ENSEN Trading Ltd, VD Holdings, Nandana Enterprise, Gnanam Imports.Pulses Processing Ltd, Barik Enterprise and PM Mohomed Ali Ltd were the importers named in the SMS.

SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, said the Cabinet has reportedly granted approval for the import despite the upcoming Maha season harvest, with estimates pointing to a yield of over 2 million metric tons of rice, which is 80% of the country’s annual requirement.

He also questioned why a decision to import rice for the festive season is taking place so late in the day, as it takes over two weeks for imports to reach Sri Lanka, and asked if there is already a ship carrying rice consignments anchored in the outer harbour.

“This is madness, this is almost like the sugar scam. Red raw rice is over Rs. 180 a kg, which is difficult for the poor man to afford. Keeri Samba is sold at over Rs. 300 a kg, so what is the logic behind importing Samba?

Why is that order being placed now? Farmers incur a cost of about Rs. 90 to produce a kg of rice. When you make room for imports that has a cascading impact on prices, so how does the Government hope to protect and promote local agriculture,” De Silva asked.

He added the move to allow imports will benefit racketeers, and the Government may also look to reduce prices in the wake of an election year. De Silva added such a measure will compromise local agriculture output and confidence, in a year production costs are billed to rice with the increase in VAT.

“We call on the Government not to allow this. There must be a better plan to support local agriculture if we want it to become one of our key sectors.

Local onion farmers are struggling because of bad policy and decisions surrounding imports, and the lack of storage facilities and support that were disrupted by this Government when it came into power under President Rajapaksa,” he stated.

Colombo (LNW): The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India confiscated 54 kilograms of methamphetamine from a suspected drug trafficker in Chennai on Friday (21).

Udayakumar, a Sri Lankan national, was called in for questioning amid suspicions that he intended to smuggle methamphetamine to Sri Lanka, The Hindu reported.

During the investigation, 2 kilograms of the drug was seized from his possession. In a subsequent development, the central drug law enforcement agency arrested Akbar Ali of Perambur and seized 54 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a concealment.

The illicit substance had been sourced from Myanmar via Moreh in Manipur, with the intention of smuggling it into Sri Lanka.

In 2023, the NCB’s Chennai zone recorded a seizure of 65.061 kilograms of methamphetamine and 3,338.018 kilograms of ganja.

These substances, procured by the accused for smuggling into Sri Lanka, resulted in the arrest of 67 individuals involved in the drug network.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): New High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha expressed his country’s commitment to strengthening the special friendship between the two countries, while fostering closer collaboration in trade, investment, energy, connectivity and other areas.

Mr. Jha presented credentials to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in a diplomatic ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo earlier in the day, marking the official commencement of his tenure here.

His most recent assignment prior to the posting in Sri Lanka was at the Embassy of India in Brussels, where he served from July 2020 until December 2023. Jha has the experience of serving as a member of negotiating teams for Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Sri Lanka and the European Union respectively.

As the new high commissioner to its neighbouring island nation, Mr. Jha is poised to further strengthen the bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka, fostering cooperation and collaboration in various domains, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a press release.

In the guest book of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mr. Jha conveyed that India and Sri Lanka share deep-rooted bonds in history, geography, culture and people-to-people ties.

He highlighted the growth of ties in political, economic, and security fields over the decades, emphasizing India’s role as Sri Lanka’s close neighbour, largest trade partner and a key development partner.

Mr. Jha aligned his goals with the Vision Statement agreed upon by the leaders of both nations, expressing confidence that their cooperation will lead to shared prosperity, progress and regional stability.

The new Indian envoy thanked President Wickremesinghe for the warm welcome and looked forward to constructive engagements in the future.

The partnership encourages investment from India’s private sector and joint ventures with Sri Lankan companies. Three areas – logistics, energy and tourism – are the focus of this partnership.

This includes improving regional logistics and the development of ports in Colombo, Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai, ferry services between Indian and Sri Lankan ports and greater air connectivity between both countries.

These are business investments that also enable people-to-people movement.

The most important projects include proposals to build an oil pipeline from India to Sri Lanka and to connect the two countries’ electricity grids.

India already has oil pipelines and power links with Bangladesh and Nepal – providing a template that can be used with Sri Lanka. While India is an energy importer it houses a world-class and world-scale oil refining and processing industry.