PMD: Acknowledging the global shift towards a knowledge revolution propelled by technological advancements such as artificial intelligence, President Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged the government’s willingness to assist the Colombo University in its development, contingent on the university’s presentation of a 10-year development plan that aligns with the changing times.
The President said this while addressing the meeting of the 2023 Alumni group of the Colombo University held at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo on the 12th.
The meeting also coincided with the 40th anniversary of the University of Colombo Alumni Association, where a pinnacle awards ceremony was held. President Ranil Wickremesinghe was awarded the first award, which recognizes former scholars who have made unique contributions to the country, society, and the university.
Venerable Dimbulkumbure Vimaladhamma Thera, Member of Parliament Professor G.L. Peiris, Prof. Deshmanya J.B. Dissanayake, Tilak Karunaratne, and 11 others also received the award.
The President also acknowledged the need for innovation in the entire university system and urged the Colombo University Alumni Association to seek immediate solutions to the challenges facing the education sector. He further requested the Colombo University graduates to commit themselves to the preparation of a 10-year development plan as soon as possible, warning that the University of Colombo would miss out on opportunities to contribute to this special process if they fail to rise to the challenge.
The event was attended by Prof. Maithree Wickramasinghe, Colombo University Vice Chancellor Prof. H.D. Karunaratne, President of the Alumni Association Mr. J.M.S. Bandara, and many others.
Addressing an event organized at the Colombo Foundation on the occasion of the International Nurses Day, Mr. Sagala Ratnayake, the President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of the Presidential Staff, stated that a program to generate income for Sri Lanka through ‘Health Tourism’ is expected to be prepared.
He emphasized that in a country like Sri Lanka, which boasts a beautiful environment, the ‘Health Tourism’ program is highly advantageous, and that the nursing centre should devise new programs to help generate revenue for the country.
Alongside this, Mr. Sagala Ratnayake also took part in the awarding of excellence awards to nurses and nursing officers.
Expressing his views at this event Mr. Ratnayake further said,
Thank you for inviting me to celebrate International Nurses Day. It’s a significant day worldwide, and I’m delighted to know that our country is also taking part in the celebrations. I have the utmost respect and appreciation for the remarkable work done by nursing staff. Their dedication and service are particularly felt during times of crisis.
During the Covid epidemic, I witnessed firsthand the incredible service provided by nursing staff. Despite the risks involved, they never once thought of giving up or neglecting their duties. Their noble service helped save countless lives and played a significant role in our country’s successful fight against the epidemic. Thanks to their immense sacrifice, Sri Lanka was able to overcome the crisis faster than many other countries in the world.
I would also like to take this opportunity to reflect on the economic situation in our country. When Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe assumed office as President, the country was facing severe economic risks. We were struggling with shortages of foreign exchange, fuel, gas, and medicine, and we didn’t even have the funds to carry out essential tasks. We all know the dire situation in countries like Sudan and Lebanon. However, today, our country has made significant progress in terms of economic stability, and we have been able to reduce the basic problems faced by our citizens.
Looking to the future, I believe we should be creative and explore new avenues for economic growth. With our country’s beautiful environment, we can develop health tourism as a potential source of income. Let us work together as a nation to build a brighter future for all.
As a Sri Lankan, I am aware that many Sri Lankans living in England and Australia come back to our country to receive medical treatment. However, we should not view this as a negative thing. Instead, we can turn this into a business opportunity and develop this aspect of our healthcare system further.
There is also a significant demand for Sri Lankan nurses in foreign countries. However, some are facing difficulties due to language barriers and a lack of proficiency in English. As a nation, we need to solve these issues and capitalize on this demand. We must strive to create a better country for our young people, and we must take steps towards achieving that goal.
Fortunately, inflation in our country is currently decreasing, and prices for goods are becoming more reasonable for consumers. If we had not received support from the International Monetary Fund, the situation could have been much worse. It’s essential that policies remain consistent, regardless of changes in government. The government is committed to providing adequate income for all Sri Lankans, and we respect and appreciate the service of each and every citizen to our country.
Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakshe –
I firmly believe that nursing is a noble profession that has helped millions of people worldwide. When one cares for the sick, it is akin to caring for the Buddha. We do not need any further definitions of nursing beyond this.
However, there is hypocrisy among the educated and intelligent people in our country regarding nursing. The duration of the nursing degree has been reduced to three years. If this is done correctly, there should be hundreds of thousands of nursing graduates in the country. Despite any pressure, we will not halt the plan to establish a Nursing University. Our goal is to provide a globally recognized nursing degree through this university that will be integrated into our university system. I am optimistic that this move will boost the recognition and reputation of nursing as a profession.
Moreover, I am grateful for the service of nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through your selfless service, we were able to save millions of lives in our country. Your dedication to your profession is commendable, and it has helped us realize the value of nursing as an essential service.
Director General of Trade Unions to the President Saman Ratnapriya –
As someone who values the nursing profession, I am aware that there are both solved and unsolved issues that need attention. I am pleased to share that the Cabinet has approved the establishment of the National Nursing University, which is an important service for our country. Building a nursing faculty has been necessary throughout history, and we remember the political support given by former Health Minister Mr. Rajitha Senaratne with respect.
Although the degree was reduced from four years to three years, many of us fought for the restoration of the four-year nursing degree. The Faculty of Nursing provides graduation, but the country has not been able to produce enough staff to meet the demand for nurses.
I am aware that 13,000 nurses have not been promoted yet. However, thanks to the intervention of the President, measures have been taken to promote these deserving individuals. Despite the economic crisis, the government has approved the recruitment of 6,500 people for the nursing service. We have emphasized that nurses should be recruited, even if other government employees cannot be hired. Failure to recruit enough staff can affect health centers and the entire country, so we have taken steps to provide both promotions and employment opportunities for nurses.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Promotion Manusha Nanayakkara, former Minister of Health Rajitha Senaratne, Member of Parliament Wajira Abeywardene, Member of Parliament Rajitha Senaratne, Senior Lecturer Pramitha Madhavi, Secretary of the Public Health Organization Nurse Bernie Silva and others including nurses, officials and trade union representatives were present on this occasion.
Colombo (LNW): Very severe cyclonic storm “Mocha” over East-Central Bay of Bengal intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and lay centred near 15.4N and 89.1E at 05.30 hours yesterday (13) and is very likely to move north-northwestwards and cross southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar coasts around noon today (14), said the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology in a warning.
Naval and fishing communities are advised not to venture into the sea areas bounded by (05N – 20N) and between (83E – 100E) until further notice.
The Centre also said it is dangerous to engage in activities in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Galle via Mannar, Kankasanthurai, Mullativu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Pottuvil, Hambantota and Matara, due to strong winds and rough seas, adding that naval and fishing communities, therefore, are urged to be vigilant in this regard.
Meanwhile, showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-Western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts and fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts, the Department said in its daily weather forecast today (14).
Several spells of showers may occur elsewhere over the country, and strong winds about (40-45) kmph can be expected at times over the Island, it added.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
01. Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa says security was tightened in Colombo based on “information received by intelligence agencies that a group comprising of about 750 people within the UOC was planning to behave in a rebellious manner”: Concerned parties allege the action was a bogus move and was promoted as a ‘planted news’ by state-backing media, as part of ‘a bigger sinister plan’.
02. Two more people succumb to Covid-19, pushing the total Covid-related fatalities to 16,853: 10 more positive cases reported within the last 48 hours.
03. CBSL says foreign remittances received in the country in April was US$ 454 million; asserts the total amount of remittances received in the 1Q23 was US$ 1,867.2 million.
04. Wholesale cement traders say the price of a 50kg cement bag reduced by Rs. 150: New price reduced to Rs. 2,600 from Rs. 2,750.
05. SLFP Secretary General Dayasiri Jayasekara responds to Party MP Duminda Dissanayake’s criticism over his conduct, saying that the MP’s comment is part of a systematic procedure conspired to weaken the Party; laments similar actions were evident on a number of occasions in which the SLFP was being strengthened.
06. Seven personnel belonging to Sri Lanka’s Tri-Forces have reportedly gone missing in France while participating in the 2023 World Military Triathlon Championship: Four Army officers, one Naval personnel and two Air Force officers are believed to have stolen their passports from the Chief of the 13-member delegation that departed to France and fled the accommodation in which they were.
07. Sri Lankan herbal drink ‘Samahan’ becomes a hot topic recently on popular Indian TV show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati,’ the Hindi adaptation of popular reality show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ as its host, Bollywood royalty Amitabh Bachchan lends a helping hand to a participant who had cold symptoms during the show saying that he had “just the right drink for her cough called Samahan”.
08. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says the ‘Aragalaya’ people’s struggle made it possible for the youth to being involved in the government’s policy making platform in the backdrop where no such participation was evident before the uprising; asserts he endorses the youth’s involvement in policy making.
09. Child rights advocate group ‘Child Protection Alliance’ together with 45 signatories write to the Buddha Shasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry and the National Child Protection Authority to take immediate action to end child abuse in religious institutions; discloses that from July 2020 to July 2022, seventeen children have been physically/sexually abused and murdered and nothing meaningful has been taken to resolve the crisis to date.
10. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry attending the first round table discussion at the 2nd European Union – Indo Pacific Ministerial Forum in Sweden says peaceful co-existence is essential and it was almost unanimous within the forum that peace is a goal all countries must work towards in order to ensure a prosperous nation.
In a significant gesture of cooperation, the Australian Government has generously gifted a former Royal Australian Air Force aircraft to Sri Lanka. The official handover took place when Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Paul Stephens, presented a letter from Australian Minister of Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, offering the Beechcraft KA350 aircraft.
The Beechcraft KA350 King Air, a modern twin-engine turboprop aircraft, holds immense value in bolstering Sri Lanka’s capacity to safeguard its maritime security. This generous donation not only enhances Sri Lanka’s capabilities but also showcases the strong collaboration between the two nations in combatting transnational crime.
High Commissioner Paul Stephens expressed his satisfaction with this initiative, emphasizing its significance in a tweet on Friday (12). The aircraft gift underscores the commitment of both Australia and Sri Lanka to strengthen regional security cooperation and promote mutual interests.
The acquisition of the Beechcraft KA350 will undoubtedly contribute to Sri Lanka’s efforts in protecting its maritime boundaries, ensuring the safety and security of its waters, and further enhancing its defense capabilities.
Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Manusha Nanayakkara, has revealed that Sri Lankan migrant workers’ foreign remittances in April 2023 have displayed a significant improvement compared to the inflows recorded in April 2022.
During the previous month, workers’ remittances reached USD 454 million, marking a substantial increase from the inflows of USD 248.9 million in April 2022. This surge represents a noteworthy rise of USD 205.1 million, equivalent to 82.4%, as stated by the minister.
However, when compared to the workers’ remittances in March 2023, which totaled USD 568 million, the inflows in April 2023 experienced a slight decline.
Remarkably, Sri Lanka has consistently surpassed USD 400 million in migrant workers’ remittances during the first four months of 2023, with cumulative inflows amounting to USD 1867.2 million. In January and February, the remittances stood at USD 437.5 million and USD 407 million, respectively.
These positive trends in remittances indicate the resilience and contribution of Sri Lankan migrant workers, highlighting their vital role in the country’s economy.
The Government’s initiatives to stabilise the economy are bearing fruits with fuel and gas prices coming down, hope is also on the rise – especially among the corporate community.”
The World Bank is helping transform economic governance and increase public sector transparency, preventing past mistakes through strengthened fiscal oversight and debt management, and by tackling the sources of the heightened financial sector vulnerabilities.
And this foreign donor institution is helping Sri Lanka transition towards a more private sector-driven and outward-looking economy by supporting state owned enterprise SOE reforms, reducing the cost of trade, and making it easier for the private sector to invest.
The latest edition of LMD noted that “there’s been a turnaround in economic sentiment,” reporting on NielsenIQ’s monthly countrywide survey – for the exclusive LMD-NielsenIQ Business Confidence Index or BCI – published in the magazine’s May issue.
NielsenIQ Director – Consumer Insights Therica Miyanadeniya said, “As the country is beginning to stabilise, and with fuel and gas prices coming down, hope is also on the rise – especially among the corporate community.”
“Expectations for the future continue to pick up,” she noted, adding that both long and short-term perceptions among businesspeople have improved.”
According to LMD, “a somewhat healthy 34% of businesspeople spoken to by the pollsters expect the economy to ‘improve’ in the next 12 months, whereas only 17% said so in March.”
Likewise, only a third or so feel that the economy will ‘get worse’ during this time – in the prior month, a whopping 63% said so, LMD added.
“The disposition in corporate circles about projected sales volumes in the year ahead (i.e. the numbers will ‘get better’) has also improved from 37% in March to 55% a month later,” the magazine noted.
LMD also reported that less than a quarter (23%) feel that their sales numbers will ‘get worse’ in the 12 months ahead – versus nearly half (46%) a month ago.
However, the leading business magazine reported that perceptions about the investment climate remain weak: “The number of executives who believe that the investment landscape is ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ continues to be high – even though it has fallen from the eighth percentile to the seventh (i.e. from 89% in March to 79% a month later).
Media Services, LMD’s publisher, said the latest edition of the magazine has been released. Its digital edition is also available on WhatsApp and the publisher’s social media platforms.
The magazine’s Cover Story featured an exclusive interview with recently appointed Brandix Lanka Managing Director Hasitha Premaratne, who discussed the downturn in the apparel industry and the nation’s economic prospects.
For the first time in 15 years, SriLankan Airlines has succeeded to post an operating profit of Rs. 1.7 billion in FY22 reflecting improvement as against a loss of Rs. 8.12 billion in the previous year.
However, the significant devaluation of the Sri Lanka rupee in March 2022 resulted in an exchange loss of Rs. 143 billion for the year, driving the Group to record a full-year net loss of Rs. 164 billion after exchange loss and finance charges as against Rs. 49 .7 billion in FY21.
Of the loss 87% consisted of exchange losses as opposed to 40% in FY21. SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage said.
“With the successful implementation of our new business strategy in line with the increase travel demand, it is significant to note that the Group recorded a profit (when reported in dollar terms, as over 75% of the Group’s revenues are generated in foreign currencies), for the fourth quarter of the financial year.”
He said that the national carrier has recognised that the debt burden of the company largely relating to liquidity sourcing made in the past, remained a drawback to an otherwise improving financial performance.
Therefore, the company explored the possibilities of restructuring some of these debts, the majority of which are held by institutions owned by the Government of Sri Lanka.
The Government of Sri Lanka announced its intent to restructure the company in line with policy initiatives of the country and the Cabinet has in principle approved the requirement to restructure SLA,” Pathirage said in the national carrier’s Annual Report for FY22 released yesterday.
As of 31 March 2022, short-term interest-bearing liabilities amounted to Rs. 164.2 billion up from Rs. 135.7 billion a year ago. Long-term interest-bearing liabilities were Rs. 215.5 billion, as against Rs. 163.4 billion in FY21.
SriLankan Airlines’ accumulated losses at end FY22 was Rs. 529 billion at Group level as against Rs. 366.2 billion in FY21. At company level the accumulated loss was Rs. 537.5 billion in FY22.
CEO Richard Nuttall said the airline faced greater challenges in the first half of the financial year 2022/23 with a challenging local economic situation, high-interest rates as well as a shortage in jet fuel supply.
But with a lowered cost base and agility in both commercial and operational aspects, we succeeded in improving our financial performance with a positive operating performance for the period.
The Group revenue in FY22 saw a drastic increase of 164% to Rs. 134.3 billion.
SriLankan Airlines said the overall number of passengers carried grew significantly by 779% compared to 2021, driven by the increased demand for passenger travel resulting from the relaxation of travel restrictions by countries.
Airline’s market capacity in FY22 increased by 166% over the previous year, while the overall passenger cabin factor increased to 49% from 20%.
Cargo services experienced an increase in demand during the year, achieving the highest cargo revenue generated in the history of the airline, amounting to Rs. 44 billion which reflected a year-on-year growth of 48%.
The contribution from cargo to the total payload stood at 47% when compared to 78% in the previous financial year.
In an ambitious move to enhance Sri Lanka agriculture productivity with modern technology in grain processing technology, a leading local conglomerate Hayleys Group will be introducing the all-new Shizuoka Circulation type Grain Dryer.
Hayleys Agriculture, one of Sri Lanka’s leading agricultural solutions providers, partnered with Shizuoka Seiki Japan, which has been manufacturing agricultural machinery for over 40 years, is set to introduce the Circulation type Grain Dryer, with cutting-edge Japanese technology, in an effort to enhance the country’s grain processing industry.
The Shizuoka Grain Dryer will revolutionise the grain drying process, which has long been bottlenecked by the use of conventional drying methods in the local grain processing industry.
A large portion of the industry currently relies on the sun-drying process, which results in high damage to the grain during the milling process for consumption and low germination rates for seed-purpose grain processing due to the long drying periods and low consistency, agriculture ministry sources said.
On the other hand, the entire process was made even more challenging due to the susceptibility to environmental changes as well.
It is with these issues in mind that Hayleys Agriculture introduced an all-new, specifically designed grain drying system that can stand out from its competitors in the market through its improved drying mechanism that reduces grain damage and encourages even drying regardless of the weather condition.
The Grain Dryer is equipped with a specially designed bucket elevator and screw system to minimize any mechanical damage to the grain.
It also ensures an even distribution of grain within the dryer to enhance the consistency of the process. Another key feature is an improved online grain moisture analyzer that provides highly accurate and continuous drying parameter readings, which allows for better control of the process. On top of that, the compact design of these dryers makes installation, maintenance, and operation extremely easy and user-friendly.
Sumith Herath, Director/General Manager and SBU Head of Agri Equipment Division of Hayleys Agriculture commented: Sri Lankan farmers will be able to get firsthand experience of the fine mix of trustworthiness and reliability that Shizuoka has gained worldwide through decades of manufacturing agricultural machinery and technological advancements.
Aalong with Hayleys Agriculture’s unparalleled customer care, pre and after sales service capabilities, as all dryers are subject to a manufacturer’s warranty, which will be provided by Shizuoka through Hayleys Agriculture.
