PMD: President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that a programme focusing on utilising both university education and vocational training for the country’s development will commence next year.

Emphasising the need for a knowledgeable human resource to propel the nation forward, he assigned the responsibility to the university and vocational training sectors in Sri Lanka. The President highlighted the extended support from the private sector for a transformative shift in vocational training education and the imminent introduction of laws to reorganise the entire education system in the country.

These remarks were made during President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presence at the 2023 graduation ceremony of the National Institute of Business Studies (NSBM Green University). As part of the ceremony, the President inaugurated a new stadium and awarded 06 students who demonstrated outstanding skills among the 176 graduates. In a celebratory gesture, NSBM Green University Vice Chancellor E. Mr. A. Weerasinghe presented a collection of valuable books to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Addressing the gathering, President Wickremesinghe said;

We aim to revolutionise university education to ensure that every graduate secures employment. Currently, the admission of students to government universities is restricted due to logistical challenges. However, other nations have effectively addressed this issue, aligning with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts the right of everyone to access education. In line with this, governments and private entities worldwide have established universities. As Sri Lanka, we are now prepared to undertake this task.

Our goal is to significantly increase the number of universities in the country, potentially doubling or tripling their current count. Simultaneously, leveraging new technology allows students in Sri Lanka the opportunity to earn degrees from foreign universities without leaving the country.

We envision Sri Lanka becoming a hub for universities. Additionally, we aspire to complete the task of imparting English proficiency to both school and university students by 2030. Furthermore, we seek to equip students in our country with knowledge of additional languages.

In our efforts, we plan to establish vocational training colleges by merging existing vocational training institutes. To enhance employability, we are introducing job-oriented curricula for these courses. Encouragingly, the private sector has pledged support for these initiatives, and we anticipate implementing this programme by the coming year.

After that, it is our expectation to bring the necessary laws to reorganise the entire education system in this country. Thus, it should be said that our aim is to start the programme of using university education and vocational training education for the development of this country from next year, as knowledge is needed to develop the country. A new education system should be created for that.

We should act as a middle income country. We have to decide whether we will remain in this state forever, or whether we will become a high income economy. We all want to go on that journey. So we leave it to education to build the necessary human resources.

Mr Nihal Ranasinghe, Secretary of the Ministry of Education, NSBM Green University Vice Chancellor E. A. Weerasinghe, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Chaminda Ratnayake, deans and academic staff and parents of graduate students participated in this event.

Colombo (LNW): Businesswoman Thilini Priyamali has been acquitted by the Colombo High Court yesterday (11) in connection with a case involving the defrauding of Rs. 8 million via the issuance of a cheque from an empty bank account.

This was when the case was taken up before High Court Judge Aditya Patabendige yesterday.

A lawsuit was filed against Priyamali in 2012 at the Colombo Magistrate Court by businessman Samith Anuruddha accusing her of criminal breach of trust by the issuance of a bounced cheque, and in 2021 indictments were filed against her at the Colombo High Court.

The Colombo High Court granted the businesswoman acquittal upon consideration of the argument by the defendant’s lawyers that the manner in which the case was files disqualifies the proceeding of indictments against her.

Editor (LGBTIQ)

Colombo (LNW): The Parliament of Sri Lanka has called in Ruling Party MP Premnath Dolawatta to attend the upcoming Parliamentary Business Committee meeting to review his private member’s bill showcasing decriminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults via a ‘Penal Code (Amendment) Bill,’ a historical first move by a Sri Lankan lawmaker for the safeguarding of the rights of people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).

Dated 09.12.2023, the letter requesting the SLPP MP to move the ‘Penal Code (Amendment) Bill’ for second reading has been sent by Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Chaminda Kularatne, on behalf of the Secretary General of Parliament.

On the instructions of the Speaker, the matter related to the passing of the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill in Parliament was discussed at the meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business on November 20, the letter said, adding that after having discussed, the Committee decided to invite Dolawatta to attend the next meeting of the Committee in order to get ‘further clarification’ in this regard.

Accordingly, the next Committee meeting is due on December 12, 2023, and the SLPP lawmaker has been requested to sit for it, the letter added.

Dolawatta’s private member’s bill proposing decriminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual behaviour between adults proposes amendments to the sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code as follows;

1. This Act may be cited as the Penal Code (Amendment) Act, No. of 2023.

2. Sections 365and 365A , of the Penal Code (Chapter 19) (hereinafter referred to as the “principal enactment”) is hereby amended as follows:–

(i) Section 365 in the principal enactment is hereby repealed and it is amended by substituting the following section:

“Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with an animal, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also liable to fine.”

Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section.

(ii) Section 365A of the principal enactment is hereby repealed.

(iii) The intent of the legislature in enacting this legislation must be considered as amending the provisions that makes sexual orientation a punishable offence.

3. In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.

Dolawatta’s private member’s bill was challenged before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka accusing it to be violating fundamental rights (FR), but the arguments were dropped by the Supreme Court producing a special and a historic determination that consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults are in fact constitutional and any move for decriminalisation of consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults can be passed into law with a simple majority in Parliament. The FR petition lodged challenging the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill proposed by the SLPP MP was appealed by a number of intermediate petitioners including human and civil rights activists, community-organisations and other individuals.

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in Canberra in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau hosted a vibrant evening reception to a selected number of outbound tour operators in Canberra on 06December 2023 at the Sri Lanka High Commission premises, Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra said in a statement today (11). 

The key objective of this event was to promote Sri Lanka as a tourist destination and present Sri Lanka as an attractive and secure tourism market for Australian visitors.

Welcoming the guests, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Australia Chitranganee Wagiswara stated  that tourism is a key industry in Sri Lanka due to its varied attractions, unique adventures that could be experienced including the Sri Lankan cuisine favoured by Australians.  She invited the attendees to look at new destinations and promote Sri Lanka during the upcoming holiday season.

Eye-catching videos depicting the beauty of Sri Lanka were screened including “Pekoe Trail” which, at the British Guild of Travel Writers International Tourism Awards presentation won the best award for the year 2023. The event was followed by a Q & A session and the tour operators showed a keen interest in promoting Sri Lanka among Australian travellers.

Concluding the event, a Sri Lankan style dinner was served for the attendees. Giveaway packs containing tourism brochures and souvenirs provided by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau were distributed among the invitees.

The newly appointed High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Dhaka, Dharmapala Weerakkody presented Letters of Credence to  President Mohammed Shahabuddin of Bangladesh on Thursday, (07) at the Bangabhaban in Dhaka.

The credentials ceremony included a Guard of Honour  at the Bangabhaban, the official residence and the office of the President of Bangladesh, followed by the presentation of credentials and a brief meeting by the new High Commissioner with the President of Bangladesh. Senior officials of the President’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh were present at the credential ceremony from the Bangladeshi side.

At the meeting, President Shahabuddin warmly welcomed the new Sri Lankan envoy and wished him success in his assignment. The President referred to the friendly and strong bilateral relations between the two countries covering multiple areas of cooperation and underscored the importance of further elevating this partnership to new heights through renewed initiatives.

High Commissioner Weerakkody thanked President Shahabuddin for his kind sentiments and conveyed to him, the greetings and best wishes of President Ranil Wickremesinghe which were warmly reciprocated by the Bangladeshi President.

High Commissioner Weerakkody briefed President Shahabuddin on the prevailing economic situation in Sri Lanka and highlighted that Sri Lanka is now in an economic recovery phase with the support of its international partners. He further said that Sri Lanka is committed to deepening its longstanding friendly bilateral relations with Bangladesh into a dynamic political, trade and business partnership by diversifying the areas of cooperation for the mutual benefit of both the nations.

High Commissioner Weerakkody joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 2000 and is a career diplomat with over 23 years of experience. He has served in various capacities both at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Missions abroad. He previously served as the Minister of the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra and in different diplomatic assignments at Sri Lanka Missions in Bangkok, Manila, Rome and Chennai.

Prior to his appointment as the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Bangladesh, Mr. Weerakkody was the Director General of the South Asia Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka.

High Commission of Sri Lanka
Dhaka
12 December 2023

The Embassy & Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Austria participated at the “ASIA DAY -2023”, an annual signature event organized by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), on 5 December 2023 at the WKO Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Vienna said in a statement today (11).

The event offered opportunities for foreign representatives in Vienna to engage with high-level speakers and to showcase their trade and investment opportunities among more than 500 participants including representatives from Austrian companies.

The Federal Minister of Labour and Economic Affairs of Austria Martin Kocher attended the event as the guest of honour. Head of Global Forecasting and Regional Director Asia of ‘The Economist’ Tom Rafferty, and the former Foreign Secretary of India Nirupama Rao were among the key speakers.

‘Meet-me’ booths from eleven Asian Embassies based in Vienna including the Embassy of Sri Lanka were one of the attractions of the event.

With the assistance of the Export Development Board (EDB),  product samples from several Sri Lankan companies namely Tradlanka Agriculture Enterprises (Pvt) Limited (Ariya Food), Bogawantalawa Tea Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd., Falcon Tea Factory (Pvt) Ltd., Basilur, T-sips, Elpitiya Plantations PLC (Harrow House), Treeline Agrarian ImpEx, Akbar Brothers (Pvt) Ltd., and Consolidated Business Systems (Pvt) Ltd. (RISH) were displayed at the Sri Lanka booth. The relevant information were shared with the interested Austrian companies with a view to facilitating the entry to Austrian market and promoting business contacts.

Colombo (LNW): Parliament has decided to debate the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill today (11), following a proposal from the Ruling Party during the third reading of the Appropriation Bill.

However, the Opposition contested the government’s decision, leading the Speaker to call for a vote on whether the VAT (Amendment) Bill would be deliberated today.

Following the vote, 92 MPs voted in favour, with 41 MPs against it and one abstained.