The closing date for the applications for the scholarship program for GCE (A/L) students under President’s Fund extended.

The closing date for the submission of applications for the scholarship program, utilizing funds from the President’s Fund, for students who passed GCE (O/L) 2021/2022 and are sitting for the GCE (A/L) examination in 2024 has been extended to December 30.
It was earlier scheduled to accept the duly completed applications submitted to the Principals of the respective schools on or before December (23) for the scholarship program which was initiated as per the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. However the closing date for the submission of applications was extended, considering the requests made to the President by the students and parents.
Hence the President’s Fund instructs the duly filled application forms to be submitted to the principals of the respective schools where the student sat for the GCE (O/L) examination before December 30.
The Presidential Secretariat has instructed the Education Ministry Secretary to formulate a mechanism to ensure that the applications are received from the offices of the schools during the vacation between December 23 and January 02, 2023.
The President’s Fund further informed that there will be no change in the days used for other activities related to selection even though the date of accepting applications has been extended to December 30.

President Media Division (PMD)

1. CEB Engineers’ Union to proceed with protest outside Norochcholai Coal Power Plant: insist coal stocks will run out on 31st December, leading to approximately 10-hour power cuts: assert the Ministry of Energy cannot take legal action against trade unionists for voicing concerns.
2. Public Utilities Commission Chairman Janaka Ratnayake says the present stocks of coal will be exhausted by 2nd January 2023, and if new shipments do not reach the country, the power cuts as warned by the engineers will be a reality.
3. President Ranil Wickremasinghe says land grants to plantations companies will be abolished but lands given to the people: hopes to have the activity completed by 4th February 2023.
4. The Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiri Chapters say steps should be taken to reopen the Sri Lanka Buddhist and Pali University for educational activities after conducting urgent investigations into causes that led to the present situation in the University.
5. SJB MP Sarath Fonseka says there is a campaign that attempts to instill fear about “born-again” Christians among majority Sinhala-Buddhists: asserts the “born-again” is a denomination of Christianity, similar to sects such as Theravada and Mahayana in Buddhism.
6. President Ranil Wickremesinghe grants an year’s service extension to Army Commander Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage with effect from 31st December 2022: also appoints General H S H Kottegoda (Rtd) as the Chancellor of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
7. CB Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe says India has underscored the need for “creditor equitability” from the time the “Sri Lankan government entered the provisional agreement with the IMF”: also says “we can manage without bridge financing, and that’s how we have been managing since July”: Weerasinghe has now served as Governor for nearly 9 months, but not been successful in obtaining a single dollar as a new inflow.
8. Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission says if the electricity bill is increased in a way that violates the basic rights of the public, it is ready to intervene as a stakeholder, without a complaint.
9. Census and Statistics Department points out that the economy has suffered a massive shock in the 3rd Quarter of 2022: decline in the industrial sector has been a massive 21.2%, while the agriculture sector suffered a decline of 1.7% and the services sector declined by 2.1%.
10. South Korea Disaster Relief Foundation President Cho Sung Lea publicly reprimands the top invitee State Minister Anupa Pasqual who arrived late for a function: says if that delay had occurred in Korea, the person would have been removed from the position and deemed unsuitable.

A discussion was held at the Ministry of Justice yesterday (23) on identifying the shortcomings of the existing Police Ordinance and amending it to suit the present.

It was headed by Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa and Public Security Minister Tiran Alas.

Three committees headed by three senior DIGs have been appointed to identify the deficiencies in the Police Ordinance Act and it is said that the new bill is to be prepared taking into consideration the recommendations given by those committees and the draft prepared to amend the Police Ordinance Act in 2017.

The Presidential Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs, Professor Ashu Marasinghe has resigned from that position.

The Presidential Media Unit stated that he has resigned due to personal reasons.

Sri Lanka Customs on Friday (23) seized Rs. 165 Mn worth of narcotics sent to the country from Spain, UK, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands.

A total of seven parcels that were not claimed for weeks were inspected in the presence of representatives from Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka Post, and the Police Narcotic Bureau.

These parcels were stuffed inside toys and food cans, and concealed inside these items were drugs worth Rs. 165 Mn.

Sri Lanka Customs Spokesperson Sudaththa Silva stated that 4.673 kg of Kush worth Rs. 70 Million was discovered.

In addition, a total of 9,586 Crystal Meth pills valued at Rs. 95 Million were also seized.

The Police Narcotic Bureau is conducting further investigations.

Rashika Hennayake

In response to strengthening the socio-economic resilience of the returning migrant workers, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has identified the maritime sector as having the potential to generate ample employment opportunities for the returnees and aspirant migrant workers.

The Mahapola Port and Maritime Academy, supported by the ILO, Government of Japan, with the facilitation of the National Union of Seafarers of Sri Lanka (NUSS), has successfully conducted the graduation ceremony for the 22 trainees who completed the Training Course on Maritime and Seamanship on 20 December.

This training course provided systematic and organised training to assist trainees in acquiring the skills and knowledge required to assist deck officers on a daily basis.

The training covered all routine operational activities, such as hands on experience to operate deck-rated machinery and equipment and to assist the deck officer on watch, and watch-keeping duties.

Attending the certificate award ceremony, Japanese Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki said: “I am pleased to see that Japan’s assistance can be of help to the migrant returnees to obtain actual employment and skill-up opportunities.

Through the project, the Government of Japan aims to strengthen the returnees’ practical skills and encourage their entrepreneurship.”

ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Simrin Singh applauded both the idea and the energy put together by the Port Authority,

Mahapola training centre and National Union of Seafarers who joined hands to deliver a training package that will result in the creation of much needed jobs and also improve the lives of the vulnerable.

She congratulated the first batch of graduates who have successfully completed their learning and reinforced the ILO’s longstanding commitment to create more decent employment for Sri Lankans.

This initiative has been initiated through the ILO’s ‘Socioeconomic Reintegration of Sri Lankan Migrant Workers Project’ with the support of the people of Japan.

Government is set to re-expropriate assets of Sri Lanka’s privatised commercial plantations being under-utilised with the aim of handing it to the people for crop cultivation making it for productive use, the presidential media division announced.

The Government has decided to cancel land licenses issued to plantation companies, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

“All the land licenses given to the plantation companies will be cancelled and steps will be taken to provide the land needed by the people and we hope to complete these activities before February 04,” the president’s media division quoted Mr. Wickremesinghe as saying.

The President said that urgent solutions should be given to the land issues faced by the public in Nuwara Eliya.

He expressed these views while attending the Nuwara Eliya District Development Committee meeting held at the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat yesterday morning (22).

The President requested the District Secretariat, Ministry of Plantation and Land Registration Department to jointly prepare a report on Government owned land in the district within a month.

Sri Lanka’s privatised plantations which are on 50-year lease have only 70,000 hectares of land.

Plantations are an emblematic case in Sri Lanka’s post-independence economic decline where they were expropriated from foreign and domestic owners under ‘land reform’.

Many foreign owners were given land in African nations like Kenya where they set up tea plantations.

Sri Lanka state is now bankrupt and the President Ranil Wickremesinghe is trying to attract foreign investment into privatisations.

Renewed expropriation fears arose after reports that a proposal had been given to the cabinet to take-over so-called ‘under-utilized’ land of privatised plantations.

Sri Lanka in 2011 expropriated a number of private properties including publicly listed Pelwatte Sugar and Hotel Developers, claiming the land was ‘under-utilised’.

Land of several Board of Investment firms were also taken back despite a constitutional guarantee that they will not be expropriated.

Given the past experience with nationalised plantations and other companies, then President J R Jayewardene put in the guarantee to assure foreign investors, but the country has not been able to draw large scale foreign investors unlike East Asia.

Sri Lanka expropriated peoples lands into the Janatha Estate Development Board and the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation from which the privatised plantations were hived off after taking monthly handouts from the Treasury to pay workers.

There are still two plantations companies in state hands making losses, raising questions as to how well utilised units like Elkaduwa Plantations is, according to critics.

In Sri Lanka, like most countries before freehold developed in Britain, land use was governed by various types of tenure and Rajakariya.

However the British Waste Land Ordinance took over large tracts of land which were not being used by the people at a time when free hold was under-developed making the state a big owner of land.

After independence established private property was expropriated under ‘land reform’ making the state the largest owner of land and reversing freehold.