A general election is expected to be held in the first quarter of 2023, most likely in March, sources said.
As of February next year, the President will be given the power to dissolve Parliament and he is likely to do so upon being given the power.
A number of parties are of the argument that the people should be empowered to dissolve Parliament and elect a new one, but the President will not be given the power to dissolve Parliament until the completion of a period of two and a half years since the current Parliament convened.
Meanwhile, sources further claimed that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is preparing to regain power before any Parliament dissolution, and the current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to be ousted before the end of this year in a move to form a single SLPP-led government once again, ignoring the islandwide protests demanding the stepping down of the corrupt regime.
Sri Lanka’s first and largest general oral solid and liquid dosage pharmaceutical manufacturing facility with state-of the-art WHO GMP and EU GMP compliance has commenced its commercial production at Pitipana in Homagama recently. ,
Morison Ltd., one of the pioneers of pharmaceutical manufacturing in Sri Lanka since 1959, announced the commencement of commercial production at its state-of the-art factory unveiled in late 2020.
The factory marked the launch of commercial production by manufacturing and releasing its 1st commercial batches of Chlorphenamine Oral Solution and Paracetamol 500mg tablets to the market on the 26th of May.
Marking a new era in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka, with a commitment to increase access of high quality yet affordable medicines, Morison’s investment of Rs 4 billion in its new state-of-the-art pharmaceutical research and manufacturing facility, is the highest investment to date in the local pharma manufacturing industry, company officials said.
The facility, the first general oral solid and liquid dosage manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka, built as per European Union-Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) specifications and Quality Management Systems, has a capacity to manufacture over 5 Bn tablets and 2 Mn litres of liquid during two shifts, which can cater up to 40% of the national demand.
Dinesh Athapaththu, Managing Director of Morison Limited said that . “With the launch of commercial production at the new facility, Morison continues its 60-year long mission to offer the highest quality products at affordable prices to Sri Lankans.
Living up to its purpose, Morison recently launched the 1st locally manufactured SGLT-2, a new generation Diabetes molecule – Empagliflozin at a cost that is approximately 50% lesser than the prevailing market prices. According to the company, it is also working on a new product pipeline which will include some of the latest therapies predominantly in diabetic, cardiovascular and vitamin segments.
Further, leveraging the long-lasting relationships of the Hemas Group, Morison has signed up for contract manufacturing arrangements with a few leading regional pharmaceutical companies, which will be operationalized during the year.
Morison is hopeful that it can make a step change in the pharma manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka while helping to save much needed forex at this juncture and eventually build an export business.
The Ministry of Agriculture was assumed under very unfortunate circumstances and the situation became quite clear after the duties were assumed said Minister Mahinda Amaraweera.
Although his predecessor had promised to take steps to import 65,000 metric tonnes of chemical fertiliser, not even a hundredweight of fertiliser was imported to date, Amaraweera revealed, adding that despite the farming community’s expectation of receiving chemical fertiliser, it is not possible to predict a date of supply.
As the country’s situation goes as such, the world is facing a food crisis endangering the importation of food items, the Agriculture Minister reminded. Many countries of the world are facing economic difficulties and the food imports, therefore, have been limited, he added.
The backdrop of dollar absence and declining food imports may push the people to grow their own crops, Amaraweera warned.
The LITRO Gas company urged the public not to queue up for gas for there will be no gas distribution today (29) as well.
Stocks have run out in the market for the last six days and the public may have to wait for at least two more days for gas.
Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) announced that there will be no power cuts today, due to the G.C.E Ordinary Level examination.
Nevertheless, power cuts are likely to continue from tomorrow.
Sri Lanka’s Apparel industry has re-affirmed its resilience in achiving an export target of US$ 6 billion this year despite global economic recession and resulting softening of international consumer demand,
The Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) has urged the new administration for systemic economic and political reforms to restore stability, and rebuild trust and confidence in the nation – locally and globally.
Highlighting the impact of the ongoing volatility on the sector, JAAF noted that Sri Lanka’s apparel sector had continued to display outstanding resilience by continuing to fulfill all existing orders and production schedules in the face of unprecedented adversity.
However, at a time when global consumer sentiment is expected to weaken and many in the industry bracing for a potential reduction in orders by as much as 20% in the next season’s orders (June to August).,
The association warned of serious negative consequences if policy makers continued to delay on the sweeping reforms needed to put Sri Lanka back on track.
Accordingly, JAAF called on the new administration to immediately commence discussions to introduce credible policy with industry experts towards rapid development of a practical, apolitical Roadmap for Sri Lanka’s Economic Recovery.
Secretary General of JAAF Yohan Lawrence stressed that the need of the hour is to ensure that Sri Lanka continues to maintain the confidence of its buyers by remaining resilient amidst the coming global economic crisis.
Earnings from textiles and garments increased by 10.8% in the first quarter to $ 1.5 billion from $ 1.33 billion in 2021. In March earnings however fell by 0.6% to $ 464 million from $ 467 million compared to the same period a year earlier, as per the latest external sector performance report of the Central Bank.
Exports of apparel and textiles increased to $ 445.79 million, up by 22.12% YoY in April, the provisional data released by the Export Development Board (EDB) showed.
Sri Lanka’s apparel sector contributes 6% to the country’s GDP and accounts for 40% of all exports. The sector provides direct employment to 350,000 workers and an additional 700,000 who receive livelihood opportunities as part of the greater supply chain.
The industry’s 2030 vision is to transform Sri Lanka into a global apparel hub, whilst the intermediate goal is to increase annual export earnings to $ 8 billion by 2025.
“Owing to unprecedented national economic mismanagement, this sector, which has long served as a fundamental pillar to the Sri Lankan economy, is now under serious threat, Mr Yohan Lawrence said adding that any plan for economic revival must prioritize support to apparel manufacturers large and small,..
Over the course of 2021, Sri Lanka’s apparel sector increased its earnings by 22.9% Year-on-Year (YoY) generating US$5.42 billion in export earnings, and accounting for almost half of all merchandise exports, in addition to providing gainful employment for a workforce of approximately 1 million (direct and indirect).
Moving forward, Lawrence noted that the apparel sector’s most urgent need was a stable energy supply to ensure operational continuity.
“Large Sri Lankan apparel manufacturers have been among the most effective adopters of renewable energy technology, particularly solar energy. Together with other optimizations in energy consumption, these proactive measures have mitigated some of the worst disruptions to production, he pointed out.
“In addition to economic reforms, JAAF also reiterated the demand from the Joint Chambers calling for the abolition of the 20th Amendment to the constitution as a first step to driving systemic reform of Sri Lanka’s political culture.
“.Without this systemic change, we cannot achieve the stability necessary to navigate our way out of the current crisis,” Lawrence stated.
Following the Day 50 of the people’s struggle against the current regime, a march was organised from Kollupitiya to the President’s House and the Police had acted on barring the walk from the point of the World Trade Centre.
The march was organised by trade unions, multi-people organisations, artists and student unions.
The Police have launched water canons and tear gas at protesters who attempted to remove roadblocks set up in front of the WTC.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressing a meeting held with the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the members of the Monetary Board today (28) said he will be extending his full support for the work autonomically carried out at the CBSL.
Addressing the meeting, CBSL Chief Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe noted that with the assistance of the experts in the field of economics in consultation with fiscal bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, a successful progress has been made in the programme of rebuilding the country’s economy.
President Rajapaksa took this opportunity to commend the actions taken by the CBSL Governor to control the financial crisis during his short tenure.
Meanwhile, Governor Weerasinghe briefed the President on the measures taken to control inflation and strengthen the economy.
Chen Duxiu – Co-Founder and First General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 80 Years Since His Passing
Was His Expulsion the Greatest Miscarriage of Justice in the history of the CCP?
Compiled by Lionel Bopage
27 May 2022
Chen Duxiu was a revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who with Li Dazhao co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921. From 1921 to 1927, he served as the first General Secretary of the CCP. Chen was a leading figure in both the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and the May Fourth Movement for scientific and democratic development in the early Republic of China. He studied French, English, and naval architecture and went to Japan under a government scholarship. While in Japan, socialist ideas and the growing Chinese dissident movement influenced him. Chen helped setting up two radical political parties there, but refused to join a Revolutionary Alliance, which he considered as narrowly racist.
In the late 19th century China, Government corruption was rampant and led to an economic crisis and widespread impoverishment. He was critical of the corrupt bureaucracy and became increasingly influential within the revolutionary movement, which was agitating against imperialism as well as against the Qing government. He founded the Anhui Patriotic Association in 1903, the Yue Fei Loyalist Society in 1905 and became an outspoken writer and political leader during the time of the 1911 Wuchang Uprising. This uprising started the Xinhai Revolution that led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. In 1912, Chen became secretary general to the new military governor of Anhui, while serving as the dean of a local high school. There he contributed to establishing a student organization, pro-rebel Qing soldiers and secret society members.
Chen established the influential Chinese periodical New Youth for this purpose. Believing social progress cannot be achieved without accurately reporting on the prevailing social issues and deficiencies. Chen introduced many new ideas into popular Chinese culture. Confucianism was unacceptable to him because it preached orthodoxy of thought, while rejecting freedom of thought and expression. It advocated submissive compliance to the inequitable status quo. Chen rejected the concept that the individual was the basic unit of society. Instead of Confucianism, Chen advocated progressive social and political values; independence instead of servility; cosmopolitanism instead of isolationism; utilitarian beliefs instead of impractical traditions; and scientific knowledge instead of visionary insight.
In January 1917, Chen joined the Peking University as its dean. As a professor and dean, he pursued his anti-Confucianism modern ideas with vigour. For Chen “socialism is a theory of social revolution succeeding political revolution; its aim is to eliminate all inequality and oppression.” In 919, conservative opponents at the university forced him to resign. He was jailed for three months by the Peking authorities for distributing “inflammatory” literature that demanded the resignation of pro-Japanese ministers, and government guarantees for the freedoms of speech and assembly.
Chen became a Marxist, being impressed that the Russian Revolution of 1917 as a way of modernizing an underdeveloped country. In May 1920, with a handful of followers, Chen founded a communist group and prepared to establish the CCP. The first representative conference of the CCP was held in July 1921. Chen was elected as secretary general and remained so as the undisputed leader for seven years. He was often regarded as “China’s Lenin”. Chen developed a cooperative, which later became a troublesome relationship with the Communist International (Comintern). Over the next decade, the Comintern sought to use the CCP as a tool of Soviet foreign policy, leading to policy disagreements between CCP leaders and Comintern advisors.
Chen was not confident of the advantage of collaborating with the Kuomintang, but he had to reluctantly carry out the Comintern’s instructions to do so. He was even elected to the Central Committee of the Kuomintang. Nevertheless, Chen came into conflict with Mao Zedong in 1925 over Mao’s essay “An Analysis of Classes in Chinese Society”. While Chen believed that the focus of revolutionary struggle in China should primarily be about workers, Mao placed primacy on peasants. During the last years of his life, Chen denounced Stalin’s dictatorship, and held that various democratic institutions including independent judiciary, opposition parties, free press, and free elections were important and valuable. Because of Chen’s opposition to Mao’s interpretation of Communism, Mao believed that Chen was incapable of providing a robust historical materialist analysis of China. This dispute would eventually lead to the end of Chen and Mao’s friendship and political association.
In 1927, Chen with other high-ranking Communists, including Mao Zedong and Mikhail Borodin, closely collaborated with the Nationalist government in Wuhan. Under this influence, the Wuhan government subsequently carried out certain land reform policies. However, considering this as a provocation, various Kuomintang aligned generals attacked the regime. Chen was forced to resign as General Secretary in 1927, due to his public dissatisfaction with the Comintern’s order to disarm. This order led to the deaths of thousands of Communists, and is known as the Shanghai massacre of 1927. Also, Chen disagreed with the Comintern’s new focus on peasant rebellions.
After the CCP – Kuomintang collaboration fell apart in 1927, the Comintern blamed Chen, and systematically removed him from all positions of leadership. In 1929, he was expelled from the CCP. Later on, he became associated with the International Left Opposition of Leon Trotsky. Like Chen, Trotsky opposed many of the policies of the Comintern, and publicly criticized the Comintern’s effort to collaborate with the Nationalists. Chen eventually became the voice of the Trotskyists in China, attempting to regain support and influence within the party, but failed. Chen and Trotsky started a complex relationship that was not known in the west, which revealed the developments of Trotskyism in China. Currently there is a revived interest into this interesting relationship.
In 1932, Chen was arrested by the government of the Shanghai International Settlement, where he had been living since 1927, and extradited to Nanjing. In 1933, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Nationalist government, but was released on parole in 1937 after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Chen was one of the few early leaders of the CCP to survive the turmoil of the 1930s, but he was never able to regain any influence within the party he had founded. During the last decade, he had to spend an obscure life. During the long March 0f 1934-35, the Communists had to flee the cities where China’s fledgling industrial working class was concentrated and seek refuge in remote rural areas. There they were able to mobilize the support of peasants. This was naturally taken as vindicating Mao’s position in his debate with Chen. During the Long March, Mao Zedong emerged as the leader of the CCP.
When Chen was released from prison, he refused multiple offers of positions by the Kuomintang. He said, despite the importance of the war effort “Chiang Kai-shek killed many of my comrades. He also killed my two sons. He and I are absolutely irreconcilable”. Afterwards, Chen met with the heads of the Nanjing Office of the CCP. An attempt was made to allow him to come back to the Party. For him to re-join Mao wanted Chen to agree to publicly renounce Trotskyism and express support for the United Front against Japan. Chen wrote to the Central Committee of the CCP agreeing with its line of resistance but he did not renounce Trotskyism. This was the end of Chen’s political relationship with the CCP. Until 1938, Chen travelled from place to place and later took up a junior high school teaching position. In poor health and with few remaining friends, Chen Duxiu later retired to Jiangjin, a small town west of Chongqing, where he died on 27 May 1942 at the age of 62. He is buried at his birthplace of Anqing.
We need to understand the historical experiences of the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China without prejudice and learn from those experiences. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Chen’s reputation and legacy was thrashed and was used to warn the CCP members not to deviate from party orthodoxy. After Mao’s death and the brutal suppression of the Gang of Four, this changed and Chen’s contributions to the Party have subsequently been reassessed by historians and activists, but has not been officially endorsed. The CCP remains silent on Chen’s contributions and his achievements.
In conclusion, Chen rejected China’s traditional values and saw Marxism as a means to achieve a “mass democracy” with the broad labouring masses as its base. He recognized, however, the significant role the bourgeoisie would play in the Chinese revolution that he hoped to achieve. During the last years of his life, Chen, still bring a socialist, denounced Stalin’s dictatorship and defended democratic institutions such as independent nonpartisan judiciaries, opposition parties, free press, and free elections.
He awaits political rehabilitation in the country of his birth. His ideas of modernity, tradition, a modern socialist state and the Party need to be widely discussed by all left loving people all over the world.
References:
Peking University News May 9, 2019, [Centenary of the May Fourth Movement] Chen Duxiu: Commander of the May Fourth Movement, https://newsen.pku.edu.cn/news_events/news/focus/8468.html Accessed 23 May 2022
Lee F 1983, Chen Duxiu, Founder of the Chinese Communist Party. Princeton University Press, 1983. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7ztnm3. Accessed 24 May 2022
5 Pioneers – 60 Seconds – 97th CPC Anniversary 29 June 2018, Chen Duxiu: First General Secretary of CPC Central Committee, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRz_xkkF1vY Accessed: May 26, 2022
Sri Lanka’s lapidary industry is renowned for its high-quality cutting and polishing techniques. Recognised as one of the best cutting centres in the world, the Sri Lanka lapidary industry is home to highly skilled craftsmen who are talented in retaining the true colour of a stone.
Sri Lanka has been ahead of the lapidary curve for thousands of years. Its traditional craft of gem cutting is a skill passed on from generation to generation with the industry building a wealth of experience and knowledge of gem cutting.
Gems have been a significant part of Sri Lankan history for over thousands of years with the skill of gem cutting dating back centuries. The beauty and skill of cutting stones in Sri Lanka remain in the traditional handmade techniques used.
The ‘Hanapoorowa’ a traditional gem cutting machine is a hand-driven tool that is used to perfectly shape the stone. Since its humble and creative beginnings, the lapidary industry has advanced greatly.
The increase in international demand has required the industry to change up from the traditional method of gem cutting to a more large-scale process with the introduction of more high-tech machinery.
Through precision cutting, traditional knowledge and expertise combines with modern technology and innovation to produce a combination of faceting techniques.
The lapidary industry holds extremely high standards that meet international market standards, making its precision cutting techniques sought after in the international luxury watch industry. Luxury watches adorning Sri Lankan gems are a steadily growing sector due to the intricate and precise skills of the lapidary industry.
The lapidary industry now consists of multiple segments from cutting and polishing to colour enhancements.
As a result, the industry has opened many job opportunities for the local market. Colour enhancements have become a popular requirement in many international markets and have increased the popularity and growth of the industry further.
Sri Lanka has remained one of the highly picked destinations for gem cutting by international producers due to the technique of cutting stones in a perfect shape with even facets.
The exquisite skills developed by our craftsman have made Sri Lankan gemstones stand out the world over.
Although the industry has many strengths it is also faced with numerous issues, starting with the fact that Sri Lanka doesn’t export gems to their full potential. Over the years the increase in demand for gem cutting has created a shortfall in trained labour making it hard for the industry to keep up with the production demands it faces.
Additionally, the infrastructure developed and finance provided to the industry is significantly low, resulting in a lack of technology and high-tech machinery available for production.
“As an industry, our focus is to build Sri Lanka’s standing in the global gem cutting industry as a leader in gem cutting and other services,” says Lapidary Segment Vice Chairman Pinsiri Wijepala.
To strengthen the industry further, it has to counter a few issues they face currently. The industry plans to simplify the process of moving gemstones in and out of the country for both exporters and importers, thus helping to steadily grow the industry.
One of the key issues faced is the lack of modern equipment available in the industry, therefore, the lapidary segment aims to build the industry infrastructure by enhancing the lapidary equipment and technology available.
A significant part of keeping the lapidary industry alive is encouraging young talent to join the segment by popularising the skill of being a lapidarist within the workforce and among school leavers in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan migrant workers have demanded the incentives entitled to them for the dollars they had brought to Sri Lanka.
The matter has been informed to the authorities in writing as well.
Calling in a briefing yesterday (27), the Shramabhimani Jathika Peramuna movement reminded the policy decisions which the government of Sri Lanka has taken with regard to migrant workers, including the importation of a motor vehicle for an annual remittance of US$ 100,000 and housing with a land for an annual remittance of US$ 50,000.
Condemning the decision, All Ceylon Middle East Service Union member Ranjith Nanayakkara emphasisesd that none of the migrant workers are of the capacity to remit such an amount per year. The government is speaking of incentives which have never been granted to the migrant workers, he added.
The government of Sri Lanka continues to steal their money, alleged Treasurer of the All Ceylon Middle East Service Union Indika Jayawardena. He demanded that the incentives entitled to the migrant workers be assured in written format.
