Students of the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo too demonstrated their displeasure over the appointment of Venerable Muruththettuwe Ananda Thero as the Chancellor of the University by refusing to accept their graduation at the Convocation.
A group of graduates were seen avoiding the Thera and appearing for a photo with only the Vice Chancellor at the Convocation as their names were being called on stage, making the Thera very uncomfortable.
Some of the students, on the other hand, accepted their graduation at the hand of the Thera.
Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thero was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Colombo by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, leading to a storm of criticisms and objections by many parties, including university students and lecturers.
The Home Office has U-turned on plans to deport a leading scientist carrying out groundbreaking research into affordable forms of solar energy and allowed him and his family to remain in the UK.
Initially, the Home Office rejected the asylum claim lodged by Dr Nadarajah Muhunthan, 47, who has been living in the UK since 2018 with his wife, Sharmila, 42, and their three children, aged 13, nine and five.
Muhunthan, who is working on thin-film photovoltaic devices used to generate solar energy, was given a prestigious Commonwealth Rutherford fellowship. The award allowed him to come to the UK for two years to research and develop the technology. He was based at the University of Bristol. His wife got a job caring for elderly people in a nursing home.
The couple’s eldest daughter, Gihaniya, has received outstanding school reports in the UK with a 100% attendance rate and been particularly praised for her achievements in science. She hopes to study to be a doctor when she is older.
The family are Tamils, a group that has experienced persecution in Sri Lanka.
However, just weeks after the Guardian highlighted the case, the Home Office changed its mind and has now granted Muhunthan and his family refugee status.
Muhunthan thanked the Home Office for their decision. “The Home Office has saved my life and my family’s lives. Now I will be able to continue my research without fear,” he said.
After reading the previous Guardian article about the case, Prof David J Firmin, head of the electro-chemistry and solar team at the University of Bristol where Muhunthan was conducting research into ways to make solar energy panels more effective and affordable, wrote to the Home Office at the end of October expressing his “deepest concern”.
He said Muhunthan’s work was making a significant contribution to efforts to decarbonise the energy generation sector.
In November 2019, Muhunthan returned to his home country for a short visit to see his sick mother. While he was there, he was arrested and persecuted by the Sri Lankan government. He managed to escape and returned to the UK, where he claimed asylum on the basis of what he had experienced on his visit to Sri Lanka. After his scholarship expired in February 2020, neither he nor his wife were permitted to continue working.
The family’s lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC solicitors, welcomed the Home Office’s change of heart. He said:“This is an important victory which recognises there is systematic torture of Tamils going on in Sri Lanka. This scientist and his family will all be assets to the UK.”
Former Minister Arjuna Ranatunga says that he will work to create a new political system for the country while remaining independent without being trapped in party politics.
He was speaking after visiting the Malwathu-Asgiri Mahanayake Theros yesterday (30) to seek his blessings after resigning from the UNP.
He said he had no intention of forming a separate party or joining an existing party, adding that he was already in discussions with several individuals and groups to create a political system that would work for the country as the current politics in the country has not worked for the country.
Colombo District Judge Chathurika de Silva yesterday ruled that the verdict on the former president’s request – to dismiss 128 cases filed by the victims of the Easter Attack without being heard – will be announced on January 7, 2022. Those 128 cases have been filed by relatives of the victims, the permanently disabled and the injured, demanding compensation from former President Maithripala Sirisena for failing to prevent the Easter Sunday bombing.
That was when the case was called yesterday through a motion.
President’s Counsel Faizer Mustafa, appearing for former President Maithripala Sirisena, has filed a motion in court stating that if terrorist attacks were to take place in the country in the past, hundreds of previous Presidents would also be prosecuted in connection with the Easter attacks. He further stated that the cases were filed on the assumption that Sirisena knew about the attack and that all the cases were filed without a case in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure.
President’s Counsel Shamil Perera, appearing for the aggrieved party, requested that Maithripala Sirisena’s request be denied as the case was filed as there was a reasonable revelation that the accused had received information regarding the Easter attack in advance.
After considering the views of both parties, the court ordered that the decision on whether to dismiss the case be announced on January 07.
A 15-year-old boy is in custody after three students died and eight were injured in a shooting Tuesday afternoon at a high school in Oxford, Michigan, authorities said.
The Oxford High School students killed were a 16-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl, Oakland County Undersheriff Michael G. McCabe said at a news conference.
Eight others were shot, one of whom is believed to be a teacher, McCabe said. Of the eight injured, two are currently in surgery and the other six are in stable condition with various gunshot wounds, McCabe said.
“I think this is every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who added that shootings at schools are “a uniquely American problem that we need to address.”
“My heart goes out to the families. This is an unimaginable tragedy. I hope we can all rise to the occasion and wrap our arms around the families, the affected children and school personnel and this community,” Whitmer said.
The suspect, a sophomore at the school, was taken into custody without incident five minutes after authorities responded to the shooting, McCabe said. His parents have hired an attorney and have not permitted that he talk to police, McCabe said.
Sisira Jayakody, Minister of State for Indigenous Medicine says that steps will be taken to obtain legal approval for the export of medicinal cannabis through Parliament within the next three months.
“We are stuck within the framework of traditional rules. Indigenous drugs were banned in our country, especially by Western imperialists and colonial rulers. It also shattered our traditional knowledge system. Western pseudo-scholars began to ridicule our country’s indigenousness, indigenous medicine, and indigenous knowledge system.
We are overcoming the challenges of changing these conditions. As the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine, we are working to change the traditional legal system. In particular, we are moving towards a system of legalizing those traditional medicines that once existed in our country, as suggested by the Hon. Ministers and Parliamentarians several times in this House.
The western colonial rule banned the use of high-quality medicinal cannabis, especially in the treatment of cancer, neurological disorders, as well as antidepressants, painkillers and cosmetics. Therefore, we sincerely hope that in the coming period, within the next three months, all the necessary legal action will be taken to see through this Parliament the legal approval required for the export of medicinal cannabis – for export only – and that action will be taken before this Parliament for approval. “
Minister of State Sisira Jayakody stated this while participating in the budget debate in Parliament yesterday (30).
By Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia
On World AIDS Day, the WHO South-East Asia Region joins global calls to End inequalities and End AIDS – the theme of this year’s commemoration. HIV continues to be a major global health issue, having claimed 36.3 million lives globally so far. In 2020, around 680 000 people died from HIV-related causes and 1.5 million people acquired HIV globally. An estimated 38 million people were living with HIV infection. The South-East Asia Region is home to around 10% of all people living with HIV globally, and accounts for 12% of global AIDS-related mortality. Amid the COVID-19 response, the Region continues to take targeted action to maintain essential health services, including to prevent, detect and treat HIV. Today, as we show solidarity with people living with HIV, remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses, and express gratitude to those who are working to end AIDS, WHO urges all countries of the Region to intensify action to close remaining gaps, achieve the 95-95-95 targets, and end the inequalities, stigma and discrimination that keep the epidemic alive.
The Region has in recent years achieved significant progress against HIV, with all countries committed to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.3 – by 2030, end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat. Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand have achieved the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Between 2010 and 2020, the Region reduced annual new HIV infections by 46% and AIDS-related deaths by 64%. An estimated 61% of people living with HIV in the Region are now receiving life-long antiretroviral therapy. However, these and other successes are not uniform across countries and populations. Marginalized populations in particular continue to be underserved. Ending AIDS and associated inequalities – social, cultural and legal – requires high-level political commitment. In 2020, at a WHO-supported high-level meeting of ministers of health from across the Region, countries reiterated their commitment to achieve global and Regional targets and intensify efforts in this Decade of Action to end viral hepatitis, HIV and STIs as public health threats.
To achieve our time-bound targets and goals, several priorities must be addressed. First, recovering lost ground. Despite the Region’s best efforts, COVID-19-related disruptions have impacted access to HIV prevention and testing, whereas access to treatment has for the most part been maintained. To catch up on pre-pandemic progress, key populations must be reached, including through institutionalized community engagement initiatives. Measures to anticipate and mitigate further disruptions must be integrated into emergency preparedness and response plans, not only for pandemics such as COVID-19, but all other hazards. Second, securing sufficient and sustained domestic investments in HIV services, which must be accessible at the primary health care level. Such investments will not only increase equitable access to quality HIV services, but also strengthen health system resilience, complementing Region-wide efforts to build strong PHC-oriented health systems, as emphasized in a landmark resolution adopted at the Seventy-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee in September 2021.
Third, leveraging high-impact innovations. In pilot studies conducted in several of the Region’s countries, newer tools such as HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis have proven immensely valuable. To achieve maximum impact, these and other innovations must be incorporated into comprehensive service packages and rolled out at population level. Fourth, intensifying action to address the epidemic’s non-biomedical aspects, including legal and policy domains. In our Region and across the world, stigma, discrimination and other structural determinants and inequalities continue to impede progress, deepening health and social inequities, and obstructing sustainable social and economic development.
Action is needed, and now. To facilitate progress in this Decade of Action, the Region will soon launch a new integrated Regional Action Plan for viral hepatitis, HIV and STIs (2022–2026), which will be aligned with forthcoming global health sector strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs, as well as the SDGs. The Plan will be accompanied by a Regional accountability framework, which will track WHO and country actions to achieve the 2025 interim targets and the 2030 goals, and will prioritize efforts to enhance community ownership, action and engagement. Together, we can and must succeed. On World AIDS Day, WHO reiterates its commitment to support all countries of the Region to end inequalities and end AIDS, leaving no one behind.
Ambassador Unambuwe presents Credentials to President Pendarovski of the Republic of North Macedonia
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Germany Manori Unambuwe presented Letters of Credence to the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski, accrediting her as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to North Macedonia on 24 November 2021 at a ceremony held at the Office of the President in Skopje.
Delivering the traditional credential address, Ambassador Unambuwe conveyed the greetings and best wishes from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the President of North Macedonia and reiterated the commitment of Sri Lanka to strengthen relations with North Macedonia with a special focus on trade and investment.
Welcoming the new Ambassador, President Pendarovski highlighted that North Macedonia is looking forward to exploring new avenues to furthering relations between the two countries and the government of North Macedonia will extend its fullest support to the Ambassador and the Mission in all future endeavors.
During an audience with the President after the presentation of credentials, the Ambassador briefed on the major developments in Sri Lanka, including economic development, reconciliation and reconstruction, following the Presidential and General Elections in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Referring to the long-standing friendship between Sri Lanka and the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia especially being the leading members of the Non-Aligned Movement, President Pendarovski expressed hope for furthering formal bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the two countries. The President commended the local mechanisms in place in Sri Lanka for reconciliation and co-existence.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Germany is concurrently accredited to the Republic of North Macedonia.
