Russia has banned British airlines from landing at its airports or crossing its airspace, its state civil aviation regulator said on Friday.

The move follows London’s ban on the flights of Russian flag carrier Aeroflot imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“A restriction was introduced on the use of Russian airspace for flights of aircrafts owned, leased or operated by an organisation linked to or registered in the UK,” the Rosaviatsia aviation authority said in a statement. 

The ban took effect from 11:00 am Moscow time (0800 GMT), it said, and included flights transiting through Russian airspace. 

Comments It said the decision was taken “as a response to unfriendly decisions of the UK aviation authorities”. 

Ceylinco Life has retained its market leadership in Sri Lanka’s life insurance sector for the 18^th consecutive year with gross written premium income growing by 15.8 per cent to Rs 25.565 billion for the 12 months ending 31^st December 2021.

With investment and other income of Rs 15.129 billion for the year, the Company ended 2021 with consolidated income of Rs 40.694 billion, an improvement of 10 per cent over 2020. Ceylinco Life’s investment portfolio grew by Rs 20.748 billion or 15.52 per cent over the 12 months to Rs 154.455 billion at the end of the year.

The Company’s Life Fund grew by 12 per cent to Rs 119.634 as at 31^st December 2021, consequent to a transfer of Rs 11.803 billion, which was 25 per cent higher than the transfer made in respect of 2020.

Total assets grew by Rs 22.9 billion or 15.23 per cent over the year at a monthly average of more than Rs 1.9 billion to reach Rs 173.762 billion at the end of the year reviewed.

Ceylinco Life Managing Director/CEO Mr Thushara Ranasinghe said: “Our figures for 2021 demonstrate the importance of not allowing external factors to distract us from our fundamental purpose, which is to de-risk the future for more and more Sri Lankans through life insurance. 

The pressures of economic uncertainty and mercurial policies did pose a challenge to most businesses in 2021, but Ceylinco Life maintained its growth momentum by focusing on the evolving needs and concerns of its customer base.”

The Company paid Rs 12.736 billion in net claims and benefits to policyholders for the year under review, an increase of 3.8 per cent over the preceding year, and transferred Rs 4.5 billion to the shareholders fund, which stood at Rs 44.194 billion at the end of 2021.

Ceylinco Life’s basic earnings per share for the year amounted to Rs 137, while net assets value per share stood at Rs 883.88 as at 31^st December 2021, an increase of 15.8 per cent.

Among the highlights of the year reviewed was the launch of two ground-breaking market responsive new products – ‘Future Saver’ and ‘Education Protector.’  Future Saver is a new paradigm life insurance product that offers protection as well as wealth accumulation, with an emphasis on the latter.

It is designed to enable policyholders to plan for long-term goals by passionately saving for a short period during which their financial stability is at its peak. Education Protector is an insurance plan designed exclusively for the purpose of ensuring the continued education of children.  

It enables a parent to, with just a single one-time premium payment, secure the future education prospects of a child in the event of his or her inability to do so due to death or total and permanent disability.

Adjudged Sri Lanka’s Service Brand of the Year by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) and voted the ‘Most Popular Service Provider’ in Sri Lanka’s Life Insurance industry in 2021, Ceylinco Life has been the country’s leading life insurer for more than half of the 33 years it has been in existence. Ceylinco Life has close to a million lives covered by active policies and is acknowledged as a benchmark in the local insurance sector for innovation, product research and development, customer service, professional development, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility

267 innocent citizens lost their lives while over 500 suffered life changing injuries as a result of the heinous terrorist attack which took place in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019. But despite a lapse of three years since the attack on that fateful Easter Sunday, we are yet to witness a fair investigation into the incident. Inevitably, as a result, a concerning but reasonable suspicion on the attack and ensuing events has now arisen among the public.

In this background, for nearly three years, the victims of the Easter Sunday attack continue to call out for justice they rightly deserve, not only for themselves, but for their families and loved ones while remaining hopeful that it will be delivered in due course. 

However, due to the recent actions of the current Rajapaksa Government, it is doubtful there is any intention on the part of the authorities to ensure that justice is served for the pain and suffering endured by the victims of the terrorist attack. This is due to the inexcusable delay in bringing to justice or exposing to the public the real culprits of the Easter attack and the terrorists who either directly or indirectly aided or abetted it.

Meanwhile, it also must be noted that there is no reasonable evidence to suggest that the Government’s continued failures on the issue of justice for victims of the Easter attack and instead its interest in arresting and/or imprisoning law enforcement officers and investigators who carried out the investigations to uncover those responsible for the Easter attack is not a self-serving political decision.

Therefore, the persecution of investigators that were in search of the perpetrators instead of delivering justice to the victims is a far greater act of terror than the Easter Sunday attack itself. As such, we urge the authorities to immediately put an end to these politically motivated witch hunts.

Stop the witch hunt against Shani Abeysekara!

Shani Abeysekara was a state employee who did his job by the book, according to the information available to us.

However, Shani was more than that: he was an excellent investigator who produced results from challenging cases that he was assigned. He did his duty under different governments and under different superior officers. The Leader of the Opposition has also stated that given the Government’s programme of targeting a former CID official, a doubt arises as to whether the Government is trying to “kill him naturally, in a planned manner.”

This is a very serious and dangerous situation. He does not deserve to be imprisoned; subjected to vindictive prison transfers; denied proper medical treatment. He should not have to fear for his life but has moved the Supreme Court for protection.

A Fundamental Rights (FR) petition, filed last week by Shani Abeysekara, has alleged that State and Military intelligence agencies had diverted investigations into the suspects who were linked to the Easter Sunday attacks.

Meanwhile, the Government has buckled under pressure and made public the entirety of the report of the Presidential Commission on the Easter attack. The full record will show that Shani Abeysekara was the best officer on the job, who would have produced even better results if not for documented obstructions.

Those who obstructed his investigations are the ones who should be held accountable under the normal procedures that apply to police officers and the military.  

If Shani Abeysekara’s persecution continues, it is a powerful signal to all law-abiding officers of the state. If by this persecution, the government succeeds in browbeating and making all Government servants servile, that would mean that Sri Lanka would cease to be a country with the rule of law; it would mean that we will all be made servile and dependent on the favors and permissions of powerful politicians. That is why it is in our interest to stand with Shani Abeysekara at this critical moment.

Politicians are not the owners of this country; they are merely the trustees. By persecuting a diligent state official, they are violating that sacred trust. They are desecrating our inheritance.

We demand they stop. We demand that the persecution of Shani Abeysekara cease and for the authorities to direct their resources into apprehending the real conspirators of the Easter Sunday attack.

Thank You.

Radical Centre

Jayani Abeysekara – Harendran Krishnasamy – Keshal Jayasinghe – C.S. Kodikara – Firo Farook

    (Convenor)

2022.02.25