Colombo (LNW): Police have reported the discovery of two lifeless bodies, both victims of gunshot wounds, on a vacant plot of land in Tunnana, Padukka.
The deceased individuals have been identified as underworld figure Don Indika, also known as ‘Manna Roshan,’ and his accomplice.
Authorities suspect that the death of the duo occurred as a result of a clash between two rival underworld gangs.
Investigations are underway to ascertain the details surrounding this incident and to identify any potential motives or individuals involved in the altercation.
Colombo (LNW): A recent meeting was held at the Presidential Secretariat, chaired by Sagala Ratnayaka, Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of the Presidential Staff.
The primary focus of the discussion centred on the ongoing responsibilities of the Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force on the nation’s expressways, specifically addressing issues related to accidents, fires, and crimes.
During the meeting, there was a thorough exploration of the potential reassignment of these responsibilities, considering the withdrawal of the Police Special Task Force from its current duties.
The participants engaged in discussions about creating an alternative system to efficiently handle these tasks.
Ratnayaka underscored the importance of a specific programme and urged Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva to lead the prompt preparation of such a programme.
The overarching goal is to ensure a more responsible and formal execution of these tasks, with proper oversight from the Road Development Authority (RDA).
In the course of the meeting, Ratnayaka directed officials to expedite the development and submission of the programme.
The meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva, accompanied by senior officers from the Road Development Authority and the Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force.
Colombo (LNW): In his Christmas Day message, President Ranil Wickremesinghe extended an invitation for everyone to come together and shoulder their responsibilities, acknowledging the genuine challenges facing the nation.
This year’s celebration of Christmas occurs against a backdrop of numerous challenges, with Wickremesinghe emphasising the importance of focusing on the authentic significance of Jesus Christ’s birth in a manger.
The President underscored the theme of “sharing a meal with the less fortunate” as a key aspect of this significance.
Additionally, he emphasised that the true meaning of Christmas lies in spiritual transformation within ourselves.
President’s Christmas Day message:
“Christmas represents the celebration of hope. “The individuals who traversed in obscurity, burdened with tears and sighs, have witnessed a profound light.” In the pursuit of revitalising that hope, I extend my wishes for all of us to conscientiously fulfil our responsibilities and duties, fostering a Christmas that instils fresh hopes in our nation.
“Amid our celebratory mood, it is crucial to maintain focus on the authentic significance of Jesus Christ’s birth in a manger, encapsulated by the theme “Sharing a meal with the less fortunate.”
‘Christmas serves as a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ, who, in self-sacrifice on the cross, redeemed humanity from sin. Guided by Christian teachings, we are urged to forgive those who oppose us, those who have wronged us and to relinquish all feelings of animosity and resentment.
“While the external festivities of Christmas may be apparent, I posit that its true significance remains elusive unless accompanied by a profound spiritual transformation within us.
“This year, as we commemorate Christmas amidst a backdrop of numerous challenges burdening our society, I extend an invitation to everyone to unite in shouldering their responsibilities, recognising the genuine adversities confronting our nation.
“I wish you all a blessed and meaningful Christmas!”
Ranil Wickremesinghe President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
According to the annual round-up compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the number of journalists killed worldwide in connection with their work (45 as of 1 December 2023) is the lowest since 2002, despite the war in the Middle East. In Gaza, at least 13 journalists have been killed because of their work as journalists since the war began between Israel and Hamas, a total that rises to 56 if we include all journalists killed in the Gaza Strip, whether or not in the line of their work. Worldwide, 521 journalists are currently detained on arbitrary grounds linked to their profession (down 8.4% from 2022).
“Among civilians in Gaza, journalists are paying a heavy price. We’ve noted that the number of journalists killed in connection with their work is very high: at least 13 in such a tiny territory. We have filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to establish the facts and to what point journalists were knowingly targeted. On a global scale, it seems that the number of journalists killed in the course of their work or in connection with their work is in sharp decline, over a long period of time. The reasons? Security measures at news organisations, training and allocation of protective equipment, caution, the effects of the fight against impunity and actions by inter-governmental organisations. The work of NGOs is undoubtedly also having an effect…”
Christophe Deloire, RSF Secretary-General
An overall decline in the number of journalists killed in the line of duty or in connection with their work
In 2023, a total of 45 journalists were killed in connection with their work, 16 fewer than in 2022 (61). This is the lowest figure recorded since 2002 (33). In 2012 and 2013, more than 140 journalists were killed, mainly due to the wars in Syria and Iraq.
The gradual decline in the number of journalists killed in connection with their work over the past five years can be explained in part by security improvements for journalists and the end of deadly spikes in Iraq and Syria, where nearly 600 journalists were killed in the line of duty from 2003 to 2022. In times of peace, stronger measures to protect journalistic work, especially through legislative means, and mechanisms to combat impunity would seem to account for the less deadly toll.
A notable fall in the number of journalists killed in connection with their work in Latin America
Although the number of journalists killed in Latin America has fallen significantly, from 26 in 2022 to six in 2023, working as a journalist in this region is still not safe, as recent abductions and armed attacks in Mexico demonstrate. The record level of violence registered in Latin America in 2022 has led to self-censorship, resulting in the proliferation of information black holes in the region, where organised crime and corruption top the list of topics that can cost journalists their lives.
War zones deadlier than countries at peace for journalists in 2023
This year, 23 journalists have been killed in the course of their reporting in war zones. Most of them – 17 – were killed in the war between Israel and Hamas (including 13 in Gaza), during which 63 journalists lost their lives in total (including 56 in Gaza) if we include journalists killed in circumstances unproven to be related to their duties. For the first time in five years, more journalists have been killed in war zones than in peace zones.
● 521 journalists detained worldwide: Belarus becomes one of the three biggest jailers, joining China and Myanmar
A total of 521 journalists will begin 2024 in prison—versus 569 in 2022. China is yet again the world’s biggest jailer of journalists, with 121 media professionals locked up in its prisons (including 12 in Hong Kong and 42 in Xinjiang). This is nearly a quarter (23%) of the total number of journalists detained worldwide.
Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus, with its increasingly repressive policies, is now one of the trio of countries detaining the most journalists: it is detaining 39 (or seven more than in 2022). Belarus is also the country with the second highest number of detained female journalists (10), coming in right after China (14).
The fall in the number of journalists detained worldwide (50 fewer on 1 December 2023 than on the same date in 2022) can be partly explained by the drop in the number of journalists in prison on that date in Iran (down 24) and Türkiye (down 23). Not being among the top three jailers doesn’t mean that these two countries don’t jail: One of the techniques of persecuting journalists inIran andTürkiye is actually to imprison them repeatedly. In 2023, a total of 43 Turkish journalists and 58 Iranian journalists spent time in prison.
● A total of 54 journalists held hostage worldwide at press time
A total of 54 journalists are being held hostage around the world. Of the seven abducted this year, two are still being held by their captors. They are the Malian journalists Saleck Ag Jiddou and Moustapha Koné, who weretaken hostage in northern Mali on 7 November, just seven months after the French journalist Olivier Dubois wasfinally freed by his captors in the same region of Mali. The other media hostages are located in just four countries: Syria (38), Iraq (9), Yemen (4) and Mexico (1).
● 84 journalists missing, with more than a third of them Mexican
Mexico continues to be the country with the most journalists listed as missing in the world, accounting for 31 out of a total of 84. All were reported missing prior to 2023, with the exception of media editor Juan Carlos Hinojosa Viveros, who disappeared on 6 July. Worldwide, more than half (43) of the cases of missing journalists are in Latin America.
Since 1995, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been compiling its annual round-ups of violence and abuses against journalists on the basis of precise data gathered from 1 January to 1 December of the year in question. The 2023 round-up figures include professional journalists, non-professional journalists and media workers. RSF gathers detailed information that allows it to affirm with certainty or a great deal of confidence that the detention, abduction, disappearance or death of each journalist was a direct result of their journalistic work. This methodology may explain statistical differences with other organisations.
Colombo (LNW): In celebration of Christmas Day, the government of Sri Lanka has decided to grant a special state pardon to selected inmates in prisons across the country.
Accordingly, 989 men inmates and 15 women inmates have been granted pardon, revealed Spokesperson for the Prisons Commissioner Gamini B. Dissanayake.
Colombo (LNW): Several spells of light showers will occur in Northern, Eastern and Uva provinces and a few showers will occur in North-central province, with showers or thundershowers being expected at a few places in Western and Sabaragamuwa province and in Galle and Matara districts after 2.00 p.m, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather forecast today (25).
Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expected at times in eastern slopes of the central hills and in North-Central province, the statement added.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Sabaragamuwa, Central and Western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts during the morning.
The public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather:
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Kankasanthurai to Hambantota via Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Pottuvil.
Winds:
Winds will be north-easterly and wind speed will be (20-30) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (40-50) kmph in the sea areas off the coast extending from Colombo to Kankasanthurai via Puttalam and Mannar and from Hambantota to Pottuvil.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Colombo to Kankasanthurai via Puttalam and Mannar and from Hambantota to Pottuvil can be fairly rough at times. The other sea areas around the island will be moderate. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
In response to the new Deputy Prime Minister’s repeated verbal attacks on the media, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to reaffirm his government’s support to press freedom.
Just after taking office, the newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, Winston Peters, declared in an interview that he was “at war” with the media. A statement that he accompanied on several occasions with accusations of corruption among media professionals.
He also portrayed a journalism support fund set up by the previous administration as a “55 million dollar bribe”. The politician also questioned the independence of the public broadcasters Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ). These verbal attacks would be a cause of concern for the sector if used to support a policy of restricting the right to information.
“By making irresponsible comments about journalists in a context of growing mistrust of the New Zealand public towards the media, Deputy Prime Minister Peters is sending out a worrying signal about the newly-appointed government’s attitude towards the press. We call on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to reaffirm his government’s support for press freedom and to ensure that all members of his cabinet follow the same line.”
Cédric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director
On several occasions during the general election campaign, Winston Peters, founder and leader of populist and nationalist New Zealand First party, attacked New Zealand journalists, regularly accusing them of lies. In October, a few days before the election day, he attacked TVNZ journalist Jack Tame whom he called a “dirt merchant” and “corrupt” person.
According to the Auckland-based Research Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy, the public’s distrust of journalism has been growing in recent years, with 42% of New Zealanders saying they trust the news in 2023, down from 53% in 2020.
In order to globally address the growing presence of false and manipulated information online, RSF together with several other civil society organisations initiated the Forum on Information and Democracy, which published in 2020 a set of 250 recommendations. RSF also launched the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) a mechanism to promote trustworthiness of news and information, which, to date, is used by more than 800 newsrooms worldwide to self-assess their internal processes.
Colombo (LNW): The demise of an individual who was admitted with breathing difficulties and a lung infection was confirmed to be of Covid-19, sources from Kandy National Hospital disclosed.
Subsequent to the individual’s passing, a post-mortem PCR test has revealed a COVID-19 infection.
The deceased, a 65-year-old resident of the Atgala area in Gampola, marks a notable event as one of the few reported deaths following the apparent conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. Chandima Jeevandara, Head of the Department of Allergy, Immunology, and Cell Biology at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, affirms the current spread of the Omicron JN.1 variant in the country.
Globally, the World Health Organisation reports a 52 per cent increase in Covid-19 cases over the last four weeks, with 850,000 new diagnoses and 3,000 reported deaths. The recorded death rate has risen by 8 per cent.
Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lanka Banks Association (SLBA) yesterday banks exercised their legally-enshrined right to parate execution as a last resort, and the overarching objective is the protection of depositors’ funds that have been lent to borrowers.
Responding to what it termed as lobbying by a group of defaulting borrowers espousing the removal or weakening of the protection of depositors’ funds, the SLBA said the parate execution remedy is aimed at recovering mortgaged assets from wilful defaulters and businesses that are no longer viable.
The SLBA, which represents all the licensed banks in the country, emphasised that banks have extended moratoriums on debt repayment for a long period exceeding 48 months in some cases, and that in instances of wilful default by borrowers, the banks owe a duty to their depositors’ whose funds are at risk, to recover the debts overdue and minimise the losses on loans granted.
The Association pointed out that the funds used to grant loans are placed with the banks by their depositors and that depositors are paid interest out of the interest charged from loans granted to borrowers.
“Banks are responsible to manage this intermediary role in a very careful manner to avoid deterioration of depositor confidence which can lead to many negative economic consequences,” the SLBA statement said.
“When borrowers face difficulties in repayment, the lending banks review the causes for the inability to repay interest and/or capital, and assess how the situation needs to be remedied to restore the borrower to being able to repay loans and carry on business/economic activity,” the SLBA said.
“In such instances it is common for the banks to exercise empathy as a “partner” and assist the borrowers to come out of their challenging financial situation, and it is common for the banks to consider extension of loans, provide moratoriums, consider interest concessions and restructure the loans to suit the future cash flows of the employment or the business.
Banks take this course as the preferred alternative to liquidating the assets of the borrower under loan security arrangements.
It also stated, “This is because it is beneficial for the customer as well as the bank to revive a business to good financial health than to shut it down and take whatever residual value is left, which in majority of cases is less than the value of the amounts due to the bank and kills the economic activity that was being financed.
The banks therefore take the option of a win-win for all and support the borrowers when they face difficulties.”
“When assessing the condition of the overdue loans and their ability to be revived, banks have to accept that certain cases are beyond revival and/or that the default is wilful and in fraud of the lender.
In these limited circumstances banks as responsible financial intermediaries must necessarily invoke the remedies available under the law and this includes ‘parate execution’ which is a measure to protect the depositors’ funds from wilful defaulters.”
The Sri Lanka Banks Association (SLBA) yesterday banks exercise their legally-enshrined right to parate execution as a last resort, and the overarching objective is the protection of depositors’ funds that have been lent to borrowers.
Responding to what it termed as lobbying by a group of defaulting borrowers espousing the removal or weakening of the protection of depositors’ funds, the SLBA said the parate execution remedy is aimed at recovering mortgaged assets from wilful defaulters and businesses that are no longer viable.
The SLBA, which represents all the licensed banks in the country, emphasised that banks have extended moratoriums on debt repayment for a long period exceeding 48 months in some cases, and that in instances of wilful default by borrowers, the banks owe a duty to their depositors’ whose funds are at risk, to recover the debts overdue and minimise the losses on loans granted.
The Association pointed out that the funds used to grant loans are placed with the banks by their depositors and that depositors are paid interest out of the interest charged from loans granted to borrowers.
“Banks are responsible to manage this intermediary role in a very careful manner to avoid deterioration of depositor confidence which can lead to many negative economic consequences,” the SLBA statement said.
“When borrowers face difficulties in repayment, the lending banks review the causes for the inability to repay interest and/or capital, and assess how the situation needs to be remedied to restore the borrower to being able to repay loans and carry on business/economic activity,” the SLBA said.
“In such instances it is common for the banks to exercise empathy as a “partner” and assist the borrowers to come out of their challenging financial situation, and it is common for the banks to consider extension of loans, provide moratoriums, consider interest concessions and restructure the loans to suit the future cash flows of the employment or the business.
Banks take this course as the preferred alternative to liquidating the assets of the borrower under loan security arrangements.
It also stated, “This is because it is beneficial for the customer as well as the bank to revive a business to good financial health than to shut it down and take whatever residual value is left, which in majority of cases is less than the value of the amounts due to the bank and kills the economic activity that was being financed.
The banks therefore take the option of a win-win for all and support the borrowers when they face difficulties.”
“When assessing the condition of the overdue loans and their ability to be revived, banks have to accept that certain cases are beyond revival and/or that the default is wilful and in fraud of the lender.
In these limited circumstances banks as responsible financial intermediaries must necessarily invoke the remedies available under the law and this includes ‘parate execution’ which is a measure to protect the depositors’ funds from wilful defaulters.”
