January 10, Colombo (LNW): The Chief Executive Officer of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Geoff Allardice, has arrived in Sri Lanka against the backdrop of the ICC’s ban imposed on Sri Lanka Cricket.
In a significant move towards resolving the issue, Allardice engaged in a comprehensive discussion with Sports Minister Harin Fernando today (10).
The meeting between Geoff Allardice and Minister Harin Fernando revolved around exploring possibilities and strategies to lift the ICC ban on Sri Lanka Cricket.
The discussions were marked by a constructive dialogue, focusing on the way forward for the country’s cricket governing body.
Sports Minister Fernando on his X handle highlighted the positive nature of the discussions with the ICC CEO.
Had the great pleasure of meeting ICC CEO Geoff Allardice , and had constructive discussion and of a way forward for SLC. pic.twitter.com/JrMSPopgcl
The engagement not only aimed at addressing the current ban but also sought to outline a roadmap for the future development and enhancement of Sri Lanka Cricket, he emphasised.
Sources from the Sports Ministry revealed that Geoff Allardice is anticipated to meet with President Ranil Wickremesinghe later in the day.
This visit and the discussions held with key officials underscore the ongoing efforts to find a resolution and pave the way for Sri Lanka Cricket to resume its full-fledged participation in international cricket activities.
The outcome of these deliberations will likely shape the trajectory of Sri Lanka’s standing within the international cricket community.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): Amidst headlines suggesting a ‘party in the middle of the sea for 50 MPs,’ the Sri Lanka Ports Authority has clarified the purpose behind the recent sea excursion that gained media attention. Contrary to misleading reports, the Ports Authority asserts that the tour was part of their routine practice to familiarize dignitaries, professionals, and representatives from various sectors with port developments.
The Port Authority emphasized that at the request of State Minister Premalal Jayasekara and Nimal Siripalada Silva, a comprehensive briefing and observation visit were organized. The focus was on showcasing the ongoing projects within the Colombo Port, particularly highlighting developments at the Eastern Terminal, funded and overseen by the Port Authority. Additionally, aspects such as the JCT Terminal, Western Terminal, and advancements in the highway system were covered during the visit.
Clarifying the nature of the tour, the Port Authority specified that it included an observation tour outside Hansakawa Dejer, dispelling notions of a celebratory event at sea. The Authority firmly refutes claims of extravagant expenses, clarifying that no costs for food or other expenditures were incurred by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority for this educational tour.
The Sri Lanka Port Authority sought to address the misinformation circulated by certain media outlets, affirming the factual context behind the visit and dispelling any misconceptions about the nature and purpose of the observation tour.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): In a recent Cabinet session chaired by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the proposal to undertake excavation and conservation efforts at the Mahavihara received approval. Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana, the Cabinet Spokesman and Minister of Mass Media, disclosed this decision during the weekly Cabinet media briefing held at the Government Information Department.
Recognizing the profound religious and historical significance of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the initiative to conduct exploration and conservation work under the direct oversight of the Department of Archaeology and the Central Cultural Fund has been emphasized.
To facilitate this, Professor Robin Cunningham, an esteemed foreign expert in archaeology with a wealth of international experience, submitted a detailed project report. This report, commissioned by the President, outlines a comprehensive plan for the exploration, excavation, and conservation of the Mahavihara.
The proposed project aims to execute these endeavors within a structured timeline, spanning six years from 2024 to 2029.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): Senarath Dissanayake, the newly appointed High Commissioner-designate of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Singapore, officially commenced his duties at the Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore on January 8, 2024. His initiation was marked by a simple yet significant ceremony that commenced with religious observances and the chanting of Seth Pirith by the Maha Sangha.
During his address to the staff, High Commissioner-designate Dissanayake articulated his primary objectives, focusing on reinforcing the enduring and multifaceted bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Singapore. He underscored the importance of enhancing economic cooperation, specifically emphasizing the amplification of trade, investments, and tourism ties, alongside delivering efficient consular services to Sri Lankans residing in Singapore.
With an extensive career spanning 23 years within the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, Dissanayake has held various significant roles, including Acting High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Australia and diverse diplomatic assignments in Sri Lanka Missions across Geneva, Brussels, The Hague, Mumbai, and New Delhi.
Before assuming his current position, he served as the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since January 2022. Dissanayake is an alumnus of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to his role as the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Singapore.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): Under the Presidential initiative to distribute deeds for 2 million land plots in the Eastern Province, 28 individuals in the Manmunai Pattu Arayampathy Secretarial Division received their deeds in a ceremony led by State Minister of Rural Road Development, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, on Monday (08).
The event, overseen by Manmunai Pattu Arayampathy Assistant Divisional Secretary Rojini Vivekanantharaja, emphasized the government’s commitment to improving living standards, especially for those below the poverty line, despite economic challenges.
The State Minister highlighted that individuals who had responsibly maintained State lands were now granted legal rights to these plots, aiming to enhance the well-being of the recipients.
Former Divisional Secretary Sathiyananthy Namasivayam, Former EP Councillor P. Prasanthan, Land Officers, and beneficiaries were among the attendees, marking the significance of this deed handing-over ceremony.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): Yesterday morning, Major General K.A.N Rasika Kumara NDC PSC took charge as the new Director General of the Directorate of Media and Psychological Operations and Army Spokesman at the Army Headquarters. This formal transition, marked by a brief ceremony, saw him succeed Major General I.H.M.R.K Herath, who now assumes the mantle of Chief Signal Officer and Colonel Commandant of Sri Lanka Signal Corps.
Amidst blessings, Major General K.A.N Rasika Kumara symbolically affirmed his acceptance of the new office by placing his signature on an official document. Following tradition, he engaged with Officers and Other Ranks, outlining his vision for the Directorate’s future endeavors.
Hailing from Theldeniya and a graduate of Ruwanwella Rajasinghe Central College, he commenced his journey in the Sri Lanka Army in 1990, obtaining his commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 from the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA).
His extensive training repertoire includes a spectrum of courses such as the Platoon Commander’s Course, Officers’ Par Excellence Course, Unit Intelligence Officer Course, and numerous others spanning across various countries like India and China.
Major General K.A.N Rasika Kumara’s illustrious career boasts a diverse array of roles, including Troops Commander, Intelligence Officer, Brigade Major, Director of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, among others. His wealth of experience positions him well for the responsibilities of his new role.
The assumption ceremony drew the attendance of Senior Officers, Officers, and Other Ranks from the Directorate of Media and Psychological Operations, underscoring the significance of this transition within the Army hierarchy.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): In what appears to be a distinctive development in the financial sector, the spending via credit cards has continued to narrow and so has the consumer base holding a credit card, as the numbers have continued to shrink.
There could be two reasons. The first one is people do not have the purchasing power due to lower disposable income. So, they might be cancelling their credit cards,” a financial analyst, said.
“The second one is a sudden increase in migration with many professionals who have been using credit cards are leaving the country and they might have cancelled their cards.
According to the data available through October, the total outstanding credit card balance has continued to shrink by another Rs.309.0 million from a month earlier, after falling by Rs.169.0 million in September.
The persistent monthly decline has put the total outstanding credit card balance at Rs.143,992 million by the end of the first 10 months of last year, only slightly changed from Rs.143,098 million at the start of 2023.
It becomes idiosyncratic, as private sector credit has continued to expand at a modestly healthy clip for five consecutive months through October, since the interest rates started easing.
And specially on credit cards, the Central Bank capped the maximum rate at 28.0 percent, cutting the rate by seven percentage points, effective from September, as part of its targeted monetary policy measures to speed up the policy pass through.
However, 28.0 percent remains still very much elevated and doesn’t really encourage the card holders to spend from their card.
As the rates have further declined from the September levels at a faster pace, it is expected that the Central Bank could further slash the ceiling rate in cards and select other products, at an upcoming policy meeting.
Meanwhile, as inflation has cooled to mid-single digit levels, there are expectations for the consumer spending to pick up gradually, although the recent increase in the Value Added Tax could dampen the effects for a certain degree.
Cards are a distant proxy for consumer spending in Sri Lanka, as still a large section of the population transacts in cash and operates with no credit cards or access to a card.
For instance, Sri Lanka had a total of 1,913,858 active cards by the end of October, which had also shrunk from both September levels and at the start of the year.
At the beginning of the year, there were 1,952,991 active cards but the base came gradually down, as the banks tightened the eligibility criteria as part of their broader credit tightening policy and many people on average to high-paying jobs, who were using cards, migrated en masse.
The last two years alone saw Sri Lanka losing about 650,000 people from both blue and white collar types for countries that can offer them better income and living conditions.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns unacceptable violence against journalists during Bangladesh’s general elections on 7 January, when at least 12 reporters were attacked and expelled or denied entry to voting stations, in most cases by supporters of the ruling Awami League.
“Bangladesh’s general elections were marred by unacceptable violence against journalists. Ruling party supporters attacked reporters covering cases of electoral fraud. We call on the relevant authorities to launch an independent investigation so that those responsible are brought to justice. Furthermore, in a context of stifled media freedom, muzzled by governmental suppression of all criticism, we urge the newly reelected authorities to finally adopt strong measures to safeguard unrestricted Internet access and protect the freedom of the press enshrined in Bangladesh’s constitution and freedom of expression, which is being obstructed by the draconian new Cyber Security Act. The government’s toxic control over news and information must end.”
South Asia desk Reporters Without Borders
On a polling day marked by tension – with the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, boycotting the election – many journalists were physically attacked or were subjected to harassment and intimidation, and were either expelled from or were denied entry to voting stations. Most of the harassment and violence was the work of ruling Awami League supporters targeting reporters trying to cover irregularities and cases of fraud.
Physical and verbal attacks against journalists
When three journalists with the independent Daily Star newspaper – Arafat Rahaman, Dipan Nandy and Sirajul Islam Rubel – went to the Segunbagicha high school voting station in the capital, Dhaka, to confirm reports of “fake voters,” Awami League henchmen locked them in a room to prevent them investigating. Police eventually freed them.
At the voting station at the Nasirabad high school for boys in the eastern city of Chattogram, Awami League supporters snatched the phone of Mosarraf Shah, a reporter for the Prothom Alo daily newspaper, and deleted the photos and videos he had taken showing vote rigging.
When Mohiuddin Modhu, a reporter for privately-owned Jamuna Television, tried to investigate attempted voter fraud in the Dhaka district of Nawabganj, Awami League supporters chased him away and threw bricks at him as he fled, injuring him.
Awami League activists also threatened and expelled journalists from polling stations in the Dhaka-8 and Dhaka-12 voting districts. This was reported by Muktadir Rashid, the correspondent of the English-language daily New Age, and his photographer, Sourav Laskar, and by fellow New Age journalists Nasir Uz Zaman and Tanzil Rahaman.
In the northern district of Lalmonirhat, correspondent of Ananda TVAbdur Rahim and camera crew MasudBabu and Minhaz were attacked, sustaining damage to their cameras, when they went to the voting station at Purba Sardubi primary school to cover independent candidate Ataur Rahman’s abduction by Awami League supporters.
News sites blocked, foreign reporters denied visas
In another serious violation of the right to report, access to the website of the Daily Manab Zamin newspaper, one of the one of the government’s leading media critics, was blocked on 6 January, the eve of election day. The newspaper stressed that it had no internal technical issues when it reported the ongoing access problem in a Facebook message on 6 January. And one of its reporters, Tarique Choyon, said in a post on X (the former Twitter): “Our newspaper Daily Manab Zamin’s online edition is inaccessible in many places of Bangladesh. We have no technical flaws at all.”
Finally, the Bangladeshi authorities refused to issue visas to journalists from the headquarters of many leading international media outlets, including BBC News, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Al Jazeera. Most of the foreign reporters who managed to obtain visas were those based in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Some foreign reporters were also asked to sign a statement accepting that their photos and video footage would have to be approved by the Bangladeshi authorities before being sent, and could not harm the “national image.”
REPORTERS SANS FRONTIÈRES/ REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS
January 10, Colombo (LNW): SriLankan Airlines has begun the global roll out of its New Distribution Capability (NDC) agents booking portal SriLankan Direct Connect starting with India enabling travel agents, convenient direct access to the airline’s reservation system and an array of other benefits.
The NDC platform is a breakthrough travel industry-supported program by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that sets the pace to digitally transform the journey for airline distribution.
Adopting the technology via SriLankan Direct Connect allows SriLankan Airlines to form a powerful, direct retail and communication channel with agents and bypass traditional, intermediary Global Distribution Systems to provide richer content, ancillary services and personalised offers.
“We are excited to become one of the first airlines in South Asia to introduce IATA’s NDC technology and enhance the overall booking experience for our agents.
SriLankan Direct Connect is an intuitive application that will strengthen our direct distribution channel and bring value to travel agents and empower them to provide a superior service to our passengers,” stated Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines, Richard Nuttall.
“The launch of SriLankan Direct Connect is a milestone moment, qualifying SriLankan Airlines for the prestigious Airline Retailing Maturity Certification by IATA.
SriLankan Direct Connect will help us expand our distribution network and optimize savings and efficiency and transform the way in which we do business all at the same time,” added Head of Worldwide Sales & Distribution of SriLankan Airlines, Dimuthu Tennakoon.
Agents who register for SriLankan Direct Connect will have at their fingertips, private fares, guaranteed lowest fares, fare families and other promotional fares; ancillary products; free date changes; and an incentive scheme for flown segments among other exclusive benefits.
First launched in Sri Lanka in August 2023, SriLankan Airlines will be progressively extending SriLankan Direct Connect across its network in the coming months following the global kick off in India.
Agents can sign up for SriLankan Direct Connect using the Agent Registration link on the home page of www.srilankan.com
SriLankan Airlines is set to celebrate the reopening of Indian skies on 27 March 2022 by doubling up to 88 weekly flights to India to match pre-COVID-19 levels.
Consequently, customers too would be doubly rewarded by SriLankan expanding its flight frequencies at the same time that India does away with air travel bubble limitations this upcoming summer season.
Coupled together, it will effectively provide SriLankan Airlines’ passengers enhanced flight options and connectivity between India and destinations in the Maldives; the Far East; Oceania; Europe; and the Middle East.
January 10, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to establish a University of Science & Technology through a public private partnership with a United States university.
A statement from the Government Information Department said on Tuesday January 09 that one of several US universities will be selected for the project as a partner university, including UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, UC Davis and University of Michigan.
Such a university will provide the opportunity to utilise modern methodologies, foster global academic linkages and create an enabling environment for research and development,” the statement said.
Private university education is a contentious topic in Sri Lanka, with many left-leaning parties and academics historically opposed to the opening of private higher education institutes, particularly in the field of medicine.
Student unions representing state universities routinely protest the establishment of private degree-awarding institutes in the country.
Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said in December 2023 that Sri Lanka will set minimum standards for private university degrees like for state universities through a unit of proposed new education commission to ensure high quality while encouraging private investments.
Starting private universities is strongly opposed by undergraduate unions in state universities and left minded political parties. They say the move will drain the best academics from the state universities to private universities.
They also argue such private universities could sell degrees for money and the move is seen as encouraging unqualified students to earn degrees for money.
Starting private universities is strongly opposed by undergraduate unions in state universities and left minded political parties. They say the move will drain the best academics from the state universities to private universities.
They also argue such private universities could sell degrees for money and the move is seen as encouraging unqualified students to earn degrees for money.
The 2024 budget has spelt out plans for Sri Lanka to allow any recognized educational institution in the world to establish universities in Sri Lanka “once a set of powerful rules and regulations for the regulation of non-state universities are put in place”.
The move is to attract more foreign investment into education as well as to reduce foreign outflow from those who send their children for higher studies in foreign universities.
The government’s initiatives will include the evaluation of underperforming Science and Technology Research Institutes and the setting up of a Technology and Innovation Council (TIC) and a Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).
“Educated manpower well-equipped with knowledge and technological know-how is essential for the smooth flow of transformations which will lubricate the development and catching up process in developing nations,” the minister said.
