Seventy Years of Excellence SLAF

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Mar 3, 2021

...Continued

Government Rejects OHCHR proposal to refer Sri Lanka to the...

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Feb 27, 2021

Sri Lanka has rejected the Human Rights High Commission proposal to refer her to the International Criminal Court. In its reply to the High Commissioner’s report, the government said ‘it has rejected the Human Rights High Commissioner’s proposal in her report to advance accountability options at the international level, including, in particular, her proposal to take steps towards referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court’.The government has repudiated all the conclusions and recommendations in the report.   The government’s detailed reply which runs into ...Continued

Dismal Economic future for Sri Lanka unless immediate recovery measures...

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Feb 22, 2021

“We believe an inflection point will be reached in Q2 21, based on our view that growth will be weak and the fiscal and external positions will remain under pressure” -Barclays Singapore Sri Lanka’s external debt dynamics are extremely challenging over the next six months and urgent action is needed to address them and mitigate collateral damage which can have wide-ranging social and political ramifications-Pathfinder Economic alert     Recent developments are again casting doubt on Sri Lanka’s external position and increasing investor concerns about ...Continued

Core Group on Lanka to present resolution at the UNHRC

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Feb 20, 2021

By P K Balachandran

Core Group on Lanka to present resolution at the UNHRC • The resolution will include the critical observations and harsh prescriptions of the UN’s Human Rights High Commissioner, Michele Bachelet.   The Core Group on Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) announced on Friday that it will present a resolution on the rights situation in Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. The Core Group comprises Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro and the UK. In a statement issued through the British High Commission ...Continued

Everything but Ranil is impermanent

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Feb 18, 2021

By Kassapa

  That will, sadly, be Ranil Wickremesinghe’s footnote in history.   Everything, Lord Buddha said, is impermanent. At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s wasn’t around at that time as the leader of the United National Party (UNP). Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka more than anyone else, five times to be precise, but never President, continues to be leader of the UNP, once the most dominant party in the country but now reduced to ruins under his leadership. Even so, he is not ...Continued

Top – notch cricketers and professionals ask for new constitution...

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Feb 16, 2021

A writ petition filed in the Court of Appeal Sri Lanka lost 118 out of 194 matches since 2016 denoting a dismal performance The Court of Appeal yesterday issued notices on Minister of Sports, President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and several others returnable for March 15 in connection with a writ petition filed seeking an order to formulate a new constitution for SLC. A two-judge-bench of the Court comprising Justice (President) Arjuna Obeysekera and Justice Mayadunna Corea made this order consequent to writ petition ...Continued

Understanding the role of Foreign Direct Investment in Port Development

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Feb 15, 2021

Private sector investment and involvement in developing ports emerged as a significant requirement in the 1980s. By this time, many ports had become bottlenecks to the efficient distribution chains of which they are an essential component. Government investments into port development was categorized as “White Elephant Syndrome” due to the following three main problems, illustrated by port congestion and consequent chronic service failures, contributed to the gradual deterioration of service quality during this period. The first reason for a lack of port service quality was ...Continued

Supreme Court awards compensation to child petitioner, while rejecting corporal...

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Feb 12, 2021

• SC holds 15-year-old student’s Fundamental Rights have been violated due to a punishment in the form of Corporal Punishment • Justice S thurairajah delivering the order states “Sri Lanka as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has understood the need to curb the widespread use and acceptance of corporal punishment”   The Supreme Court today ordered the State and a school teacher who slapped a child across the face to pay compensation amounting to Rs.650,000 to ...Continued

East or West, which is best?

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Feb 4, 2021

BY KASSAPA

That is the question that must be on the minds of Sri Lankans after the events of last week following the controversy over the proposed sale of the East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port to Indian interests. To put issues in context, the previous government led by then President Maithripala Sirisena and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had entered into a tripartite agreement with India and Japan to develop the ECT. Wickremesinghe says Sri Lanka was to retain a controlling share of the ...Continued

India opposes Lanka bid to renege on East Container Terminal...

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Feb 2, 2021

By P.K.Balachandran

Indian High Commission says all parties are bound by the May 2019 the trilateralAgreement Colombo, February 1: Reacting to signals from the Sri Lankan government that it is opting out of the May 2019 trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between Sri Lanka, India and Japan to build and run the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port, the Indian High Commission said on Monday that it expects all parties to adhere to the MOC. “ I would like to reiterate the expectation of the ...Continued

The Government of Sri Lanka’s response to the damning report...

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Jan 30, 2021

Interview with Foreign Secretary Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage   by SARASI WIJERATNE   A consensual Resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC will be a politically challenging one to implement   The Human Rights Commissioner’s report mentions targeted sanctions, asset freeze and travel bans that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is not overly worried about. ‘The Human Rights Commissioner’s office cannot enforce anything.  They can only make recommendations. While sanctions by the UN are unlikely, individual countries could decide on sanctions. But Sri Lanka’s geo ...Continued

Biden -Harris administration has appointed 19 Americans of Indian origin...

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Jan 21, 2021

...Continued