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President Maithripala Sirisena is being accused of violating the recruitment process for high-profile state assignments when he appointed former provincial governors Reginald Cooray and Niluka Ekanayake as heads of two state institutions this week.

Cooray has been appointed the Chairman of the National Gem and Jewelry Corporation while Ekanayake has been appointed the Chairperson of the State Timber Corporation. The duo received these appointments after they were asked to step down from their positions of governor so that Sirisena could appoint two other loyalists to the positions. 

Issuing a circular last week to Ministry Secretaries President Sirisena informed them of a committee to vet the resumes of individuals by Cabinet ministers to head state institutions. The President also instructed them to appoint the heads only after the recommendations of the committee, headed by Secretary to the President Udaya R. Seneviratne.

The President has also informed the committee that the heads of all state institutions should be university graduates with relevant professional qualifications and managerial experience.

However, both Cooray and Ekanayake do not meet the standard set by the President. They are not university graduates nor do they have any managerial experience. Cooray is a teacher by professional training while Ekanayake is an astrologer. (Excerpts from The Colombo Telegraph)

Deputy Speaker Ananda Kumarasiri reading out a statement conveyed by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya notified the parliament that United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Mahinda Rajapaksa will be recognized as the new leader of the opposition.

The Deputy Speaker made this statement at the parliamentary session held today (08).

Major General Shavendra Silva assumed duties as the Army’s Chief of Staff today. He was appointed to the position by President Maithripala Sirisena this week. 

However, the appointment has drawn tahe criticism of human rights activists. Following the controversial appointment of Major General Shavendra Silva as the Sri Lanka Army’s Chief of Staff the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has called for Silva to be arrested if he attempts to travel abroad. 

Releasing a statement, Director of the ITJP Yasmin Sooka labelled the appointment of Silva as a ‘new low’ for Sri Lanka. Accusations of war crimes have been tailing Shavendra Silva since the end of the war in 2009. She noted that the unit under the direct supervision of Silva had been involved in enforced disappearances. 

“Sri Lanka now has a chief of army staff who risks arrest every time he travels abroad,” Sooka said in the statement adding that the ITJP has prepared a substantial dossier on Major General Silva which will be released shortly. According to Sooka, the ITJP believes there is more than enough evidence to charge Silva for international crimes should the opportunity arise. She also said the appointment is a threat to reconciliation attempts in the country.

Sri Lanka has sought the removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and other issues to improve trade with Pakistan.

Addressing the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Pakistan Noordeen Mohamed Shaheid said that though the two countries signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), certain issues including NTBs need to be resolved to improve trade between the two countries.

The envoy said Pakistan and Sri Lanka had signed the FTA in June 2005 under which the private sectors of both the countries were provided with greater opportunities to take trade and economic relations to next level. From 2005 onwards, there was significant increase in bilateral trade, he said. “But it is also a fact that the two countries could not succeed in fully exploiting the trade potential,” he added.

The Sri Lankan high commissioner said there was a vast scope for the expansion of bilateral between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

He urged that both countries should introduce new products for trade and make business-to-business contacts stronger. “Sri Lanka offers huge opportunities in various sectors of economy,” he added. He said though terrorism remained a big challenge for Sri Lanka, but today it a peaceful country. “We have defeated terrorism due to immense support of Pakistan,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Almas Hyder said Sri Lanka was at the take-off stage and Pakistani business community should avail this great opportunity. “Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka are members of Saarc and enjoy friendly relations based on historical linkages.

Cooperation between two countries especially in defence sector has played major role in further strengthening the mutual ties,” he added.

Earlier, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri also visited the LCCI and said the government was making all-out efforts to overcome the inherited economic crisis. “The business community has a key role in economy and economic challenges will be tackled with their cooperation,” he said.

Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Washington tomorrow (11), to get the International Monetary Fund's External Fund Facility (EFF) back on track.

Samaraweera is scheduled to hold talks with the Managing Director and Chairwoman of the IMF Christine Lagarde.

The Finance Ministry said that he will also meet Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, Chanyong Rhee, Director for Asia Pacific Department and other senior officials.

Minister Samaraweera is expected to signal the Government's intention to continue with IMF reform programme. 

A key objective will be to negotiate the trajectory of continued fiscal consolidation while accommodating policies to support growth and strengthen the social safety net.

The Finance Minister's delegation to IMF will include Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Secretary to the Treasury Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga and other key officials of the Central Bank and the Treasury.    

Dr. Coomaraswamy pointed out last week that the Sri Lankan government has the option of extending the IMF program by a year, describing it as a positive  option for Sri Lanka as it looks to fund nearly USD3 billion in debt repayments that are due in 2019.

In a groundbreaking initiative, Sri Lanka Technological Campus (SLTC), Sri Lanka’s fastest growing university, has partnered as the Exclusive Platinum Plus sponsor of the EDEX Higher Education Expo 2019, the country’s largest education exhibition. 

The EDEX Expo is to be held from January 18 – 20 at the BMICH in Colombo and 25-26 at the Kandy City Centre. This partnership is indicative of the commitment SLTC has towards providing greater opportunities to a wider cross-section of post-secondary students of Sri Lanka to excel in their higher education and to meet the expectations of their future employers.

The official signing ceremony was held in the presence of Kumarasinghe Sirisena – Group Chairman Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Eng. Ranjith G Rubasinghe – President/ CEO of SLTC, Eng. Ranjith Gunawardena - Director- Operations, SLTC, Mahesh De Silva - Head of Finance, SLTC and  Mithila Mendis - Secretary Royal College Union, Mahinda Galagedara - Chairman EDEX, Bimal Perera - Secretary EDEX, and other officials. 

“One of SLTC’s founding objectives was to produce globally employable graduates who are capable of uplifting the quality of life of their communities.EDEX Expo has also embarked on this initiative with a similar objective of empowering Sri Lankan youth to be globally competitive. Going forward, we are happy that with this partnership we could jointly foster these objectives," SLTC Chairman Kumarasinghe Sirisena said.

Since 2015, SLTC has striven to offer unparalleled higher education and research opportunities in the fields of Engineering, Technology and Business Management.

Through this partnership with EDEX, SLTC hopes to encourage students to visit their stall and avail themselves of the amazing offers and scholarships that are on offer. Aspiring and future students can also speak with SLTC’s faculty and student leaders for further information on what the Campus has to offer in Engineering, Technology, Professional Studies, Business and Graduate Studies.

(AFP) - Sri Lanka's prime minister said Thursday the country was struggling to pay back its ballooning foreign debt, blaming a recent political crisis for dealing a "death blow" to the economy.

Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government was scrambling to raise $1.9 billion to help service a first debt payment of $2.6 billion, that is due on Monday.Sri Lanka faces $5.9 billion in foreign debt repayments in 2019, a record for the cash-strapped island.

The country lost $1 billion in foreign reserves during a power struggle between Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena in late 2018.

Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe in October and later dissolved parliament to quell any opposition, but Sri Lanka's courts deemed the move unconstitutional.

Wickremesinghe was reinstalled 51 days later but not without a cost, the prime minister said.

"We are yet to quantify the losses, but it was a death blow to an economy that was struggling to recover," Wickremesinghe told parliament.

Three global ratings agencies downgraded Sri Lanka during the crisis, making it more expensive for the Indian Ocean nation to access foreign loans.

Sri Lanka hopes to raise $1 billion from the international debt market, another $500 million from China and Japan and a further $400 million from the Reserve Bank of India.

Wickremesinghe has dispatched his finance minister to Washington to try to revive a loan arrangement with the International Monetary Fund that was suspended during the chaos.

Sri Lanka narrowly averted defaulting on its sovereign debt after Wickremesinghe's reformed administration introduced a plan late last month to meet urgent spending obligations for the first four months of 2019.

Sirisena came to power in 2015 with the help of Wickremesinghe's United National Party but personal and political clashes came to a head before the October sacking.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by isis.lk staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Blessed with wondrous natural beauty and exotic wildlife, Sri Lanka has quickly become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.

But few tourists to the Indian Ocean island know that the massive development launched across the country to cater to their needs has contributed to a tragic outcome for Sri Lanka's endangered elephant population.

A growing number of elephants in Sri Lanka are being slaughtered by fast-moving trains, as the animal's natural habitat has rapidly shrunk over the past decade.

A train is derailed after striking an number of elephants. (Supplied) 

Terrible and graphic images of pregnant female elephants and young calves killed by passenger trains have repeatedly emerged from Sri Lanka last year.

According to Department of Wildlife figures, 15 elephants were killed by trains in 2018, almost more than double the previous year. Total elephant deaths in 2018 numbered 273, up from 256 in 2017.

Leading wildlife experts are concerned the Sri Lankan government is not doing enough to protect elephants, which are a huge drawcard for millions of tourists who visit the country. 

Accusatory fingers are also being pointed at ill-disciplined train drivers failing to obey speed limits during the night, when elephants might be seeking warmth from the tracks.

"The incidents have grown in number in the last several years, it has become much more frequent," elephant welfare campaigner Srilal Miththapala told nine.com.au.

"Over the last decade there has been a lot of development, a lot of clearing of forest and a lot of villages being settled in areas which used to be elephant territory.
"This has disrupted the movements of elephants, especially the males who are much more mobile … now they must cross villages and tracks, and altercations take place.

Mr Miththapala, who also sits as vice president of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, fears mostly roaming males are being killed by trains, potentially affecting the male-female ratio of Sri Lanka's elephant population.

Sri Lankans look at an elephant killed by a train. (Supplied) 

Trains travelling from Colombo and the west across central Sri Lanka towards the eastern coastal cities of Trincomolee and Batticaloa have been involved in a high number of elephant collisions.

Mr Miththapala has proposed the government builds an early warning signal track system of flashing lights and sirens in areas where elephants are known to move.

Experts believe that in recent times elephants have become too accustomed to humans, as wild and manmade environments become increasingly fused together.

"The elephants seem to be acclimatised to the train noise," Mr Miththapala said. "They try to scatter, but when there are babies and mothers they sometimes get hit."

In one of the worst recent incidents, four elephants including an 80-day-old unborn elephant died in October after they were run over by a night mail train.

Four elephants were mown down and killed a month earlier.

Despite the tourism boom in Sri Lanka since the country's 26-year civil war ended in 2009, Mr Miththapala said the government has not done enough to ensure elephants are protected for future generations.

"The appetite and will [from politicians] is not there to remedy this problem," he said. 

A Sri Lankan elephant is dead and trapped under a train. (Supplied)

He said the Department of Wildlife and Department of Transport "don't see eye to eye" on trains killing elephants.

"Both their mandate are different. The Department of Wildlife is there to protect animals, while [the Department of Transport] is there to ensure efficient travel and services."

Researchers estimate there are probably around 6500-7000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka. It is a "healthy" number, Mr Miththapala said, but it risks masking several serious issues that could have dire consequences.

"The current picture is rather gloomy. The numbers [of elephants] is always up for debate," Mr Miththapala said.

"Given the shrinking habitat of the elephants ... we feel the current capacity [of 7000] is too high, that the country can't sustain this level of development and that number of elephants."

Studies are also currently underway to better understand the male-female ratio in the elephant population, with fears the number of males is dangerously low.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) lists the Sri Lankan elephant as an endangered species.

The Sri Lankan elephant population has fallen almost 65 percent since the turn of the 19th century, according to WWF.

Sri Lanka is in talks with China to import hybrid buses to upgrade the country's public transport sector, State Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Ashoka Abeysinghe said at a media briefing.

Abeysinghe added that he was in discussions with Chinese companies, which manufacture hydrogen powered buses and hybrid buses, and the procurement plan to purchase the buses had been finalized. 

The minister said they hope to expedite the process and open the tenders in the coming 28 weeks.

"I went to China a couple of months ago and visited the Chinese companies," the state minister said.

"We are looking at hybrid buses as we do not have enough charging stations for electric buses," he added.

Sri Lanka is looking to boost its public transport infrastructure, particularly in Colombo, amid rising tourist numbers and increased road congestion.

Pohottuwa politico and Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) member K.G Kulatissa has been arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) in connection to the unrest at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on October 29. 

The Police arrested him for being part of an illegal gathering, acting in a disorderly manner and obstructing the duty of Police Officers. He will be presented to the Aluthkade No. 1 Magistrates Court today. 

On CPC staffer lost his life during the fracas after the group attacked the former Minister of Petroleum Arjuna Ranatunga, prompting one of his guards to fire at the crowd. CCTV footage later revealed the mob was led by several local government members of the SLPP.

Sri Lankan journalists on Tuesday paid tribute to anti-establishment editor Lasantha Wickrematunge 10 years after his murder by a suspected government death squad that came to symbolise a deadly decade-long crackdown on the country’s media.

Just days before he was due to give evidence against the brother of the country’s then strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse, two assailants on motorcycles blocked the car of the 50-year-old editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper before smashing the windows and stabbing him in the head.

The assassination is one of many unresolved killings of journalists carried out during Rajapakse’s decade in power, which also saw a 37-year conflict with Tamil separatists brought to a brutal conclusion.

Friends, family and colleagues of Wickrematunge placed flowers and candles on his grave at the Colombo General Cemetery.

White cards with Wickrematunge’s name and those of 18 other journalists were also put among the golden trumpet flowers and white frangipani blooms.

A message from Lal Wickrematunge — the dead journalist’s brother who lives in Australia — was read out, saying the family was also grieving for other journalists killed by unidentified assassins.

It said many journalists from the minority Tamil community were killed “during the darkest period in our nation’s history” — the four-decade civil war, ended by government forces when they crushed the rebel Tamil Tigers in 2009.

The murdered Wickrematunge was a critic of that military campaign, which allegedly massacred 40,000 ethnic Tamils.

“Reconciliation and closure will not be possible without prosecution,” his brother said.

Before his death, Wickrematunge had revealed corruption in a multi-million dollar purchase of second-hand MiG planes from Ukraine implicating then secretary to the ministry of defence, Gotabhaya Rajapakse — Mahinda Rajapakse’s brother who was president at the time.
The editor was killed days before he was due to give evidence.

After Rajapakse lost a 2015 election, a breakthrough in the Wickrematunge case saw investigators tell a Sri Lankan court that army spies were responsible for his killing.

A former army commander accused Gotabhaya of running a secret unit used to target journalists and dissidents during his brother’s presidency, during which rights activists say dozens of journalists and media workers were killed.

Gotabhaya has denied any link to the killings. He remains under investigation for corruption related to the MiG deal.

(AFP)

Governors for four new provinces are to be appointed today (07). The appointment of new governors will be for Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Northern and Southern provinces. 
 
On December 31, President Maithripala Sirisena had instructed all governors to tender their resignations. It is believed the President had done so in order to appoint those loyal to him instead. 

New Governors appointed for five provinces were therefore sworn in before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat on January 4.