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Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr Rajitha Senaratne has been elected as a Vice Chairman of World Health Organization (WHO) unopposed during its Executive Committee Meeting held in Geneva.
 
He was elected Vice Chair from the South-East Asia region at the 143rd Session of the WHO Executive Board on Monday (28), for a period of one year.
 
“I’m honoured by the confidence placed on me both by the members of the CR (Committee on Conventions and Recommendations) and the WHO,” he said addressing the session.
 
“Let me also take this opportunity to thank the Director-General of the WHO and the Regional Director CR for their outstanding leadership and vision through which I believe the WHO could make its best impact on the peoples of the world.” 
 
“I look forward to working with you all in achieving our shared vision in making this planet a healthier place to live in,” he said. 
 
The Minister is currently in Geneva to attend the 71st World Health Assembly which just concluded and the session of the executive board. 

Source : Ada Derana

Sri Lanka Mirror reports that Presidential advisors are now focusing on the possibility of holding a general election, prior to the Presidential poll in 2020. 

The website also claims that the opinions of legal experts will be sought regarding the matter shortly. 

The matter has come before the political arena through a social media post put up by Senior coordinating officer of the President, Attorney at Law Shiral Lakthilaka. 

In his post, Shiral has said: “The next presidential election is to be held no later than November 2019 and not by August 2020 according to article 1 (3) of the constitution". 

Shiral Lakithilaka’s FB post

Many opinions are now being expressed for and against his post while an extensive conversation on the issue is currently ongoing in social media with several academics also voicing their opinions in this regard.

Joint Opposition MP representing the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Ramesh Pathirana says the manner in which the group of 16 is conducting themselves is suspicious and therefore special focus must be paid regarding them.  

According to him, the group who was part of the government for the past three years and even criticized former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other JO members during the last local government polls are now claiming to have joined the opposition while meddling in political decisions of the JO. 

They are also attempting to name the 2020 Presidential candidate of the faction he said adding that the future of the faction which was built with great difficulty during the last three years and its decisions cannot be based on the 16 group he said. 

He also said those who worked hard to form the new party are not ready to allow newcomers to make its decisions and back off.

The body of the police constable, Dassanayaka Pathirannahalage Dilan Sampath who was reported missing while trying to rescue those affected by floods in the area was recovered today (27), by the Navy at Galmuruwa,Madampe.
 
The Navy found the body 200m away from the place he went missing.
 
The police constable went missing on May 25, after he had rescued a family from flood waters, in the Gal Wala Road area in Galmuruwa-Madampe.
 
The 29 year old PC is said to be a resident of Giriulla and was serving as a police constable (88587) attached to the Madampe police at the time of his death. 
 
Meanwhile Police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said Inspector General of Police, Pujith Jayasundara has promoted the heroic cop posthumously to the rank of Sergeant.

Following is the draft 20th amendment to the constitutions presented by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake this week in parliament. 

The draft presented by the JVP on the 20th Amendment to the Constitution seeks to abolish the position of an elected Executive President. According to the amendment, the President will be appointed by Parliament through a secret ballot and by obtaining a simple majority vote instead of an electoral process. The President, during his tenure, will also not be able to be a member of a political party or hold any positions in one.
 
The 17-page document was presented as a Private member bill by the party.

It is reported that Malaysian business tycoon Sudhir Jayaram is set to arrive in the island today to conduct discussions with Central Bank officials and several Ministers. He is said to be acting as an intermediary to purchase EAP group of companies which also owns Swarnavahini television channel. 

Releasing a statement recently the Central Bank said it has decided to allow the sale of ETI and its subsidiary companies along with its investment properties for around USD 75 Million considering the financial difficulties being faced by ETI and its possible negative impacts on the financial market. 

They have also announced that the sale must fall in accordance to local laws and regulations. 

Accordingly sources say the buyer has already paid in USD 32 Million as confirmed by the Central Bank. However up to date the Central Bank has refused to reveal the name of the buyer stating that it could affect the deal if done so prior to its completion. 
'Despite a local businessman had made a higher bid EAP has been sold to Lycamobile' - Wimal Weerawansa  

Meanwhile, during the course of the proposed Appropriation Bill, Wimal Weerawansa, MP during the debate, said that all companies belonging to the group has been sold to Lyca Mobile Company even though a local businessman has placed a higher bid to purchase them.

He also alleged that Lyca has LTTE connections claiming that it is a known fact internationally. 

He also accused former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mano Thittawela from being behing this deal. 

The MP also claimed laws were bent to allow the deal while a special cabinet approval also pushed it through.

The case filed by the Bribery commission against JO MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena for illegally obtaining assets and properties worth over Rs. 40 million has been postponed to July 6 by the Colombo High Court.

While the case was called today before Colombo High Court Judge A.A.R Heiyanthuduwa the case was postponed as the judge who presides over the case regularly, Judge Sampath Wijayaratne was on official duty leave. 

Rohitha Abeygunawardena was also not in courts today when the case was called with his lawyer presenting a medical to courts said his client was unwell and unable to attend. 

Accordingly the Judge ordered the accused party to be present in court on the next court date while also requesting that witnesses to be present on the day.

The Bribery Commission has filed the case against Rohitha Abeygunawardena alleging that he had obtained assets worth Rs. 40.1 million thereby illegally exceeding his legitimate income during the years 2004 and 2006 when he was a Minister of the then government.

Sri Lanka's cricket board has invited retired judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Justice Rohini Marasinghe to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of match fixing against Panadura CC and Kalutara PCC.
 
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the retired judge Marasinghe will evaluate the reports of the inquiries conducted by the SLC appointed Panel of Inquiry led by Asela Rekawa Attorney-at-Law and that of the Ministry of Sports conducted Palitha Kumarasinghe PC.
 
She will also conduct her own inquiry and pronounce a final judgment as well as recommendations for punitive action against those found guilty.
 
Justice Rohini Marasinghe was a sitting judge on the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and has served as a judge of the Court of Appeal and also the Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Source : Colombo Page

Actress Deepani Silva was arrested in connection to an accident which took place in Bandaragama today morning. According to Police, the accident had occurred around 6.45 am in the Kindelpitiya junction on the Bandaragama Kesbewa road when a three-wheeler travelling towards Kesbewa collided head-on with a car travelling in the opposite direction. 

Coincidently the car was driven by popular actress and activist Deepani Silva at the time. While the three-wheeler driver escaped with minor injuries however his 10-year-old daughter is said to have suffered serious injuries in the accident. 

“The Bandaragama Police has arrested the actress and she is to be produced before the Panadura Magistrates court today,” Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said.

Many HNB customers of the Northern Province Hatton National Bank are preparing to protest against HNB for interdicting two employees who had participated in the Mulliwaikkal Memorial in memory of those who were killed during the war nine years ago, it is reported.

The Assistant Manager of the HNB Killinochchi Branch and another newly recruited employee had been interdicted for having organised a commemoration ceremony within the KIllinochchi HNB branch premises and lighting lamps in memory of the dead.

The bank administration had justified their decision claiming that it was one that was taken on behalf of the ‘Pride of Sri Lankans’.

Issuing a statement regarding the matter, HNB noted that, "HNB takes very seriously any sentiment or act that is in violation of, or poses a threat to the morale of citizens of Sri Lanka. As a Bank that stands for all Sri Lankans, our goals, interests and initiatives are all aligned to the vision and greater good of our Country."

"We regret an unauthorized incident that took place recently in one of our branches, which does not reflect the values of the Bank. The matter has been investigated and necessary action taken," the statement further stated.
 
''A company that disregards human emotions''

The people of the North who were enraged by the action taken against two of their employees who had commemorated the thousands killed during the destructive war, had written many letters seeking the suspension of their bank accounts with the bank, Radio Gagana reported.
One letter written to the Jaffna HNB Manager noted, “I have no desire to conduct transactions with a bank that does not respect human emotions”.

Northern Provincial Council member M.K. Sivajilingam said that this boycott will affect other HNB branches as well and not only the North.
"HNB takes very seriously any sentiment or act that is in violation of, or poses a threat to the morale of citizens of Sri Lanka. As a Bank that stands for all Sri Lankans, our goals, interests and initiatives are all aligned to the vision and greater good of our Country."
 
"We regret an unauthorized incident that took place recently in one of our branches, which does not reflect the values of the Bank. The matter has been investigated and necessary action taken." He said, “When the whole North is mourning the loss of their loved ones, it is not ethical for the bank to take such revengeful action.”

He pointed out that even the prominent Ministers within the government have accepted the Tamil people’s right to commemorate the loss of their loved ones at the Mulliwaikkal ceremony.
 
Pressure to immediately reinstate the two interdicted employees:

The Killinochchi Citizens Club noted that the action taken by HNB to interdict two of their employees for holding a commemoration ceremony to mourn the Tamils killed during the war, has violated the trust placed in the bank by the Tamil people. Therefore, they demanded that  the two interdicted employees be reinstated immediately.

“Perhaps relatives of some of the bank employees could also have been killed during the unfortunate incident on May 18,” the Secretary of the Killinochchi Citizens Club Aingararasa Jeewanayagam told Radio Gagana.

“The state and private institutions in the entire North and East shared their grief with the Tamil people without any discrimination. But this interdiction by HNB is a very insensitive act.”

The Head of the Jaffna University Law Faculty Kumaravadivel Gurubaran, condemning the interdiction said it was an act of “Racism of the Sinhala Buddhist businesses”.

HNB was adjudged the best bank of the year in 2017 by ‘The Banker’ magazine, while its current Chairmanship is held by President's Counsel (PC) Rienzi Arsakularatne.

The Rajapaksa faction has flatly refused Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s challenge for a debate on Sri Lanka’s debt, with Joint Opposition front liners confirming that the former President is not willing to participate in the debate.

Speaking at a press briefing over the weekend, JO MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage had said that former President Rajapaksa would not face the Finance Minister on the question of the country’s debt and added that Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa also did not have time to engage in the debate. 

The Sunday Observer had reported that when contacted MP Namal Rajapaksa had said the Minister should be engaged in steering the economy during the bad weather prevailing over the country and not entangle himself in “unnecessary debates”.

“Before he challenges someone to a debate he should deliver on what he promised,” Namal Rajapaksa was quoted as saying. 

Minister Samaraweera meanwhile has slammed the refusal of his challenge, saying the former President was dodging the issue because he did not possess the knowledge to engage in such a debate.

Last week, the Finance Ministry went to pains to point out that out of Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt of Rs 4,285 billion (Rs. 4.28 trillion), the current Government was only responsible for foreign borrowings to the tune of Rs. 570 billion. The rest of the debt servicing by the Treasury is related to borrowings during the tenure of the Rajapaksa regime, the Finance Ministry said.

Source : Sunday Observer

Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit has revealed how criminals fixed two Test matches - the highest level of international cricket - and were planning to fix a third.

The two fixed matches were Sri Lanka versus India in July last year and Sri Lanka versus Australia in August 2016. Both matches were played at Galle International Stadium in Sri Lanka.

In secretly filmed meetings, the match-fixers also said that they were planning to fix England's game against Sri Lanka, also at Galle, in November this year.

The world cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), has launched an investigation into Al Jazeera's findings.

Robin Morris, a match-fixer from Mumbai, told undercover reporters that he bribed the groundsman at Galle to doctor the pitch to ensure guaranteed outcomes. The match-fixers then made large sums of money from betting.

In Al Jazeera's documentary, Cricket's Match-Fixers, the groundsman, Tharanga Indika, assistant manager at the Galle stadium, says he can make pitches to favour either bowlers or batsmen.

"If you want a pitch for spin bowling or pace bowling or batting, it can be done."

At a meeting in a hotel in Galle, Morris gestures towards Indika, and says: "What happens is he, we, can make a pitch to do whatever we want it do to."

"Because he's the main curator. He is the assistant manager and curator of the Galle stadium."

For the Australia match, Indika says he made a pitch for bowlers. "In that five-day match, we prepared the wicket poorly without using a roller. In that way, we made a spinning wicket."

The "bowling pitch" ensured that the game would not last for the full five days and so the game would not end in a draw.

Batsmen were out quickly and the match was over in less than two and a half days. A Test match can last for up to five days. Knowing that batsmen would struggle, the match-fixers made money by betting that the game would not end in a draw.

A Test match can end in a draw only if no side has won when the teams have played for the full five days 

Concerns were raised about the condition of the pitch at the time but the International Cricket Council, which had an inspector at the match, took no action.

Indika told our undercover team that for the India match at Galle he made a pitch for batsmen. "India was set for a batting wicket."

"We pressed the wicket thoroughly with a roller and then, we put water on it to make it even harder," he says in the documentary. The batting pitch ensured a high score in the first innings so the criminals could bet on a first innings total higher than the bookmakers' prediction.

In the event, India scored a massive 600 runs in their first innings and the match-fixers made a large profit. Morris, a former professional cricketer, offers an undercover reporter a deal for future fixes.

"I have the information. I will give it to you. And you can bet good money, big time." The match-fixer says he wants no money up front but wants 30 percent of the reporter's winnings. 

At the meeting in Galle, the reporter asks the match-fixer when the next pitch-fix will be carried out at the stadium. Morris replies: "England v Sri Lanka." England are due to play Sri Lanka at Galle in November 2018.

The reporter asks Indika if he could ensure that the match would be over within four days.

Indika replies, laughing: "I can do it in two and a half!"

Morris denies any wrongdoing and says Al Jazeera had invited him to audition for a role in a movie "for public entertainment only".

Indika denies any involvement in pitch-fixing and says any conversations he had with Al Jazeera journalists was just to be courteous to foreign tourists. There is no suggestion that any of the players involved in these Test matches had any knowledge of the pitch-fixing.

The ICC said it "will take the contents of the programme and any allegations it may make very seriously". It said it was "working with anti-corruption colleagues from member countries based on the limited information we have received".

The ICC declined to comment on why it had not taken action when initial concerns were raised about the Galle pitch for the Australia match in 2016.

Source : Al Jazeera