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Setbacks are part of the journey and the leader should be able to face them successfully and make bold decisions, said president Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (19).

He was giving a speech at the 96th commissioning parade of the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa.

“Discipline of the highest degree is one of the most important aspects in a military officer’s life. Optimism, self-belief, and confidence in yourself and those in your teams will be at the heart of your success,” said the president.

“The attention you pay to simple tasks builds discipline, it fosters attention to detail, and it provides a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small, as you start your day.”

“There will be many situations in your life where no matter how capable or skilled you are as an individual, you will not be able to succeed without the support of others,” the President said.

“Someday, one of you may even become the Commander of the Army and be responsible for the entire organization and all the people in it.”

“As you start on this journey, you must understand that the soldiers under your command are ordinary people, and not supermen. It is your responsibility to ensure that you get outstanding results from such normal people,” the president added.

A total of 316 officer cadets from Intake five passed out.

The Health Ministry says that Dr. Shafi Sihabdeen, who was previously sent on permanent leave on allegations of performing illegal sterilization operations, has been reinstated.

Moreover, Dr. Shihabdeen will be paid his salary arrears as well, the Health Ministry adds.

Accordingly, Dr. Shihabdeen has been reinstated as a doctor at the Kurunegala Hospital.

Dr. Mohamed Shafi Shihabdeen, who was employed at the Kurunegala teaching hospital was arrested on May 25th, 2019, over three allegations.

In June 2019, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) informed the court that there was no evidence to back the allegations made against Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 14 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 17, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,734.

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 09 males and 05 females.

Five of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years and the remaining 09 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

Foreign Minister (Professor) G. L. Peiris was appointed as the Acting Finance Minister, during the absence of Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa left the island on a private visit on earlier this week.

(AFP) International ratings agency Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka Saturday by one notch to “CC” due to mounting fears of a sovereign default on its $26 billion foreign debt.

The downgrade came a day after Sri Lanka reported a 1.5 percent contraction in the third quarter of this year as a foreign exchange crisis wrecked its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Fitch said the downgrade reflected its view of an “increased probability of a default event in coming months” as Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves slumped to $1.58 billion at the end of November.

“We believe it will be difficult for the government to meet its external debt obligations in 2022 and 2023 in the absence of new external financing sources,” the agency said in a statement.

It noted Sri Lanka had to repay two international sovereign bonds of $500 million in January 2022 and $1.0 billion in July 2022 with little improvement in capital inflows into the nation of 21 million people.

Foreign-currency debt service payments, including principal and interest, for next year total $6.9 billion, or the equivalent of nearly 430 percent of the island’s official gross international reserves as of November 2021.

“Cumulative foreign-currency debt service, including interest and principal, amounts to about $26 billion from 2022 through to 2026,” Fitch said.

The island’s tourism-dependent economy was hammered by the pandemic and authorities responded to falling foreign exchange reserves with a broad import ban, triggering shortages including food, fuel and medicines.

The crisis has spread to affect manufacturing and services and agriculture has also suffered badly due to a ban on agrochemical imports.

Sri Lanka’s economy had grown 12.3 percent in the second quarter but a third wave of infections that forced a 41-day curfew saw services and industries heavily affected, the statistics office said on Friday.

Its foreign reserves of $1.58 billion at the end of November compared with $7.5 billion when the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took over two years ago.

Supermarkets have rationed staples such as milk powder, sugar, lentils, tinned fish and rice as commercial banks ran out of dollars to finance imports.

The central bank has been appealing for foreign currency, even loose change people may have after returning from overseas trips, as the government desperately looks for dollars.

The banking regulator has also warned it will freeze accounts of informal money changers who offer higher prices for hard currency than official exchange rates.

-Agencies

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 20 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 16, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,677.

According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the deaths reported today include 11 males and 05 females.

Three of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years while 13 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 22 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 16, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,720.

According to the figures released by the Government Information Department, the deaths reported today include 15 males and 07 females.

#lkThree of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years and the remaining 19 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

A circular has been issued to extend the retirement age of public sector employees to 62 years.

The communiqué published by the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, S. R. Attygalle will accordingly come into effect from January 01, 2022.

The current retirement age of public sector employees is 57 years. However, if any individual wishes to serve beyond the age of 57, he or she will be allowed to serve until the age of 62 years, without requesting an extension of service.

As per the circular, any officer can retire between the ages of 57 - 62 at their discretion, by giving a three-month notice to the appointing officer.

If the appointing officer decides not to grant an extension of service to any officer with unsatisfactory performance or efficiency, the appointing officer is authorized to send the employee in question to retirement with prior notice of six months, giving him or her the opportunity to appeal against the decision.

Accordingly, the previously issued Circular 01/2013 dated January 15, 2013, pertaining to the retirement age of public sector employees, is rescinded by the new communiqué, the finance secretary said further.

The Court of Appeal has directed the two largest suppliers of liquefied petroleum gas in Sri Lanka - Litro Gas Lanka Limited and Laugfs Gas PLC – to only distribute products that are in compliance with the standards approved by Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI).

This interim order was issued by Appeals Court Judges Ruwan Fernando and Sampath Wijeratne when the writ application filed by public interest litigation activist Nagananda Kodituwakku was taken up this morning.

In his petition, Kodituwakku also sought the Appeals Court to direct the Inspector-General of Police to initiate criminal investigations against Minister of Trade Bandula Gunawardena, State Minister of Consumer Protection Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Chairman of Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) and the Director-General of Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) on the matter.

He alleged that the importation and distribution of substandard LP gas have resulted in a number of dangerous incidents across the island.

During today’s proceedings, the judge bench also ordered the two gas companies to recall the unused gas cylinders that have already been released to the market.

Further, Litro Gas Lanka and Laugfs Gas were directed to display a sticker on cylinders indicating the composition of LPG.

The National People’s Power (NPP) comprising a number of progressive forces including political parties and civil society organisations will hold its national convention on 20 December at 9.00 am at the Monarch Imperial Conference Hall in Sri Jayewardenepura.

This year's convention will be held under the theme "Solution to revive the fallen motherland."

A national executive council will also be appointed at the convention with a view to addressing the plethora of crises before the country and a set of proposals aimed at rebuilding the economy centred on social justice, economic democracy and the optimum utilisation of resources is also scheduled to be presented.

These proposals will cover all sectors including debt repayment, economic empowerment, human resource development, measures to reduce fraud and corruption, arts and entertainment, education, health, transportation and political reforms.

The national convention will be held in accordance with the Covid-19 health regulations.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 21 coronavirus related deaths for December 15, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 14,698.

The deaths confirmed today reportedly include 12 males and 09 females while 07 of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years. The remaining 14 are aged 60 years and above.

The Puttalam High Court today (15) ordered the release on bail of Ahanaf Jasim, a young poet who had been detained and remanded for 19 months on the allegation of spreading extremism through a poem book.

Accordingly, Jasim was released on three sureties of Rs. 300,000 each and ordered to appear before the Puttalam Office of the Terrorism Investigation Division on the first and last Sunday of every month, adhered to the bail conditions. A foreign travel ban was also imposed against the young poet.

Jasim was arrested on May 16, 2020 on the allegation of spreading extremism through his poetry, based on a self-penned poem book recovered in a spot in Puttalam owned by ‘Save the Pearl,’ the company which held affiliations with Hejaaz Hisbullah, the lawyer who was arrested in alleged connection with the Easter Sunday Carnage.

When the Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed on Jasim’s behalf in the Supreme Court was taken up, the Attorney General’s Office had informed the Court that it held no objection to granting him bail.

The young poet was granted bail by the Puttalam High Court, but was not allowed to return home as he was taken back to prison by the prison officials around 4.15 pm today on the justification that Jasim is still considered remanded in connection with the pending trial in the Colombo Magistrate Court.

Despite the lawyers’ efforts in explaining to the prison officials that the indictment was filed in the Puttalam High Court involving the same case pending in the Colombo Magistrate Court and that bail was granted in the same case, Jasim was taken back to prison denying the interpretation, sources disclosed.

LNW