Sri Lanka crowd breaks Rajapaksa grip on power-By Anbarasan Ethirajan Thousands stormed the presidential residence in Colombo Source:BBC These are extraordinary times for Sri Lanka – after a day of fury and violence, the country’s two senior leaders have agreed to step down. The news triggered jubilation at the main protest site in Colombo. Firecrackers were set off in many parts of the city. I am at the Galle Face protest site – many protesters have started returning home, thousands are still present. Some have been singing and playing musical instruments, celebrating. What a turnaround of events. A few days ago a photo of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe smiling in parliament was widely shared on social media. Many vented their anger, saying the two men appeared to be happy while millions were struggling to eat three meals a day. But a week is a long time ...

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Australian HC assures to support Sri Lanka’s economic, social, and maritime sectors’ progress Source:- adaderana Australian High Commissioner David Holly says that his country will support the progress of Sri Lanka’s economic, social and maritime sectors. High Commissioner Holly revealed this at a meeting held with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (04) at the President’s House in Colombo, the PMD reported. Australia is well aware of the most challenging economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Australia offered 50 million dollars as the highest amount of humanitarian aid given to Sri Lanka by a single country.  He also mentioned that this is just the beginning and pledged continuous support to Sri Lanka in other fields. Further discussions were carried out to strengthen the understanding regarding maritime issues and illegal immigrants. The High Commissioner mentioned that special attention will be paid to the promotion of Australian investment in Sri Lanka. President appreciated Australia’s close ...

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Sri Lanka: A geopolitical magnet in the Indian Ocean Region-by Vladimir Terekhov Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Source:Dailynews Located 50 kilometres from Hindustan or the Republic of India, the island country of Sri Lanka has never suffered from a lack of attention from the world’s leading players. This is due to the island’s critical strategic position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Such a position always and for all such countries contains both positive and also potentially dangerous aspects. It all depends on the state of affairs in the system of relations between the main players at a given moment in history. If the said players are not too suspicious of each other, quite a lot of benefits can be derived from the interest of each in influencing countries of Sri Lanka’s calibre. If the contradictions between the main players take a particularly acute form, it ...

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Good News from Jayam – independence day – kushil gunasekera – gamini gunewardene – yohani – shelly gunewardena – queen elizabeth – zoom amigos – 15 Feb 2022     74th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence Celebrated in Colombo The main celebration was held under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Independence Square in Colombo.“When steering the country in the right direction, we know that the support of each and every person in the country cannot be expected. We are not ready to abandon our plans for the country’s future prosperity by looking upon those who will not change. Our objective is to do what is right by the country, and not to please everyone,” President Rajapaksa said.“We can make our way forward, only with a positive attitude that looks optimistically towards the future. We can surmount the challenges we meet only if we dedicate ourselves to a ...

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Australia assures to assist SL to become hub of education in the region Source:Dailymirror Australian Minister of Home Affairs Karen Andrews informed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that assistance will be provided to Sri Lanka to become an educational hub in the region, President’s Media Division (PMD) said. Minister Andrews pointed out that this will be enabled by establishing educational institutions in Sri Lanka which provide facilities to students from other countries who wish to pursue degrees in Australia, to study basic stages of relevant courses in Sri Lanka. The Minister made these remarks during the meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (20). Plans are afoot to implement a special project in collaboration with the State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research & Innovations to develop vocational and professional skills. ...

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SRI LANKA NEWS (AUGUST 2021) Compiled by Victor Melder. Medical officers raised serious concerns about the surging numbers of COVID-19 patients and deaths, with statistics showing at least three to four patients dying every hour. Vice President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), Dr. Manilka Sumanatillake told the Media that if the country was to win the race between the rapidly increasing COVID infections and the numbers being vaccinated it would have to re-impose stricter travel restrictions for a short period. He also said Sri Lanka’s daily COVID-19 cases count could be several times higher than the official figures. The Ragama and Kalubowila teaching hospitals, where wards were flooded with COVID-19 patients by Wednesday (4), were seen having patients under trees and outside the buildings by last midnight. Meanwhile, with at least 20 children being admitted with COVID -19 to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital per day, measures were taken to ...

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UK: Scottish Police Review Sri Lankan Police Training Source:Illinoisnewstoday (London) – The Scottish Government needs to provide details of a review of Scottish police training. Sri Lanka Police, Human Rights Watch, liberation from torture, Sri Lankan campaign for peace and justice, and Pax Christie Scotland Said in a letter To Scottish Attorney General Keith Brown. The Scottish Minister must exercise the authority to suspend the training program. This risks appearing to support Sri Lanka’s abusive police action. Sri Lankan police in recent months are allegedly responsible for torture and extrajudicial killings.They are involved With such a pattern of abuse Despite being trained by the Scottish police, for many yearsAlmost continuouslyAfter 2013. ...

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The three R’s have done this on many occasions-BY SHIRAJIV SIRIMANE President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Source:Sundayobserver Leaders are appointed by the people to take the right decisions at the right time to elevate the country to the next level; the three R’s have successfully done this on many occasions. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Highways Minister Johnston Fernando, State Minister of Rural Roads and other Infrastructure Nimal Lanza and other Ministers at the launch of six road construction projects aimed at easing traffic congestion in Colombo and Kandy Firstly, it was Sri Lanka’s first Executive President, J.R. (Jayewardene) who did the impossible to complete the Mahaweli Development in six years when it was scheduled to be completed in 30 years. Then it was M.R. (Mahinda Rajapaksa) who crushed the world’s most sophisticated terror group LTTE with a notorious track record of killing two Prime Ministers (Rajiv Gandhi and Ranasinghe Premadasa) and led ...

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Restraining impact of school closure on education-BY HEMANTHA KULATUNGA President Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets a student during the Gama Samaga Pilisandara program. Source:Sundayobserver The global Covid-19 pandemic has led to the closure of educational institutions throughout the world, including in Sri Lanka, affecting almost 100% of students. Even though throughout modern history, armed conflicts, displacements, and natural disasters have disrupted the education of millions of children and youth globally, Covid-19 has taken this crisis to an unprecedented level. The deadly virus has affected almost every country in the world. This time, as per research, education has been hit particularly hard with the closure of schools in 186 countries depriving formal education of a staggering 1.53 billion students. The impact on education is said to be as high as 87.6% of the world total. Education secondary to saving life Usually, the critical needs in a crisis such as health, food, water, and ...

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Pakistani PM urges Sri Lanka to join China corridor Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan (R) and Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa talk during their meeting in Colombo on February 24, 2021. (AFP) Source:Arabnews Khan woos business leaders with promise of ‘religious tourism’ COLOMBO: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday opened Pakistan’s doors to “religious tourism” from Sri Lanka, inviting business leaders to visit the historically rich Gandharan region in the northwest of the country where a 40-foot statue of sleeping Buddha was recently unearthed. He also sought their participation in Islamabad’s multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project with Beijing. ...

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