wednesdayLatest edition VoL: 09/262

28 october 2020Price : rs 30.00

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In SportsRohit, Ishant omitted from India’s tour squads Escalating US

Intervention in Sri Lanka

Withstanding Great Power

Bullying

hIGhLIGhtS

PaGE a6

PaGE a7

By Hansi nanayakkara

Attorney General Dappula de Livera has ordered Acting IGP Chandana D. Wickremaratne, to promptly launch a probe into the recent spread of COVID-19 from the Brandix apparel factory in Minuwangoda, stated his Coordinating Secretary State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne yesterday.

AG orders probe into Brandix COVID-19 origin

Ranawaka et al can be prosecuted – U.R. de Silva PC

Army in COVID-19 Tracing Mission

Hakeem struggling to take disciplinary action

Cabinet approves new MoU with India

46 curfew violators arrested

Will Pompeo sign secret agreements?

Rishad’s bail plea rejected

By kumudu upul sHantHa

President’s Counsel U.R. de Silva, Head of the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Justice Ministry, says the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, which is probing acts of political victimisations during the previous regime, has the power to file legal action in the Supreme Court against SJB MP Patali Champika Ranawaka and other witnesses, as they...

avoiding PCoI on political victimisation

By paneetHa ameresekere

The Army’s Quick Reaction Rider Team (QRRT), to further strengthen the ongoing preventive mechanism against COVID-19 transmission in the Colombo District and its suburbs, on a directive given by Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, is now engaged in conducting random temperature checks on people in congested areas.

The Army said in this connection, QRRT soldiers yesterday morning (27), operated at Rajagiriya, Modara, Maligawatta, Gothatuwa, Pettah,...

By Hansi nanayakkara

Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage yesterday rejected the bail application submitted by ACMC MP Rishad Bathiudeen.

The Parliamentarian was re-remanded until 10 November.

Former Minister of Industry and Commerce Bathiudeen, the director of the project Mohamed Yaseen Samsudeen and the project accountant Alagarathnam Manoranjan, are accused of violating Article 82(1) of Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981 by misappropriating public funds to the tune of Rs 9.5 million.

By metHmalie dissanayake

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)

yesterday (27) staged a protest opposite the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, against the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

JVP warns U.S.‘Hands off Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty’

By tHameenaH razeek

The Cabinet gave its consent to a proposal submitted by the Prime Minister, as the Minister of Finance, for entering into a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of India.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet Media briefing yesterday (27), at the Information Department, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Ramesh Pathirana claimed, the Government of lndia has awarded financial grants to Sri Lanka since 2005 with a view to implementing small-scale development...

By tHameenaH razeek

Police have arrested another 46 individuals and taken seven vehicles into custody, during the past 48-hours, for violating curfew regulations.

Police Spokesman, DIG Ajith Rohana said Police have arrested 1,122 persons and taken into custody 163 vehicles so far, since 4 October, for violating curfew regulations imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that they will file charges against the suspects according to quarantine law.

By dilantHi Jayamanne and kumudu Jayawardana

President of the Public Health Inspectors' Association of Sri Lanka (PHIA), Upul Rohana, said the spread of COVID-19 in the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area was ‘slightly out of control.’ Rohana said a large number of

patients with the virus had been reported from Grandpass, Maradana, and Mattakkuliya. “It is becoming extremely difficult to find out details regarding the places they had visited and their close contacts, due to the increasing number of infections,” he said.

He lamented that prevention and control would slip through the fingers of the PHIs,...

In areas coming under CMC

COVID-19 ‘Slightly Out of Control’

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader MP Rauff Hakeem is presently struggling to institute disciplinary action against four of his MPs who had voted in favour of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.

SLMC sources said MP Hakeem has already notified the four MPs who had voted for the Bill, demanding written explanations as to why they went against the party decision and voted with the Government.

It has also been reported that the supreme council of the SLMC would meet to take a final decision regarding the conduct of the four MPs next week.

It has been reported the four MPs who voted for...

Four SLMC MPs voting for 20a

“Is U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo here to finalise agreements such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Agreement and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)? Are there other secret agreements to be signed that have not been revealed before the country?” several Buddhist monks questioned.

Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera, Ven. Malwane Chandraratana Thera, and Ven.Kapugollagama Ananda Thera sent a letter to the President expressing concerns regarding Pompeo’s visit.

“Pompeo’s visit is seen as an invasion of Sri Lanka by the United States and not on an invitation” they said. Copies of the letter were also sent to Chief Prelates, religious leaders, the Prime Minister and other Members of Parliament and Ministers.

By Gaya tHirimadura - katunayake

U.S. Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, arrived in Sri Lanka at 7:35 p.m. yesterday aboard a Boeing 757, accompanied by a delegation of 45, for two-day bilateral discussions.

The touring U.S. delegation led by Pompeo was welcomed at the BIA by State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz and a group of officers...

Pompeo arrives

– President of PhIa CMC Health Chief

brushes aside allegations

Quarantine curfew imposed in Panadura, Moratuwa and Homagama

Kotagala Town in Hatton isolated

Three deaths in one day

India left out the injured duo of opener Rohit Sharma and quick Ishant Sharma from the Test and limited-overs squads for their upcoming tour of Australia,... a16

newsA2 wednesday 28 october 2020

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He has also instructed the Police to submit a detailed progress report on the investigations within a fortnight, she stated.

Jayaratne added that de Livera had spoken to the head of the Legal Division of the Police Department, Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana, before conveying his order to the Acting IGP.

The AG’s Coordinating

Secretary also remarked that the AG had given instructions to Wickremaratne, based on powers vested in his post and on provisions contained in Section 393(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Minuwangoda facility had become the epicentre of a surprise resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country, after an employee of the factory had tested positive for the virus earlier this

month.Brandix, a prominent apparel

manufacturer here, said the rigorous protocol implemented across the label, and the immediate response and support received from the PHI and relevant health authorities of Sri Lanka enabled the early detection of the patient, ensuring her timely transfer to IDH for immediate treatment and mitigation of any further spread of the virus.

However, the cases had soon spread to other apparel factories in the District and other parts of the country, while it is believed this also led to the emergence of another cluster, the Peliyagoda Fish Market.

The total confirmed cases from the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters have neared the 5,000 mark, presently becoming the single biggest COVID-19 outbreak in the country yet.

... continue to avoid giving testimony before the said Commission.

He said the Commission has the power which is vested in a normal Court, but not that of a higher Court. De Silva stated that if a certain witness or certain witnesses continue to intentionally ignore giving testimony before it or even hand over certain documents, the Commission has the power to file Contempt of Court charges at the SC against such witnesses. However, the ex-BASL President added that if any witness has submitted valid reasons for their inability to give testimony before the Commission, then legal action cannot be instituted against such persons.

UR de Silva also said that anyone found

guilty of Contempt of Court charges would be duly punished by the Supreme Court.

Among those who had to date refused to give testimony before the Commission are besides Ranawaka are SJB MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran, ex-UNP MP Malik Samarawickrema, NPP Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, ex-UNP MP Hirunika Premachandra, SJB MP Ranjan Ramanayake, TNA Leader MP R. Sampanthan, ex-MP Jayampathy Wickremaratne, PC JC Weliamuna, ex-Solicitor General Dilrukshi Dias Wickremasinghe and the former Director of the Anti-Corruption Secretariat Ananda Wijayapala respectively.

... Mattakkuliya, Maradana and Angoda areas and checked temperature levels of people using non-contact temperature assessment devices, as part of an initial check to identify and trace people who may have elevated temperatures.

The practice would promptly diagnose potential persons with abnormal temperature, but who are unaware of their conditions. Simultaneously, the QRRT has devised a mechanism to direct these patients to hospitals immediately. The project, now in operation, is facilitated by the Directorate of Army Operations.

They had allegedly misused 222 buses, belonging to the State-owned Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), to transport internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Puttalam to polling stations in Silavathurai, Mannar during the 2019 Presidential Election.

The CID, on the direction of Attorney General Dappula de Livera, had prayed the Colombo Fort Magistrate to issue warrants for the arrest of MP Bathiudeen and the other two suspects, on charges of criminal misappropriation of public funds and violation of election laws.

However, the Magistrate ruled that the Police can proceed to arrest the suspects without a warrant.

Thereby, de Livera directed the Police, to arrest the three suspects according to the law.

On 14 October, the Fort Chief Magistrate, issued a travel ban on the Parliamentarian on a request by the CID.

MP Bathiudeen was subsequently arrested at a

housing complex located at Ebenezer Place in Dehiwala, during the early hours of 19 October.

He was later produced before the Fort Chief Magistrate’s Court and remanded until yesterday.

The Magistrate also announced that the verdict on the bail application submitted by the defence counsels will be delivered on the same day.

However, when the bail application was taken up yesterday, MP Bathiudeen, was not present in Court, as he is currently under quarantine at the facility in Pallansena.

Magistrate Liyanage, delivering the verdict on the bail application, said it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure the citizen’s suffrage however, the Government is not authorised to do so unlawfully.

Contrary to the defendant’s claims, then-Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in his testimony, had maintained that he gave instructions to transport the IDPs to polling

booths in compliance with the legal procedure, he said further.

Investigations had revealed that the process in question had taken place outside the legal framework, the Chief Magistrate mentioned while delivering the verdict.

He also noted that MP Bathiudeen, had absconded the CID for six days despite being aware of the Police were trying to apprehend him.

Considering the submissions, the Chief Magistrate, ordered to re-remand the Parliamentarian and the project accountant Alagarathnam Manoranjan until 10 November.

The verdict on granting bail to the project director Mohamed Samsudeen will be delivered next week, as he has submitted a medical report to the Court claiming that he is suffering from an illness, the Chief Magistrate announced.

Meanwhile, the seven suspects who were arrested for aiding MP Bathiudeen to abscond from the CID were enlarged on conditional bail.

After the protest the med ‘Hands off Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty’ they handed over a letter to the U.S. Ambassador. It was seen that the protesters were maintaining social distancing and wearing face masks in accordance with COVID-19 health guidelines.

Pompeo, who arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday, and held discussions with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Affairs Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

“We wish to register our strong protest and condemn efforts by the United States Government to interfere with the independence and sovereignty of Sri Lanka,” was the cry of the protesters.

The JVP, in the letter, also queried whether there were any undeclared secret options, including signing of the MCC agreement, strengthening of SOFA and pushing Sri Lanka to be a partner of QUAD.

The letter stated,they do not believe that the visit of U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo to Sri Lanka was at all to do with a “commitment to a strong, independent, and democratic Sri Lanka” as stated by U.S. diplomats.

“On the contrary, the USA has consistently sought to bring Sri Lanka under its sphere of influence and thereby drag it into an unnecessary and costly

global and regional power play. We are well aware that the USA is willing to violate every democratic and international norm and principle when it comes to protecting its interests.”

Furthermore, the letter said, the statement by the U.S. Government urging Sri Lanka to make “necessary but difficult decisions to secure its economic independence”was not just hypocritical given that the U.S. Government is making all efforts to undermine Sri Lanka’s political and economic independence, but also threatening and deeply disrespectful of the independent and sovereign Nation-State.

“Now that the USA’s influence and power, is waning in the world, it is desperately attempting to fix its interests in South Asia with whatever means it can. If not, we see no reason why a week before a critical election in the U.S., the Secretary of State should hurriedly visit Sri Lanka is this manner. We are well aware that several critical military and trade agreements are pending, and, which the U.S. Government is pressurising the Government of Sri Lanka to enter into, without proper accountability and due process. Unfortunately, the current Government in Sri Lanka has proven itself unable to maintain an independent and non-aligned stance on these issues,” the JVP said.

... projects strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

“A number of projects pertaining to the development of infrastructure facilities in the fields of Education, Health and Community Development have been implemented across the State and Local Government institutions as well as Non-Governmental Organisations,” he added. The Government of India has also given its consent to award the same financial cooperation to the Government of Sri Lanka with a view to implement community-based development projects with higher benefits for the next five (5) years from 2020 - 2025. The Indian Government has agreed to grant maximum Rs 300 million for selected projects for the development of schools, Universities and housing.

46 curfew...

Army in...

‘Hands off...

Pompeo...

Rishad’s bail ...

Hakeem...

COVID-19 ‘Slightly Out of Control’...

AG orders probe...

Cabinet... Ranawaka et al...DIG Rohana said certain segments of the general

public have violated quarantine regulations while shopping in the Gampaha District after the government decided to open Pharmacies and Essential food outlets, in the district, for a limited period of time.

“We gave the general public an opportunity to leave their residence, so that they can buy their daily essentials items including medication. However, especially in the Kadawatha area they have failed to adhere to health guidelines, including keeping a one-metre gap,” he added.

DIG Rohana reiterated that persons, professions that are deemed as essential services, including Health Services, Airports, Fire Department, Foreign Ministry, Communication and Media institutions, can use their official IDs as a curfew permit to move around. He said they have been advised to come down hard on individuals caught violating quarantine law.

... the Bill are continuing to maintain that the party has to take a shrewd decision at this stage as there is a Tamil political force that is currently emerging in the Eastern Province which is

supportive of the present regime.

The four SLMC MPs have pointed out that politicians such as Sathasivam Viyalendran, Pillaiyan and Karuna Amman had been

instrumental in forging this new Tamil political force which is supportive of the Government in the Eastern Province.

They have warned that any move by the SLMC hierarchy at this point in

time to take disciplinary action against them will be detrimental to the party’s political future in the Eastern Province.

These MPs had also warned that if they were to be expelled from the

party, its leader would be forced to steer the party all by himself in Parliament.

However, they insisted that they will never leave the party under any circumstance.

... from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Embassy in Colombo.

Pompeo will hold bilateral talks with the President, Prime

Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs during his brief stay in Colombo, while he is due to take wing to Male at 12:30 p.m. today.

... if the present situation within the CMC limits worsened.

Sri Lanka experienced the highest number of COVID-19 deaths yesterday (27), when three deaths were reported, bringing the total to 19.

The National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPCO), said by late afternoon two COVID-19 deaths had been reported, an 87-year-old woman from Wekanda, Slave Island and a 19-year-old from Keselwatta.

The National Hospital noted that the deaths had occurred at the time of admission. The deceased had tested positive, after PCR tests were conducted on them.

Earlier in the day, the Health Ministry reported the death of a 41-year-old man from Ja-Ela, who was receiving treatment for COVID-19 at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID). The man was reported to have been suffering from cirrhosis, it noted.

Chief of the Colombo Municipal Council Public Health

Department (CMCPHD), Dr.Ruwan Wijayamuni, brushed aside allegations that the COVID-19 situation in the CMC area was somewhat out of control.

Dr. Wijayamuni noted that up to October this year, the city had seen 134 COVID-19 patients, while another 62 had been added with the Brandix cluster at its Minuwangoda facility and one at the Colombo Dockyard on 18 October 2020. However, 337 were added with the detection of COVID-19 patients at the Peliyagoda Fish Market last Wednesday (21).

He lamented that within nine days, the numbers had escalated by another 632, with rigorous tracing and PCR tests conducted on first-level contacts of those identified before in Peliyagoda.

He noted that all patients had been transferred to hospitals, with measures taken to quarantine their contacts.

Responding to questions regarding the areas in the city which were under quarantine, he

said they included, Maradana, Mattakkuliya, Fort, Pettah, Bloemendhal, Borella, Welikada, Dam Street, Foreshore Police area and Wolfendhal Street.

The Hatton, Kotagala Town in Hatton was isolated following the increasing number of COVID-19 patients, Head of NOCPCO, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva said. Silva said the decision had been taken, as the number of patients had increased to 10 by yesterday (27) morning, and that a decision had been taken to isolate the town area, to prevent further spread.

On Sunday (25), two persons from Kotagala, Hatton working at the Peliyagoda Fish Market were diagnosed with the virus. One of the persons is said to have travelled by bus from the Pettah Bus Stand to Hatton.

The CMC has done random PCR tests in the CMC areas and found 1,087 positive patients.

Meanwhile, quarantine curfew was imposed in Panadura, Moratuwa and Homagama from last night.

By Dilanthi Jayamanne

Medical laboratory technologists (MLTs) warned that they would be forced to suspend PCR tests, if timely measures were not taken to replace the Acting Deputy Director General of Laboratory Services (DDG Lab Services), who was not willing to discuss the issues of the service with professionals.

President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science Sri Lanka (CMLSSL), Ravi Kumudesh, said a permanent DDG Laboratory Services was needed to address the technical and professional issues faced by the laboratory service. The position should be filled with an official who could cordially work with the MLTs, he said.

Kumudesh said one of the burning issues currently being faced by the PCR laboratory facility at the BIA was the inability to use three manual extraction machines, due to strictures of the Health Ministry preventing the laboratory from using the kits which

had been imported for its use. The extraction machine is used to extract

the Ribonucleic acid (RNA) from the specimen taken for PCR testing for COVID-19.

Although these required reagents had been imported by the company, which purchased the three machines that were given to the BIA PCR laboratory, and measures taken to release them after a lapse of over three weeks in the airport cargo facility, the PCR laboratory is still unable to use them, as the Health Ministry has issues regarding the cold chain at the airport cargo facility.

He noted that although there was a risk in using manual extraction machines, the BIA PCR Laboratory had been able to conduct about 700 tests a day with the first set of reagents (RNA extraction kits) it had received with the machinery. However, after it had run out of the reagent, the company which had initially purchased the machines had imported more of it.

Citing issues with DDG Lab Services

MLTs threaten to suspend PCR tests

news A3wednesday 28 OctOber 2020

By Thameenah Razeek

An 11-member team has been appointed to draft a new Constitution, so it could be tabled in the Parliament before the second anniversary of the inauguration of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Cabinet Spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday (27).

Addressing the weekly Media briefing, at the Information Department yesterday (27), to announce the Cabinet decision, Rambukwella said that the drafting of the new Constitution is expected to be completed within a year.

While reiterating that there is a

major need of a new Constitution, Rambukwella said that the 20th Amendment to the existing Constitution was tabled to meet the current issues, which have been occurring in the country for a long time. He said that as the Minister of Justice vowed in the Parliament the government will table the new Constitution within a year, the government is all set to bring a new Constitution by the next year.

When asked whether former Minister Basil Rajapaksa is hoping to take oaths in Parliament in the near

future, Rambukwella said that the question should posed to either the President or Basil Rajapaksa.

In response to a question posed by the Media, regarding a rumour that number of Ministers have signed a letter to President, requesting him to grant a Presidential Pardon to former Minister Duminda Silva, who is in death row at the moment, Rambukwella claimed that he is not aware of such letter and anyone can request anything from the President but the final decision is with the judiciary.

New Constitution Within a Year

– Rambukwella

By Thameenah Razeek

The government has allocated Rs 200 million to purchase the fish harvest which has remained unsold in markets, following the discovery of COVID-19 infected cases.

Co-Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said that the government has already started purchasing fish from the vendors and discussions are ongoing to use that fish to produce canned fish. He said this was a precautionary method to safeguard the fishermen. Addressing the weekly Media briefing to announce Cabinet decisions yesterday (27) at Information Department, Dr. Pathirana said that they have informed the government to produce canned fish out of the fish harvest so it can be used for a long time.

Govt to buy unsold fish

By Thameenah Razeek

Cabinet approved the proposal for the appointment of a new Demarcation Committee for the performance of applicable activities.

The proposal was put forward by the Minister of Irrigation and the State Minister of Internal Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management, Chamal Rajapaksa.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet Media briefing yesterday (27) at the Information Department, Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said a number of people’s representatives, as well as

public organisations have demanded to set up new Divisional Secretariat Divisions in some areas, and amendment of certain divisions, demarcation and gazetting the Divisional Secretariats.

However, these institutions have already been set up but not gazetted.

“Although a Demarcation Committee has to be appointed once in five years for these purposes, the report of the Committee appointed in the year 2012 has not been gazetted and officially accepted, followed by technical shortcomings,” he said.

Cabinet approves new Demarcation Committee

By Thameenah Razeek

The Cabinet which met on 26 October took the following decisions:

Obtaining additional financial grants from the Asian Development Bank for the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises’ Line of Credit Project of Sri Lanka.

The Asian Development Bank has given its consent to award a loan grant of United States Dollars 165 million, including the emergency response components of US$ 100 million for the precautions to be taken to address the circumstances, which erupted due to the unfavourable impact of the novel COVID -19 pandemic on the small and medium-scale entrepreneurs.

It has been agreed to issue a concessionary loan grant of United States Dollars 400 million for the Secondary Education Sector Enhancement Project under the result-based loan grant financial methodology of the Asian Development Bank.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution submitted by the Prime Minister, as the Minister of Finance, for entering into the applicable agreements with the Asian Development Bank in order to obtain the said loan and the grant.

Establishment of Sri Lankan Embassies in Romania and Spain:

Diplomatic relations between Romania and Sri Lanka commenced in 1957 and has established very good bilateral relations today. Diplomatic relations between Spain and Sri Lanka commenced in 1955.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposals presented by Minister of Foreign Affairs to establish Sri Lankan Embassies in those countries with a view to further develop the existing relations with those countries.

Development of wind power projects at Mannar lsland:

Construction work on the 100 MW wind power plant is being carried out in the Mannar Island under US$ 200 million investment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The physical progress of the project is 73% and the construction is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2O21.

It has been revealed that six wind turbines could be installed at the power plant using the remaining USD 47 million out of the USD 200 million obtained for the project. This will increase the generating capacity of the power plant by about 20 MW.

The policy approval of the Asian Development Bank has been granted for this proposal and the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by Minister of Power to implement further action in this regard.

Awarding of Raigam Korale Tea Shakthi Tea Factory to Raigam Tea Small Holdings Development Society:

Tea Shakthi Tea Factory in Raigam Korale has been given to the Dikhena Tea Small Holder Development Society on a lease basis and production of the factory was stopped in April 2019. The tea smallholders who supplied their produce to this factory have been inconvenienced due to this and the Dkhena Society has to pay around Rs 42 million to the tea smallholders, broker firms and other outsiders who supplied tea leaves to the factory. The proposal presented by the Minister of Plantation Industries, accordingly, to hand it over to the Raigam Smallholder Tea Development Society, which has about 1,800 members and the financial strength to continue its production activities, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Cabinet decisionsBy PaneeTha ameResekeRe

Although the Children’s Secretariat (CS) is mandated to oversee early childhood development (ECD) policies and programmes, on the other hand, the regulation of childcare centres comes under the authority of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), the World Bank (WB), in a report released on 23 October (Friday), said.

As a result, the monitoring of centres at the ground level is conducted by different officers attached to different institutions, even when the services are provided in integrated centres, that is, in such centres providing both childcare and education services, the WB said.

In practice, the division of responsibility and authority has

led to confusion and in some cases, it has been a challenge for the effective regulation of services.

Teacher qualifications are also a barrier to improvement. Some teachers and assistants who work in childcare centres are unqualified and untrained. This deficiency is partly a result of the traditional belief that caring for children is a natural function for women and that no specific training is required for such work, the WB said.

The profession also suffers from social stigma, with lower status given to child caregivers than to preschool teachers. This stigma, combined with the lack of career development options for early childhood professionals, discourages potential candidates from entering the profession.

Regulating childcare services

Duplication hinders progress – WB

By naBiya VaffooR

Sri Lanka is one of the countries which has a high COVID-19 spread in the community, said SJB MP S.M. Marikkar.

“Though government authorities claim that there is no community spread of COVID-19 in our country, when it was checked as a percentage of detected, infected and the population, it is crystal clear that Sri Lanka is one of the countries which has a high rate of COVID-19 spread in the community,” he added.

He further noted that Medical Officers of Health (MOHs) in some areas have claimed that the PCR tests will only be conducted once a week, since the Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) were only provided with five kits per week.

“They are planning to quarantine first contacts at home, which is risky. Some of these first contacts weren’t even directed to PCR before advising them to quarantine at home. When people questioned the MOH in this connection, he claimed PCR

tests will only be conducted once a week, since the PHIs were only provided five kits per week. Where are the 25,000 PCR kits which were provided by China? If this is how the Government provides facilities, then they are the main reason behind the second wave of COVID-19 in this country,” Marikkar said.

Marikkar further noted that home quarantining for clustered and populated areas is risky.

“It has been almost a week since curfew was imposed in Wellampitiya, Bloemendhal, Mattakkuliya and Kotahena, Colombo District Police divisions. The Government hasn’t taken any step to provide Rs 5000, the minimum relief that they are bound to pay these people. Instead of these Police divisions, Gothatuwa, Mulleriyawa, Grandpass, Dematagoda, Fort, Pettah, Welikada and Borella are facing the same issue. The public in these areas use to live clustered. It increases the risk of spreading when these people are

quarantined at home,” he added. He further emphasised that people in

the above-mentioned Police divisions aren’t capable of stocking food for the whole quarantine period, due to poverty, and the Government has put them in trouble by not providing them with Rs 5,000.

“Over 10 people live in one home in these areas. Most of them are daily wage earners. They have lost their source of income. After two to four days of curfew they are out of money and basic rations. How does the Government expect people to live in such a situation?” he said.

He further noted that the Government was heartless enough to focus only on its personal agendas, such as obtaining a two-thirds majority and the 20th Amendment. He further emphasised that the Government should conduct more random PCR tests in populated areas.

Marikkar said so yesterday (27), during a Media briefing held at Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Headquarters.

SL has high COVID-19 spread – Marikkar

By Thameenah Razeek

The Government is planning to install 10,000 solar power plants of 100 kW, connected to the distribution transformer network of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the Lanka Electricity Company (Private) Limited (LECO), investing Rs 10 million.

CEB Chairman, Engineer Vijitha Herath, said about 50 perches of land within a 400-metre radius will be needed to initiate the project, after discussing with the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force, Basil Rajapaksa.

Engineer Herath noted that investors will be selected on competitive bidding and preference will be given to local investors within the district where a transformer is set up.

“The aim of the meeting was to introduce the programme to rural organisations like Samurdhi Banks, cooperative societies, agrarian societies and village welfare societies, who possess investment capabilities and their own land to be utilised in the project,” he said.

Speaking further, Engineer Herath stressed that 7,250 transformers have been identified by the CEB and will be installed soon, to start this as a collective programme with the Ministry of Power.

“It is noteworthy to mention that this programme alone will be able to produce 1,000 MW of solar energy at around 12 Rs/kWh in 3 years, compared to the 300 MW of total solar power absorption in the past 5 years at 22 Rs/kWh rate,” he said.

CEB and LECO transformer network

Govt to install 10,000 solar power plants

NewsA4 Wednesday 28 OctOber 2020

By NaBiya Vaffoor

Sri Lanka joined the Global Landmark Illumination Campaign for the first time and showed its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, by lighting up Lotus Tower, Colombo in pink on 26 October from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Monuments in over 140 countries illuminated in pink light, to promote global awareness of breast cancer, to remind the importance of early detection of breast cancer. Research has shown that 4,000 Sri Lankan women are affected by breast cancer every year.

The Global Landmark Illumination Campaign, which was initiated in 2000, promoted a very clear message this year, which is to touch, look, check (TLC) to encourage checking breasts every month. The campaign also emphasises that all females above the age of 20, must do a monthly breast self-examination on a fixed date, to detect any breast cancer early.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

SL joins Global Landmark

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The percentage of caregivers with no professional training is 43 per cent, the World Bank (WB), in a report on Sri Lanka’s early childhood development and education, which was released recently stated.

It also said although the Children’s Secretariat (CS) is mandated to oversee early childhood development (ECD) policies and programmes, the regulation of childcare centres comes under the authority of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA).

As a result, the monitoring of centres at the ground level is conducted by different officers attached to different institutions, even when the services are provided in integrated centres, that is, in centres providing both childcare and education services, the WB said.

In practice, the division of responsibility and authority has led to confusion and in some cases, it has been a challenge for the effective regulation of services.

Teacher qualifications are also a barrier to improvement. Some teachers and assistants who work in childcare centres are unqualified and untrained. This deficiency is partly a result of the traditional belief that caring for children is a natural function for

women and that no specific training is required for such work, the WB said.

The profession also suffers from social stigma, with lower status given to child caregivers than to preschool teachers. This stigma, combined with the lack of career development options for early childhood professionals, discourages potential candidates from entering the profession.

Of the total number of caregivers numbering 1,274, the percentage of caregivers with less than Ordinary Level qualifications is 18 per cent. Percentage of caregivers with Ordinary Level qualifications 41 per cent, percentage of caregivers with Advanced Level qualifications 38 per cent, percentage of caregivers with graduate degrees three per cent, the percentage of caregivers with two or more years of professional training six per cent, percentage of caregivers with 1-2 years of professional training 26 per cent, percentage of caregivers with 3-6 months of professional training 11 per cent, percentage of caregivers with less than three months of training 14 per cent and percentage of caregivers with no professional training 43 per cent, the WB said.

(PA)

By PaNeetha ameresekere

Depend on automation and not on physical recruitment of public servants, Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle, in a circular to Ministry and State Ministry Secretaries, Provincial Secretaries, departmental, board and statutory board heads said .

Recruitment, if still needed, to provide essential and urgent work, if such a need arises, should be restricted to minimal staff recruitment for which the Finance Ministry’s Management

Services Division’s (MSD’s) permission will have to be first obtained, he said.

Prior to the recruitment of new staff to Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) service, monies from the Consolidated Fund should be first allocated to pay such recruits their emoluments, said Attygalle. Emoluments to be paid to such new recruits should be determined only by the MSD.

Three months prior to staff going on retirement, GoSL institutional heads should make prior plans, three months ahead,

to fill such vacancies as a last resort. Otherwise, work should continue with the existing staff without filling such vacancies.

Recruitment for primary services has been temporarily stopped. Even if such recruitment is needed, such recruits should be obtained from the Department of Multi-Purpose Development Task Force. Wherever possible, if vacancies arise in the primary services sector, such vacancies should be filled by promotions and not by new recruitment, Attygalle further said.

The Governor of the Eastern Province, Anuradha Yahampath, has ordered the Management and Commerce Faculty of the South Eastern University to conduct a survey on the control of the population of cows in the Batticaloa District and to submit a proposal to her forthwith.

Yahampah has urged the Head of the Faculty, Dr. S. Gunapalan, to furnish his report within a week to her.

She has decided to seek the report in order to ascertain as to how much of lands would be needed for the grazing for cows while the rest would be utilised for the purpose of agricultural activities in the Batticaloa District.

By saNduNi kaushalya

Minister of Environment, Mahinda Amaraweera, said a joint Paper was being drafted to be presented to Cabinet, with the support of three Ministries, on transferring lands sans forest cover to Divisional Secretaries henceforth.

Furthermore, the Ministry is also planning to demarcate all wildlife parks, lands coming under the purview of the Wildlife Conservation Department, their borders, among others. He said due to these lands not being demarcated, they had been illegally taken over by those with vested interests and asserted that this measure will put an end to this.

One of the challenges in establishing a strong implementation structure for preschool education in Sri Lanka is that there is currently no clear precedent for State engagement in the provision of early childhood care and education (ECCE) because, unlike health and social services, ECCE, particularly early education, is not traditionally provided by the State, the World Bank (WB), in a report released recently said.

However, where ECCE is free, it may be overused, but without public funding, early childhood education (ECE) is often unsustainable and highly inequitable.

Sri Lanka’s level of public investment in ECCE is relatively low. Public expenditure on ECCE was 0.0001 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011/12, compared with an average public expenditure (among middle-income countries) of 0.03 per cent, that is, 2,900 per cent more in State investments in ECCE in GDP percentage terms compared to that of Sri Lanka.

The vast majority of ECCE services in Sri Lanka are privately financed, and it is

estimated that 85 per cent of centres (including childcare centres) levy fees.

Consequently, the overall national enrolment rate for preschool-age children is 56 per cent, compared to primary school enrolment at the national level at 81 per cent for children aged five years and at the preschool level, 64 per cent for children aged four years, 23 per cent for children aged three years, and only 3 per cent for children aged two years.

In 2019, Sri Lanka had a total number of children between the ages zero-four years numbering 1,871,000. Of this number, the total number of children attending preschools (two-five years) was 578,160, overall enrolment of preschool-age children (three-five years) was 56 per cent, the percentage of children enrolled who were above five years of age at preschools is 47.6 per cent, the percentage of children enrolled who are above four years of age 37.3 per cent, the percentage of children enrolled who are over three years of age 13.3 per cent, and the percentage of children enrolled who are over two years of age was 1.8 per cent.

(PA)

By NaBiya Vaffoor

Two persons, who were engaged in a racket involving the sale of leased vehicles after changing their overall look, including the number plates and chassis numbers, were arrested.

Following a tipoff received by the Ruwanwalla and Imbulgoda Police, their officers on 25 October had arrested the duo. Following the inquiry, the officers have found that the suspects have sold three three-wheelers and one lorry in such a manner. The suspects were residents of Ruwanwella and Imbulgoda, and between 38-58 years of age.

Although employer-supported childcare is a step in the right direction, it does not reach parents employed in the informal sector, which is an important consideration for Sri Lanka, where 66 per cent of employed people work in informal work arrangements, the World Bank (WB), in a report said.

Therefore, providing affordable childcare options to accommodate the needs of parents working in the informal sector is a priority for Sri Lanka, and extending such services could improve outcomes for both parents and children, it said.

The WB Group reports that having a child under age five reduces Sri Lankan women’s labour force participation by 7.4 per cent when compared with women without young children, and this rate has been increasing over the years, it said.

As such, childcare and early childhood programmes are critical to the economic development of the country and the International Monetary Fund reports that Sri Lanka can raise its long-term GDP by up to 20 per cent by closing the gender gap in the workforce, the WB report said.

Availability of reliable childcare services had a direct impact on women’s labour force participation in both the public and the private sectors, leading to growing corporate investment in childcare, the WB said.

The impact on business has led to increasing private sector investment in childcare services, and many private sector employers now provide various childcare options to employees as a recruitment and retention strategy. Companies have adopted a number of models, including on-site, off-site, and tie-in arrangements in which private sector companies outsource the management of centres to professional preschool and childcare service providers.

Most employers provide services either free of charge or at a subsidised rate, and many of the larger corporate childcare centres provide integrated care with both childcare and preschool facilities. There are also several examples of successful public-private partnerships in the provision of childcare services, some of which are based on the workplace consortium model, in which several employers share the cost of running a childcare facility.

(PA)

66% employees deprived ofchildcare

43% of Caregivers Lack Professional Training – WB

EP Governor seeks report on cow population

Transferring lands to Divisional Secretaries

Joint Paper being drafted

– Amaraweera

Vehicle racketeers arrested

To Execute Urgent Work in the Public Sector

Automation, not new recruitmentFinance Ministry Directive to Public Sector Heads

Early education not traditionally provided

by State – WBLSSP General Secretary,

Prof. Tissa Vitarana, cautioned the Government not to fall into the USA’s trap to get us involved in its proposed war against China.

There will also be pressure to sign the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Agreement and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and agreements that the UNP-led Yahapalana Government was prepared to sign, to obtain a grant of US$ 480 million.

He said the Gunaruwan Committee has given instances of countries like Madagascar that signed and fulfilled the conditions, but did not receive the promised amount of money. Not surprising, as USA is in an economic crisis and heavily in debt.

“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is one of the most powerful politicians in the world. His visit to Sri Lanka, and three other Asian countries including India, is to get some Asian support for its planned attack on China, which has not received the support of ASEAN,” he added.

He pointed out that Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte was not ready to go to war with China and wanted to resolve their issues bilaterally and peacefully. He also pointed out that the European Union, led by Germany, has recognised that China is only interested in trade, and it is refusing to support the USA’s military attack on China.

Prof. Vitarana pointed out that the USA is advancing its ‘India First’ policy to rally Asian support against China. Pakistan has taken China’s side and Sri Lanka too

must do the same. This is a truly non-aligned policy to which all countries that were colonised have always subscribed to, from the time we were liberated from imperialist rule. Under no circumstances should Sri Lanka support US military aggression against China. Even staying neutral is tacit approval.

“We must oppose war by the USA against a fellow Third World country. What right has the USA to claim that China poses a military danger to it, when its boundaries are thousands of miles away? It is

the USA that has over 400 military bases around China, while China has only one outside its boundaries.”

Signing the MCC and SOFA Agreements would compel us to support USA aggression. The MCC Agreement would enable the USA to exploit our economy without restriction and its companies to buy our land besides establishing rapid transport links from Colombo to Trincomalee. The SOFA would allow thousands of armed troops from the USA to use the whole of Sri Lanka as a military base (now that they are losing Diego Garcia, their main Indian Ocean base). Thus, the LSSP appeals to the Government to take a non-aligned stance and support China. It is also vitally important that Sri Lanka does not sign the MCC Agreement and SOFA. The Sri Lankan Government should immediately implement the UN Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. This is a declaration which Sri Lanka itself initiated.

(SRM)

LSSP cautions Govt over Pompeo’s visit

COLUMN A5wednesday 28 october 2020

By Dr. Tilak S. FernanDo

The Sri Lankan brain is smart and competent at all times. Mother Lanka has produced a higher percentage of outstanding scholars in a multiple of disciplines. During the first COVID-19 lock down, the country saw inventions introduced by talented school children, undergraduates and industrialists.

The Intellectual acumen of the Sri Lankan brain enabled many to excel globally as scientists, eminent lawyers, engineers, medical and brain surgeons, business tycoons including international reprobates by using their grey matter in the canniest way possible. It is currently seen in the manner drug marketing and peddling have spread to limitless levels in this country. Police raids take place daily aided by the President's orders.

The leading cause of Sri Lanka’s brain-drain was either because of the lack of opportunities for the qualified or nepotism induced political skulduggery. It was akin to a viral disease where a lot of square pegs fitted into round holes, so the professionals and the talented left the country seeking greener pastures and enhanced foreign economies.

Every citizen should welcome President Gotabaya’s latest and novel idea providing the talented with an excellent opportunity to accomplish their ambitions in a newly developed education scheme. For it to be productive the education system needs replacement with a new National Policy. In a way the COVID-19 pandemic was a wakeup call for Sri Lanka as well as the rest of the world.

The renowned international swindler

In 1962 Sri Lankan born Michael Marion Emil Anacletus Pierre Saundranayagam popularly known as Dr. Emil Savundra, an international swindler became known the world over as the most dazzling Asian in the UK. His name occupied the international historical records as the first Asian to establish one of the leading insurance companies that subsequently botched in early 1979. There were six well-established insurance companies at the time; one of them was Emil Savundra's Fire, Auto & Marine Insurance Company, known as FAM.

Hailing from a legal background in Ceylon, as a young man Emil Savundra had a brief career in Ceylon attached to the Civil Engineers. During the Second World War, the British denied his entry to the Royal Air Force despite possessing a pilot's licence.

Early beginningsAt the age of twenty-three, during

the Korean War, as an intermediary,

he 'became involved in an economic sabotage of an unsuccessful shipload of oil'. In 1950, he became implicated in a hush money business racket in Ghana. Despite such infringements, he escaped from a jail sentence and was deported from Ghana to avoid local embarrassment. Belgian authorities sentenced him to jail for swindling the Krediet Bank of Antwerp over a 'non-existent consignment of rice'. In 1958 Emil Savundra resurfaced again as a middle-man for an American Company dealing in minerals in Ghana, known as Camp Bird. By developing screwed tactics, he subsequently became a post-war black marketeer in 1958. He became involved with Coffee beans deal in 1959 at the expense of the Costa Rica Government.

Tax EvasionThe only offence on record in

'Ceylon' was his failure to pay income tax out of his earnings from fraudulent activities. His involvement with the Inland Revenue was the only reason for him to leave Ceylon. After reaching England in 1963, Emil Savundra was involved with car sales business and developed his network successfully. With his experience and perception, he floated a company specialising in Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance (FAM) and offered the British motorists desirable insurance premiums. He used for the first-time elementary computerisation.

The extra revenue out of the insurance company made him lead a copious and extravaganza lifestyle possessing racing powerboats and living in a palatial house. During a

powerboat race from Cowes to Torquay he fractured his spine. His friends introduced him to an osteopath, Stephen Ward, whose name became entangled with a top model at the time known as Christine Keeler. Stephen Ward was exposed on a sensational life scandal in 1963 with Britain's War Secretary John Profumo having a 'love affair' with Christine Keeler, who secretly shared sexual activity with a Soviet Naval Attaché. Stephen Ward's trial hit the headlines in British newspapers as well as in the International press. During the scandal, Emil Savundra was referred to as the 'Indian doctor'.

An investigative team from the London Sunday Times managed to track Emil Savundra down after his insurance company FAM collapsed due to failure of cash flow. The scandal exposed Emil Savundra's extravagant lifestyle while hobnobbing with the rich, powerful and aristocracy of the time.

Controversial businessman

Emil Savundra was regarded as one of the controversial businessmen to use the UK's libel laws to his advantage. He once attempted to thwart an attempt of exposing his derogatory life and business practices by the Private Eye magazine.

Emil Savundra suffered a heart attack in 1966. He sold his FAM company shares to his directors. Later the company led by Stuart de Quincey Walker collapsed within days leaving its motor insurance clients legally uninsured. That affected more than 400,000 approximately. Media men besieged Emil Savundra's North London mansion in the posh Hampstead area for days. He fled to

Sri Lanka but the Government of Ceylon refused to confirm having received any extradition orders from England. Later Emil Savundra returned to Rome and spent a month still being pursued by the British press. In 1967 he re-entered the United Kingdom.

His AssetsDuring the trial hearing in 1968,

Emil Savundra confirmed his securities worth of £540,000 (five hundred and forty thousand) and ownership worth £870,000 (eight hundred and seventy-thousand-pound sterling) of 'Blue Chip' shares reinforcing his company (FAM). Nevertheless, not a single security was available when the company collapsed. It confirmed that Emil Savundra had transferred the FAM assets to a bank in Liechtenstein, an offshore institution, beyond British control (tax haven). That paved the way for greater secrecy that proved 'no such funds were ever found.'

The Frost InterviewEmil Savundra's fraudulent

business activities burst into the public domain in 1967 through a world-shattering BBC interview by the veteran broadcaster and journalist, Sir David Frost, (who died of a heart attack at the age of 74). Facing a live TV audience, Emil Savundra appeared confident in his ability to defend his conduct.

During the interview, David Frost pointed out to a widow in the audience whose husband died of a motor accident three years before the interview, but her claim had not been settled up to the time of the interview.

Frost pointed the finger at the widow in the audience (whose husband was a client of FAM and died

after a motor accident over three years ago), and wanted Emil Savundra's explanation about the issue. Emil Savundra turned towards the widow and confidently, said: "Madam if you failed to process your claim for three years, please contact your incompetent solicitors and do not blame me for that." That made David Frost lose his temper and go through the roof. He pointed the finger at Savundra again and asked: "How can you sit here as if nothing has happened after traumatising thousands of your motor insurance customers with your company - FAM? Do you have a conscience at all?”

Emil Savundra replied as cool as a cucumber: "Mr. Frost, I have not broken any of the laws in this country. It is the British Government that created 'insolvency and bankruptcy; all I have done was to follow the rules of the country to the letter."

No regretsWhat David Frost wanted to show

was perhaps Emil Savundra’s regret and repentance before his victims, but no defiance at all. With Emil Savundra's reply, he managed to provoke the audience head-on collision by calling David Frost as the finest swordsman in England and the audience as 'peasants' and denying categorically any moral responsibility for the unfortunate situation at the collapse of his company.

Irritated David Frost, in his panic-stricken situation, spoke to the wrong camera before walking off the set. The British TV handling of Emil Savundra by David Frost interview paved the middle ground for Emil Savundra's right to a fair trial in a British criminal Court. After the TV interview, Emil Savundra was arrested. After a long-winded and an aggressive legal battle between the defendant and the Barristers, he was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment with a fine of £50,000 (fifty thousand) in March 1968. Due to his persistent ill-health of diabetes and a heart condition, he was transferred to a prison hospital.

Emil’s response In December 1974 Dr. Emil

Savundra was released from prison just before Christmas due to his poor health. On his way out to freedom, a TV presenter waited for him to emerge out of the prison gates and approached him to ask a simple question.

"Dr. Emil Savundra, now that you are a free man, what are your plans for the future?"

Never short of words Emil Savundra replied: “Like the British aristocracy, I am going to live off the wife”.

At the age of 53, Dr. Emil Savundra died in Old Windsor, Berkshire on 21 December 1976 as a registered banker.

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Sri Lankan Genius Creates History

By Michael GreGSon

A palpable air of alarm has replaced COVID-19 fatigue in Colombo. A week or two ago people were complacent, leaving their masks at home and ignoring social distancing. That has all changed following new clusters of the disease suddenly springing up. The streets are empty and traffic flows freely.

Sri Lanka has received a wake-up call. Whatever mistakes or missteps there were, it’s worth remembering that the island has an enviable record fighting the disease and only a tiny number of cases and deaths compared to supposedly advanced economies like the UK – where the response to COVID-19 has been marked by staggering incompetence, political cronyism and widespread corruption.

Weekly stories of huge sums of public money spent with seeming disregard for value, without tender or transparency, for services of dubious value or poor quality, to companies and consultants which often have close links to power in Britain.

The bill for private consultants on COVID-19 related projects is approaching £200 million, causing Meg Hillier, the chairwoman of the public accounts committee, to

explode: “What on earth are they doing?”

The smell worsens around the test and trace system, run by the McKinsey alumna Dido Harding. Her old company pocketed £560,000 for deciding on the “vision, purpose and narrative” of the programme.

More than 1,100 consultants from Deloitte are now working on test and trace, while executives at Boston Consulting Group are being paid as much as £6,250 a day for their input. Beyond the consultants, companies such as Serco, Sitel, G4S and Mitie provide the call handlers, organise testing sites, dispatch tests and so on, pushing the total cost of the system up to £12 billion. This is a vast sum – representing around a fifth of Sri Lanka’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). It might be value for money if the system worked, but it doesn’t.

Even Boris Johnson now admits it is failing. In October, contact-tracing fell to new low and waiting times for test results soared to almost double the target.

Under pressure to explain new figures showing less than 60 per cent of close contacts being reached, while test turnaround times rose to nearly 48 hours, the Prime Minister said: “I share people’s frustrations and I

understand totally why we do need to see faster turnaround times and we need to improve it.”

Senior members of the Prime Minister’s ruling Conservative Party are running out of patience with test and trace and it’s beleaguered boss – who has earned the nickname Dido ‘Hiding’ for disappearing from public view as her empire crashes and burns, taking billions of pounds and thousands of lives with it.

Sir Bernard Jenkin, chair of the powerful Parliamentary liaison

committee, called for her to be given a “well-earned rest” and moved on to focus on “lessons learned”. He warned of a “vacuum of leadership in test and trace, which is destroying public confidence and compliance”.

Opposition Labour MP Dan Carden claimed the ‘cronyism’ of the test and trace scheme is well documented. “Conservative Baroness and business executive Baroness Harding appointed as the head of test and trace, Serco’s CEO the brother of a former Tory MP and Tory MPs on the

boards of companies winning contracts. And if you’ve got a problem with any of this, well why not take it up with the Government’s anti-corruption champion – Dido Harding’s husband and a Tory MP. The whole thing stinks.”

It’s a vicious circle: cut back on public-sector expertise and you rely more on expensive outsiders; rely more on outsiders and the public sector can ‘safely’ be shrunk further. As the UK Cabinet Office Minister Lord Agnew wrote last month in a leaked letter to senior civil servants, an ‘unacceptable’ reliance on management consultants has ‘infantilised’ the civil service and deprived “our brightest public servants of opportunities to work on some of the most challenging, fulfilling and crunchy issues”.

Some might argue that there is a place for private companies like Serco and G4S to help with the delivery of public services. But surely outsourcing and the profiteering that can go with it should not be the default for a well-resourced, modern state?

Profit must never be put before lives. Boris Johnson needs to be reminded of this or have his Premiership forever tainted with the stench of corruption.

Incompetence, Cronyism and COVID-19

Dido Hardin and UK Premier Boris Johnson

Emil Savundra’s only criminal offence in Ceylon was non-payment of an IR bill based on earnings from economic fraud

In an interview in 1969 Frost angrily pursued Savundra

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It was revealed before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the last year’s Easter Sunday attacks that several questionable telephone conversations had taken place between former President Maithripala Sirisena and the then Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (Senior DIG) Nilantha Jayawardena, before the Easter Sunday attacks.

This information was revealed to the public, in a context where a multitude of allegations have been levelled against several prominent public officials, members of law-enforcement agencies and politicians of the last Government, in connection with their failure to avert the Easter Sunday attacks despite several forewarnings.

Recently it was revealed before the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks that a 159-second telephone conversation had taken place between former President Maithripala Sirisena and the then Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, at 7:59 a.m. on 21 April 2019, just before the attacks, and that another telephone conversation had taken place between the duo at 6:16 p.m. on 20 April 2019. According to the information revealed so far, about 20 telephone conversations had taken place between the former President and the former SIS Director, from 4 to 21 April 2019. These telephone conversations had taken place after the SIS received foreign intelligence information that a group including National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ) Leader Zaharan Hashim could launch an attack.

The former President had, from the very beginning, maintained that he was not informed of the information given by foreign intelligence services regarding the Easter Sunday attacks. However, a document submitted at the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks on 24 October showed that a total of 221 telephone conversations had taken place between the former President and the former SIS Director from January to April 2019 alone. What they discussed on this many of occasions, especially in the face of a catastrophe of this magnitude, remains unknown.

When the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks questioned the former President in connection with these telephone conversations, in response, he stated that he could not remember much about the said telephone calls, while continuing to maintain that he was not aware of the foreign intelligence information pertaining to the Easter Sunday attacks. He added that even though his residence or the office may have received the said telephone calls, it was hard to say he got them all.

Sri Lanka has a former President who denies he had absolutely no knowledge about the Easter Sunday attacks despite having the SIS under his supervision, in addition to two high-ranking officials – former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara – who claim that the former President should be held accountable for the failure to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks. It would not be an exaggeration to state that statements made by this trio and other officials who testified before the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks show a huge lack of cooperation and coordination among them. Unfortunately, despite clear evidence suggesting that not one, but many officials and politicians had ignored warnings, they continue to deny any knowledge or responsibility.

As the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks continued its proceedings, more and more startling revelations came to light, raising serious concerns among the public who are waiting to find out whose fault allowed extremists to carry out a spate of suicide bombings on last year’s Easter Sunday. According to information revealed before the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks so far, it is evident that in addition to many an other factor, authorities’ negligence, poor communication between institutions and officials, lack of coordination between responsible authorities including the former President and Prime Minister, and the huge support received by the extremists who carried out the attack, have also caused the failure to avert the Easter Sunday attacks.

Editoriala6 Wednesday 28 OctOber 2020

Hotel bombing

A Myriad of Reasons Led to Easter

Sunday Attacks!

By Lakna Paranamanna

‘Encourage’ appears to be the new favourite word of American diplomats when it comes to expressing opinions on Sri Lanka’s relations with China. In the days leading up to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Sri Lanka, a top official from the State Department’s South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Dean R. Thompson said the US hopes to ‘encourage’ Sri Lanka to rethink options available for economic development; promise of a transparent and sustainable development should Sri Lanka choose to side with the US, as opposed to what was described as ‘discriminatory and opaque’ practices of China during meetings with the Sri Lankan leadership.

US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz too in an interview recently said America ‘encourages’ Sino-SL relations if it’s transparent and mutually beneficial. Given at least nominally, all sovereign States are equal and autonomous, for the US to claim to encourage Sri Lanka’s bilateral relations with another or dictate the quality and conduct of foreign relations is itself an infringement of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Pot calling the kettle blackThe choice of words although may seem

benign, is only a forewarning of the pressures that await Sri Lanka in the months to come subject to two key developments - US Presidential election and Sri Lanka’s own conduct in the Sino-US cold war.

President Donald Trump’s foreign policy regime, with Pompeo at the fore has been one that in no unclear terms prioritised unilateralism. It’s also marked with threats, sanctions and even attempts at regime changes when countries refused to bow to American pressure as seen in the case of Bolivia and Venezuela in the recent past. While America is quick to label China’s conduct as bullying, they have been no different in their foreign policy conduct.

Comity and cooperation is no longer the guiding principle of the American foreign policy playbook. The conduct of American foreign policy during the pandemic in itself is a sufficient case in point, reflective of disdain for genuine international cooperation if it no longer only serves American interests. The overt actions should also come as no surprise, given Pompeo’s former position as Director of the CIA – a job mandate that requires skills that are at complete odds with diplomacy.

South Asian tourSo, it is folly for Sri Lanka to expect

anything different or to treat Secretary Pompeo’s visit as simply a goodwill visit. Though maybe coveted in diplomatic jargon, there is no hiding that countering Chinese presence is the sole reason for his visit to Sri Lanka and if given the chance, pressure Sri Lanka into siding with the US-led Quad.

The purpose of Pompeo’s visit to South Asia is the signing of BECA, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation with India. It is the final and fourth defence agreement

signed between the US and India in the recent years. Mining geospatial data with Indian partnership involves deeper implications than a standard military cooperation agreement. As such, the signing of BECA legitimises American footholds in the Indian Ocean and on deeper ground than China at present. It is only a matter of time before the Chinese-American power race, coupled with invasive surveillance projects, changes the Indian Ocean into another South China sea.

What choice does Sri Lanka have?

Against this backdrop, it is important to keep in mind that here on, the biggest pressure on Chinese activities in Sri Lanka will be emanating from India, having been deputised and backed by the US, upon synchronising the military machineries of the two countries. But it is Sri Lanka’s own conduct that has pushed the country into the present peril; the departure from non-aligned foreign policy, habit of pandering to whichever great power that exerts pressure at a given point in time instead of oscillating between allies and affiliations.

It is unfortunate that India chose to invite American geo-political rivalries into the Indian Ocean region. Had India chosen to face the Chinese threat by empowering and strengthening its own neighbours including Sri Lanka against invasive Chinese policies, global wars may not have found its way into our neighbourhood this early on. India’s biggest struggle and conflict with China, involving the skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control of the Sino-Indian border has now been exploited by the US and through its interference, indirectly has weakened India’s supremacy in the region by manufacturing a dependency as opposed to actually strengthening India.

Sri Lanka too could have played a key role in preventing this regional tension from escalating into a fodder available for exploitation. When the Sino-Indian conflict

flared in 1962, Sirimavo Bandaranaike took the lead in facilitating peace talks between the two nations led by a six-member Non Aligned Movement group. Although it did not provide lasting solutions, it did offer much needed breathing space for the two nations and ease the tensions.

Sri Lanka had the potential to play the same role this time around when the border skirmishes erupted, but our Government was otherwise occupied with not just the pandemic but also with keeping the Covid-19 stricken economy afloat while pushing through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. But now is not the time for should haves and could haves. The Sino-US cold war is at our doorstep and Sri Lanka should hope to play no part in it.

Sri Lanka’s strong pivot towards China isn’t a secret. Meanwhile, anti-US rhetoric was quite prominently featured and was a key slogan of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s winning campaign at the 2019 Presidential election. As such, the question remains whether Sri Lanka can even call itself a non-aligned nation any longer. Despite these key issues remaining at stake, Sri Lankan foreign policy as well as the Government remains disorganised and divided along completely irrelevant, pro and anti imperialist lines. The priority and focus at hand should be to reel back and reiterate Sri Lanka’s position as a non-aligned country and place Sri Lanka’s interests at the fore, geared at regaining respect towards Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and autonomy, to ensure we no longer allow situations that permit other nations to dictate the quality of Sri Lanka’s relations with other countries. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry recently announced it is now in the process of drafting a foreign policy white paper and one can only hope that instead of repeating foreign policy thinking of the past, it is geared at prioritising Sri Lanka’s national interests and achieving Sri Lanka’s potential and most importantly, keep Sri Lanka out of the crossfire of power scuffles.

Withstanding Great Power Bullying

By Padraig Colman

I was pleased to receive a message on my (second-hand) smart phone inviting me to bring my e-waste to the local post office. I had up to 10 October to do this and just about met the deadline. This seemed to be a very welcome initiative by the CEA (Central Environmental Authority). Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Environment, said the programme was organised with the objective of minimising the harm caused to human beings, animals, and the environment by improper e-waste disposal. He said that all Government agencies are bound by international development agreements to implement the UN SDGs (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals).

WEEEThe acronym WEEE (waste electrical

and electronic equipment) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. WEEE contains toxic materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, brominated flame-retardants and polyvinyl chloride. These substances cause cancer, respiratory and reproductive problems. Even a low level of exposure of children and pregnant women can cause serious neurological damage. Phthalates causes sterility; chlorinated dioxins cause Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Unregulated WEEE activities do not only harm those working directly with the materials but also contaminate agricultural lands and livestock and enter the food chain.

E-waste represents 2 per cent of America’s garbage in landfills, but it equals 70 per cent of overall toxic waste. The US generates 3.4 million tons of WEEE a year only 11 per cent of which is recycled. Only 15 per cent

of Indian WEEE is recycled, while the remaining was mixed with normal waste.

The communications revolution combined with rampant consumerism has created vast amounts of cyber-clutter, as people feel compelled constantly to upgrade their phones and computers. I have never been an early adopter. I have never been a great fan of phones of any kind and I have only recently been forced to use a smart phone. In those dark days when I had to work for a living, The Management was always trying to force gadgets on us; there were little hand-held computers called Organisers which one had to go on courses to learn how to operate. I never used mine at all and was chastised for creating this redundant e-waste. I found it much easier to jot things down in my diary – and I don’t

mean Filofax. I tread lightly on the earth. I had an amplifier that served me well for over 30 years and speakers that lasted 20 years.

Counterfeit parts Even a Luddite like myself manages

to accumulate a lot of redundant electronic rubbish. Some of it is a result of well-meant but misplaced charity, or recycling by friends and family. Some it is stuff like my trusty old amplifier which reaches the end of its natural life and crawls away to die. It is difficult to know what to do with this redundant equipment.

Electronic waste is sometimes recycled in a bad way, finding its way into counterfeit parts. A 2011 report by the Senate Armed Services Committee said that the US military supply chain might contain over one million counterfeit parts, including crucial

avionics components. Counterfeit Chinese parts have been detected in the instrumentation of C-130J Hercules transport aircraft. Failure of these components would leave pilots with blank instrument panels in mid-flight. Production of these counterfeit parts often begins as electronic waste, shipped from the US to Hong Kong.

The only answer seems to be to send e-waste to another country and cause a problem elsewhere. In direct violation of federal law, Colorado-based firm Executive Recycling falsely claimed they would process waste in the US. Instead, they exported it. The fine was US$4.5 million and the court sentenced CEO, Brandon Richter, to two and a half years in prison.

Charitable donationsThe EU exported 220,000 tons of

WEEE to West Africa in 2009. Some products sent as charitable donations, ostensibly for reuse, are unusable. In Ghana 30 per cent of WEEE imports are unusable. Pakistan receives thousands of tons of WEEE every year from developed countries.

Creative capitalists have developed markets in WEEE.There are companies that extract gold, silver, palladium and base metals such as copper and nickel from circuit boards. Their worth can reach more than $15 per pound. The microprocessors inside circuit boards can sell for more than $30 per pound. EWEEE could prove a valuable source of metals in developing countries if the dangerous work processes were to be regulated. All over the world, local communities are taking positive steps to encourage recycling. New York state residents produce more than 300 million pounds of electronic waste each year. New laws make manufacturers responsible for the recycling of their own products and

bans disposals of consumer electronics in landfills. A study from the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) shows that retailers are lagging behind consumers in social responsibility.

How did the recent Sri Lankan initiative work out? I sent my e-waste to the post office and wondered what would happen to it. Would it be dumped in a land-fill? What happened to it was that it came back to me. They only seemed to be interested in phones and computers that they could find an immediate use for.

Unavailability of a recycling facility

I have looked at a number of academic studies on the subject and am filled with despair. No-one seems to have a solution and the problem just keeps growing. One study of the Sri Lankan situation says: “Currently all the E-waste collected within the country is being exported because of the unavailability of a recycling facility for electronic waste. Hence, it is an urgent requirement to establish an environmentally sound E-waste recycling facility to cater E-waste generated within the country.” That does not get us very far.

It would be interesting if Minister Mahinda Amaraweera could clarify what criteria were given for deciding which items of e-waste would be accepted at post offices. The only guidance I could find was a statement that only domestic e-waste and not industrial-grade machinery would be accepted. I certainly have never had any industrial-grade machinery. What are to do with the items that we are still stuck with? It would also be interesting to learn what was done with the items that were accepted at post offices.

column A7wednesday 28 OctOber 2020

By lakshman i. keerthisinghe

“My view of foreign policy is that we need to be careful and circumspect about United States intervention in any foreign nation.” - Michele Bachmann - US Politician

“Secretary Pompeo travels to Colombo to underscore the commitment of the United States to a partnership with a strong, sovereign Sri Lanka and to advance common goals for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.” - Morgan Ortagus, US Department of State spokesman - Press Statement

Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has resulted in many rich and powerful countries such as the US, China, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia and other such States, struggling to influence over Sri Lanka. The sea lanes of the Indian Ocean are considered to be the busiest in the world, with more than 80 per cent of global seaborne oil trade estimated to be passing through them. Sri Lanka is a participant in the Maritime Belt and Silk Road Initiative, China’s extensive network of ports and maritime facilities connecting the Pacific and Indian

Oceans. In January 2017, the Sri Lankan Government granted China a 99-year lease of Hambantota Port in exchange for US$1.1 billion in debt relief. China is also developing other projects in Sri Lanka, such as the $1.4 billion “Port City” in Colombo on land reclaimed from the Indian Ocean.

Is Sri Lanka the alternative base?

In order to curtail Chinese expansion across Asia, the US is planning to turn strategically located Sri Lanka into a “military logistics hub” and the centre of its “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Region Policy”. Control of Sri Lanka has become more urgent for the US since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had ruled that US occupation of the Indian Ocean Chagos Islands is illegal and the islands be handed back to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible”. The Diego Garcia (DG) military base was established after Britain, which “owns” Chagos, forcibly removed its inhabitants between 1968 and 1973. Diego Garcia is one of America’s most important and secretive military

bases. It has been central in launching invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan and flying missions across Asia, including over the South China Sea. If the islands go back to Mauritius and the Chagossians who sued for their right to return are allowed back, then the US will require an alternative base. That could be Sri Lanka.

UN Res weakens securityIn January 2015, Sri Lanka and the

US co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council Resolution in Geneva calling for accountability for alleged war crimes and missing persons in the final stage of the war against the LTTE, the UNHRC Resolution, now abrogated by the Government, exerted pressure in 2015 on Sri Lanka to make significant changes, including the dismissal and imprisonment of its intelligence officers and army personnel. These measures weakened Sri Lankan intelligence and security, paving the way for the Easter Sunday massacre by Islamist terrorists. The Easter attacks are now being used to justify the acceleration of US intervention in Sri Lanka, which had already been increasing over the last

few years. However, the three main bilateral agreements the US has deployed to assert its political, economic and military control over Sri Lanka – MCC, ACSA and SOFA – are facing massive local opposition.

MCC CompactThe Millennium Challenge

Corporation (MCC), a foreign-aid agency established by the US Congress, is ready to sign a “compact” with Sri Lanka to facilitate private-sector investment and economic growth. The MCC Compact would undertake transportation and land management in return for a grant of $480 million to Sri Lanka. The Transport Project will include advanced traffic management, bus transportation modernisation and a central ring-road network connecting the Central, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Provinces to the Western Province.

The Land Project would include a state land inventory, deeds registration improvement, land valuation improvement, land grants registration and deed conversion, and land policy and legal governance. There are fears that the “economic

corridor” proposed by the compact for the Trincomalee-Colombo highway could splinter Sri Lanka into two separate entities under the control of the United States, resulting in the loss of sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

Protect our beautiful island home

In conclusion, while Sri Lanka appreciates the significance of maintaining good relationships with US, China, India and other countries this should not result in the sacrifice of the principles of sovereignty, democracy and the rule of law in Sri Lanka, which needs to remain non-aligned and refrain from getting involved in the geopolitical confrontation that is developing between America and China, through agreements that would enable these countries to gain a foothold in Sri Lanka. It is time that all Sri Lankans have to stand together at this critical juncture to protect our precious, beautiful island home.

The writer is an Attorney-at-Law with LLB, LLM, MPhil. keerthisinghel@yahoo.co.uk

Escalating US Intervention in Sri Lanka

A WEEE Problem that is Getting Bigger

WEEE man sculpture made out of e-waste at the educational charity project

US B1 Bombers at DG. Is Sri Lanka to supplant the horrors enacted there?

By AhmAd SAlAh

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria the issue of Syrian refugees and internally displace has been the subject of countless articles and reports with international humanitarian organisations and countries involved in the Syrian conflict shifting responsibility for the plight of migrants.

The most notorious example of human suffering put against political games is the Rukban refugee camp located in eastern Syria inside the 55-km zone around Al-Tanf base controlled by the U.S. and its proxies.

Open a humanitarian corridor

According to official information, more than 50,000 people, mostly women and children, currently live in the camp. This is a huge number comparable to the population of a small town. The Syrian Government,

aware of the plight of people in Rukban, has repeatedly urged Washington to open a humanitarian corridor so that everyone can safely return home. However, all such

proposals were ignored by the American side. The US also refuse to provide the camp with first aid items. Neighbouring Jordan is inactive, too, despite Rukban being the largest of

dozens other temporary detention centres in Syria, where people eke out a meager existence.

Decade long war At the same time, the problem is not

only refugee camps. Syria has been at war for a decade. The country’s economy has suffered greatly over this period, and many cities have been practically grazed to the ground. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t spare Syria and drained the already weakened economy even more. However, Damascus’ attempts of post-war reconstruction and economic recovery were undermined by multiple packages of severe sanctions imposed by the U.S. At the same time, U.S.-based human rights monitors and humanitarian organisations continue to weep over the Syrian citizens’ misery.

The situation is the same for those refugees who stay in camps abroad, especially in countries bordering on Syria, particularly Jordan and Turkey.

Ankara has been using Syrian citizens as a leverage against the European states in pursuit of political benefits for a long time. No one pays attention to the lives of people who are used as a change coin in big politics. This is equally true for Rukban where refugees are held in inhuman conditions and not allowed to return to their homeland. In those rare exceptions that they are able to leave, refugees have to pay large sums of money that most of those living in camp are not able to come by.

It’s hard to predict how long the Syrian conflict will go on and when – or if – the American military will leave the Al-Tanf base. One thing can be said for sure: The kind of criminal inaction and disregard for humanitarian catastrophe witnessed in refugee camps is a humiliating failure of modern diplomacy and an unforgivable mistake for the international community. People shouldn’t be a tool in the games of politicians.

www.moderndiplomacy.eu

world affairsa8 wednesday 28 october 2020

By Prof. ZlAtko hAdZidedic

All proxy wars are, by definition, delusional. Usually, two client-States wage a war, one against another, while, actually, their war advances interests of some other States, commonly their sponsor-States. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh is not a simple proxy war: Its proxiness and delusional character exponentially grow as the conflict unfolds on the ground.

For, it is conceived as a war that was supposed to draw two major regional powers, Russia and Turkey, into a mutual conflict, on the assumptions that Russia is going to act as Armenia’s sponsor-State, ready to enter the war on the side of its presumed proxy, and that Turkey is going to act as Azerbaijan’s sponsor-State, ready to enter the war on the side of its presumed proxy. Yet, as the conflict unfolds, it becomes transparent that these assumptions were deeply wrong and that the proxiness and delusional character of this very war are skyrocketing beyond the absurd.

Rejection of Turkey’s European membership

Turkish rapprochement with Russia, which is a logical consequence of Turkey’s geopolitical reversal caused by its failure to become a candidate for membership in the European Union after so many years of begging, has not remained unnoticed by relevant circles in the West. While the United States has tried to persuade the Turks to remain its most reliable ally and refrain from turning towards Turkey’s natural geopolitical environment, that is, towards other Eurasian powers, France’s foreign policy, with a British support, has chosen a different strategy.

Assuming that the close encounters between Russia’s and Turkey’s troops on the soil of Syria and Libya were an expression of a true potential for their mutual conflict, rather than a careful choreography conceived by these two powers to deceive their potential adversaries in the Euro-Atlantic bloc, France and Britain have created a strategy to draw Russia and Turkey into a mutual conflict through their presumed proxies, Armenia and Azerbaijan. For this purpose, they used the traditional bonds between France and Armenia, based on the presence of the numerous Armenian diaspora in France. Due to these historical bonds, it was not difficult for France to persuade the Armenian leadership to fall into a trap of

a new war with Azerbaijan, as France’s (and Britain’s)de facto proxy.

Geopolitical gamesHowever, the basic

assumption was that in the further development Russia will automatically take Armenia’s side, as it once did, in the times of Boris Yeltsin. In other words, Armenia was pushed into the war by France (and Britain), so as to make it seem as if Russia did it, in order to eventually draw Russia into a conflict with Turkey, which was assumed to be on the side of Azerbaijan in case of Armenian attack. A cunning plan, isn’t it? Yet, these assumptions, as well as the strategy derived from them, have proved to be a farcical failure.

For, Putin’s Russia is not Yeltsin’s Russia. Yeltsin allowed himself to be drawn into a geopolitical game constructed for Russia’s ultimate destruction, the game of creation of ethnically exclusive territories, like Nagorno-Karabakh, or South Ossetia, to be followed by their secession from the States to which they originally belonged and annexation by the States with which they shared common ethnic identity. In other words, this game was a game of endless ethnic cleansing and creation of ethnically exclusive territories, which would eventually destroy not only Russia with its numerous ethnic minorities, but also the entire zone of Eurasia with its numberless ethnic groups. This was a recipe for the ultimate destruction of the entire Eurasian space, carefully planned in the inner circles of the Anglo-American foreign policy establishment, and recklessly adopted by Yeltsin and many other post-

Soviet politicians. However, Putin is not Yeltsin, and he did understand the destructive potential of the concept of ethnically exclusive territories when applied to the post-Soviet space: If every ethnic group were to claim its own exclusive territory, and then unification with its ethnic kin in other States, there would be no more territorially compact States in Eurasia, including Russia itself.

Soviet Republic stimulated to claim independence

A similar pattern was previously applied to the Soviet Union, when its republics were stimulated to claim independence on the basis of ethnic identity and presumed right to self-

determination. This process ended up with the total dissolution of the Soviet Union. Of course, full application of this pattern generates a process of endless dissolutions: For, all ethnic minorities within these newly-proclaimed States may well claim secession from these States, since the underlying assumption, adopted by many local ethno nationalist leaders, is that these ethnic groups’ survival is possible only within their own ethnically exclusive Statelets. To put it briefly, it is a pattern of geopolitical fission, with the consequences similar to those of nuclear fission. Among other destructive processes triggered in the post-Soviet space, this pattern also led to the Armenian invasion of Azerbaijan’s territory and

creation of the ethnically exclusive territory of Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenian ethnic minority in Azerbaijan, with the ultimate goal of its secession from Azerbaijan and annexation by Armenia.

The same pattern was also promoted in the Balkans, again by Britain and France, in their initiatives for ethnic partition of Bosnia in the 1990s and annexation of its territories by Serbia and Croatia, and recently, for exchange of ethnic territories between Serbia and Kosovo. The concept of ethnically exclusive territories as the only safe environment for survival of ethnic groups, therefore, is not the invention of some ‘wild tribes’ in the Balkans or the Caucasus. It is a premeditated strategy for permanent destabilization of any geopolitical zone, wherever applied. Its authorship needs to be finally attributed to those who are always present in their application – the British and French foreign policy establishments. Yet, this time, in the case of the second Armenian-Azeri war, this hook has not been swallowed by its main targets, Russia and Turkey.

Anglo-French ethnically exclusive territories

Having been aware of the fact that the Armenian attack on Azerbaijan was generated by some other players, who were not even too careful to hide its role in it (such as President Macron of France), and that the very concept of ethnically exclusive territories has served as a tool for permanent destabilisation of both Russia and the rest of Eurasia, Russian foreign policy reacted in a way that

was precisely the opposite from the reaction of Yeltsin’s foreign policy in the case of the first Armenian-Azeri war. Instead of automatically taking Armenia’s side and further promoting the concept of ethnically exclusive territories, as designed by the Anglo-French axis, Russia took a neutral position and thereby has practically given a green light to Azerbaijan to regain control over Nagorno-Karabakh and restore its full sovereignty and territorial integrity. In this way, the very concept of ethnically exclusive territories has been delegitimised, not only in the Caucasus, but also in the entire post-Soviet space. Yet, it remains to be delegitimised in the Balkans.

Russia has probably made such a radical geopolitical turnover in tacit agreement with Turkey, so as to be safe about its outcome and the foreseeable consequences. Their rapprochement has thus been elevated to a level of potential strategic alliance. At the same time, Turkey has strengthened its credibility in the post-Soviet space and the rest of Eurasia, but not in the conflictual mode against Russia. This improvement of Turkey’s international standing has been based on its principled defence of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, that is, principled respect for international law, not on an aggressive implementation of a pan-Turkic programme that would eventually include all Turkic peoples, including Azeris, into some imagined Greater Turkey. The same applies to Russia and its abandonment of presupposed pan-Orthodox sentiments in the case of Armenia, although these have yet to be abandoned in the Balkans, in the case of Russia’s flirting with the Greater Serbian programme of ethnically exclusive territories.

Armenia Azerbaijan sovereignty

In any case, both Russia and Turkey have thus made an important step out of the straitjacket tailored for them when the concept of ethnically exclusive territories was inserted into Eurasian geopolitical space. In that way, they have also created a geopolitical framework for Armenia and Azerbaijan to make a step out of their proxy roles, in which they were given a task to inscribe their respective ethnically exclusive territories. In other words, what has been generated is a geopolitical potential for peace between these two countries and their reconstitution along civic-inclusive, instead of ethnic-exclusive, lines.

(www.moderndiplomacy.

Human suffering resulting from political games - Rukban refugee camp, Syria

Tools of Duplicitous PoliticsSyrian Refugees

Caucasus Proxy War

Anglo-Franco strategy to draw Russia and Turkey into mutual conflict

For, Putin’s russia is not yeltsin’s russia. yeltsin allowed

himself to be drawn into a geopolitical game constructed

for russia’s ultimate destruction, the game of

creation of ethnically exclusive territories, like nagorno-

Karabakh, or south ossetia, to be followed by their secession from the states to which they

originally belonged and annexation by the states with which they shared common

ethnic identity

AsiA A9wednesday 28 october 2020

The United States and India must work together to confront the threat posed by China to security and freedom, U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday (27) as he prepared for talks with Indian leaders.

Pompeo arrived in New Delhi on Monday (26) along with Defence Secretary Mark Esper for an annual strategic dialogue at a time of heightened tension in the region, with Indian troops confronting Chinese forces on their disputed Himalayan border.

“Today is a new opportunity for two great democracies like ours to grow closer,” Pompeo said before the talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,

“There is much more work to do for

sure. We have a lot to discuss today: Our cooperation on the pandemic that originated in Wuhan, to confronting the Chinese Communist Party’s threats to security and freedom to promoting peace and stability throughout the region.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has made being tough on China a key part of his campaign to secure a second term in next week’s presidential election and Pompeo has been trying to bolster allies to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

India has its own problems with a more assertive China.

In June, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops on their high-altitude border, hardening the mood in India against China and driving Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s Government to seek closer military ties with the United States.

This month, India invited Australia to join naval drills it holds each year with the United States and Japan, brushing off Chinese concerns that the exercises destabilise the region.

“Our focus now must be on institutionalising and regularising our cooperation to meet the challenges of the day and uphold the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific well into the future,” Esper said.

The two sides will later on Tuesday sign a military agreement that will give India access to advanced U.S. satellite and map data for better accuracy of its missiles and drones.

(Reuters)

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gestures to show the way to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper after they posed for a picture with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India (Reuters)

U.S., India must focus on threat posed by China – Pompeo

A bomb blast at a religious seminary in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday (27) killed at least seven people and wounded more than 80, Police and hospital officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bomb in the northwestern city, near the border with Afghanistan, which has long been plagued by Islamist violence.

“Unknown people planted explosives in a plastic bag,” said a Police officer who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to Media.

Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur told Reuters the bomb contained up to 6 kg of explosives.

Though militant violence in the city, and in Pakistan in general, has fallen over recent years, there has been an increase in attacks on the security forces this year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, of which Peshawar is capital.

Some of the past attacks have been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. However, the militant group released a statement saying they condemned Tuesday’s blast and denied involvement.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Twitter sent his condolences to family members of the victims

and the injured. “I want to assure my nation we will ensure the terrorists responsible for this cowardly barbaric attack are brought to justice ASAP,” he said.

Tariq Burki, director the city’s Lady Reading Hospital, said earlier that four of the seven dead were children but later said four children were wounded and all the dead were adults.

Five of the 83 wounded were in critical condition, he said.

The hospital released a list showing more than a dozen of those wounded were from Afghanistan.

A video shared by Police showed the madrassa’s religious scholar Sheikh Rahimullah addressing

students, citing religious texts on the importance of education when a huge blast ripped through the hall, knocking over the camera.

A hospital source said he had survived the blast but was receiving treatment in hospital.

Photos provided by Police depicting the aftermath showed debris strewn around the hall and a small crater.

The madrassa is largely for adult students and many were studying when the blast happened, said city resident Abdul Rahim, whose 27-year old cousin was among the wounded.

“He told us they were attending a class when the blast took place,” Rahim said.

(Reuters)

Vietnam was rushing to ensure more than half a million people were out of harm’s way on Tuesday (27), ahead of the arrival of a powerful typhoon set to dump more heavy rain on a central region devastated by weeks of intense weather.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled and schools closed in affected areas as Typhoon Molave approached over the South China Sea, packing wind speed of up to 165 kmph and expected to make landfall early on Wednesday (28).

Molave will be the fourth storm to hit the Southeast Asian country this month, deepening a crisis in its central region that has seen 130 people killed in floods and landslides and many still missing.

State Media cited the disaster agency as saying some 572,000 people would need to be evacuated by 5 p.m. (0900) on Tuesday. The Government on Monday (26) said it was preparing to evacuate nearly 1.3 million people from risky areas.

State broadcaster VTV showed footage of military helping the elderly

on to buses and directing boats to come ashore, while residents and soldiers piled sandbags on roofs to secure them from the approaching strong winds.

Molave struck the Philippines at the weekend, causing flooding and landslides and killing at least three people, with 13 still missing on Tuesday, the disaster agency said.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister has compared Molave to Typhoon Damrey, which killed more than 100 people and caused property damage of about 22 trillion dong (USD 949.3 million) in central Vietnam three years ago.

Molave is forecast to hit tourism infrastructure along its central beaches and the Dung Quat refinery in Quang Ngai Province, with heavy rain forecast also for the coffee-growing Central Highlands.

Coffee traders said heavy rains will hamper the harvest, starts from October, and delay the drying process of the beans.

(Reuters)

An Indonesian graft court has sentenced businessman Benny Tjokrosaputro to life in prison for a stock manipulation scheme that helped trigger losses of more than USD 1 billion at State insurer Asuransi Jiwasraya, State news agency Antara said.

Three of the insurer’s executives were among the five other defendants sentenced to life terms in one of Indonesia’s biggest anti-graft trials by a special corruption court in Jakarta, the capital.

Tjokrosaputro, who had made international headlines with a USD 1-billion lawsuit he once filed against Goldman Sachs, was ordered to pay compensation of 6 trillion rupiah (USD 410 million) at his sentencing on Monday (26), the agency added.

The court found Tjokrosaputro, chief commissioner of property developer Hanson International, guilty of corruption and money laundering by conspiring with other investors to inflate shares in Indonesia’s main equity market.

He made arrangements with Jiwasraya executives to invest in stocks and then used gains to buy properties and foreign

currencies, the agency said, citing court documents.

The businessman had used his knowledge to “tarnish the reputation of, and erode public trust in, the capital market,” Antara quoted Judge Rosmina, who uses one name, as saying.

Tjokrosaputro could not be reached for comment. In a statement, his lawyer, Muchtar Arifin, dismissed as baseless the accusation that his client had controlled share prices owned by other people, and added that the businessman planned to appeal.

Bad investments led Jiwasraya to default on more than 10,000 bancassurance

policies in 2018 and the Government has yet to resolve some of the debt outstanding to policyholders.

The case caused estimated state losses of 16.81 trillion rupiah (USD 1.15 billion), Government auditors have said.

Tjokrosaputro, who ranked 43rd on business magazine Forbes’s list of 50 richest people in Indonesia in 2018, had filed a lawsuit against Goldman in 2016 over the ownership of shares in Hanson International. While he won the case in lower courts, Goldman won an appeal at the Supreme Court last year.

(Reuters)

Japan’s Cabinet approved a plan on Tuesday (27) to use public funds to provide novel coronavirus vaccines to the public for free.

The plan also calls for the Government to bear the cost of

any health damage caused by a vaccine, according to a document posted on the health ministry’s website.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to provide enough vaccines for

the coronavirus for the public by mid-2021. Japan has struck deals for hundreds of millions of doses from companies including AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc.

A Thai appeals court on Tuesday (27) overturned charges against a television reporter who had been sentenced to two years in prison for libelling a chicken farm on Twitter.

Suchanee Cloitre was convicted in December 2019 for a Twitter post about a legal dispute over working conditions at the Thammakaset farm.

In a statement, the court ruled that while some of her wording had not been suitable, she had done no wrong.

“As a member of the Press and a citizen, the defendant has the right to investigate, criticise and give opinion that is in the public interest,” it said.

Suchanee, who had been on bail, told Reuters she felt “much relieved”.

Her Twitter post centred on a complaint that a group of migrant workers from Myanmar made to Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission about conditions at the chicken farm in 2016.

Thammakaset, which has denied the accusations from the outset, has filed multiple lawsuits against journalists and activists over the case.

Representatives of the farm could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

A Police officer points to the damaged roof while others survey the site of a bomb blast at a religious seminary in Peshawar (Reuters)

Peshawar, Pakistan

Blast at religious school kills seven, wounds more than 80

Benny Tjokrosaputro is seen during the trial of a corruption case in financial management and investment funds of PT Asuransi Jiwasraya at the court in Jakarta, 7 September 2020 (Reuters)

Jakarta, Indonesia

Tycoon sentenced to life in jail for stock manipulation

Fishing boats are seen at a port after returning to avoid Molave typhoon in Da Nang city, 25 October 2020 (Reuters)

Hanoi, Vietnam

Rush to prep devastated region as typhoon nears

Bangkok, Thailand

Court acquits reporter over chicken farm tweet

Tokyo, Japan

Cabinet approves plan for free

COVID-19 vaccines

a10 worldwednesday 28 october 2020

President Donald Trump revelled in one of his signature achievements on Monday (26) at a White House ceremony to celebrate U.S. Senate confirmation of his third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, eight days before the election.

The made-for-TV prime-time event on the White House lawn mirrored one a month ago, when Barrett's nomination was announced, which preceded a coronavirus outbreak among top Republicans including Trump himself.

It came little more than an hour after the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Barrett to the lifetime appointment on a 52-48 vote, with Democrats unified in Opposition.

Her confirmation as successor to liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month, creates a 6-3 conservative majority on the High Court. One Republican, Susan Collins, voted against the confirmation.

Trump, who has been touting the appointment at campaign rallies to the cheers of his supporters, had pressed the Senate to confirm Barrett, 48, before the 3 November election in which he trails Democrat Joe Biden in national opinion polls. No Supreme Court justice had ever been confirmed so close to a Presidential Election.

"The Barrett family has captured America's heart. It is highly fitting that Justice Barrett fills the seat of a true pioneer for women, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg," Trump said with a smiling Barrett at his side.

In contrast to the White House event last month, more people wore masks and seats were spread out to ensure social distancing. Several of the Republican senators who voted to confirm Barrett were in attendance,

although not Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has not been to the White House since August due to COVID-19 concerns.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, wearing his judicial black robes, administered one of the two oaths of office that justices have to take. In brief remarks, Barrett declared her independence from Trump and the political process even as the President stood behind her.

"The oath that I have solemnly taken tonight means at its core I will do the job without fear or favour and do it independently of the political branches and of my own preferences," she said.

After the ceremony, Trump and Barrett waved to applauding guests

from the White House balcony.Chief Justice John Roberts will

administer the separate judicial oath at the Court on Tuesday (27), the Court said in a statement.

Trump's other Supreme Court appointees are conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Trump has said he expects the Court to decide the outcome of the election and wants Barrett to participate on any election-related cases that go before the justices.

Barrett's confirmation shifts the Supreme Court further to the right, which could pave the way to conservative rulings curbing abortion and expanding gun rights, among other things.

(Reuters)

Trump Celebrates at White House as Supreme Court Nominee Confirmed

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Judge Amy Coney Barrett delivers remarks after she was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S. 26 October 2020 (Reuters)Russian authorities on Tuesday

(27) ordered people across the country to wear facemasks in some public places and asked regional authorities to consider shutting bars and restaurants overnight after a surge in coronavirus cases.

The consumer health watchdog told regional authorities to make masks mandatory in parking lots, elevators, taxis and public transport. Some cities, including the capital Moscow, have already made masks mandatory on public transport.

It also suggested they close bars and restaurants between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. (2000 GMT to 0300

GMT). The RIA news agency had earlier reported this as an order, not a recommendation.

Russia has seen a surge in new COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, prompting the authorities to open temporary hospitals and urge the population to take precautionary measures.

The authorities have said they will not repeat the total lockdowns imposed across the country earlier this year.

Russia had reported 1,547,774 infections, the world's fourth largest COVID-19 case load after the United States, India and Brazil.

(Reuters)

Moscow, Russia

London, United Kingdom

Los Angeles, United States

Athens, Greece Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Ambulances queue before driving onto the territory of the Pokrovskaya hospital amid the outbreak of COVID-19 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 23 October 2020 (Reuters)

Govt orders wider use of masks

Halloween cancelled for England's high risk areas

Wind-whipped wildfires prompt mass evacuations, injure 2 fire-fighters

Navy vessel, container ship collide off Piraeus port

Child malnutrition reaches new highs in parts of Yemen

Calls for bars to close overnight

Trick or treating during Halloween is banned in the areas of England in the highest level of COVID-19 lockdown, a junior minister in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Government said on Tuesday (27).

Asked by LBC radio if trick or treating - a tradition in which children go from house to house asking for goodies or threatening a trick - was banned, junior business minister Nadhim Zahawi said: "Sadly - tier three - you can't"

"It's a tough thing," Zahawi said.Halloween, celebrated on 31 October, dates back to the ancient Celtic

festival of Samhain when people would try to ward off ghosts. Some of the traditions of the festival were incorporated into Catholic vigils such as All Hallows' Eve.

(Reuters)

Women dressed in red pose at the Spanish Steps as they record a video to raise awareness of gender-based violence ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, in Rome, Italy, 26 October 2020 (Reuters)

Crimson ladies…

Wind-driven walls of flame spurred mass evacuations in Southern California and left two fire-fighters badly injured on Monday (26), as hundreds of thousands of residents endured a second day of power shutoffs meant to counter heightened fire risks from dry and gusty weather.

The latest threats came amid what meteorologists called the strongest onslaught of extreme winds - and lowest humidity levels - yet documented during an already epic California wildfire season ranked as the worst on record in terms of acreage burned.

Fires have scorched more than 16,500 square km - equivalent to the land mass of the State of Hawaii - since the start of the year, with thousands of homes destroyed and 31 lives lost. Red flag warnings for incendiary weather conditions remained in place across much of California due to winds gusting in excess of 129 kmph, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Illustrating the hazards posed by California's latest bout of desert-born winds, a blaze dubbed the Silverado fire erupted early Monday and spread across 2,913 hectares of

Orange County by late afternoon, county fire authority spokesman Thanh Nguyen told Reuters.

Utility company Southern California Edison said its equipment is under investigation as a possible source of the blaze. Some 90,800 residents were ordered evacuated from homes in and around the city of Irvine as the fire raged largely unchecked through drought-parched brush in the canyons and foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains south of Los Angeles, officials said.

(Reuters)

A Portuguese-flagged container vessel collided with a Greek Navy minehunter off the Greek port of Piraeus early on Tuesday (27), authorities said.

TV images showed the Navy vessel tilting on its side and sinking. A tug boat had approached and was expected to pull it to the coast. Two people were slightly injured, a coast guard official said, adding that the Greek Navy vessel's 27-member crew had been transferred to safety.

The container ship Maersk Launcheston was not damaged, the official said.

It was not immediately clear how the collision happened but the incident would be further investigated, the official added.

(Reuters)

Parts of Yemen are seeing their highest levels of acute malnutrition in children, heightening warnings that the country is approaching a dire food security crisis, a U.N. report said on Tuesday (27).

Drivers of malnutrition in Yemen worsened in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic, economic decline, floods, escalating conflict and significant underfunding of this year's aid response have compounded an already bleak hunger situation after almost six years of war. "We've been warning since July that Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food security crisis. If the war doesn't end now, we are nearing an irreversible situation and risk losing an entire generation of Yemen's young children," said Lise Grande, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen.

According to a U.N. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) malnutrition analysis of south

Yemen, acute malnutrition cases in children under five have increased about 10 per cent in 2020, to more than half a million. Cases of children with severe acute malnutrition rose 15.5 per cent, and at least a quarter-million pregnant or breastfeeding women also need malnutrition treatment. About 1.4 million children under five live in south Yemen, which is under the control of the internationally recognised Government of Yemen. IPC data for north Yemen, where most Yemenis live and which is controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi authorities, is not yet available.

Famine has never been officially declared in Yemen. The U.N. says the country is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with 80 per cent of the population reliant on humanitarian aid.

(Reuters)

– UN survey

Residents are silhouetted as they watch the Blue Ridge Fire burning in Yorba Linda, California, U.S. 26 October 2020 (Reuters)

b11wednesdAY 28 october 2020

Inflationary FVMP Debt Up Rs 32.23B Tuesday Markets

By Mario andree

The two-day bearish run ended at the Colombo Stock Exchange on Tuesday (27), as the benchmark index recovered, from a near three-week low, on a relatively high turnover, despite continued foreign exits from the Bourse.

The benchmark All Share Price Index (ASPI) gained 0.19 per cent (10.95 points) to close at 5,680.28 points, while the more liquid S&P SL20 gained 0.27 per cent (6.18 points) to close at 2,260.97 points.

The daily turnover at the CSE stood at Rs 1.09 billion, slightly higher than the Rs 1.01 billion recorded the previous market day. More than 55.27 million shares changed hands during 12,709 trades.

Shares of 239 companies were traded. There were 85 winners and losers each at the end of the day.

Foreigners were net sellers for the fifteenth consecutive session.

Net foreign outflow during the day amounted to Rs 211 million, as foreigners sold shares worth Rs 228 million as against purchases worth Rs 17 million.

The top ten gainers during the day were Industrial Asphalt, Kelsey, Anilana Hotels, Samson International, Sunshine Holdings, Marawila Resorts, Orient Finance, Prime Finance, Tokyo Cement (non-voting) and HNB Finance.

Top ten losers were Ramboda Falls, Hotels Corporation, Mullers, Browns Beach, Lanka Aluminium, Pegasus Hotels, Radiant Gems, Browns, Ceylon Tea Brokers and Kotmale Holdings.

Paneetha aMeresekere

With investors preferring to ‘hide their money under a pillow’, rather than invest in risk free Treasury (T) Bills, due to uncertainty, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) was able to sell only Rs 32,492 million T Bills at yesterday’s auction, which was less than the original parcel of Rs 40,000 million offered.

The weighted average yields (WAYs) fetched for the 91,182 and 364-day T Bills at yesterday’s auction were 4.57 per cent, 4.69 per cent and 4.96 per cent, down two basis points (bps) each in respect of the maximum administered yields (MAYs) permissible for the 91 and 182-day T Bills and down one bp of the MAY of the 364-day T Bill, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Government of Sri Lanka’s (GoSL’s) risk free face value money printing (FVMP) debt sharply declined by 0.57 per cent (Rs 3,078 million) to Rs 534,581.87 million, thereby negating demand-pull inflationary pressure ‘as well’ to an extent at yesterday’s trading.

Nonetheless, GoSL’s FVMP debt has been stuck at the record Rs half-a-trillion plus mark for a record fifteenth consecutive market day to yesterday due to a lack of GoSL revenue.

In other developments, the benchmark ‘spot’ remained unchanged at Rs184.30/40 to the US dollar in two-way quotes at 4 p.m. yesterday due to a lack of import demand led by GoSL’s import controls, market sources said.

However, in the calendar year to 4 p.m. yesterday, the ‘spot’ had depreciated by three rupees (1.65 per cent) in two-way quotes, thereby causing cost-push inflationary pressure as Sri Lanka is an import dependent economy.

Meanwhile, market liquidity was uplifted by Rs 6,698 million (US$ 36.32 million) during trading yesterday, because of the settlement/s of a GoSL sale of dollars to CBSL and/or due to CBSL swapping rupees for dollars from the market. Transactions between GoSL and CBSL are foreign reserves neutral. Conversions are based on the middle rate of the ‘spot’ as at 4 p.m. on Friday which was Rs 184.40 to the dollar. Consequently, market’s net excess liquidity (NEL) increased by 2.49 per cent (Rs 3,620 million) to Rs 149,211 million yesterday.

In other developments, GoSL’s MP borrowing costs (BCs) steeply fell by 0.88 per cent (Rs 135.18 million) to Rs 15,234.71 million, led by the aforesaid retirement of maturing FVMP debt of GoSL’s.

Shares recover

Uncertainty clouds T Bill auction

By ishara GaMaGe

Sri Lanka’s political developments can disrupt the country’s fiscal and economic policymaking and hinder the government’s ability to pursue its reform agenda at the pace it projects; Moody’s investor services stated in its latest Sri Lanka country report. According to their assessment, quality of legislative and executive institutions takes into account Sri Lanka’s capable institutions, but challenges its policy implementation.

“In particular, policy measures to maintain financial and economic stability in responses to shocks have at times been limited. Moreover, politically contentious reforms have sometimes been delayed,” it stated.

Moody’s added, “Following Presidential Elections in late 2019, incoming President Gotabaya Rajapaska presented the country’s National Policy Framework, which includes 10 key policies to achieve four main goals: a productive citizenry, a contented family, a disciplined and just society and a prosperous nation. With the August 2020 elections delivering the President’s party of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) 145 seats out of 225, we expect Parliament to remain generally supportive of the President’s policy goals. Over 2020-25, the government seeks to achieve an average economic growth rate of 6.5% or higher; per-capita income above $6,500, an unemployment rate less than 4%,

inflation not exceeding 5%, and a fiscal deficit of less than 4% of GDP.”

According to them key policy areas in the National Policy Framework relevant for Sri Lanka’s credit profile include strengthening State enterprise management, ensuring strategic ownership of economically important natural resources, and a macroeconomic policy framework that (i) incentivises domestic investment and reduces import expenditure, (ii) eliminates wasteful government spending and (iii) reduces the trade deficit and expands the export economy via promotion of more value-added industries.

Given challenges in the domestic business environment – evidenced by Sri Lanka’s ease of doing business ranking being basically unchanged at around 100 out of 190 countries over the last decade – Moody’s believe there are considerable hurdles to

achieving macroeconomic targets.Meanwhile, the report also

stated that Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BoI) reports that it has signed $1.5 billion in investment agreements in the first nine months of 2020, and expects the full-year number to reach $2.5 billion. Actual realised investment only amounts to $370 million, which includes a $250 million mixed development residential and shopping complex in Colombo.

“While timing considerations often lead to actual realised FDI inflows being lower, there continues to be interest in manufacturing zones established outside of Colombo and Gampaha, a city north of the capital, as well as in various IT parks and special economic zones established to support manufactured exports,” it stated.

The government is targeting overall FDI inflows of $5 billion in 2020.

“We believe this will be hard to achieve, even if the nominal target is pushed back multiple years, given weaker economic conditions, both domestically and globally among some of the main origins of FDI. Global travel restrictions are also a key factor behind what we expect to be a weaker year for FDI volumes,” Moody’s report stated.

The pipeline for Sri Lanka’s FDI includes two large refinery projects that were agreed upon in 2019. In October 2019, Sri Lanka’s BoI approved an investment proposal for a refinery and related projects at the Hambantota Port by Sugih Energy International; the company is planning a $24 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex that would process around 21 million tons of petrochemical material and around 420,000 barrels of oil per day once completed over the next five years.

(More on Page 13)

BoI’s US$5 billion FDI target is hard to achieve

Moody’s releases latest Sri Lanka report

Solid Political Environment Must for Economic Prosperity

By Paneetha aMeresekere

Sri Lanka must not build a wall around it, instead it must build bridges “from our country, to the region and beyond,” SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, speaking in Parliament recently, said.

“That is how we could build the national economy and achieve our overall objective of development,” he said.

“Nonetheless, that the Singapore Trade Agreement would take away jobs from our people and that Singaporeans will arrive by shiploads to take these jobs. What bunkum!, Mr. Speaker? But

that is the kind of conspiracy theory falsification that was spread across this nation. That is very unfortunate. Is this the profile of Sri Lanka that we want to project to the outside world?” the Opposition MP asked.

“Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down and disrupted the movement of goods and people. However, the reality is that the world has become globalised and it is a far stretch to imagine that the globalised nature of the world will be abandoned. Despite the disruption that has occurred as a result of this pandemic, and protectionist tendencies that one

sees, it will not be possible for countries to achieve levels of equitable prosperity and socio-economic development that people would desire by receding from the international stage and shutting down supply chains,” de Silva said.

The lessons the world has learnt through all this, if at all, are, “how much our destiny is bound together, how vulnerable we are as a species to pandemics and the effects of climate change, which require global solutions that makes working together, imperative,” he said.

“In closing, I would urge the

Government to move away from falsifications and conspiracy theories regarding international agreements. Whether it is with IMF in these difficult times, or with the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India or the free trade agreement (FTA) with China or the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) or the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with the US, please, let us debate facts and benefits that will ultimately help Sri Lanka achieve that elusive development of our country,” the Opposition MP said.

Politicians obtained illegal credit facilities

HNB secures US$ 60M for SMEs from

France’s PROPARCO

SL must build bridges, not walls – Harsha

Several politicians, during the good governance (Yahapalana regime), have obtained credit facilities from major State Banks and have deliberately neglected to make repayments, revealed the initial investigations, conducted by the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister to investigate the inconsistencies of State Banks and their related institutions during Yahapalana regime.

Besides, there are a considerable number of complaints over the illegal process followed to obtain credit facilities; attempting to influence every State Bank and get the approval for the credit facilities at their earliest despite following the usual process and even without mortgaging the properties to the relevant banks. Further, they have also been charged for trading properties of some Banks on their free will.

Over 200 complaints in this regard have been reported to the Committee by the Bank Trade Unions and public during the said period.

Inquiries in this connection have already commenced and the parties involved in the allegations

have also been summoned and statements recorded. This Committee comprising four persons has been formed to probe the irregularities and acts of the four major banks contrary to the objectives of the institutions and functional aspects of the Banking Act after January 8, 2015.

The Committee is to present legal, financial and administrative actions and recommendations to avoid such occurrences in the future. Further, the Committee is responsible to identify the guilty officials for these financial losses and to present recommendations for the banks to provide a better service to the public.

The report consisting of relevant recommendations is to be handed over to the Cabinet through the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. The Chairman of the Committee is former High Court Judge Sisira Rathnayake. Chartered Accountant Susantha de Silva, retired Additional Auditor General W. Premananda and also a representative from the Ministry of Finance are the other members of the Committee.

(AC)

During Yahapalana regime

• Over 200 cases reported so far• Negligence over repayments also reported

Hatton National Bank PLC recently announced a landmark agreement with PROPARCO, the private sector funding arm of the French Development Bank Agence Française de Développement (AFD), to secure US$ 60 million in funding.

“This is the second time HNB is partnering with PROPARCO since 2015. The agreement is a clear testimony for the confidence placed in HNB by International Financial Institutions especially within the context of the overhanging uncertainty on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this long-term funding HNB will be in a position to support the much aggrieved SME segment of our nation,” HNB Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles, stated.

“PROPARCO is pleased to once again partner with HNB. Our US$ 60 million credit line will help HNB to further support SMEs, especially in rural areas. This new operation reflects the ongoing commitment of PROPARCO to facilitate access to credit for job-creating SMEs”, said PROPARCO Head of Financial Institutions and Inclusion Guillaume Barberousse.

HNB Managing Director/CEOJonathan Alles

PROPARCO Head of Financial Institutions and Inclusion Guillaume Barberousse

B12 newsCeylon FT wednesday 28 OctOber 2020

Sri Lanka has been ranked 102nd on Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, for mobile Internet speeds and placed 94th on the index for fixed broadband speeds in the month of September.

In the mobile Internet speed department, the country has slipped one positions when compared to the previous month, with an average download speed of 19.95Mbps. On the fixed broadband speed front, Sri Lanka gained three spots with average download speeds of 31.42Mbps and has been ranked 94th.

In both these cases, Sri Lanka’s numbers are well below the global average Internet speeds, but neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Pakistan, and India, rank

lower in the mobile department.

Mobile Internet speedAccording to Ookla Speedtest Global

Index for September 2020, Sri Lanka’s average mobile download speed is 19.95Mbps – significantly lower than the global average of 35.26Mbps. India has witnessed a drop of one

point when compared to August’s figures and is now placed 102nd out of the total 138 countries.

The country’s average mobile upload speed is at 10.01 Mbps and latency is 26ms. The global average of mobile upload speed is 11.22Mbps and average latency is 42ms.

India has been ranked 131st on

Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index for mobile Internet speeds and placed 70th on the index for fixed broadband speeds in the month of September. Pakistan occupies the 116th place with 17.13Mbps, and Nepal holds the 117th position with 17.12Mbps. Bangladesh fared badly, however, and is ranked at 133 with 10.76Mbps

average mobile download speed.

Fixed broadband internet speed

When it comes to fixed line broadband Internet speeds, Sri Lanka is placed 94th out of 175 nations with an average download speed of 31.42Mbps. China takes up the 20th spot with 138.66Mbps, Bangladesh holds the 98th position with 29.85Mbps, Nepal ranks 113th with 22.36Mbps, and Pakistan is at 159th position with 10.10Mbps. The global average download speed is 85.73Mbps, upload speed is 45.74Mbps with latency of 21ms.

(IG)

Sri Lanka tops S Asia’s mobile Internet speeds

Ceylinco Life has posted a consolidated income of Rs 26 billion for the nine months ending 30 September 2020, achieving noteworthy top line growth of 14 per cent in a period of adverse conditions for business.

Gross Written Premium income for the period grew by 13.8 per cent to Rs 15.5 billion, while investment and other income increased by 14.3 per cent to Rs 10.8 billion, the Company reports.

Ceylinco Life transferred Rs 6.7 billion to its life fund for the period under review, enlarging the fund to Rs 103.6 billion as at 30 September 2020 and transferred Rs 2.9 billion to the shareholders’ fund in respect of the nine months, increasing the shareholder fund to Rs 35.8 billion at the end of the third quarter.

The Company said it paid Rs 9.1 billion in net claims and benefits to policyholders for the period, an increase of 12.8 per cent over the corresponding nine months of the previous year.

Ceylinco Life reported profit of Rs 5.29 billion before tax and Rs 4.18 billion after tax for the nine months, recording declines of 8.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively, on account

of a lower transfer of Rs 2.9 billion to shareholder profits as against Rs 3.3 billion for the first nine months of 2019.

“Our results reflect Ceylinco Life’s ability to maintain its momentum in terms of volumes even in difficult times, as well as the resilience of the Company’s investment strategies,” Ceylinco Life Managing Director/CEO Thushara Ranasinghe said. “A decline in profits was anticipated and factored in as a consequence of the need to make provisions for the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business. We remain confident that our business model will generate equitable returns for policyholders and shareholders alike, while expanding the footprint of life insurance in the market.”

Total assets of Ceylinco Life grew by Rs 27.5 billion or 20.7 per cent since 31 December 2019 to Rs 160.7 billion as at 30 September 2020, while the Company’s investment portfolio increased by Rs 27.4 billion or 23.5 per cent over the nine months to Rs 144.3 billion at the end of the third quarter of the year. The Company’s net assets value per share stood at Rs 716.08 as at 30th September 2020, up by Rs 86.23 or 13.6 per cent YoY.

Ceylinco Life’s 9-month income up 14%

PAT down 6.7%

SDB displayed a considerable rise on profits year-over-year, with year-to-date net profit equalling Rs 603 million by the end of the 3rd Quarter of 2020, as opposed to its performance of Rs 50.9 million for the same period in the previous year.

Despite the challenges to economic growth experienced, the bank almost met its profit target of Rs 628 million for the period ending September.

The profitability growth recorded was also complemented by a 15% year-over-year increase in SDBs total asset base, standing at Rs 123,600 million, at the end of September 2020.

The significance of their Quarter 3 financials have rendered more merit considering much of it ran alongside the COVID-19-affected stretch in the country, along with the MSME-majority shareholder portfolio they

maintain.The bank continued its heavy

focus on offering unique savings and wealth creation initiatives to its sizable MSME customer base, allowing for their continued well-being right through the pandemic-affected period.

As a large percentage of SDBs shareholder makeup is composed of the island’s significant rural and cooperative populations, all the profit earned goes right back to this vital segment in the national economy.

With SDB further cementing its standing as the market leader in the all-important MSME segment, while recording a profitability increase and a high growth rate, the bank is well-placed to finish the year on a high with an equally strong display in the final quarter of 2020.

SDB records strong Q3 2020 performance

Set to end year on a high

The third China International Import Expo (CIIE) is an ideal opportunity for Sri Lankan exporters to tap China’s vast consumer market, a Sri Lankan official has said.

Anoma Premathilake, Director of Market Development at Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board (EDB), told Xinhua in a recent interview that Sri Lankan exporters have been participating in the CIIE since it started in 2018 and found it an ideal venue to engage with Chinese consumers.

“We are very happy that the Chinese Government has

organised this type of import expo, and we look forward to continuing participating in this event as Sri Lankan companies have achieved good results there,” she said.

The process for joining the CIIE has consistently been smooth and methodical due to digitisation. The EDB is assisting small- and medium-sized enterprises which are faced with difficulties due to language barriers and lack of access to online platforms, the official said.

Though a total of 30 Sri Lankan exporters have registered for the CIIE this year, only seven

companies will participate in the exhibition through their local agents, due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Premathilake said.

The EDB has previously launched successful promotion activities in China and is currently focusing on marketing products, including apparel, fresh and processed food, as well as wood and wooden products, Premathilake said.

“Sri Lanka is primarily sending commodities to China, but in the long-run we hope to export more value-added products,” she said.

(Xinhua)

CIIE ideal opportunity for Sri Lankan exporters – EDB official

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has issued a guideline in relation to the submission of the Transfer Pricing Disclosure Form (TPDF) for the tax year 2019/20.

The guideline issued sets out the method of filling the disclosure form along with the relevant criteria to determine the extent of information to be disclosed by each Tax Payer.

The key changes in the guideline compared to the previous one are:

TPDF is required to be filed by an entity, only if the aggregate value of all international and specified domestic transactions of an entity exceeds Rs 200 million.

The arm’s length range to be considered to justify arm’s length nature of a price, would be the 25th and 75th percentile of the comparable data.

A TPDF, which is the means whereby taxpayers subject to the transfer pricing rules in Sri Lanka, as specified by Sections 76 and 77 of the Inland Revenue Act, No. 24 of 2017 (hereinafter referred to as, IRA) and the Transfer Pricing Regulations 01 of 2018, provides the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue with certain information regarding the transactions carried out with associated enterprises (control transactions) during the year of assessment. (IG)

IRD announces guidelines

Submitting Transfer Pricing Disclosure Form Dialog Axiata’s

Genie partners with WEBXPAYPowered by Dialog Axiata PLC, the PCI-DSS-certified

payment app Genie has partnered with WEBXPAY to further scale their reach to over 1,400 merchants through a simple and secure payment checkout.

Dialog Axiata has been in the forefront of Fintech products since 2012, and Genie has seen their efforts reach new heights in financial inclusivity. Genie has won two gold awards for ‘Most Popular Electronic Payment Product (Fintech)’ and ‘Best Mobile Application for Retailer Payments’ at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2019 and two awards for ‘Best Disruptor’ and ‘Best Start-up Product’ at the SLASSCOM Innovation Awards 2019.

WEBXPAY was established by a small group of developers which, in a span of 4 years, has grown to cater to over 1,400 clients. They attribute their success to working in synergy with other companies, ensuring that they get the most out of the e-Commerce solution they provide via their Internet Payment Gateway (IPG).

As a result of this partnership, end users will have to simply sign in and pay instead of entering their card details at every checkout, giving them a simple, secure and quick payment checkout experience. Whilst browsing through the desktop, customers will have a revolutionary scan and pay experience as they merely have to authenticate via their smartphone in order to authorise the payment.

The Publicis Groupe announces Publicis INQB8, signalling a shift in the start-up ecosystem of Sri Lanka. This project opens up the possibilities for start-up partnerships beyond the typical venture capitalist portfolio.

The purpose behind Publicis INQB8 is to arm founders with the expertise they need to brand, position and market their innovations – a function as essential as the innovation itself. Publicis Groupe’s Chief Strategy Officer Murtaza A. Tajbhoy, who is spearheading this project, calls Publicis INQB8 “an initiative that falls within the ambit of our expertise and enables us to demonstrate the Publicis Groupe’s unique approach to data, tech and creativity.” On top of this, Publicis INQB8 is offering these services free of charge to start-ups. Murtaza works closely with Associate Vice President and Business Lead of Digitas Sri Lanka, Kabeer Rafaideen on this project.

Publicis INQB8 aims to bring the focus onto the fundamental core of

both start-up and agency culture, ideas. Founders will gain access to tools such as research and insights, strategy, customer journey mapping, UX/CX/UI, creative thinking and most importantly, international network expertise.

Publicis INQB8 will partner entrepreneurs with specialists from disciplines of strategy, design, writing, digital communications, and more, and encourage collaboration

between the inherently similar agency and start-up cultures. Additionally, founders will have the opportunity to connect with clients and an extensive network.

At the crossroads of one of the most promising moments in the local start-up landscape and an uncertain global economic outlook, this project hopes to inspire founders towards impactful creative solutions. From subscription business models to social enterprises, all start-ups can benefit from an airtight pitch, unique positioning and distinct tone of voice – with Publicis INQB8, they can access this advantage for free. The true distinction of Publicis INQB8 from other start-up accelerators is the value addition at every stage of the process, from pitch to IPO. With mentorship and guidance, positioning workshops, proprietary creative frameworks and so much more, Publicis INQB8 enables start-ups and founders to bring their ideas to life with creativity.

Publicis INQB8 brings int’l expertise to local startups

Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe - Murtaza A. Tajbhoy

Chairman R. Renganathan and Managing Director CEO Thushara Ranasinghe

Economy B13cEylon FT wednesday 28 OCTOBeR 2020

The US-based Moody’s Investors Services released its latest Economic Analysis Report on Sri Lanka on 26 October

The following are two excerpts from the report:

Overview and outlook

The credit profile of Sri Lanka reflects ongoing government liquidity and external risks, which will be exacerbated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Key credit challenges include large borrowing requirements with high reliance on external funding and low foreign exchange reserve coverage of forthcoming economy-wide external debt maturities, all set against the government’s very fragile fiscal position.

A volatile domestic political environment can also heighten refinancing risks. Moderate income levels and stronger institutions compared with many peers mitigate these challenges.

The stable outlook denotes balanced credit risks at the Caa1 rating level. On the downside, Sri Lanka’s very large and recurring financing needs over the near to medium-term could put more pressure on the sovereign’s external and liquidity position than we currently expect. On the upside, Sri Lanka’s rating is supported by the country’s relatively high per-capita income and modest economic competitiveness, which provide some prospects for growth to recover robustly. Moderate institutions and governance strength also provides some support compared with similarly rated peers.

We would upgrade Sri Lanka’s rating if financing risks diminished materially and durably. This could stem from the government delivering a credible and secure medium-term financing strategy that maintained a manageable cost of debt and a faster, more sustained buildup in non-debt-creating foreign exchange inflows.

Additionally, implementation of fiscal consolidation measures, particularly greater revenue mobilisation, that pointed to a material narrowing of fiscal deficits in the next few years and contributed to lower annual borrowing needs, would be positive for Sri Lanka’s rating.

We would be likely to downgrade the rating if external and domestic financing conditions deteriorated to a greater extent than our baseline expectations, contributing to higher repayment stress more consistent with a lower rating.

Additionally, should the probability that Sri Lanka’s government debt will continue to rise markedly beyond our baseline expectations increase, with a related further deterioration in debt affordability, this could also result in a downgrade of the rating.

This credit analysis elaborates on Sri Lanka’s credit profile in terms of economic strength,

institutions, governance strength, fiscal strength and susceptibility to event risk, which are the four main analytic factors in our Sovereign Ratings Methodology.

External Sector Risks

We (Moody’s) estimate that government gross borrowing requirements, incorporating projections on fiscal deficits and maturing government debt repayments, will reach about 24% of GDP in 2020 and remain elevated above 20% of GDP through 2022.

While large external debt repayments are a key source of liquidity pressure, a significant portion of annual gross borrowing needs are to roll over the large stock of domestic treasury bills. Short-term debt has increased to around 24% of overall domestic debt and 13% of total outstanding government debt as of June 2020. We estimate domestic debt repayments will average around 16% of GDP over 2020-22.

On the external side, Sri Lanka’s gross external financing needs are large, mostly reflecting maturing government debt repayments (international bonds, bilateral and multilateral loans and concessional debt).

The government’s external debt servicing payments will be about US$4 billion-US$4.5 billion annually over 2020-25, or around US$25.8 billion in

total. This includes upcoming international sovereign bond payments of US$1 billion in July 2021, US$500 million in January 2022 and US$1 billion in July 2022. The CBSL settled October 2020’s US$1billion maturity on the government’s behalf, with the central bank conducting OMOs to maintain surplus liquidity and increasing holdings of government debt to prevent a spike in overnight money market rates.

Total external debt servicing obligations do not account for any further external financing of the budget deficit in coming years. Dollar international sovereign bonds account for US$8.4 billion, or about 30%, of all maturing external government debt service payments over 2020-25 (see Graph 1).

At these levels, Sri Lanka’s bond maturities are among the highest of rated frontier market sovereigns as a proportion of foreign exchange reserves. The low reserves highlight the government’s significant exposure to refinancing risk. The government has sought multilateral and bilateral sources for external financing that will help to cover imminent repayments.

We expect that the authorities will increasingly tap domestic financing, particularly given our forecast for wider fiscal deficits in the coming years. However, refinancing external debt domestically would further pressure reserves and

potentially stoke tighter liquidity conditions, resulting in greater local currency depreciation. Moreover, domestic debt has come at higher cost and shorter maturities than external debt, particularly when the latter is contracted on more concessional terms.

Since the beginning of the year, the government has sourced some financing from non-market sources, including lending and swap facilities. In March, the government secured a syndicated loan of US$1.2 billion from China Development Bank (A1 stable) while in July, Sri Lanka finalised a US$ 400 million currency swap with the Reserve Bank of India.

We expect negotiations for further assistance, whether through liquidity relief on bilateral debt payments or further lending, to complement these two facilities. Nevertheless, delays in securing additional funding from multilateral and bilateral creditors, in addition to the IMF’s Rapid Financing Facility, mean that the financing sources for repayments in the next few years are not secured and risk coming at a high cost. In addition, while the currency swap facilities do temporarily boost foreign exchange reserves, they are time-bound and represent a liability to the monetary authority. They do not meaningfully increase foreign exchange reserves as do non-debt-creating inflows,

such as export receipts or foreign investment, either portfolio or direct.

External vulnerability risk: b

We assess external vulnerability risk at ‘b,’ driven by external payments due over the next year that are materially higher than foreign exchange reserves. Persistently low reserve adequacy denotes Sri Lanka’s high vulnerability to sudden shifts in investor sentiment.

Other sovereigns with a ‘b’ external vulnerability risk score include Bahrain, Belarus and Mongolia (B3 negative). Sri Lanka’s current account deficit narrowed to 2.2% of GDP in 2019 from 3.2% in 2018, primarily because of a contraction in the goods deficit on very weak import growth as the economy remained sluggish following the April 2019 terrorist attack and amid pre-election uncertainty.

We project the current account deficit to widen modestly in 2020 to 2.6% of GDP before returning to closer to 3% of GDP in 2021-22, and to be only partially financed by FDI inflows (see Graphs 32 and 33), which we expect to remain subdued through 2021.

During the first half of 2020, Sri Lanka’s current account deficit was just US$793 million (around 0.9% of 2019 GDP), reflective of weak demand for both exports and imports, the latter of which contracted by a more significant degree because of regulatory measures and the imposition of a domestic lockdown in the second quarter.

Our forecast takes into account substantial import compression, and smaller foreign exchange inflows on weaker garment and textile exports, tourism activity, and remittances from overseas from Sri Lankan workers in oil-producing nations. We forecast foreign exchange reserves to end 2020 and 2021 at around US$6 billion, approximately level with the last two years.

We do not expect the quality of reserves to improve; the percentage of foreign exchange reserves from international swap liabilities has increased as a result of the US$400 million RBI swap and may further increase should that existing line be expanded, or other foreign currency swap lines with bilateral partners be engaged. Ongoing net purchases of foreign exchange from the market through 2020 will offset continued weakness in non-debt-creating foreign exchange inflows.

Despite our expectations of no significant changes in the level and quality of foreign exchange reserves, persistently low reserve adequacy denotes vulnerability to a shift in foreign financing conditions. We estimate that Sri Lanka’s External Vulnerability Indicator (EVI), the ratio of external debt payments due over the next year to foreign exchange reserves, will continue to hover around 200% over the next few years.

Annual Credit Analysis by Moody’s Investor Services

SL External Debt Servicing for 2020-25 US$25.8B

we (Moody’s) estimate that government

gross borrowing requirements, incorporating projections on fiscal deficits and maturing

government debt repayments, will reach about 24% of GdP in 2020

and remain elevated above 20% of GdP

through 2022

BankingB14 Ceylon FT Wednesday 28 october 2020

Continuing its focus on entrepreneurial and economic development islandwide, BOC has led the way in CBSL’s ‘Saubagya COVID-19 Working Capital Loan scheme, by being set to single handedly disburse Rs 42.8 billion of the allocated total of Rs 150 billion by CBSL.

A sum of Rs 34.6 billion has already been fully disbursed by the bank, which is almost to 83% of the total number of loans BOC has successfully registered with CBSL.

The program officially termed the ‘Saubagya COVID-19 Renaissance Facility’ was launched by CBSL to revive businesses adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, so as to mitigate the negative effects on living conditions countrywide and the national economy. Introduced in 3 phases, the 4% interest working capital loans offered through the program have helped businesses continue operations and support their employees, while contributing to the

country’s economic revival. Participating financial institutions

such as BOC maintained full adherence with the strict loan eligibility and application criteria set out by the Regional Development Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. From loan assessment and vetting to forwarding, BOC’s stringent internal approval procedures fully complemented CBSL’s loan scrutinisation process, ensuring as large a number of loans as possible received CBSL approval.

The working capital loans offered have allowed businesses of all sizes and across all industries, to continue operations unimpeded. A sizable 58% of the loans disbursed by BOC as part of the program have been in the SME Service sector, with a further 33% in the Agriculture sector. This highlights the critical nature of the ‘Saubagya Working Capital Loan Scheme’ to small and rural enterprises island -wide and in the revival of key sectors of the national economy.

As one of the few banks to receive accreditation for LANKA QR Transaction Types 1, 2, 3 and 4 both as acquirers and issuers from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), NSB is well equipped to lend credence to QR Code banking in the industry. To this end, within a short period of a fortnight from launch NSB has on boarded upwards of 1,800 merchants indicating the popularity of QR Code banking amongst its customers.

In addition, given a branch and postal network exceeding 4,000 points islandswide, NSB is in a unique position to enable even the smallest self-employed goods or services provider to embrace QR Code based banking and thereby incorporating a hitherto neglected segment to traditional banking.

Now NSB accountholders can venture out on their own no matter how small they are and yet be afforded financial inclusion

using QR Code banking offered by the leader in savings. Thus, with QR Code based banking, dawns a new era of banking facilities especially for the informal sector of the economy to become formalised.

At this time when challenges in the form of the Global Corona Virus has sounded the death knell to many an establishment virtually grounding transaction to zero and thereby leading to severe losses to those enterprises, QR Code banking is ever more relevant doing away with the need for traditional cash-based transactions. This is a testament to the versatility of QR Code banking and the more reason why all people should embrace it.

QR Code banking heralds the future of cash less and digitalised Sri Lankan economy on the global stage and NSB the safest place for your money, is at the very forefront spearheading it.

‘Saubagya COVID-19 Working Capital Loan Scheme’

BoC distributes Rs 42.8B

NSB enables a cashless society with Lanka QR

UPay Millionaire Season 1 Winner’s Coronation

A gamified contest themed ‘7 Days to Win a MILLION’, UPay Millionaire was successfully concluded last week. The lucky winner Sarunthika Subramaniam from Wattala bagged the top prize, while another five lucky winners received cash prices. They were Abishek K from Kandy, Ajith Sinhalage from Gampaha, Damitha Lanka from Hokandara,

Dilum Prabath from Kottawa and Madu Sandaruwan from Galle.

Thilak Piyadigama, CEO of SDB, handed over the cheque to the top prize winner.

UPay Millionaire is one of the first gamified contests in Sri Lanka’s fintech industry and mobile payment app landscape. The contest drew nearly 2000

participants for its 1st season itself. They actively engaged and participated in all the daily missions to reach the grand prize of One Million Rupees.This is only the ending of Season 1 and there are plans in the making to produce even more winners in subsequent seasons, through this unique interactive contest.

UPay Millionaire Season 1 winners with the UPay Team and SDB Officials

Son Heung-min’s prolific start to the season continued with his 76th minute header giving Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at winless Burnley in the Premier League on Monday and moving Jose Mourinho’s side up to fifth.

The South Korean was left unmarked at the back post to nod home his eighth league goal of the season after Harry Kane had flicked on an Erik Lamela corner to give Mourinho’s side a third win in six games.

Kane had saved Spurs minutes earlier with a fine piece of defending as he cleared a goal-bound James Tarkowski header off the line.

Although Spurs always looked more comfortable on the ball it was Sean Dyche’s side, who have just a point from their opening five games, who had come the closest.

Ashley Barnes had a 20th minute drive ruled out for offside and then Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris got down well to stop a low drive from Ashley Westwood.

Son is now the top scorer in the Premier League and Kane is becoming a leading creator with the assist, his eighth of the campaign so far.

Mourinho’s approach of asking Kane to play in a deeper role, often operating just behind Son and Lucas Moura, has produced the most potent attack in the league with 16 goals in six games.

“It is great. We need everyone to be scoring and assisting at the top end of the pitch. Me and Sonny have had a nice little partnership going recently and hopefully it continues,” said Kane.

“Even today it was not an amazing assist but it fell well for Sonny and 1-0 away to

Burnley is a fantastic result,” he added.

Kane said the win, at a venue where they failed to win in the past two seasons, was a sign of real progress for Tottenham.

“It was a massive game today; it is not an easy place to come. It is going to be a tough game, a big battle and these are the games you need three points if you are going to

be up there at the end of the season. Massive fight from the lads,” he said.

Burnley look set for a long season, but Dyche saw some encouraging signs in their display.

“It was a very good performance, very thorough performance. There has to be belief in what we are doing and the last two games in particular we have gone back

to being what we can be like. We got done a little bit by a soft goal tonight, but we quelled a lot of good attacks tonight,” he said.

“Tough start to the season in all different ways. I thought the last two games it is beginning to show things coming back together. We have to keep that going.”

(Reuters)

Anuka Pradeeptha Jayasinghe, skipper of Sri Sumangala College Panadura, showed his bowling abilities in the ‘Singer Trophy’ Under-19 Division Two inter Schools Cricket (Two-day) tournament 2019/20 season conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association.

The left arm leg spinner and right hand bat, who is a fourth year coloursman, captured 82 wickets with five 5-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul.

Anuka commenced his career at the Sri Sumangala College cricket academy under Harsha Srinath in 2008. He represented the school under-13 team from 2010 to 2014 under Thilak Fernando, Jayathu Nilaweera, Kelum Rathnaweera and Harsha Srinath. He represented the under-15 team in 2015 and 2016 under Harsha Srinath. He represented Kalutara District under-15 team in the Prima Champions Trophy Inter District Tournament conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket in 2015 and 2016.

He represented the school under 17 team under Thilak Fernando and Harsha Srinath in 2016 and 2017. He represented the college first XI cricket team as a fresher in the 2016/2017 season under Thilak Fernando. He claimed 55 wickets with seven 5-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls in 12 innings that season. He captured 70 wickets with seven 5-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls in 18 innings during the 2017/2018 season.

He represented the college first XI cricket team during the 2018/2019 season under Manoj Chanaka and his assistant Deshan Fernando. He claimed 74 wickets with five 5-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls in 20

innings. Fresher Anuka claimed a match

bag of 14 wickets for 100 runs and established a new bowling record in big match history against Moratu Vidyalaya in 2017. He captured 35 wickets for 334 runs in 4 big matches.

Sri Sumangala recorded nine outright wins in the season and advanced to the pre-quarter-final of the two-day knockout tournament as group ‘B’ champions in the first round under Anuka Jayasinghe, but lost to Holy Cross Kalutara in the PQF. Sri Sumangala advanced to the quarter-final of the Division Two Limited Over tournament, but SLSCA postponed all matches due to the prevailing health concerns (COVID-19) until further notice (from 15 March).

(IR)

Mandeep Singh and Chris Gayle notched up a half-century each to guide Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to a crucial eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 46 of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Chasing a par total of 150 runs to win, skipper-cum opener KL Rahul (28) and Mandeep Singh provided a decent start to the Punjab-based franchise by stitching a 47-run stand for the opening wicket before the former was out lbw to Varun Chakravarthy in the eighth over.

Mandeep Singh then joined forces with Chris Gayle and the duo not only smashed a fifty each but also shared a 100-run stand for the second wicket to help KXIP cross the mark in 18.5 overs.

While Gayle departed for 29-ball 51 runs after being caught by Prasidh Krishna on a Lockie Ferguson delivery, Mandeep remained unbeaten at the crease at 56-ball 61 runs.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab with figures of three for 35, while Chris Jordan and Ravi Bishnoi

bagged two wickets each as Knight Riders were restricted to a score of 149 for nine in their stipulated 20 overs.

Besides these three KXIP players, Glenn Maxwell and Murugan Ashwin also chipped in with a wicket each.

Opener Shubman Gill hammered a crucial 57-run knock off 45 deliveries for KKR. Skipper Eoin Morgan was the only other batsman for Knight Riders besides Gill to have managed to make a notable contribution with 25-ball 40.

Gayle was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for his impressive performance with the bat.

With the win, Kings XI Punjab have now grabbed the fourth spot in the IPL 2020 standings with six wins from 12 matches. KKR, on the other hand, have dropped to the fifth place with six victories as well.

The victory saw the KL Rahul-led side stay in the fray for a berth in IPL 2020 playoffs.

Brief Scores KKR: 149/9 (Gill 57, Morgan 40, Shami

3-35, Jordan 2-25, Bishnoi 2-20)KXIP: 150/2 (Rahul 28, Mandeep 66*,

Gayle 51) (Agencies)

Not securing the Bledisloe Cup before leaving New Zealand rankles with the All Blacks, fullback Beauden Barrett said on Tuesday, but it does offer the twice World Player of the Year the opportunity of breaking new ground in Australia.

The 29-year-old has won the Rugby World Cup, six Rugby Championships and seven Bledisloe Cups over his 84-test career, but has never before secured the trophy that symbolises trans-Tasman Sea rugby supremacy on Australian soil.

Barrett missed the first of this year’s four Bledisloe Cup tests – a 16-16 draw in Wellington – but returned with a sparkling display in Auckland as the All Blacks took a 1-0 series lead with a 27-7 victory nine days ago.

The All Blacks play two more tests against the improving Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday and Brisbane the following week as part of the Rugby Championship.

“Yes, of course it bothers us,” Barrett said of failing to sweep the home tests.

“But we can’t be too arrogant and assume we’re going to win every game at home. We do respect Australia and we are up for the challenge that is presented this weekend.

“We haven’t won the Bledisloe Cup on their soil for a long time and we’ve got the opportunity to do that. We’re pretty excited about that challenge.”

The All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup for the 17th straight season last year

despite a 47-26 thrashing at the hands of the Wallabies in the series opener in Perth after Barrett’s brother Scott was sent off. “It’s important to remember how you felt in the changing rooms or in the game during those moments and use that as fuel,” Barrett told reporters from the team’s camp in Sydney.

“It was a reality check, and essentially we don’t want it to happen again. That one just really showed their strengths when everything goes to plan and we don’t front up physically and emotionally.”

(Reuters)

Lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto says Australia will be ready for more niggle from the All Blacks in the third Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney on Saturday after the New Zealanders got in their faces at Eden Park.

A fired-up All Blacks side beat Australia 27-7 in the second match in Auckland, with hooker Dane Coles doing his best to ruffle the Wallabies’ feathers on his recall to the starting side.

Coles instigated an early confrontation with Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou at Eden Park and ran out of his way to give Salakaia-Loto a pat on the back after Aaron Smith scored the All Blacks’ first try.

Salakaia-Loto said he liked the niggle and that the Wallabies were well prepared for whatever came their way in Sydney.

“Wherever you play and whoever you play, you’re always going to have

players or come across packs who try to get under your skin,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“For us, we’ve faced that all year, especially when we play those derbies in Super Rugby.

“It’s good. It’s a fun part of the game and it’s a part of the game I reckon

should be encouraged because you get a few laughs and a few smiles out of it.”

Salakaia-Loto said he was not too close with any of the All Blacks but had shared a beer with Coles after the game. “It was pretty funny. I’m sure the boys will be looking forward to seeing them,” he added.

“I just remember Dane Coles running about 50 metres after they scored to pat me on the back. I found that pretty funny.

“I haven’t heard anything too funny (from him). I’m sure he’ll have a few lines up his sleeve this week.”

The Wallabies trail 1-0 in the four-test Bledisloe Cup, the annual series contested between the trans-Tasman nations, after holding the All Blacks 16-16 in the Wellington opener.

Saturday doubles as the first clash in the Rugby Championship, which also includes Argentina.

(Reuters)

SPORTS A15WEDNESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2020

PLAYER PROFILEName: Anuka Pradeeptha JayasingheSchool: Sri Sumangala College PanaduraBorn on: 2001.01.21Batting Style: Bowling Style: LALSM I NO Runs Ave 100’s 50’s14 26 02 - - - - O W R Ave BBI BBM 5W’s E 10W’s256 82 792 9.65 6/13 11/58 05 3.09 01BBI: 6/13 against Royal PanaduraBBM: 11/58 against Siri Piyarathana Padukka5W’s: 05 (Vs Siri Piyarathana Padukka 5/13 & 6/45, Vs St. Mary’s Kegalle 5/26, Vs Royal Panadura 6/13, Vs Sri Dharmaloka Kelaniya 5/27)

Fared this SeasonAgainst BowlingTholangamuwa Central 2/13Siri Piyarathana Padukka 5/13 & 6/45St. Mary’s Kegalle 4/36 & 5/26Royal Panadura 1/24 & 6/13Revatha Balapitiya 3/46 & 0/12Piliyandala Central 4/81 & 3/28Lyceum Wattala 2/17 & 1/33Bandaranayake Gampaha 3/30Holy Cross Kalutara 1/24 & 2/31Kalutara Vidyalaya 4/27 & 4/34Sri Dharmaloka Kelaniya 5/27 & 4/18Rahula Matara 2/40 & 1/30Holy Cross Kalutara (PQF) 4/46 & 3/30Moratu Vidyalaya (B/M) 4/23 & 3/45

10W’s: 01 (vs Siri Piyarathana Padukka 10/58)

Spurs beat Burnley to move fi fth

Burnley’s Chris Wood in action with Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld

Anuka, a consistent wicket taker

Barrett excited at chance to win Bledisloe Cup in

Australia

Beauden Barrett

Chris Gayle

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto

Gayle propels KXIP to 8-wicket victory

Wallabies lock welcomes more niggle before third Bledisloe test

Cricket-starved fans in Pakistan would ordinarily turn out in droves to cheer on their team, but the limited-overs series with Zimbabwe starting on Friday will be a subdued affair as the games take place behind closed-doors in a ‘bio-bubble’ designed to keep players separated from the public. Pakistan are already well-versed with COVID-19 protocols from their recent tour of England, but it will be something new for Zimbabwe to contend with during the three one-day internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 interna-tionals in Rawalpindi between 30 Oct. and 10 Nov. Anticipating that health measures – including quar-antines and weekly testing – will become standard for future tours, Zimbabwe’s head coach Lalchand Rajput wants his players to embrace cricket’s new paradigm.

“We’ve got to get used to it,” the Indian national told Reuters from Harare, opting not to tour Pakistan after a diplomatic request from the local Indian embassy.

“It will make it easi-er when we play the next team – easier because of the

experience.”As participants in the

International Cricket Council’s new qualification competition for the next 50-Over World Cup in 2023, both teams will be playing for their first Super League points during the ODI matches.

Rajput believes that makes now the right time to bring young play-ers into his aging squad.

“We are going to try and push some youngsters into the team,” he said, describing how valuable it is for rookie batsmen Wesley Madhevere and Milton Shumba, both 20, to share the dressing

room with seasoned veterans such as Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza.

“Hopefully the youth take the opportunity and grab the match experience – how to prepare, how to go about the game.”

Zimbabwe are boosted by the return of paceman Blessing Muzarabani after a two-year stint with English county Northamptonshire – but a vast chasm still separates the sides, with Pakistan winning the last eight encounters. The hosts will look to captain Babar Azam, a top-three ranked batsman in both white-ball formats, to assert him-self, while left-arm spinner Imad Wasim will fancy his chances against an opposition who have historically struggled on turning Asian pitches.

“Seniors like Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed have not been picked for this series, but their careers are not over by any means,” said Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq. This series will be Pakistan’s eighth on home soil since a 2009 militant attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus prompted other touring sides to avoid the country.

(Reuters)

Published by Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Limited, 101, Rosmead Place, Colombo 7 and printed at its press at No. 302/1A, Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela.

sportsA16 wednesday 28 october 2020

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has called for tenders from Media organisations to procure Media and related activities for the tentatively rescheduled England tour of Sri Lanka, though ECB is yet to officially confirm the series.

England were in Sri Lanka to play a two-match Test series in March when it was abruptly called off due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the series has now been

rescheduled for January 2021. The said series is not part of the FTP signed with Sony. As SLC was not happy with Sony’s offer the Board has called for Expression of Interests for International Television, Radio, Digital, Gaming and Betting rights of the tour. Interested parties have been requested to submit their EOI before 2 November.

According to reports, Sony initially had valued the series at

$700K, but SLC is of the opinion they should get $1Mn per game (i.e. total of $2Mn). The difference in revenue has led to SLC now deciding to call for tenders. It is worth noting that the series is still not 100% confirmed, and recently the ECB spokesperson was quoted as saying they will have to see how Sri Lanka’s quarantine norms pan out, and only post that a call on the series will be taken. Recently, Bangladesh Cricket

Board also cancelled their tour to Sri Lanka for the same reason.

Meanwhile, as reported by Inside Sport earlier, SLC has already signed up with SPN for the Sri Lanka cricket Media rights for the next 3-year cycle. SLC again was not satisfied with the $22.3Mn offer by Sony for the 3-year cycle, but as they did not have any other alternative, they had accepted the offer.

(Agencies)

SLC Calls for Tenders for England Tour

South Africa will play England, Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan at home during the 2020-21 season and could also tour the latter for the first time in 14 years after announcing their season schedule on Tuesday.

Cricket South Africa last week announced a home limited overs series against England that will feature three One Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches from 27 Nov. to 9 Dec.

They will also welcome Sri Lanka for two Tests, in Pretoria (26-30 Dec) and Johannesburg (2-6 Jan), with both played on the Highveld to minimise travel for the teams. Australia will arrive for three Tests in February and March, with the exact dates and venues yet to be confirmed. It will be the first red ball series in South Africa for the

Australians since the ball-tampering scandal of 2018 over which captain Steve Smith and batsmen David Warner and Cameron Bancroft received lengthy bans.

Pakistan will play three ODIs and three T20s in South Africa in April, with the details of that trip still being worked out.

CSA have said they are also exploring the feasibility of touring Pakistan for the first time since 2007, which would likely be between the home Sri Lanka and Australia Test series.

A CSA delegation is scheduled to leave for Pakistan this weekend for a security assessment.

Zimbabwe are currently in Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20 international matches, with those games to get under way on Friday.

(Reuters)

South Africa to host Sri Lanka for

two Test series

India left out the injured duo of opener Rohit Sharma and quick Ishant Sharma from the Test and limited-overs squads for their upcoming tour of

Australia, but will continue to monitor their progress, the Cricket Board

said on Monday.

Ishant has been ruled out of the

remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates after suffering an abdominal muscle tear earlier in the tournament.

Rohit, who captains

defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Twenty20 competition, has also missed the last two IPL matches with a hamstring injury.

“The BCCI medical team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma,” Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.

Limited-overs stalwart Rohit has reinvented himself as a Test opener and his injury creates uncertainty around who would partner Mayank Agarwal at the top of the batting order in the four-Test series.

India have named Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill in the Test squad and one of them could land the role should Rohit fail to recover.

Uncapped quick Mohammed Siraj was also named in the 18-member Test squad, which contains two wicketkeepers in Wriddhiman Saha and

Rishabh Pant. Pant was omitted from limited-overs squads where Rahul was preferred.

Four additional bowlers – Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, Ishan Porel and T. Natarajan - will accompany the team on the tour.

India are scheduled to play four Test matches in December-January, preceded by three one-day internationals and as many Twenty20 matches, though the exact itinerary is yet to be finalised.

The Virat Kohli-led team, who recorded India’s first ever Test series victory in Australia last year, are scheduled to quarantine in Sydney next month.

Test squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper),

Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

T20I squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy

ODI squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

(Reuters)

Rohit, Ishant omitted from India’s tour squads

Rohit Sharma

Manchester United and France midfielder Paul Pogba says he will take legal action after ‘total fake’ reports said he was to quit international football.

Pogba, 27, was reported to be quitting the France national team over comments made by the country’s President, Emmanuel Macron, about Islam.

World Cup winner Pogba, who is Muslim, has 10 goals and 72 caps for France.

“Absolutely 100% unfounded news about me are going around, stating things I have never said or thought,” he said.

Writing on Instagram, he said he was “appalled, angry, shocked and frustrated” at some Media “using him to make total fake headlines” and “adding the French national team and my religion to the pot”.

He added: “I am against any and all forms of terror and violence. Unfortunately, some press people don’t act responsibly when writing the news, abusing their press freedom, not verifying if what they write/reproduce is true, creating a gossip chain without caring it affects people’s lives and my life.

“I am taking legal action against the publishers and spreaders of these 100% Fake News.”

(Agencies)

Pogba plans to sue over ‘fake’

retirement reports

Zimbabwe face bubble trouble against fancied Pakistan

Paul Pogba

Babar Azam

Former National Rugby Seven’s player and current Navy wing three quarter Dinusha Chathuranga has tested positive for COVID-19. A product of Isipathana College, Dinusha played a valiant role for his school as a centre. He also played a pivotal role for Navy during the last season scoring a few important tries for his team.

Navy rugby player tests positive for

COVID-19