News
JVP urges youth not to leave country, but to stay and fight
By Saman Indrajith
JVP has called on youth to join its campaign to make Sri Lanka a better place to live in.Addressing the JVP-led NPP’s electorate organisation at Ambalantota recently, party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the youth had to fight for their righst instead of leaving the country.
“It could be done. You should not live as second class citizens in other countries. Instead, you must make this country a liveable place. For that purpose we must launch a struggle to change this system.
Once this political culture is changed, this country could be taken up to the level on par with other developed nations. None of those countries in the developed world had rulers similar to the thieves that we had been putting up with for the past 74 years. We must get rid of them and work to save this nation,” Dissanayake said.
He said that system changes should be introduced to all sectors to make them assets rather than liabilities on people. “One such is the state sector that should be made more efficient. Over the years, politicians have used the state sector to provide employment to their supporters. Out of every Rs. 100 coming into the treasury, Rs. 58 is spent on salaries and pensions of State sector employees. Every election application is accepted to provide employment opportunities,” he said recalling the manner the SLPP asked its supporters to fill out application forms for jobs at the Hambantota Port during the election period.
The state sector institutions are not organisations existing to merely provide employment to supporters of a particular political party. “Take the University of Sri Jayewardenepura for example. Political party supporters have been provided employment in excess of the requirement for entry-level jobs. There are 600 academic staff members at the university while it has over 4000 non-academic staff. Another example is Colombo Harbour. Five buses leave Matara daily with workers bound for the Colombo harbour after they have been employed by a politician who was from Matara while he was the Ports Minister,” Dissanayake said.
As it has been seen during the recent protests and agitations, people are demanding a system change. “However, nothing has really changed as far as the Government is concerned. The Government was still following the same old policies and corruption was rampant as before. Therefore the government should be sent home as a precursor of all other changes,” Dissanayake said.
Latest News
Sun directly overhead Hatthikuchchi, Kalankuttiya, Halmillewa, Ipalogama, Palugaswewa and Habarana at about 12:11 noon. today [10]
On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05th to 14th of April in this year.
The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Hatthikuchchi, Kalankuttiya, Halmillewa, Ipalogama, Palugaswewa and Habarana at about 12:11 noon.
Signs are clear that the local government (LG) elections, originally scheduled for 06 May, will have to be held on a staggered basis, as nomination lists in respect of about 200 out of 339 LG institutions have been challenged before the Court of Appeal, according to sources.
Those who have filed cases in the Court of Appeal seek writs against holding the elections. The final date for filing cases is 21 April.
By yesterday only 113, out of 339 local government bodies, had been cleared for the 06 May elections, with no rejections of nomination lists, or objections, sources said. The nomination lists for 226 local government bodies have been rejected, and candidates on these rejected lists are entitled to file cases against the Election Commission (EC) until 21 April.
The Court of Appeal (CA) has ordered that some of the lists rejected by the Election Commission be accepted. However, the EC is planning to challenge all CA orders before the Supreme Court.
When contacted for comment, Director General of the Election Commission, Saman Sri Ratnayake, told The Island that all arrangements had been made to hold the elections on 06 May, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No. 16 of 2017.
“We will hold elections to the local government bodies for which there are no legal barriers, and this will depend on the final decision of the courts,” Ratnayake said, adding that elections to other local government bodies would be held on later dates.
By Saman Indrajith
Sri Lanka and Australia have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening defence ties and exploring new avenues for cooperation in areas such as maritime domain awareness (MDA), training exchanges and capacity-building initiatives.
A number of key matters of mutual interest, particularly in the area of defence and security cooperation were deliberated when the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Paul Stephens, paid a courtesy call on the Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General (retd.) Aruna Jayasekara at his office in Colombo on Tuesday (April 8).
The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere, reflecting the longstanding friendship and cooperation between Australia and Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The Deputy Minister has expressed his appreciation for Australia’s continued support in strengthening Sri Lanka’s maritime security and defence capabilities.
Highlighting a recent example of this collaboration, Major General Jayasekara acknowledged the significant contribution made by the Australian government through the donation of a state-of-the-art Shallow Water Multi-Beam Echo Sounder to the Sri Lanka Navy Hydrographic Service (SLNHS). He noted that this advanced equipment has brought a transformative enhancement to Sri Lanka’s capacity for surveying harbours, coastal areas and strategic waterways, thereby contributing to both national security and regional maritime stability, the statement added.
Sun directly overhead Hatthikuchchi, Kalankuttiya, Halmillewa, Ipalogama, Palugaswewa and Habarana at about 12:11 noon. today [10]
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