News
GL wants universities to admit more students
Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has pointed out the failure on the part of the university system to accommodate a large number of students though they qualified with the required marks for university entrance.
Revealing that he is planning to increase the university intake, Prof. Peiris has drawn the attention of the academics to the mismatch between university curricula and the requirements of employers for suitable employment in the job market.
One-time Foreign Minister said so when the Alumni Association of the University of Colombo felicitated their former Vice Chancellor and an illustrious alumnus at a function held at the Senate Hall of the University of Colombo. The event was attended by Vice Chancellors, Deans, Academics and Alumnus.
President of the Alumni Association Rajeev Amarasuriya in his welcome address said “As an admired academic and university administrator, we can confidently say that there is no better person to be given the portfolio of the Minister of Education, and during your term of office we look forward to many revolutionary changes in our education system, which has much room for improvement.”.
He also mentioned the support extended by Prof. Peiris to the Association and said “when we were formulating the plan for the Swimming Pool Complex for the University of Colombo, Prof. Peiris was someone with whom, very early on I shared the plans, and we look forward to your support in seeing this project to completion before long”. He also thanked his wife, Mrs. Savithri Peries for her presence and said she has been the silent strength behind his success.
Addressing the gathering the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Senior Professor Chandrika Wijeyaratne congratulated Prof. Peiris on his appointment and wished him all the best in the important national task of reforming the Educational Sector which has been entrusted to him. She reiterated that the University of Colombo has been ranked No 1 among all universities in the country as a result of strategic planning targeted at sustainable development goals, extensive research and development work that was carried out by the University with emphasis on value addition, hosting the AUA Youth Forum in 2019, participating in International webinars, and becoming the best performing university after the COVID 19 shut down.
Mr. Thilak Karunaratne, former President of the Alumni Association traced the milestones of Prof. Peiris’ outstanding education and academic achievements and his political journey. He referred to some fond memories and anecdotes about his school days.
Prof G L Peiris was formally introduced by Prof. Indira Nanayakkara Dean of the Faculty of Law.
He said that he was very happy to be back in the University of Colombo which is very familiar territory to him, having been in the University of Colombo for 26 years in different capacities, and ending up as its Vice Chancellor.
Prof. G.L. Peiris said that each of the 13 universities must focus on a unique and a different way to be identified for their strengths and capacity. Each University should be seen as different from the other. He raised the concern that the university system is unable to accommodate a large number of students although they qualify with the required marks for university entrance and therefore he has plans to increase the intake to the Universities. He drew attention to the mismatch in university curricula as against the requirements of employers for suitable employment in the job market. He said that Private Sector employers have said that there are many vacancies for employment in the Private Sector but they are unable to find candidates to fill these vacancies. The Minister said that undergraduates need to be taught Information Technology before they graduate from the University and also made competent to work in English if they are to obtain gainful employment.
Prof. G L Peiris in his address referred to the contribution made by Past President of the Alumni Association the late Mrs. Sujata Jayawardena by building a Hostel to accommodate Women Undergraduates at Buller’s Lane since at that time the University had rented 32 individual houses to accommodate these students.
The event concluded with the vote of thanks delivered by the Vice President of the Association Ms. Suranjani Wickramaratne.
COPF final report on USD 2.5 mn cyber fraud recommends action against all responsible
The US$2.5 million loss incurred during Sri Lanka’s foreign debt repayment to Australia was a clear case of a cybercrime and theft, Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva told Parliament yesterday.
Presenting the COPF final report on the cyber fraud, Dr. de Silva said the incident amounted to a serious financial crime and called for a comprehensive investigation, by law enforcement authorities, to identify and prosecute all those responsible.
The report revealed serious governance, procedural and operational failures that enabled the fraudulent transfer of public funds, while recommending sweeping reforms to strengthen cybersecurity, financial controls and public debt management systems.
According to the report, officials of the Treasury and the Central Bank bore responsibility for governance lapses that contributed to the failures. It also highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Finance was operating an outdated Microsoft Exchange Server after security support had ended, while basic safeguards, such as multi-factor authentication, had not been implemented.
The COPF said suspicious payment instructions linked to debt repayments involving India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium had also been detected, preventing further losses. However, the US$ 2.5 million fraud materialised only in the repayment transaction involving Australia.
The report has noted that officials had failed to verify lender email domains, relied on unverified email communications and lacked adequate internal controls, allowing the fraud to continue for months.
Although the investigation uncovered system-wide weaknesses across several institutions, only four mid-level Finance Ministry officials had been suspended so far, the report said.
The COPF has recommended a special audit of the foreign debt repayment process, strengthened cybersecurity measures across state institutions, updated financial regulations and improvements to public debt management systems.
by Saman Indrajith
News
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, together with Opposition MPs, yesterday signed a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) in Parliament against Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.The move comes in response to the unrest at the Negombo Prison, where both prison officers and inmates were killed.
Opposition members said the Minister had failed to fulfill his responsibility and accountability regarding their safety.According to the Opposition group, the NCM seeks to hold the Minister directly accountable for lapses in ensuring protection within the prison system.
The Attorney General yesterday informed the Supreme Court that the government has decided to review the legality of agreements entered into by the previous administration to hand over the country’s electronic visa issuance operations to private companies.
Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena, appearing for the Attorney General, made the submission when the Supreme Court took up the fundamental rights petitions filed by former MPs President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran, Patali Champika Ranawaka, and Rauff Hakeem, challenging the previous Cabinet’s decision to outsource the e-visa system.
The petitions were heard before a three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
The Additional Solicitor General informed court that the current Cabinet had appointed a subcommittee to examine the legality of the agreements with the private companies and requested time to report on its findings, stating that the review was still underway.
President’s Counsel Sumanthiran, appearing as one of the petitioners, told the court that although the present government had indicated its intention to cancel the transaction, the petitioners wished to proceed with the case.
He noted that members of the current Cabinet had been named as respondents in the petitions.The Supreme Court directed the petitioners to issue notice on the members of the current Cabinet, named as respondents, and fixed September 29 for further proceedings.
History takes centre stage as Mandhana, Harmanpreet fifties steer India
Spain leave it late to book semifinal date with France
Showers will occur in the Sabaragamuwa, Western and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
US$ 2.5 mn cyber heist exposes system failures
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
AG informs SC of e-visa agreement review
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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