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Prez champions digital infrastructure for Lanka’s economic renaissance

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President Ranil Wickremesinghe with Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha The High Commissioner said that India working with Sri Lanka to rool out the Uunique Digital Identity (UDI) project based on modular micro service based architecture aka MOSIP architecture

By Harischandra Gunaratna

President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently delivering the keynote address at the Digital Public Infrastructure Conference organized by the Indian High Commission in Colombo at the Taj Samudra Hotel, underscored the importance of digital infrastructure in modernizing agriculture, addressing multi-dimensional poverty and reforming the education system.

Wickremesinghe characterized the country’s economy as a ‘patchwork economy’ calling it a symphony of desperate elements stitched together.

Acknowledging the importance of digitization, the President highlighted the significance of discussions on the digital public economy whilst outlining the government’s plans to establish a new institutional framework to facilitate this transition, moving away from the existing structures such as IT Councils and focusing on creating a Digital Transformation Agency and AI Centre, allocated with a budget of one billion rupees. He said the agency would be building a robust economy, departing from the previous approaches which failed to yield the desired results.

The President expressed gratitude to the Indian government for its support, in advancing Sri Lanka’s digital economy, highlighting plants to collaborate with Indian institutions and leverage their expertise, particularly establishing a campus of the Chennai Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) and additionally planning to launch three universities, two of which will focus on technology.

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha in his welcome address said India’s own journey stands as testimony to the power of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). The digital transformation in India over the last decade or so has been driven by these inter operable and open protocols of DPI.

The High Commissioner said that India’s DPI journey started with the basic need to provide direct access to public services and Government benefits to its citizen.

“This what gave birth to India’s Digital Identity Number AADHAAR- and the Unique Identification Authority of India in 2016. This became the foundational building block of DPI and the magic began.

At the heart of this magic is what we call India Stack: – government-backed APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, upon which third parties can build software with access to government IDs, payment networks and data Jha said.

This digital infrastructure in inter operable and “stacked together – meaning that private private companies can build apps integrated with state services to provide consumers with seamless access to everything from welfare payments to loan applications and making investments, the High Commissioner stressed.

“Probably even the architects of of AADHAAR didn’t envisage that India was on path to finding a world-beating solution for building out and regulating the online commons that is more equitable than laissez-fare approach, more transparent and more innovative than some of the regulation-heavy models.” he said.



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Heat index, is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, Eastern and North-central provinces and Monaragala and Hambantota districts

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Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. 29 April 2025, valid for 30 April 2025

The general public are warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, Eastern and North-central provinces and Monaragala and Hambantota districts

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED

Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

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AKD’s fourth state visit

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will undertake a four-day state visit to Vietnam on 03 May, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said. Since the presidential election, President Dissanayake has so far visited India, China and the UAE.

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Sri Lanka-Pakistan bilateral defence dialogue strengthens strategic ties – MoD

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AVM Thuyacontha shaking hands with Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif (pic courtesy MoD)

The 5th annual Sri Lanka-Pakistan Bilateral Defence Dialogue commenced on Monday (April 28) in Islamabad, Pakistan, marking a continued commitment to strengthening defence cooperation between the two nations.

The MoD statement: “The Sri Lankan delegation is led by Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Sampath Thuyacontha accompanied by Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda, and Additional Secretary (Defence) of the Ministry of Defence Jayantha Edirisinghe. The Pakistani delegation is headed by Lieutenant General (retd.) Muhammad Ali, Secretary Defence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

In conjunction with the on-going defence dialogue, Defence Secretary Thuyacontha held a side-line meeting yesterday (April 29) with Defence Minister of Pakistan, Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

These high-level engagements aim to enhance bilateral cooperation, foster mutual understanding on regional security dynamics and explore opportunities for defence collaboration. Both nations share a longstanding relationship rooted in mutual respect and strategic cooperation. The dialogue reflects the growing importance of partnerships in maintaining stability and promoting peace in the South Asian region.

The three-day dialogue, which concludes today (April 30), is expected to reinforce bilateral defence ties and contribute to broader regional security objectives.

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