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50 years at the Bar

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Lawyers Upali Gooneratne and M M Zuhair complete 50 years at the Bar having been enrolled as Advocates of the Supreme Court on 23rd May 1972 before the then Chief Justice H N G Fernando and Justice C B Walgampaya.Following the promulgation of the first Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka on 22nd May 1972, Upali Gooneratne and M M. Zuhair became the first and second lawyers respectively to take oaths as Advocates under the new Constitution. Both of them are alumni (1968-1970) of the Sri Lanka Law College headed at the time by late R K W Gunasekera, its distinguished Principal.

Zuhair was appointed President’s Counsel in 2001 and Gooneratne took silk in 2010 with both of them having independent active practice in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and in the original courts in the island handling criminal cases, fundamental rights cases and writ applications.Gooneratne was also enrolled as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England in 1981 and as a Barrister New South Wales and Victoria in Australia in 2004. He headed the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) as its President from 1999 to 2001 and Chairman Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka from 2001 to 2005. Earlier in 1977, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Asian Legal Research Institute (ALRI) based in Japan.

Amidst a busy legal practice, Gooneratne also functioned as the Criminal Law Lecturer and Examiner at the Sri Lanka Law College and as a member of the Board of Studies of the Incorporated Council of Legal Education. He was also a member of the Board of Studies on Forensic Medicine of the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine of the University of Colombo. While being a member of the Unofficial Bar, he led evidence at the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of the late Minister Lalith Athulathmudali PC on the invitation of the Chairman of the Commission Tissa Bandaranaike, Judge of the Supreme Court.

Zuhair joined the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel in 1973. He served the State for ten years, the first five years in the civil side and the second five years in the criminal side. He prosecuted in bribery cases, in murder trials and prevention of terrorism cases in the High Court and also appeared for the State in criminal appeals. He was promoted as a Senior State Counsel in 1981 but reverted to the unofficial bar in 1983 sometime after the July 1983 riots.

In the unofficial bar he had an extensive practice handling mainly criminal cases as well as writ applications in the superior courts. From 1994 to 2000, Zuhair was a Member of Parliament on the Peoples’ Alliance National List in the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga government and served in several parliamentary committees. In 2004 and 2005, he headed the national TV as Chairman, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) and also served as the Chairman of the Board Governors of Zahira College, Colombo. He functioned as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Iran from 2006 to 2012. Presently Zuhair continues his legal practice.



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President and representatives of IMF discuss progress of EFF

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A comprehensive discussion regarding the progress of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took place on Thursday (06) at the Presidential Secretariat, between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and the IMF delegation.

The current government has already reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on the third review regarding the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of USD3 billion.

The details of this review are expected to be presented to the International Monetary Fund’s Board of Directors by the end of this month. In this regard, discussions were held regarding the progress and the government’s involvement in continuing the program moving forward.

Once the approval is granted by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka is expected to release the fourth tranche of the extended loan, amounting to 333 million dollars.

The discussion was also attended by IMF Executive Director Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Alternate Executive Director Dr. P. K. G. Harischandra, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Mahinda Siriwadana, and Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.

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New Commanders of the Tri-Forces meet the President

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The newly appointed Commander of the Tri-Forces met with Commander-in-Chief, President Anura Kumara Disanayake on Thursday (6th)  afternoon  at the Presidential Secretariat.

The meeting was attended by Lieutenant General Lasantha Rodrigo, the new Army Commander; Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda, the new Navy Commander and Air Marshal Vasu Bandu Edirisinghe, the new Air Force Commander.

Following tradition, the new commanders formally met with the President after assuming their duties. During the meeting, they also presented the President with a commemorative token.

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Musk reveals ‘crazy waste’ of USAID funds in Sri Lanka

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Elon Musk

USD 7.9 mn spent on teaching Lankan journalists how to avoid “binary-gendered language”

USAID has spent $7.9 million to teach Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid “binary-gendered language”, Elon Musk who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said in a post on X on Thursday.

Musk called it a “Crazy waste of your tax money!”

Musk’s criticism came with a detailed breakdown of USAID’s spending across various countries, which he argued reflects misguided priorities. According to a document Musk shared, USAID has funded a range of projects globally, including $20 million for a new Sesame Street show in Iraq, $4.5 million to “combat disinformation” in Kazakhstan, and $6 million to transform digital spaces to reflect feminist democratic principles.

The list also included $1.5 million for art projects promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities and $2 million for sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala. $10 million worth of USAID-funded meals, allegedly ended up in the hands of an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, the document states.

Other USAID programmes include $25 million for Deloitte to promote green transportation in Georgia, $6 million for tourism development in Egypt, and $2.5 million to foster inclusion in Vietnam. The documents also pointed to $5 million awarded to EcoHealth Alliance, a group linked to bat virus research at the Wuhan lab, and $20 million for an organisation tied to what Musk described as a “key player” in the Russiagate impeachment inquiry.

Further funds were allocated for various LGBT-related initiatives worldwide, including $5.5 million for LGBT activism in Uganda, $6.3 million for men who have sex with men in South Africa, $3.9 million for LGBT causes in the western Balkans, and $6 million for advancing LGBT issues globally. Additionally, $2 million was allocated to promote LGBT equality through entrepreneurship in Latin America, while $1.5 million was designated for LGBT advocacy in Jamaica.

The data also highlighted spending closer to home, with $1.2 million going to help the African Methodist Episcopal Church Service and Development Agency in Washington, D.C., build a 440-seat auditorium. A further $1.3 million was provided to Arab and Jewish photographers, while $1.1 million supported an Armenian LGBT group.

Musk criticised other expenditures as well, including $3.9 million for artisanal gold mining in the Amazon and $500,000 aimed at solving sectarian violence in Israel just days before the October 7 Hamas attack.

Attention was also drawn to USAID’s $150 billion “whole-of-agency” climate strategy, which outlines efforts to build an “equitable world” while pursuing net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

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