News
Editors’ Guild expresses profound sorrow at Victor’s death
The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka has said it expresses its profound sorrow at the passing away last Sunday of one of its erstwhile members, Victor Ivan.
“Ivan was at the time a frontline member of the Free Media Movement.
“He joined The Guild as the Editor of the Ravaya at the height of a ‘Media Law Reforms’ campaign launched by the collective media associations which included the repeal of the draconian criminal defamation laws prevailing at the time, seeking amendments, inter-alia to the laws on Parliamentary Privileges, Contempt of Court, etc.,
“Ivan was indicted on several criminal defamation cases by Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government. He took these cases right up to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) where he won a major victory when the Committee ordered the Sri Lanka Government to pay him compensation for violating his human rights by repeatedly harassing him with serial indictments.
“He was one of the key figures in organising an international symposium in Colombo, in April 1998, that led to the signing of the Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility. The suggestion for a Colombo Declaration came from a fearless Indian publisher-editor, Cushrow Irani. It was Ivan, who added the words, ‘on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility’. Several world bodies, such as the London-based Commonwealth Press Union, Frankfurt-based World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the South African-based Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) participated at the historic event which formally brought together The Editors Guild, the Newspaper Society, Free Media Movement and later, the Working Journalists Association, together with many media-related partner unions, to form the Sri Lanka Press Institute.
“Ivan authored a book later on the Kumaratunga Presidency titled; ‘Choura Rajini’ (The Bandit Queen) and took an active role in socio-political activities.
“He was presented with the Sepala Gunasena Award for Defending Press Freedom by the Editors’ Guild.”
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya met with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, at Temple Tress on the 17th of February
Dr. Georgieva, commended the Government’s efforts in stabilizing the country’s economy and in managing recent economic and natural shocks. She noted that Cyclone Ditwah had caused severe impacts, especially on economically vulnerable communities, underscoring the importance of targeted support and resilience-building measures.
The Prime Minister expressed appreciation for the IMF’s continued support to Sri Lanka, particularly in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah. The PM further emphasized that real economic recovery and development must directly benefit the economically vulnerable groups and ensure inclusive growth, highlighting the need for Sri Lanka to attract quality and sustainable investments, particularly in the tourism sector.
The importance of reforming the education system to focus not only on knowledge acquisition but also on skills development and employability was also discussed
The meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff of the IMF Managing Director Andreas Bauer, Director, Asia and Pacific Department, Dr. Krishna Srinivasan Division Chief (Strategic Communications), Communications Department, Pierre Mejlak Resident Representative for Sri Lanka Dr. Martha Woldemichael, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, and Deputy Governor Dr. C. Amarasekara, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatta.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution forwarded by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to relocate the Deniyaya Base Hospital after constructing a new hospital with a capacity of 300 beds at an estimated cost of Rupees 6,000 million.
The Southern Provincial Department of Health has acquired a plot of land in Handford estate which is approximately 03 kilometres away from the town for this purpose.
News
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