News
Oxford University Sri Lanka Society elects new committee
The Oxford University Society of Sri Lanka (OUS Sri Lanka) has announced the election of its new leadership team at its recent Annual General Meeting. Umayanga Nanayakkara will will be at the helm as President, with Sanjaya Ariyawansa serving as Vice President. The Society also expressed its gratitude to outgoing President, Rishan De Silva.
The 2025-2026 committee comprises: President: Umayanga Nanayakkara, Vice President: Sanjaya Ariyawansa, Secretary: Insaf Bakeer Markar, Treasurer: Hiran Embuldeniya, Impact: Praveena Joseph De Saram, Engagement: Rishan De Silva, Alumni Relations: Shathuki Perera and Nishen de Silva and Committee Members: Neluka Silva and Ashok Ferrey
Igniting Potential: A Vision for Tomorrow
The OUS Sri Lanka committee has achieved success with its flagship event, “Applying to Oxford?”. “We’ve witnessed a surge in applications from diverse backgrounds helping students to successfully gain admission to Oxford,” says President Umayanga Nanayakkara. “Our hope is that these brilliant minds will return to contribute significantly to Sri Lanka’s development.” Umayanga, a law graduate has completed the Foundations of Diplomacy, the Oxford Foreign Service Program and a Masters in South Asian Studies based out of St Antonys College. He is currently a Director at AGC Innovate driving green innovation which pioneered Sri Lankas first plastic modified asphalt road winning multiple awards. Looking ahead, the agenda for 2025/26 includes a year of learning events, intellectual exchanges, cross-organizational partnerships, literary evenings and strengthened regional collaborations.
Vice President Sanjaya Ariyawansa, a seasoned economist, brings a wealth of expertise as Senior Economist at the Economic Intelligence Unit of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and a visiting lecturer at the University of Moratuwa. His impressive career spans roles at the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance, World Bank consultancy, and research at the University of Oxford. Sanjaya holds an MSc in Economics from Oxford, a first-class BSc in Mathematics from the University of Colombo, and CIMA (UK) qualifications.
Connecting the Global Network: Engaging Our Alumni
The new committee is committed to cultivating a vibrant and dynamic alumni community. Oxford Alumni interested in learning more about OUS Sri Lanka and its activities are encouraged to contact the society via email on oussrilanka@gmail.com, umayanga@agcinnovate.com, sanjaya.ariyawansa@yahoo.com.
By AJA Abeynayake
The Attorney General informed the Supreme Court on Thursday (27) that Rs. 245 million from the funds obtained from the respondents, as per the verdict delivered on 12 January 2023 by a seven-judge bench led by the Chief Justice, had been paid as compensation to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks. The case stemmed from fundamental rights petitions filed against the respondents’ failure to prevent the coordinated attacks. To monitor the disbursement of these funds, 13 related fundamental rights petitions were taken up on Thursday before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Murdu Fernando, Justices S. Thurairaja, and A.H.M.D. Nawaz. Representing the Attorney General, Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena informed the court that Rs. 311 million had been allocated for compensation, of which Rs. 245 million had already been distributed among 412 individuals, including the families of 215 deceased victims.
She further stated that Rs. 65 million from the allocated funds was expected to be used for victims’ medical treatment and for the care of affected elderly individuals.
President’s Counsel Shamil Perera and Sanjeeva Jayawardena, appearing on behalf of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, respectively, told the court that they had not yet received detailed reports on the compensation payments.
Chief Justice Fernando asked the Additional Solicitor General why those reports had not been provided to the relevant parties. The Additional Solicitor General responded that the proceedings were focused on monitoring the disbursement of compensation to victims.
The Chief Justice, however, noted that withholding those reports from the petitioners did not align with the objectives of the case. She ordered that the reports be immediately provided to the Cardinal and the other petitioners.The court scheduled the next hearing of the petitions for 21 May.
…. Gnanakka also received Rs. 28 mn
Chief Government Whip Minister Nalinda Jayathissa said on Thursday that the Ranil Wickremesinghe government had spent an additional Rs. 1,125 million as compensation for individuals whose houses were destroyed in 2022.
That was in addition to the Rs. 1,221 million paid to politicians as compensation, Minister Jayatissa said, revealing that an astrologer called Gnanakka from Anuradhapura had received Rs. 28 million in compensation for her Devalaya destroyed by mobs in 2022. (SI)
By Saman Indrajith
During yesterday’s parliamentary session, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya disclosed the expenditure incurred by the state on foreign trips undertaken by Sri Lanka’s Presidents.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s foreign trips between 2010 and 2014 cost Rs 3,572 million. His successor, Maithripala Sirisena spent Rs 384 million on overseas travel from 2015 to 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa spent Rs. 126 million from 2019 to 2022, while President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s foreign travel between 2023 and 2024 cost the state Rs 533 million.
In contrast, the current president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had spent only Rs 1.8 million on foreign travel since assuming office in September 2024, the PM said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the most expensive year for presidential foreign travel during that period was 2013, when Mahinda Rajapaksa’s trips alone amounted to an unprecedented Rs 1,144 million.
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