News
President: People will decide whether he contests next presidential election or not
People of the country would decide whether he would contest the next presidential election, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said, on Saturday, addressing a Gama Samaga Pilisandara programme at Walapone, Nuwara-Eliya.
“Before thinking of the next term, I must think about what I have to do now. There is still a long way to go.”
The people had appointed him for 60 months and only 14 months had elapsed, the President said. He was planning to develop rural areas during the rest of his tenure, he added. “We can’t only think about developing the urban centres. I have never destroyed the environment. When I was the Defence Secretary I established parks, built tanks, protected the wetlands; this is how I protected the environment.”
President Rajapaksa said that under him Vihara Maha Devi Park had been given a facelift and recently, a group of youth had tried to place a large billboard there and damage the environment.
“I stopped posters and billboards being put up in Colombo, he said.
The President added that a number of media institutions had been attacking the government unfairly. While he had not taken any action against such institutions, he had the capacity and laws to do so, he said.
“Media freedom is not what media owners want to do. We can’t let media owners rule the country. I haven’t done anything so far but if push comes to shove, I know what to do. Between 2015 and 2019 also around 1,000 acres of forests were destroyed but no one said anything abouy the forest destruction.”
Members of the South Asian Journalists Forum have gathered at the University of New Delhi for a two day conference themed ‘Peace and Co-operation’.
Journalists from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India are attending the conference hosted by the University of Delhi in collaboration with the India Chapter of SJF, and will deliberate on how the media can act as a catalyst for regional stability and mutual coexsistence.
A tree plantation campaign was also held at the Ghandi Bhawan premises of the University to mark the event and symbolize growing regional ties.
The Sri Lanka delegation is led by President of SJF’s Sri Lanka Chapter Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi.
The Governor of the of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, along with the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghvi, met with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on Thursdy [February 05] at the Parliamentary Complex to discuss the arrangements related to the exposition of the Devnimori Sacred Relics of Lord Buddha, which have been brought to Sri Lanka under the patronage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India.
These sacred relics of Lord Buddha were discovered during archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s at the historic Devnimori site in Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Until now, these relics had never been taken outside India. As a result of discussions held between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Sri Lanka, the people of Sri Lanka have been granted this rare opportunity to venerate these sacred relics.
The exposition of the relics is being held for a period of seven days, from February 05 to February 11, at the Gangaramaya Temple in Hunupitiya, Colombo. Discussions were held between both parties regarding the arrangements related to this event.
The discussion was attended by Samar Nanda, Joint Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Culture; Dr. Satyanjal Pandey, Acting High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka; Abhijit Halder, Director General of the International Buddhist Confederation; along with several others.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) GHARIAL made a port call in Colombo for operational turnarounds on 04 Feb 26. The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the visiting ship in compliance with naval traditions.
Commanded by Commander Gaurav Tewari, INS GHARIAL is a vessel with a length of 124.8 meters.
During this visit, ten (10) Bailey Bridges, brought by ship, through the coordination of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, will be handed over to the Disaster Management Center. These bridges will provide temporary transportation links while bridges damaged across the island by adverse weather conditions are repaired.
The crew’s itinerary features scheduled goodwill activities with the Sri Lanka Navy, alongside visits to several tourist attractions across the island.
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