News
Sri Lankan Navy nabs 54 Indian fishermen, detains two boats

By Rathindra Kuruwita
The Sri Lankan Navy has taken into custody 54 Indian fishermen and detained two boats for fishing in the Sri Lankan waters.
Indian officials said on Thursday that the fishermen, hailing from Rameswaram and Thangachimadam, had been picked up by the Sri Lankan Navy near Katchatheevu on Wednesday.
“They were taken to a local naval camp for further inquiry and are likely to be handed over to Lankan Fisheries authorities to be isolated along with the detained boats,” the Indian officials said.
Indian media reported that the Rameswaran fishermen’s association representatives had expressed concern over such repeated instances of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu being nabbed by the Sri Lankan navy and urged the Centre and state government to ensure their early release.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo, issuing a media statement yesterday said it had been informed about the apprehension of the Indian fishermen and five boats by Sri Lanka Navy and asked the government to deal with the Indian fishermen in a humanitarian manner.
“Providing immediate consular access and emergency supplies to apprehended fishermen are of prime importance. We are working with Government of Sri Lanka for expeditiously securing consular access for these fishermen. Bilateral mechanisms are in place to comprehensively address all matters related to fisheries. It may be recalled that the Fourth meeting of the Secretary-level JWG was held on 30 December 2020 through virtual mode. Follow-up measures on the basis of discussions which took place during the meeting need to be taken forward quickly.”
The Sri Lankan Government too had repeatedly called on the Indian Government to monitor and prevent Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters.
State Minister of Ornamental Fish, Freshwater Fish and Shrimp Farming Development, Multiday Fishing and Fish Export Kanchana Wijesekera said last December that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa discussed the matter with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a virtual summit.
Wijesekera said that Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda had also spoken to Indian officials. “Indian fishermen were taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka to poach here. “We cannot detain the Indian fishermen once arrested because of the high Covid-19 cases among them. Therefore, we have to release them once arrested.”
News
Stay on course and don’t go back to the past – Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Former Governor of the Central Bank delivering the keynote address at a high profile Webinar hosted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (24) said that Sri Lanka must implement the structural reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without relaxing like in the past or else we will be in a deeper economic mess.
The webinar was titled ‘What is next for Sri Lanka in the wake of the IMF programme’
News
Sustainable economic development goals cannot be achieved unless attention is paid to mitigating climate change – Sagala Ratnayake

President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff Sagala Ratnayake said sustainable economic development goals cannot be accomplished without taking steps to mitigate climate change.
He said this while participating in the 10,000 sapling planting program organized by the LEO Youth Vision 2048 Club and the LEO Club at the Royal College, Colombo on Thursday (23rd).
This program was organized in view of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s birthday, which is today (24), and the required plants were distributed to the main schools of the Colombo District.
News
SF claims thousands of police and military personnel leaving

By Saman Indrajith
Thousands of police and military personnel had left the services recently as they did not want to carry out illegal orders, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament yesterday. According to the war-winning army commander 200 policemen have resigned during the past two months and 25,000 soldiers have left the army during the last two years.
“We urged the law enforcement and military officials not to follow illegal orders. We will reinstate them with back pay,” he said.
Fonseka also urged the President and the government MPs not to take people for fools.
“Sri Lanka owes 55 billion dollars to the world. Ranil’s plan is to borrow another seven billion during the next four years. So, in four years we will owe 62 billion to the world.
Ranil and his ministers ask us what the alternative to borrowing is. These are the people who destroyed the economy and society. They must leave. Then, we will find an alternative and develop the country,” he said, adding that the IMF loans had made crises in other nations worse.
“Ranil says that by 2025, we will have a budget surplus as in Japan, Germany and South Korea. These countries are economic power houses, and this comparison is ludicrous.”
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