News
Top academic calls for punitive measures against those abusing scholarships offered to govt.
JaGAAS lifetime awards 2025:
Vice Chancellor of the NSBM Green University, Prof. E. A. Weerasinghe, said that the government should take punitive measures against those chosen for foreign scholarships in case they violated bond conditions.
Tougher action was required to discourage public servants and academics from brazenly violating the trust placed on them, the top administrator said yesterday (23), in a brief interview with The Island after receiving Japanese Graduates’ Alumni Association of Sri Lanka (JaGAAS) lifetime awards 2025 at the BMICH on March 21. Prof. Weerasinghe received the award for exemplifying leadership and entrepreneurship in human capital development in higher education.
The other recipients were: Ms Baba Shigeko, Ito Yoshiaki, Koga Michio, Mikasa Jitsuo, Ogawa Kiyoko, Jagath Chandana Ramanayake, emeritus Prof. Yamada Yoshiaki, Prof. N.S. Cooray, Prof. Ranjith Dissanayake, retired IGP Chandra Fernando, Merrick Gooneratne, Dr. Nishantha Nanayakkara, Dr. OP.G. Rohan Pallewatta, Prof. Piyadasa Ratnayake, Ananda Shelton Thenuwara, Dayasiri Warnakulasooriya and Prof. E.A. Weerasinghe.
They received the coveted JaGAAS lifetime awards from Japanese Ambassador in Colombo Akio Isomata who, in his brief address, declared their dedication would inspire more people to pursue similar opportunities for study, collaboration and innovation.
Responding to The Island queries, Prof. Weerasinghe found fault with successive governments for failing to deal with wrongdoers. Alleging that academics were among the worst culprits, Prof. Weerasinghe said that along with him three others – a researcher with the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board and two University lecturers were chosen jointly by the governments of Japan and Sri Lanka. “We proceeded to Japan in 1990 and having obtained a doctorate in economics from Osaka City University I returned home in 1997. My colleagues decided against doing so. The researcher stayed in Japan while the remaining two migrated to Australia.”
Prof. Weerasinghe said that his former colleagues, now in Australia, once sought the opportunity to join the University. But they were told not to expect opportunities in the motherland after having betrayed the trust the country placed on them.
Prof. Weerasinghe said that though he could have easily migrated to New Zealand with his wife and two children, they decided to come back home. At the time Weerasinghe had received a Japanese scholarship he was serving the University of Sri Jayewardenapura as an assistant lecturer. “In terms of the bond conditions, I served the University for a period of seven years,” Prof. Weerasinghe said, adding that he never once regretted the decision to pursue a career here.
Recipients of JaGAAS lifetime awards
At the end of his sabbatical leave, Prof. Weerasinghe was offered the opportunity to serve as the Director General (DG) of the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) in 2005. Prof. Weerasinghe emphasized that the NIBM had been in a much deteriorated state and restoration of the public faith in the Institution seemed a herculean task. “The University released me without pay,” a smiling Prof. Weerasinghe said, recalling his efforts to expand NIBM to other major towns, including Galle, Matara and Kandy, over the years.
The academic emphasised that in spite of the raging war in the Northern and Eastern regions and occasional terrorist attacks in the South the government sustained the NIBM. Sometime after the conclusion of the conflict in 2009, Prof. Weerasinghe, in his capacity as the DG, NIBM has proposed transforming the institute to a fully-fledged University. “Some were skeptical about my proposal. But, I pushed hard and finally managed to convince the powers that be that NIBM could be the foundation for a fully-fledged University,” Prof. Weerasinghe said.
Prof. Weerasinghe paid a glowing tribute to the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) for providing the wherewithal to launch the project in 2013. The BoC provided a staggering Rs 10 bn on a Treasury guarantee that made it possible for us to establish NSBM Green University in 2016, Prof. Weerasinghe said, declaring that his team ensured that the loan was paid on time. “There had never been an issue regarding the repayment of the loan and today we are a fully self-financed, state-of-the-art international-level University eyeing further expansion.’’
VC Weerasinghe said that recently they finalised a Rs 7.3 bn loan with the BoC in support of further expansion. Asked to explain the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and the subsequent unprecedented economic crisis that compelled the government to declare bankruptcy in early 2022, Prof. Weerasinghe said that they received the maximum backing of the people who had faith in the University.
Emphasising the responsibility on the part of the government whoever is in power to ensure stability, Prof. Weerasinghe said that during the first phase of the project he had to work with 12 Ministers. The VC didn’t mince his words when he pointed out unnecessary difficulties caused by political appointments over the years. It would be easy to cause chaos, disrupt systems and undermine institutions that were managed without being a burden to the Treasury, Prof. Weerasinghe said. However, restoring public faith in such institutions would be extremely difficult, the Japanese scholar mentioned.
“NSBM Green University belongs to the government. Therefore, the University belongs to the people. Primary difference is we do not depend on government funds at all,” Prof. Weerasinghe said. According to him the University produced over 20,000 graduates and at the moment over 13,000 students were at five faculties, namely business, computing, engineering, science and postgraduate studies. “We have over 70 degree programmes to suit students,” Prof. Weerasinghe said, underscoring the pivotal importance of the government recognizing the contribution made by the University.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Government’s ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, established to provide relief and support to communities affected by Cyclone Ditwah, continues to receive financial contributions on a daily basis.
Accordingly, the Containers Transport Owners Association made a financial contribution of Rs. 1.5 million, while the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers contributed Rs. 1.35 million to the Fund.
The respective cheques were formally presented to the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (19).
The occasion was attended by W. M. S. K. Manjula, Chairman of the Containers Transport Owners Association, together with Dilip Nihal Anslem Perera and Jayantha Karunadhipathi.
Representing the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers were Deshan Rajapaksa, Samudika Perera and Devshan Rodrigo handed over the cheque.
A meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and a delegation of UNICEF representatives was held on Saturday, (December 20) at the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister explained the measures taken by the Government to ensure the protection of the affected student community and to restore the damaged school system, as well as the challenges encountered in this process.
The Prime Minister stated that reopening schools located in landslide-prone areas would be extremely dangerous. Accordingly, the Government is focusing on identifying such schools and relocating them to suitable locations based on scientific assessments.
The Prime Minister further noted that financial assistance has been provided to students affected by the disaster, enabling parents to send their children back to school without an additional financial burden. Emphasizing that school is the safest place for children after their homes, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the school environment would help restore and improve students’ mental well-being
The Prime Minister also highlighted that attention has been given to several key areas, including the relocation of disaster-affected schools, restoration of school infrastructure, merging and operating certain schools jointly, facilitating teaching and learning through digital and technological strategies, and providing special transportation facilities. She emphasized that the Government is examining these issues and is committed to finding long-term solutions.
The UNICEF representatives commended the Government’s commitment and the initiatives undertaken to restore the education sector and assured their support to the Government. Both parties also discussed working together collaboratively on future initiatives.
The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives to Sri Lanka Emma Brigham, Lakshmi Sureshkumar, Nishantha Subash, and Yashinka Jayasinghe, along with Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Director of Education Dakshina Kasturiarachchi, Deputy Directors Kasun Gunarathne and Udara Dikkumbura.
(Prime Minister’s Media Division)
Drug controversy:
“Setting up state-of-the-art drug testing facility will cost Rs 5 billion”
Activists call for legal action against politicians, bureaucrats
Serious questions have been raised over Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory system following revelations that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) quality control laboratory is not accredited by the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB), casting doubt on both the reliability of local test results and the adequacy of oversight of imported medicines.
Medical and civil rights groups warn that the issue points to a systemic regulatory failure rather than an isolated lapse, with potential political and financial consequences for the State.
Chairman of the Federation of Medical and Civil Rights Professional Associations, Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, said the controversy surrounding the Ondansetron injection, which was later found to be contaminated, had exposed deep weaknesses in drug regulation and quality assurance.
Dr. Sanjeewa said that the manufacturer had confirmed that the drug had been imported into Sri Lanka on four occasions this year, despite later being temporarily withdrawn from use. The drug was manufactured in India in November 2024 and in May and August 2025, and imported to Sri Lanka in February, July and September. On each occasion, 67,600 phials were procured.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the company had informed the NMRA that the drug was tested in Indian laboratories, prior to shipment, and passed all required quality checks. The manufacturer reportedly tested the injections against 10 parameters, including basic quality standards,
pH value, visual appearance, component composition, quantity per phial, sterility levels, presence of other substances, bacterial toxin levels and spectral variations.
According to documents submitted to the NMRA, no bacterial toxins were detected in the original samples, and the reported toxin levels were within European safety limits of less than 9.9 international units per milligram.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the credibility of local regulatory oversight had come under scrutiny, noting that the NMRA’s quality control laboratory was not SLAB-accredited. He said establishing a fully equipped, internationally accredited laboratory would cost nearly Rs. 5 billion.
He warned that the failure to invest in such a facility could have grave consequences, including continued loss of life due to substandard medicines and the inability of the State to recover large sums of public funds paid to pharmaceutical companies for defective drugs.
“If urgent steps are not taken, public money will continue to be lost and accountability will remain elusive,” Dr. Sanjeewa said.
He added that if it was ultimately confirmed that the drug did not contain bacterial toxins at the time it entered Sri Lanka, the fallout would be even more damaging, severely undermining the credibility of the country’s health system and exposing weaknesses in health administration.
Dr. Sanjeewa said public trust in the health sector had already been eroded and called for legal action against all politicians and public officials responsible for regulatory failures linked to the incident.
by Chaminda Silva ✍️
Duffy, Ajaz rip through West Indies as New Zealand seal series 2-0
Financial contributions received for ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund
UNICEF representatives and PM discuss rebuilding schools affected by the Disaster
A few showers may occur in the Uva province and in Ampara, Batticaloa, Matale, Nuwara-Eliya, and Hambantota districts
NMRA laboratory lacks SLAB accreditation
Air quality deteriorating in Sri Lanka
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Midweek Review6 days agoHow massive Akuregoda defence complex was built with proceeds from sale of Galle Face land to Shangri-La
-
News5 days agoPope fires broadside: ‘The Holy See won’t be a silent bystander to the grave disparities, injustices, and fundamental human rights violations’
-
News5 days agoPakistan hands over 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Lanka
-
Business4 days agoUnlocking Sri Lanka’s hidden wealth: A $2 billion mineral opportunity awaits
-
News6 days agoBurnt elephant dies after delayed rescue; activists demand arrests
-
Editorial6 days agoColombo Port facing strategic neglect
-
News4 days agoArmy engineers set up new Nayaru emergency bridge
-
News6 days agoSri Lanka, Romania discuss illegal recruitment, etc.