News
US-based Overseas Sri Lankan Academic and Research Collaboration Network launched

The Inaugural Meeting of the ‘US-Sri Lanka Academic and Research Collaboration Network’(USLARCN) was held virtually on 15 August 2021. The Network was launched by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington D.C with a view to connecting with the academic community within the US, and leveraging their support towards Sri Lanka in academic collaboration, co-mentoring and facilitating access to US learning resources for Sri Lankan university students. This further expands the reach of the Pan US Overseas Sri Lankans (OSL)Network launched by the Embassy on 31 January 2021, with the broader aim of supporting OSL activities and leveraging their support towards Embassy efforts at realizing the interests of Sri Lanka in the US in political advocacy, economic empowerment, socio-cultural engagement, as well as in bringing unity within the SL community and reaching out to ‘Friends of Sri Lanka’.
Following the response received to a notice which was placed on the Embassy website and circulated among the OSL Network nearly two months ago, over 130 OSLs who expressed interest were clustered into 12 groups in the areas of Cultural Studies and Media; Business and Finance; Early Childhood Education; Team Science and Talent Development; Environmental Studies; Nutrition and Food Science; Chemistry, Physics; Engineering;, Computer Science and IT; Medical Sciences;, Social Sciences and Sri Lankan Studies.
Delivering the opening remarks, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Washington D.C. Ravinatha Aryasinha commended the significant achievements of Sri Lankan academics in the US and the pride they bring to Sri Lanka. He emphasised the importance of bringing the US-based Sri Lanka origin academic community together, to both support the education system and students living in Sri Lanka, as well as to ensure that those involved at the academic and policy levels in the US had a more nuanced understanding of Sri Lanka, and of Sri Lankans in the US. Noting that up to the end of the Cold War, institutions such as the East-West Center in Hawaii and a few other US Universities had catered to this need, he said that today such a full understanding was imperative so that we respond not only to ‘events’ in each other’s countries but to the related dynamic ‘processes’ as a whole. Ambassador Aryasinha said that he had, during a visit to Hawaii in May 2021, discussed this aspect with both the East-West Center and Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) so that a better appreciation of the full spectrum of multifaceted relations between Sri Lanka and the US can be better reflected in future collaboration. He hoped that the USLARCN will also take up the challenge to revive this tradition through their individual and collective endeavours.
Delivering the keynote address on the occasion, Emeritus Professor Wimal Dissanayake of the University of Hawaii and Leader of the Cultural Studies and Media Group, commended Ambassador Aryasinha for the new initiative under the Pan OSL Network, and recalled the different phases of US-SL Education Collaboration since the 1950s. He said that in the past there had been a steady stream of students, journalists, academics, policymakers and service personnel, who have attended long term degree programmes as well as seminars, and had benefitted from and contributed to the considerable cross fertilisation of views that took place, significantly around the East-West Center. However, he noted that “what you have today is a pale shadow of what it was 20 or 30 years ago, but still thanks to the efforts of the Ambassador, I think we are trying to revive it”. Noting that at present Sri Lankan scholars in this network are approximately 80% from the Natural Sciences, 15% from the Social Sciences and 5% from the Humanities, Professor Dissanayake recommended three conceptual criteria that could help future efforts; that it be inter-disciplinary in nature, that it focuses on knowledge exchange and knowledge utilization, and functions as a ‘Network’ with a structure but also flexibility.
Foreign News
Thousands flee floods after dam collapse near Nova Kakhovka

BBC reported that thousands of people are being evacuated downstream of a major dam which has been blown up in Russian-held Ukraine.
President Zelensky said 80 towns and villages were at risk of flooding after the destruction of the dam at Nova Kakhovka, which he blamed on Russia. Water is surging down the Dnipro river and is said to pose a catastrophic flooding risk to the city of Kherson.
Russia has denied destroying the dam – which it controls – instead blaming Ukrainian shelling. Neither Ukraine or Russia’s claim has been verified by the BBC.
The Kakhovka dam is crucial in the region. It contains a reservoir, which provides water to farmers and residents, as well as to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It is also is a vital channel carrying water south to Russian-occupied Crimea.
Video footage shows a torrent of floodwater gushing through a breach in the dam. Several towns are already flooded, while people in areas further downstream were forced to flee by bus and train.
Around 40,000 people need to be evacuated, Deputy Prosecutor-General Viktoriya Lytvynova said on Ukrainian television – 17,000 people in Ukraine-controlled territory west of the Dnipro River and 25,000 on the Russian-controlled east.
Latest News
Sagala Ratnayaka leads Sri Lanka delegation to 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue

Chief of Staff to the President and National Security Advisor (NSA) Sagala Ratnayaka led the Sri Lanka delegation to the 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier Security Summit held in Singapore from 2 – 4 June 2023.
The highly anticipated summit commenced on 2 June with a powerful Keynote address delivered by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Throughout the event, a series of plenary sessions delved into various crucial geo-political issues, encompassing the establishment of a stable and balanced Asia Pacific, the resolution of regional tensions, the evolution of maritime security in Asia, US leadership in the Indo-Pacific, and China’s latest security initiatives, among other topics.
During the Special Session focusing on ‘Defence Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region,’ Ratnayaka delivered an impactful statement, participating alongside representatives from India, Oman, France, and the United States. He emphasized the significance of keeping big power rivalries and external conflicts out of the Indian Ocean, highlighting Sri Lanka’s efforts in the United Nations to declare the region as a zone of peace. Furthermore, he underscored the country’s contributions to preserving freedom of navigation and over flight, stressing the crucial need for constructive dialogue among all stakeholders in the Indian Ocean region to pursue shared interests.
Latest News
Prices of sixty essential drugs to be reduced from 15th June

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal raised by the Minister of Health to reduce the maximum retail price of 60 medicines by 16% with effect from 15.06.2023 and review the price of medicines every three months
-
Business6 days ago
‘ඇය සුරකින AIA’ celebrates one year of empowering half a million women to rise together
-
News6 days ago
AI demands immediate release of Natasha
-
Business6 days ago
DFCC Bank provides exclusive free access to DOC 990 for DFCC Aloka accountholders
-
News7 days ago
Misappropriation of Rs 195 mn: Fort Magistrate clears way for continuation of CID probe
-
Opinion7 days ago
‘Modabhimanaya’ everywhere
-
Features5 days ago
Religious cauldron being stirred; filthy rich in abjectly poor country
-
Features7 days ago
Please, take charge of Poson celebrations: A proposal to Mahanayake Theras
-
Opinion5 days ago
Demystifying Buddhism: Need of the hour?