Rs. 5/- Rs.

5/-
upwards upwards
Vol. 41 No.43 Tuesday 4th January 2022,18 pages Rs.30 Registered in Sri Lanka as a Newspaper =

New Cases Active Cases Recovered Deaths

179 18
365

Total : 588,300 Total : 11,967 Total : 561,128 Total : 15,037

‘Maha season ruined,

Yala will be even worse’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
he government lift- Basil unveils
T ed the ban on agro-
chemical imports,
well over a month ago,
relief package
but the country is yet to =Rs. 5,000 allowance
receive much-needed fer-
A smiling Army Commander General Shavendra Silva shares a light moment with officers at Army tiliser supplies. for state employees
headquarters, Battaramulla, yesterday, the first working day in 2022 (Pic courtesy Army) The President’s Office
on Nov. 22 announced the
=Flour subsidy for
ending of the ban on estate workers

Medical specialists predict Omicron

agro-chemicals imports
Mahindananda
introduced on April 22, Rohini =Additional Rs. 25 for
2021. deprived
However, Samagi Jana of fertiliser as well as agro- kilo of paddy

tsunami, urge public to be cautious

It is inevitable that the
Omicron variant will cause a
massive wave of infection dur-
ing the coming weeks,
President of the Association of
Medical Specialists (AMS) Dr.
LakKumar Fernando says.
Dr. Lakkumar has said that
in April 2021, many Sri
Lankans ignored health guide-
lines and that resulted in a
wave of infections, followed by
an explosive spread of the Delta
variant infections. Almost
15,000 people died and the hos-
pital capacity was stretched to
the limit.
“In spite of this bad experi-
ence, we note with dismay that
history is repeating itself.
Shops, bars, 31st night parties,
etc. were jam packed. This
By rathindra kuruwita
occurred while the
Omicron variant was
spreading. It is, therefore,
inevitable that the
Omicron variant will
cause a massive wave of
infections during the
coming weeks. The only
way to tackle this wave is
to get vaccinated, wear a
mask, keep a safe dis-
tance, open windows
for adequate ventila-
Dr. LakKumar
tion, clean your hands
and cough and sneeze safely,”
he said.
Dr. Fernando said that Sri
Lankans needed to continue to
take all the above precautions
even after taking vaccine doses.
While almost 85% of the target
population in Sri Lanka (> 16
years) have been dou-
ble jabbed, two doses
of AstraZeneca or
Pfizer were not effec-
tive in preventing
infection, especially
from the Omicron
variant.
“For example, a
study in the UK
showed that, 15 weeks
after two doses of the
Astra Zeneca (AZ) vac-
cine, protection against
clinical disease became zero.
The corresponding figure for
Pfizer was 34%. However, a
booster dose of Pfizer given to
people vaccinated with 2 doses
of AZ vaccine boosted the effec-
tiveness against
clinical
Balavegaya (SJB) MP Rohini chemicals.
Kaviratne claims that though Kaviratne alleged that By Shyam nuwan
Agriculture Minister Minister Aluthgamage sabo- Ganewatte
Mahindananda Aluthgamage taged the move to resume Finance Minister Basil
assured the Parliament agro agro-chemical imports by Rajapaksa yesterday unveiled a 229-
chemicals would be imported, removing the Registrar of billion-rupee relief package.
so far the private sector has- Pesticide Dr. J. A. Sumith. Addressing the media at the
n’t been given the approval. MP Kaviratne emphasised Finance Ministry auditorium in
Addressing a gathering at that the government owed Colombo, the Minister said a month-
Rattota over the weekend, the an explanation over the top ly allowance of Rs. 5,000 would be
former UNPer said that the official’s paid to all public sector
farming community had been
Commercial High Court lifts enjoining order against Chinese
organic fertiliser supplier, its local agent and People’s Bank
By a.J.a. aBeynayake
The Colombo Commercial Colombo Commercial ment.
High Court yesterday lifted the Fertilisers Ltd., and Ceylon The terms that the plaintiff
enjoining order issued against Fertiliser Corporation informed companies and the defendants,
Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group the court that they had reached namely Qingdao Seawin Biotech
Co., Ltd., its local agent and the a settlement with regard to the Group Co., Ltd., its local agent,
People’s Bank. Chinese Organic Fertiliser ship- and the People’s

Wijeyadasa writes to Chinese President:

A representational image
Deals China strikes with Selendiva will be declared
null and void without compensation
SLPP MP Dr. Wijeyadasa In his 45-point letter, during the last 15 years.
Rajapakshe has in a letter to Rajapakshe has said that If these agreements are
Chinese President Xi Jinping when the present admin- not in compliance with

Saltwater croc said any transactions that

China enters into with
Selendiva Investment
istration ceases to hodl
power, the people will call
upon the new government
best practices they can
be cancelled.
Rajapakshe has also

kills swimmer Company will be annulled ab

initio without any compensa-
to revisit all agreements
and contracts entered
claimed that most of the
projects carried out
Wijeyadasa
off Dehiwala
tion. with foreign nations with

By iFham nizam
A saltwater crocodile attack was extremely
rare, Dr. Anslem de Silva of the Amphibia and
Reptile Research Organisation of Sri Lanka
PM’s office refutes reports he is about to quit
said yestrday commenting on the death of a The Prime Minister’s Office stream media and social media,
swimmer in the sead off Colombo.
yesterday rejected reports that over the past couple of days and
De Silva told The Island yesterday usually
Prime Minister Mahinda today (03), claiming that Prime
seawater crocodiles migrated between
Rajapaksa would resign from his Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will
Wellawatte and Panadura canal.
post. resign from his position.”
He said that public should not panic as it
was a very uncommon occurrence and he had A statement signed by the PM’s Weliwita said that he strongly
shared details with the Media Secretary Rohan Weliwita condemned such false reports
Department of Wildlife. said: “There is absolutely no truth intended to mislead the people of
Mahinda to the reports published on main- the country.

Sudan’s PM resigns after mass protests

Sudan’s Prime Minister
Abdalla Hamdok has
resigned after another day
of mass protests rocked the
capital Khartoum, BBC said
yesterday, adding that thou-
sands marched against a
recent deal he had done to
share power with the army,
= Sudanese Prime
Minister has resigned
who staged a coup in
October.
amidst mass protests. The BBC dispatch said:
= He should have studied Chanting “power to the peo-
ple”, protesters called for a
Sri Lankan politics.
return to full civilian rule.
But military forces again
responded with force, leav-
ing two people dead.
Hamdok’s decision to
quit leaves the army in full
control.
It is another blow to
Sudan’s fragile attempts at
a transition to democratic
rule after a popular upris-
ing led to the overthrow of
Sudan’s long-term authori-
tarian President Omar al-
Bashir in 2019.
In a televised address,
Abdalla Hamdok
Hamdok said the country
was at a “dangerous turn-
ing point that threatens its
whole survival”.
He said he had tried his
best to stop the country
from “sliding towards disas-
ter”, but that “despite
everything that has been
done to reach a
consensus... it has not
happened”.
Civilian and military
leaders had made an
uneasy power-sharing
agreement after the army
staged a coup on 25 October
and initially
placed
 2 Tuesday 4th January, 2022 The Island News
Environment Minister blames woes
of public on politicians, bureacrats
“I experimented with organic farming successfully’
By Ifham NIzam
Treasury because of Covid. It will not
happen again this year. We all need to
work efficiently.”
The Minister also expressed con-
cern about the Minister of
Agriculture complaining that neither
the Ministry of Health nor the
Ministry of Environment helped him
in his organic farming efforts.
Denying the charge, he said: “We
started organic farming about two
years ago. He said he had experiment-
ed with organic farming successfully.
As the Minister of Agriculture I start-
ed organic farming in my paddy field
and got a good harvest.
But now it is not easy to get the
farmers back to organic farming.
Environment Minister with his officials at the commencement of work for the new year Agriculture policies have made people
yesterday Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd) Sarath Weerasekera conversing with his
bitter,” he added.
Dr. Anil Jasinghe, the Secretary to Ministry Secretary Maj Gen (Retd) Jagath Alwis during a ceremony yesterday at the

A
senior minister yesterday
blamed the economic downturn
on politicians as well as public
servants, who, he said, had failed to do
figure will increase further. The gov-
ernment has decided to confirm the Ministry of Environment said, Ministry, to commence work for the new year
50,000 graduates in service. Also, “We as the Ministry of Environment
another 100,000 have been recruited to did a lot of work last year. But there

Lanka-Jordan Business
their job in the 74 years since the public service. Only by strengthen- was more we had to do. Therefore, we
Independence. ing the public service can a country be have been given Rs. 2000 million this
Environment Minister Mahinda developed. year. We must not allow the projects

Amaraweera said so, addressing an
officials meeting at the Ministry of
Environment to commence the duties
in the New Year 2022.
The pledge of commitment by the
public service was read out and reli-
gious observances were held at the
commencement of the New Year
duties.
The Secretary to the Ministry of
Environment, Dr. Anil Jasinghe and
other officials were also present.
Amaraweera observed that one out
of every 15 people in Sri Lanka was a
public servant. “Maybe this year the
“However, the economic develop-
ment during the past 74 years has not
been at a satisfactory level. Politicians
are directly responsible for that. I am
also responsible for this situation.
Also, the per capita debt in our coun-
try today is around Rs. 800,000. All this
shows that politicians as well as pub-
lic servants have failed.
We have a big target for 2022. We
have to spend Rs. 2000 million. The
government gave us more money not
because we have money. Therefore, the
money has to be used effectively. Last
year, some funds were returned to the
Council established
we implement this year to drag on
until 2023. All the steps we take this
year must be completed within this
year.”
“Last year we concluded a pro-
gramme to identify sensitive ecologi- SriLanka’s Embassy
cal zones. We have decided to continue in Jordan along with
the programme this year as well. We the Jordanian
have already identified about 200 sen- Businessmen’s
sitive ecological zones. Association and the
They should all be completed this National Chamber of
year. Therefore, it was our responsibil- Exporters of Sri Lanka
ity to prepare all future programmes held a virtual Webinar
while protecting the environment as where the first ever Sri
expected by the government, he said. Lanka- Jordan
Business Council was
established, the
Embassy said in a

India begins vaccination of children

release.
It said: The Board Investment made a detailed presenta-
members of both Chambers, tion on the sectors that Jordanians
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Jordan could invest in Sri Lanka while

in 15- to 18-year age group

Shanika Dissanayake and Ambassador Qussairy of the Investment Ministry of
of Jordan to Sri Lanka Muhammad Al Jordan gave a presentation on the
Kayed, accredited to Sri Lanka from investment climate and opportunities
India, were present at the occasion. for Sri Lankans in Jordan. The event
NEW DELHI, Meanwhile, Union An Agreement was also signed was moderated by M. Wanniarachchi/
January 3: India Health Minister between both Chambers by Director of the National Chamber of
began administering Mansukh Mandaviya Chairperson Hamdi Tabbaa and NCE Exporters of Sri Lanka.
Covid-19 vaccine to visited a Covid vacci- President Ravi Jayawardena during the The Embassy will be organising a B
children in the age nation site for chil- event. to B with Members of both Chambers
group of 15 to 18 years dren at RML Hospital Ambassador Dissanayake in her to enhance the Sri Lanka–Jordan busi-
across the country on here Monday and address emphasised that the establish- ness dialogue for a stronger engage-
Monday. They are interacted with some ment of the Business Council under the ment and to create greater awareness
being given Bharat of the beneficiaries. aegis of the Embassy would be a valu- and brand recognition for Sri Lankan
Biotech’s Covaxin Over 39,88,00,000 able platform to increase bilateral trade commodities in Jordan.
jabs. beneficiaries in this and to attract investment to both
countries. The Ambassador also
Over 1.23 million
children have been
age group have regis-
tered on CoWIN portal urged Jordanian entrepreneurs not Classified Advertistment
administered COVID- till Monday afternoon. to consider Sri Lanka as a non-tradi-
tional market and to unlock the C a r
19 vaccine doses The process to vac-
across states/UTs till cinate children com- untapped potential in Sri Lanka in P a i n t i n g
3 pm on the first day menced in the country various sectors. CARS 2K PAINT – (Home visit, with Paint Mate-
of the inoculation amid scare of the Prasanjith Wijayatilake/ rials) Doors, Mudguards, Buffers, repairing small
Executive Director of the Board of damages within one day service. (Cut and polish
drive. Omicron variant. by machine). Inquiries 072-4389217.

Long lines of vehicles on congested roads worry Johnston

‘People sent me pictures of traffic jams at entry and exit points on highways’
Chief Government Whip and
Highways Minister Johnston Fernando
yesterday vowed to make radical
changes in his Ministry and the Road
Development Authority to streamline
their services to the general public.
Speaking at a ceremony held at his
Ministry to commence operations for
the New Year, the Minister said: “Today,
I witnessed perhaps the longest lines of
vehicles on our roads. Many have sent
me pictures of traffic congestion this
morning at expressways. Many towns
have become chock-a-block. People suf-
fering in traffic jams blame none but
the government. There is no point in us
being here if we cannot alleviate the
sufferings of people. I have made a deci-
sion not to hesitate to make radical
changes so that our Ministry and RDA
could provide the services expected
from them by people to their satisfac-
tion.”
The Minister said that he would
effect changes where necessary to
increase efficiency and effectiveness of
the services rendered to the public by
the Ministry. “What I want is an expe-
dited progress in our work this year. I
want all my officials to cooperate with
me for that goal. I am thankful to those
who had dedicated themselves to serve
continuously during lockdowns to pre-
vent the spread of the pandemic. We all
must strive to realise the goals set
before us by the Vistas of Prosperity
and Splendour programme of President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa,” the Minister said.
Responding to questions by journal-
ists at the end of the ceremony, the
Minister said that President Rajapaksa
could effect any changes to the Cabinet
whenever he wanted. “It is his preroga-
tive and he has the power to do so.
People have given the powers to appoint
the ministers and secretaries to the
ministries. He will decide when to use
those powers and to effect changes. He
could do so at the beginning of the year
or middle of the year or at midnight
today,” the Minister said.
Asked whether a Cabinet reshuffle
could bring about solutions for crises
caused by the shortages of gas and dol-
lars, the minister said: “Gas shortage is
a crisis caused by officials including the
Chairman of Litro gas. It is because of
their inefficiency and dereliction of
duties, a shortage of gas was created
during the festive season. The officials
should do their job, if not they should
resign without letting the people and
the government to be in difficulty.”
Asked whether the government
would go to the IMF seeking a loan to
find solutions for the forex reserve cri-
sis, the minister said: “I am not the one
who is to go to the IMF. That decision
should be made by the Minister of
Finance. If he thinks it is a necessity,
then he will go there. It is not my place
to comment on that issue.”
Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando hoisting the national
flag to commence the work for the new year at his ministry yesterday.
Responding to a journalist who said
that Opposition leader Sajith
Premadasa had equaled the government
to a Maranadara Samithiya (death
donation society) in Siyambalanduwa,
the Minister said that Sajith Premadasa
was the ideal Opposition leader for a
government that expected no pressure
from the Opposition. “He will go all
around the country uttering whatever
that comes to his mouth. He goes to
Hambantota and Siyambalanduwa and
laments about the plight of people in
those areas and then comes home to
drink wine and spends millions of
rupees to host balls with his wife to his
friends in Colombo. The one who weeps
buckets in the morning for the cause of
people suffering drinks and dances in
the evening. It is good that we have an
Opposition leader like him,” the minis-
ter said.
Asked for his comments on the possi-
bility of joining of the SLFP teaming up
with the JVP, the Minister said that the
SLFP could do so. “Currently, the SLFP
is with us. They can leave us anytime
they want. They can even join Sajith
Premadasa. Yet I still believe that the
senior and capable lot in the SLFP are
with us and won’t leave us.”
Among those present were Rural
Roads and Other Infrastructure State
Minister Nimal Lanza, Secretary to the
Ministry of Highways R.W.R. Pemasiri,
Secretary to the State Ministry of Rural
Roads and Other Infrastructure, Prof
Ranjith Dissanayake, Chairman of RDA
Chaminda Athaluwage and RDA
Director General Sardha Weerakoon.
 The Island News Tuesday 4th January, 2022
3

SJB asks govt. to summon

Parliament immediately By samaN iNdrajith
essential goods are in short sup- order to find solutions. It seems

T
he main Opposition SJB
yesterday urged the govern-
ment to summon
Parliament immediately to dis-
cuss the burning problems people
were beset with.
Addressing the media at the
Opposition Leader’s Office in
Colombo, Chief Opposition Whip
Kandy District SJB MP
Lakshman Kiriella said
Mahanayake of the Amarapura Chapter Most Ven Dodampahala Chandasiri Nayake Thera offering Parliament should be summoned
flowers to the statue of his predecessor,the late Aggamahapanditha Dr Davuldena Gnanissara thera at without further delay as the coun-
the Davuldena Ganissara Museum in Pagoda to mark the 106th birth anniversary of the try was facing massive foreign
Aggamahapanditha Thero. Pic by Thushara Atapattu reserve crisis.
“Foreign exchange reserves
were at USD 8 billion. It has been
plpy. Farmers are facing numer-
ous difficulty. Prices of essential
commodities are sky high. In the
meantime, Parliament has been
that the government closed down
Parliament because the Ministers
and MPs have no answers for the
questions asked by the
Opposition. They cannot keep
running away from the problems.
We call on the government to
summon Parliament immediately.
The govenrment and the
Opposition have a responsibility
to look after the interests of the
people. Therefore the government
should summon Parliament with-
out further delay.
“The government is trying to
sell off national assets. Between

COVID-19 infection forces closure

reduced to USD 1.2 billion. The 15 and 20 lands in Colombo are up
government must tell the nation for sale. Seven acres of prime
how that happened. We had been land in Bogambara playground is

of Lankan consulate in Sydney

Lankan Consulate General office in Sydney was
closed yesterday due to an identified Covid-19 infec-
tion in the office premises.
The Consulate General announced that it would
be closed from Jan 3 to Jan 5.
“As we are cleaning and sanitising the office
premises, staff of the office will not be working
and the office will be closed for visitors until 5th
January 2022,” a statement said.
However, all visitors are advised to call the
Consulate office numbers before visiting the office
from Thursday, Jan 6, the Consulate General of Sri
Lanka in Sydney said.
asking the government repeated-
ly in Parliament this question
during the Budget debate. But
the Finance Minister was not
there to reply. Foreign exchange
reserves were at USD 8 billion
when we handed over the govenr-
ment to the SLPP. There is a mas-
sive financial crisis in this coun-
try today.
“There are no dollars and
Lakshman Kiriella
prorogued. The right thing that
should have been done by the gov-
ernment was to increase the num-
ber of sessions of Parliament to
discuss the prevailing issues in
to be sold. The government is try-
ing to sell the Trincomalee oil
tank farm. The agreements are to
be signed while Parliament is
closed. We need parliament open
to debate the country’s prob-
lems,” Kiriella said.
SJB MPs Kabir Hashim and
Rohini Kaviratne also addressed
the press.

Taliban shut down women’s
baths in Afghan province
Taliban officials in northern
Balkh province, bordering
Uzbekistan, have announced the
closure of all general baths for
women
IANS: Taliban officials in north-
ern Balkh province, bordering
Uzbekistan, have announced the
closure of all general baths for
women, Khaama Press reported.
As the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan is taking root across
the country, their restrictions,
especially on women, are also
increasing.
The decision was taken unan-
imously by religious scholars
and provincial officials of the
Directorate of Promotion of
Virtue and Prevention of Vice in
the province.
Based on the new decision,
women can only take shower in
private baths while observing
Islamic hijab, not in general
baths, the report said.
The head of the Directorate
of Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice in Balkh
province said that the decision
was made after consultations
Thelippalei police find one of their men dead
By diNaseNa ratugamage The deceased, Anthony The Police are yet to deter-
Pillai Ramanan, 47, was a resi- mine the cause of his death.
The Thelippalei police on dent of Batticaloa. His family The body was handed over to
Sunday found the body of a had gone to Batticaloa for the the Thelippalei hospital and
policeman at home in New Year and he was alone at Thelippalei police are conduct-
with religious scholars (Ulema). Kirimalei. home. ing further investigations.
“Since people do not access
modern baths at home, men are
allowed to go to general baths,
but women are supposed to go to
private baths while observing
hijab,” said the head of the direc-
torate.
Under age boys are also
banned from general baths, and
body massage is also banned in
the baths.
Earlier, local officials in west-
ern Herat province had tem-
porarily closed general baths for
women.

Road accidents claim lives of

52 people in last week of 2021
Fifty two people had died in road accidents dur-
ing the last week of December, , Police Spokesman,
SSP Nihal Thaldoowa said yesterday.
He said that in 2021, there had been 2,365 road
accidents, claiming the lives of 2,461 persons.
“18 people died on 01 January 2022. There were
11 serious accidents on 02 January, where 12 people
were killed,” he said. (RK)

Ranjan granted permission to

follow online degree course at
Open Uni from Welikada
By NormaN PalihawadaNe
Commissioner General of Prisons,
Thushara Upuldeniya, yesterday, said that
former SJB MP Ranjan Ramanayake, who is
serving a four-year sentence for Contempt of
Court, has been granted permission to pur-
sue his higher education, online from prison,
Upuldeniya said that detainee
Ramanayake had requested permission to
pursue his education and that the permission
letter had been issued on the instructions of
the Minister of Justice.
The Commissioner General said that
Ramanayake would be allowed to attend the
relevant external degree course lectures
Ranjan
online from the Welikada Prison using a lap-
top and he could attend the lectures online in
the presence of a prison rehabilitation officer.
Ramanayake would be allowed to receive textbooks,
supplementary notes, etc. on the subject he would be
studying from outside sources.
The Commissioner General of Prisons said that all
that was being done under the close supervision of
aprison officer.
Ramanayake had applied for an External Degree
Course in Youth and Community Development Sciences,
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Open
University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and has passed the
required Basic Certificate Course, Upuldeniya said.
Due to his imprisonment, Ramanayake
was not able to attend the undergraduate
course he was to pursue thereafter, and
due to the Covid epidemic, the university
temporarily suspended the course.
Ramanayake later renewed his regis-
tration for these courses at the OUSL on 01
Dec., the University and has taken steps to
restart the lectures.
Ramanayake held at the
Angunakolapelessa Prison was transferred
to the Welikada Prison Hospital to receive
treatment for a knee injury at the National
Hospital, Colombo.
Since Angunakolapelessa Prison had no
online facilities and due to the difficulties in
delivering the textbooks issued by the OUSL for these
courses to Ramanayake at the Angunakolapelessa
Prison, a request has been made to provide him with
higher education facilities at the Welikada Prison.
Upuldeniya said that Indika Bamunusinghe, an
inmate of Welikada Prison who was serving a life sen-
tence after being sentenced to death, was previously
allowed by the Department of Prisons to obtain a
Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of
Jayewardenepura and a Master’s degree from the
University of Kelaniya.
 4 Tuesday 4th January, 2022 The Island News

CaFFE demands PC, LG

polls this year By RathindRa KuRuwita

C
ampaign for Free and Fair
Elections (CaFFE) yesterday
called upon the government to
hold provincial and local government
polls this year. CaFFE Executive
Director, Manas Makeen said that some
provinces had been administered by
Governors and bureaucrats for over
four years.
A programme to distribute exercise books and stationary items to school children in the Addressing a workshop yesterday in
Ragama area was held at the Lourdes Sewa Piyasa yesterday under the patronage of Colombo on digital harassment faced by
Ihalagama Sri Sugatharamaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Maradanmaduwa Chandawimala female politicians, he said that the gov-
Thero and under the instructions of Tewatta Grama Niladhari Purnika Nawaratne. ernment should hold the PC elections in
2022.
“The terms of three Provincial coun-
Saltwater ... From page 1
cils ended in 2017. They are
Sabaragamuwa (on 26 September)
Eastern (30 September,) and
North Central (01 October). The
terms of three other PCs also ended in
2017. They are Central (20 October,)
Northern (24 October,) North Western
(10 October) and Uva (08 October.) The
terms of Western and Southern provin-
cials councils expired on 06 April and 10
April, 2019,” he said.
Makeen said that members of the
current administration were extremely
critical of the Yahapalana government
for delaying elections. The SLPP were
also very keen to hold a parliamentary
election in 2020 amidst COVID-19, he
said.
“For some reason they didn’t hold the
provincial council elections at the
height of their popularity. However, just
like the Yahapalana government, the
Rajapaksa administration seems to be
troubled by election phobia,” he said.
The terms of local councils too would
end soon, Makeen said. Given that local
councils played a very important role in
the daily life of the people, elections to
them needed to be held without a delay,
the CaFFE Executive Director said.

Coronavirus can pose challenges but

Police Headquarters said a man who place when the crocodile attempted to
was swimming in the seas off Dehiwala drag away the swimmer.
had died following an attack by a croco- Dr. de Silva along and his son
dile. Panduka were recently appointed

cannot stop India’s pace: PM Modi

Kalubowila Teaching Hospital Crocodile Consultants by the Indian
Director Dr. Rukshan Bellana said that government to inspect species in the
the deceased was a 57-year-old male. Anadaman Islands.
Police said the incident had taken

January 01, 2022 New accelerate the pace of

Medical...
disease to 70%. It is quite probable
that the vaccines will prevent severe
New Chairman ITN
From page 1 Delhi (PTI): India needs development. Corona
to accelerate pace of its poses challenges, but it
the limited sequencing capacity avail- development in the new cannot stall the growth
able, 47 patients infected with Omicron

Niroshan Premaratne
year and will not allow process,” the Prime
disease in most people,” he said. have been detected so far in Sri Lanka.
the challenges posed by Minister added.
The AMS President added that only The situation in the West and South
the Covid-19 pandemic India saw a single-
25% Sri Lankans in the target popula- Africa shows that it spreads extremely
to dampen the growth day rise of 22,775 new
tion had taken the booster and thus the fast. For example, Ireland recorded
rest were at risk of contracting more Covid-19 cases over the holiday process, Prime Minister COVID-19 cases on
Omicron. Therefore, the AMS strongly period (120,000 cases from 25 – 31 Narendra Modi said on Saturday, highest since
urged everyone to take the booster, in December 2021) than all of 2020 (91,779 Saturday. October 6, while the
order to reduce chances of the disease, cases), according to the country’s He stressed that the number of active cases
protect the vulnerable, prevent hospital department of health. While Omicron is country will continue to surpassed one lakh and
capacity being overwhelmed and pre- probably milder than the Delta variant, fight the pandemic with Omicron infection tally
vent a lockdown which could lead our as it is transmitted much more effi- “full caution and vigi- reached 1,431.
country to further economic disaster. ciently, many more people will be infect- lance”, and also take In his first address
“The Omicron variant of corona ed and therefore hospital capacities care of the national of 2022, PM Modi said
virus is spreading rapidly around the may be exceeded due to the sheer num- interest. India’s economy is
world, and has superseded the Delta ber of people affected,” he said. Speaking at the growing at more than 8
variant in most countries. Even with release of 10th install- per cent while it has
ment under the PM- also attracted record

deals... From page 1

KISAN scheme, PM
Modi reeled out the
foreign investment, and
taken forex reserves to
Chinese funds have been wasteful cy and economic strategy of China. It achievements of the new highs and GST col-
and large commissions have been paid is manifestly visible that your friend- country during the pan- lections were on rise.
to the corrupt politicians and officials ship with us is no more genuine and demic-hit 2021 across With India set to
to secure such projects. candid; instead you use our relations sectors, like health, clock a $400 billion
“Transactions you have secured to achieve your ambition of becoming defence, agriculture, exports this fiscal, PM
through corruption will be cancelled the world power at the stake of lives of startup ecosystem and Modi said the country
and we hold no liability to pay back our innocent people. Further you are infrastructure. has also set new para-
any loans obtained for such contracts. dismantling the peace in our region as “2021 will be remem- digms in the matter of
In the event of any restructuring, well as in the world by making our bered for India’s strong exports and especially
under no circumstances the period of nation the first victim of your power fight against the Covid- agriculture.
any agreement will be permitted to struggle with other nations of powers 19 pandemic as also for PM Modi further
exceed a period of 15 years from the that be.” reforms undertaken said the process has
date of the inception of such con- Rajapakshe has said that since Sri during the year,” PM been initiated to raise
tracts,” he said. Lanka has got close to China, other Modi said, and lauded the marriage age of
The MP has said that China has major powers in the world, too, are the achieving of more women to 21 years from
than 145 crore Covid the current 18 years, Former MP Niroshan Rajapaksa.
assisted Sri Lanka greatly in the past making various demands from Sri
vaccine doses. and bringing at par Premaratne has been appointed Premaratne contested the
decades in economic, military and Lanka. “Moreover, due to our overre-
He said in the year with that of men. as the Chairman of the last Parliamentary election on
diplomatic spheres, but that has liance on China, other friendly nations
gone by, India accelerat- He also referred to Independent Television Network behalf of the SLPP, but lost.
changed in recent times. have moved away from us, isolating
ed the speed of reforms opening of doors of (ITN), the Media Ministry states. The former MP called on
“The longstanding relations of the country in the international
in various sectors, and Sainik Schools and the It states that Premaratne was Media Minister Dullas
ours have turned into a different sphere.”
also created modern National Defense appointed to the post with the Alahapperuma yesterday after
course since your country launched (Full text of MP Rajapakshe’s letter
infrastructure. Academy for women backing of President Gotabaya being appointed to the new post.
“One Belt-One Road” policy on the pre- to the Chinese President is available at
text of strengthening the foreign poli- www.island.lk) “We have to further candidates.

Commercial...
Bank, have agreed to for the settle-
ment are as follows:
The People’s Bank would release
75% of the consignment value to
Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd
in terms of the Letter of Credit.
Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co.,
Ltd., will obtain and provide certifica-
tion for the raw material ingredients,
and arrange for fresh samples of a new
consignment of organic fertiliser to be
tested.
In terms of the contract, the sam-
ples should be free of pathogens and to
ship the consignment only after the
tested samples have been found to be in
compliance with the Plant Protection
From page 1
defendants subject to the aforemen-
tioned terms.
Both parties have agreed to issue a
statement noting that the first ship-
ment was returned due to the absence
of an Import Permit.
Attorney-at-Law G.G.
Arulpragasam, appearing for the third
defendant in the action, the local agent
for the Chinese Company, said that his
client would retain the right to file legal
action to seek payment for damages
caused by the false and malicious alle-
gations mentioned in the complaint
against Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group
Co., Ltd.
The complainants stressed that if
Sudan’s Prime...
Prime Minister Hamdok under house
arrest.
The country was just one month
away from transition to a civilian head of
state when the army seized power.
Hamdok, an economist by training, is
widely respected in the international
community having previously worked as
an official with the United Nations. He
helped negotiate a deal to forgive some of
Sudan’s debts but this involved removing
fuel subsidies, leading the prices of
many basic goods to rise, and to anti-gov-
ernment protests.
Under the agreement reached with
Hamdok in November, the reinstated
prime minister was supposed to lead a
cabinet of technocrats until elections
military takeover.
Reacting to Hamdok’s resignation,
the United States urged Sudan’s leaders
to end violence against anti-military
demonstrators.
More than 50 people have been killed
during protests since the coup, including
at least two on Sunday, according to the
pro-democracy Sudan Central Doctors’
Committee.
The resignation of Hamdok showed
the military was losing their leverage to
get international recognition and popu-
lar support, according to a spokesman
for the opposition Sudanese Congress
Basil...
From page 1
Party.
Thousands of people were on the
streets of the capital Khartoum and the
city of Omdurman on Sunday, chanting
and calling on the military to leave poli-
tics.
On social media, activists have said
2022 will be “the year of the continuation
of the resistance”.
Coup leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-
Burhan has defended last October’s coup,
saying the army had acted to prevent a
civil war. He says Sudan is still commit-
ted to the transition to civilian rule, with
elections planned for July 2023.
From page 1

Act, No. 35 of 1999, and after an Import
Permit is obtained for the bulk ship-
ment.
The amount released by the People’s
Bank will be set off after Qingdao
Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd., has
shipped the second consignment.
The plaintiffs say that they agreed
to withdraw the action against the
such action is initiated, submissions
will be made as well.
Deputy Solicitor General Susantha
Balapatabendi appeared for the com-
plainants while Counsel Kushan de
Alwis appeared for the People’s Bank
and Counsel Nihal Fernando appeared
for Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co.,
Ltd.
were held. But it was unclear how much
power the new civilian government
would have, and protests against the mil-
itary resumed, which were often violent-
ly suppressed.
Protests continued even after
Hamdok had returned to office, with
some demonstrators saying that his rein-
statement was helping to legitimatise the
workers and pensioners. An
allowance of Rs. 1,000 would be paid to
Samurdhi beneficiaries, he added.
The Finance Minister requested all
employers to provide relief to private
sector workers.
Minister Rajapaksa said an incentive
of Rs 5,000 each would be paid to those
who cultivated homesteads encompass-
ing less than 20 perches, and Rs10,000 to
those who cultivate more than 20 perch-
es.
The Finance Minister said that gov-
ernment would increase the purchasing
price of paddy by Rs 25 to Rs. 75 a kilo.
Each estate sector family would be
provided with 15 kilos of flour at a sub-
sidised rate of Rs 80, the Finance
Minister said. The current market price
of flour is at Rs 120 a kilo.

Maha season... From page 1

removal. When contacted yesterday
afternoon, Sumith declined to comment.
Minister Aluthgmage couldn’t be con-
tacted because he was at a meeting.
Earlier, Aluthgamae declared that the
Registrar of Pesticide was removed in the
wake of him lifting the ban on five pesti-
cides, including glyphosate imposed
seven years ago.
Lawmaker Kaviratne said that unless
urgent measures were taken to import
fertilizer and agro-chemicals, farmers
wouldn’t be able to engage in cultivation
in the early part of this year. The agricul-
ture ministry seemed to be even unaware
of the two cultivation seasons namely,
Maha (September-March) and Yala (May-
August), lawmaker Kaviratne said.
Responding to The Island queries, the
lawmaker pointed out that the controver-
sy over the rejected consignment of
Chinese carbonic fertilizer and the subse-
quent decision to pay the supplier USD 6.7
mn distracted public attention from the
real issue. MP Kaviratne emphasized that
the issue at hand was the failure of the
government to deliver the promised car-
bonic fertiliser needed for Maha thereby
deprived them of both fertiliser of any
kind and agro-chemicals as well. On the
other hand, of 1.2 litres of liquid nano
fertilizer ordered from India, a relatively
small quantity had been received so far,
the MP said, alleging that the Agriculture
Ministry ruined the agro sector. About
one mn litres of liquid fertiliser were yet
to be delivered, well informed sources
revealed.
The MP said that the Agriculture
Ministry within one year had achieved
the unthinkable. Asked to explain, she
said that even during the war the farming
community served the country at the risk
of their lives. Regardless of sporadic ter-
rorist attacks on paddy growing districts,
the LTTE couldn’t dishearten them, the
Matale District MP said. But the current
dispensation had compelled the farmers
to give up cultivation by depriving them
of the basic necessities, the outspoken
MP said.
The SJB spokesperson said that the
Agriculture Department recently
acknowledged that the yield in the major
paddy growing districts of Anuradhapura
and Polonnaruwa would be approximate-
ly 50 percent of the normal output where-
as in the East only 1/3 of paddy land had
been cultivated. The total output could be
as low as half of previous years, MP
Kaviratne said, urging the government to
take stock of the situation, at least now.
With the country experiencing an
unprecedented debt servicing problem, a
sharp drop in paddy, vegetable and maize
production could further aggravate the
US Dollar crisis, the MP warned, warn-
ing the government to stop acting the
goat.
MP Kaviratne said that the foolish
SLPP administration had caused
immeasurable damage to the national
economy. The Opposition would raise the
issue in Parliament once the new session
commenced on January 18, she said.

Sixty-six passengersF
onboard Mumbai-Goa cruise
ship test positive for Covid
By s vEnKaT naRayan
OuR spECial CORREspOndEnT
NEW DELHI, January 3: Sixty-six
samples collected from 2016 passengers
and crew members on board the
Mumbai-Goa ship have tested Covid-19
positive.
After one crew member aboard the
cruise ship tested positive for Covid,
the samples of 2016 passengers and
crew members on the ship were tested,
and 66 of them were found to be Covid-
19 positive. The passengers were going
to Goa from Mumbay to celebrate the
New Year.
On Sunday, a medical team in PPE
kits went on board the Cordelia cruise
ship near Mormugao Port in Goa
to conduct an RT-PCR test of all the
2,016 people, including passengers and
crew members onboard.
"The respective collectors and
Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) staff have
been informed. The govt. will take
Talks in KL to end deadly Thai conflict
By WOnG Chun Wai
KUALA LUMPUR: Rebels from
southern Thailand and the Thai govern-
ment will meet here this month as part of
the continuing peace talks, which have
been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
After two years of virtual negotia-
tions between both sides, the face-to-face
meeting will finally take place.
The separatists are from the powerful
Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), a heav-
ily armed group operating in four
Anam appointed Asia News
Network's next Chairman
Respected Bangladeshi jour-
nalist Mahfuz Anam, who is the
editor and publisher of
Bangladesh's largest selling
English daily - The Daily Star -
has been elected Asia News
Network's (ANN) next Chairman.
The 72-year-old journalist
takes over from outgoing
Chairman Warren Fernandez, on
January 1, 2022, for a two-year
term. This will be Mr Anam's sec-
ond stint as Chairman of the
alliance. Mr Anam was first
appointed ANN Chairman in
2007.
Mr Anam was nominated by
Mr Fernandez, the editor-in-chief
of The Straits Times and the
English/Malay/Tamil Media
Group of Singapore Press
Holdings (SPH) Media, and unani-
mously elected by the ANN
Board. The regional alliance is a
grouping of 23 leading Asian
news titles, which was founded in
1999.
Mr Anam started his journal-
ism career in 1972 and brings
with him several decades of expe-
rience as a media and communi-
cation specialist to lead the
The Island
appropriate measures to discuss disem-
barking of passengers," Goa Health
Minister Vishwajit Rane said.
On Sunday, the Minister told
reporters that the ship operator had
been asked to conduct Covid tests of all
provinces, namely Pattani, Yala,
Narathiwat and Songkhla, which make
up Thailand’s Deep South.
The population in these provinces
near the Malaysian border is predomi-
nantly Muslim Malays.
The facilitator for the talks is former
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri
Rahim Noor (pic), who represents the
Malaysian government.
He confirmed that the latest meeting
would be held soon but said no date has
been fixed yet.
“It is scheduled to be held in the mid-
Mahfuz Anam
regional alliance. After
working in the United Nations for
14 years, he co-founded The Daily
Star newspaper in 1991, as
Bangladesh was transitioning to a
democracy. His editorial direction
and commentaries on the coun-
try's socio-political issues saw the
paper fast rising to be the most-
read English daily in the country.
A pro-democracy advocate, Mr
Anam, found himself being sued
in court for his criticism of the
country's two largest parties. But
he dismisses the charges as
attacks on press freedom.
ANN aims to establish a glob-
al footprint as Asia's most
authoritative media voice and
work to bring Asia closer
through editorial collaboration. It
was set up to promote Asian jour-
nalism and share the story of an
Asian century from an Asian per-
Foreign Affairs
passengers, and that they would not be
allowed to disembark if they are found
infected with the coronavirus.
The cruise is near Mormugao Port
cruise terminal as the MPT did not
allow the cruise to dock in Goa.
dle of January, but the date has not been
finalised,” he told The Star.
Rahim said the meetings had pro-
gressed “very well’’ but declined to pro-
vide details.
The negotiations involved representa-
tives of the Thai government with chief
negotiator Gen Wanlop Rugsanaoh and
the BRN.
The relentless cycle of violence in
southern Thailand began in 2004 and has
claimed at least 7,000 lives to date. In May
2021, Thai security forces were reported-
ly in a three-hour standoff with two sepa-
ratist insurgents in a small remote vil-
lage in Yala, southern Thailand.
The United States Institute of Peace
(Usip) reported
that “as they
stood their
ground, the two
combatants made
video calls to fam-
ily and friends to
bid farewell”.
The previous
peace talks
between the BRN
and Thailand
were held in
Kuala Lumpur in
January and early
March 2020, which
provided hope for
ending the vio-
lence in southern
Thailand.
spective.
Said Mr Anam: "ANN aims to
tell the world how Asia is forging
ahead in this complex and ever-
changing world and share knowl-
edge and experience to build a
better future."
Said Mr Fernandez: "It has
taken us some time, but now that
we have established the ANN on
a proper legal and financial foot-
ing, it is time to pass on the
chairmanship, in the interest of
good governance. In Mahfuz, we
have a wise and respected media
veteran, a founding member of
the
ANN Board. There are few
who have both his breadth of
experience, and sense of strong
commitment to regional collabo-
ration, to take on the challenge of
leading ANN, and bringing it for-
ward, at this critical time.”
5 Tuesday 4th January, 2022
Singapore economy beats
expectations to grow 5.9%
in Q4 and 7.2% in 2021
By Ovais suBhani shows that economic growth picked up
Senior CorreSpondent momentum despite the global Omicron
variant surge that saw Singapore sus-
pend ticket sales on vaccinated travel
SINGAPORE - Singapore's economy
lanes (VTLs) till Jan 20.
wrapped up 2021 with its fastest growth
Ms Selena Ling, chief economist and
in more than a decade, putting behind
head of treasury research and strategy
the Republic's worst recession the year
at OCBC Bank, said the Republic's 2022
before, when the Covid-19 pandemic
growth outlook will depend on further
struck.
relaxation of social distancing rules and
The economy grew 7.2 percent last
additional VTLs giving more life to the
year, the most since 2010 and higher
service sector and helping to ease some
than earlier estimates, the Ministry of
of the labour shortages that have
Trade and Industry (MTI) said on
marred construction.
Monday (Jan 3).
She said MTI's 2022 growth forecast
MTI had predicted in November that
reflects less stellar manufacturing
gross domestic product (GDP) growth in
growth and would require the
2021 would come in at about 7 per cent,
service and construction sectors to pick
the top end of an earlier forecast range
up the slack.
of 6 percent to 7 per cent. The economy
Manufacturing
had con-
was still the best-
tracted by
performing sector
5.4 percent
in the final quar-
in 2020.
ter of 2021, with
In his
output swelling by
New Year
14 per cent year on
address last
year, almost dou-
Friday,
ble the 7.9 per cent
Prime
growth in the
Minister Lee
third quarter.
Hsien Loong
The sector
said the
grew 12.8 percent
economy is
through the whole
expected to
of 2021, up from 7.3 percent the year
grow by 3 percent to 5 percent in 2022,
before.
reiterating MTI's maiden forecast for
MTI said manufacturing growth dur-
the year in November.
ing the quarter was supported by output
For the fourth quarter of 2021, the
expansions in all clusters, in particular,
economy expanded by 5.9 percent year
the electronics and precision engineer-
on year, moderating from the 7.1 per
ing clusters amid sustained global
cent growth in the previous quarter,
demand for semiconductors and semi-
which was fuelled by a low base compar-
conductor equipment.
ison.
The construction sector grew by 2
Economists in a Bloomberg poll had
per cent on a year-on-year basis in the
forecast fourth-quarter GDP growth at
fourth quarter of 2021, but in absolute
5.1 percent year on year and full-year
terms, the value-added of the sector
2021 expansion at 7.1 percent.
remained 26 per cent below its pre-
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally
Covid-19 level as activity at construction
adjusted basis, the economy expanded
worksites continued to be weighed down
2.6 percent in the October to December
by labour shortages, MTI said.
quarter, faster than the 1.2 percent
The sector still managed full-year
growth in the preceding quarter, MTI
growth of 18.7 per cent, a sharp rebound
said.
from the 35.9 per cent contraction in
Analysts said the quarterly gain
2020.

 6 Tuesday 4th January, 2022

The Island
Published by Upali Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd.
223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13.
Tel: 011-2497500, 011-2497571,
011-2497572, 011-2497573 Fax: 011-2497543
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By Mahendran Thiruvarangan
Tuesday 4th January, 2022

LPG: Was safety T

he last Kuppi Talk article by Erandika
de Silva discussed the disjuncture
between the emphasis on standardisa-

compromised? tion and the absence of serious efforts to

address the challenges facing students and
teachers in the peripheries due to socio-eco-
itro and Laugfs have adduced new regulations

L
governing their production processes to
explain the prevailing cooking gas shortage.
They would have us believe that they cannot main-
tain their production at the previous levels because
they have to fill and distribute gas cylinders in con-
nomic inequalities. She drew insights from
her own teaching experiences in the North
to elaborate on this disjuncture. If uneven
resource allocation and development, the
civil war, the North’s isolation during the
war years, protracted militarization and the
ethno-nationalism of the state produce the

formity with the new standards set by the Sri Lanka
Standards Institution (SLSI) and judicial guide-
lines. Laugfs Chairman W. K. H. Wegapitiya has
been quoted by the media as saying that previously
Caste and
North and its academic institutions as
peripheral, caste and class-based inequali-
ties within the North create peripheries
within this periphery. Today’s article focus-
es on how caste-based inequalities make free
education an uneven terrain in the North,

Education
his company released as many as 40,000 to 50,000 and sheds light on the forms of caste-based
cylinders of gas daily, but today the number has discrimination observed in educational
dropped to 10,000. institutions in Jaffna in the past and pres-
ent.
New regulations and standards may have caused
a delay in the LPG production process, but they are Casteism in Education

certainly welcome because they are aimed at ensur-
ing the safety of gas consumers. In fact, the SLSI
should have stipulated those standards earlier, and
the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) should have
taken action to ensure that the gas companies abid-
ed by them.
As for the reasons Litro and Laugfs have given for
the LPG shortage, a question that the CAA ought to
ask them is whether they maintained high produc-
tion levels previously at the expense of the safety
standards which they have now been made to
adhere to. What one gathers from their explanation
at issue is that they just went on churning out cylin-
ders of gas to meet the demand, and the measures
they adopted to ensure the safety of their products
were not adequate.
Now that the gas companies have admitted that
their production has gone down due to the new safe-
ty regulations, a probe is called for to find out
whether they compromised the safety of their prod-
ucts to increase their output thereby exposing the
gas consumers to danger.
It is hoped that the gas companies will continue
to be kept under the microscope for the sake of the
public, and action will be taken to ensure that they
will achieve their production targets without com-
promising safety.
Danger to democracy
he much-delayed Provincial Council (PC) elec-
Recently, a Panchamar caste communi-
ty—a collection of five caste-based commu-
nities subjected to systemic oppression and
exploitation historically and forming a sig-
nificant share of Jaffna’s population today—
faced severe casteist violence at
Vaddukoddai in Jaffna. One person from the
community lost a finger as a result; houses
and properties of the Panchamar were dam-
aged; the community was psychologically
traumatized. According to the community,
this violence unfolded in a context of pro-
tracted, systematic caste-based oppression
in various arenas including education. The
members spoke of the discrimination their
children face in examinations, sports and
competitions in both the private and public
schools in the village; the way teachers and
administrators from the dominant Vellalar
caste communities ignore the needs of their
children; the economic deprivation amidst
which they learn; and the stereotyping of
their children as drug-peddlers, alcohol-
addicts and sexual perverts by the school
community and larger society.
Even as some academics, commentators
and the Tamil media claim that caste is a
thing of the past and that educational oppor-
tunities for Panchamar communities under
the free education system have levelled
social inequalities, Panchamar children,
teachers and educational administrators in
the North experience casteism in education
on a daily basis.
A Casteist Past
Historically, the dominant Vellala com-
munity has had near total to significant con-
in the North
The judicial victories
achieved by profession-
als from the Panchamar
castes, like the Principal
applicant who faced dis-
crimination, give the
community hope and
confidence to advance
their struggles for jus-
tice. Their present-day
struggles find inspiration
and guidance from the
anti-caste struggles of
the past too.
Ravana observe that many Saivite-Tamil
schools established by the revivalist move-
ments in the latter decades of the nine-
teenth-century refused to educate children
from the Panchamar communities. In the
twentieth-century, sections of these move-
ments felt that accommodation of
boom of this period did not lead to signifi-
cant improvement in the lives of the
Panchamar.
In the post-independence period, some
Panchamar Christians were able to find free
admission in some of the schools estab-
lished by the missionaries. However,
Panchamar among Hindus were unable to
afford these schools. Even within Christian
schools, children and teachers from the
Panchamar communities faced marginaliza-
tion. Administrative positions in these
schools were generally held by Vellalar with
a few exceptions.
Critical inquiries into this past are
important because this long history of
casteism has had multi-generational conse-
quences in delaying and crippling the
progress of the Panchamar. The caste power
acquired by the Vellalar over the centuries
first via accumulation of land and later via
education have enabled them to preserve
their dominance over others even today.
Such exclusions in education are a key rea-
son for the poverty prevalent among
Panchamar at present.
Free Education and Its Limits
Free education and the nationalization of
schools between the 1940s and 1960s
increased the educational opportunities

T tions are not likely to be held in the foresee-

able future. Chairman of the Parliamentary
Select Committee on electoral reform, Minister
trol over education in the North. Though
one is not sure where this story begins, the
Tinnai Pallikkutams or Veranda Schools
where education was imparted in the seven-
Panchamar in their schools was necessary
but merely as a strategy to resist missionary
schools. The authors note that a few Vellalar
elite supported the establishment of Saivite
schools for Panchamar children in places
available for the Panchamar. However,
Vellalar were relentless in preventing the
Panchamar from benefitting from these poli-
cies. For instance, it took nearly fifteen
years after its nationalization for a school in
Dinesh Gunawardena, has said new laws will have teenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
were not open to Panchamar children. Mark like Thevarayali in order to segregate them Puttur to open its portals to Panchamar chil-
to be made for the PC polls to be conducted, and the from Vellalar children. dren. Casteist forces attacked nationalized
Balmforth’s research demonstrates that in
PC Elections (Amendment) Act of 2017 should be the nineteenth century, even the American Even as Jaffna was hailed as a high seat schools that tried to ensure equality in seat-
done away with for that purpose. The law in ques- Ceylon Mission, which established many of learning in colonial Ceylon, the ing. Even today, alumni associations and
educational institutions in Jaffna “systemat- Panchamar suffered discrimination in edu- school development societies of some state
tion was not made properly by the yahapalana gov- schools are dominated by the Vellalar,
ically allowed the operation of caste cation. Those who benefitted from colonial
ernment, he has said, blaming the JVP, the TNA, education were disproportionately Vellalar. excluding the Panchamar from engaging
privileges demanded by the few Veḷḷāḷar
etc., for supporting it. members of its churches and schools...” In This social group and their descendants with these institutions and shaping their
The country has been without elected PCs for Ilankaiyil Sathiyamum Athatkethirana later formed the (English) educated middle activities.
Porattangalum (Casteism and Anti-Caste class in Jaffna that held administrative posi-
years, and a lot of funds which would otherwise tions in the colonial state. The educational
have been spent to maintain more than 400 provin- Struggles in Sri Lanka), Vehujanan and Continued on Page 7
cial councillors who are a huge burden on the pub-
lic have been saved. That is why the postponement
of the PC polls has not become a political issue as
such. However, the need for new laws and the aboli-
tion of the aforesaid amendment Act is not what
prevents the government from conducting the PC
elections.
The government lost no time in introducing the 20
Amendment to the Constitution to restore the
President’s executive powers. It has mustered 157
votes for Budget 2022, and proved once again that it
has a two-thirds majority in Parliament. So, intro-
ducing new laws to hold the PC polls should be
child’s play for the government.
Why the government is not making a serious
attempt to conduct the PC polls is its fear of elec-
tions. Its performance has been abysmal on almost
all fronts, and the only achievement it can flaunt is
the national vaccination drive, which is a huge suc-
cess and should be appreciated. But man does not
live by vaccine alone, and public resentment, result-
ing from the high cost of living, numerous short-
ages and the vulgar display of opulence by the
rulers and their kith and kin, is palpable. An elec-
toral contest is the last thing the government needs
at this juncture. It has also announced its decision
to postpone the local government elections by one
year.
A government that fears elections is a danger to
democracy.
 The Island Opinion Tuesday 4th January, 2022
7
Impending cabinet Caste and Education.. From page 6

reshuffle and change

Free education and the mobilities
enabled by anti-caste resistance have led to Quest for Justice
the emergence of a small middle class with- Despite longstanding discrimination on
in the Panchamar communities. However, a
various fronts including education, the
large number of Panchamar still face land-
Panchamar continue to demand better
lessness, lack of housing, unemployment
access to education for their children. In

of subjects
and poverty today. Many of them work in
2019, landless Panchamar families from a
the construction industry, as agricultural
camp for the war-displaced, told a land com-
labourers or domestic workers. Their chil-
mission that they did not want to return to
dren tend to drop out of school to support
where they had lived previously and
their parents. The pandemic and the wors-
requested the state to allocate them lands in
ening economic crisis have had a dispropor-
areas where they lived at the time so that
tionate impact on their children’s educa-
their children could attend good schools. At

I
t is reported that a Cabinet
reshuffle is in the offing and
along with it some State min-
istries will also be given more
responsibilities; the departments
coming under some State
Ministries will be changed. This
will lead to anomalies where there
are two Ministries, one for Power
and the other for Energy. Don’t
these two subjects go hand in
hand? What is surprising is how
this idiotic separation came and
on whose advice? It is simple
knowledge that energy is essen-
tial to produce power. For exam-
ple, water in a hydro reservoir
is energy, which powers the
turbines to operate and pro-
duce electricity.
This portfolio is highly
technical and needs an aca-
demically qualified minis-
ter who understands the
subject, and therefore
the proposed reshuffle
should give serious
thought to assigning
it to an educated,
knowledgeable politi-
cian.
It is heartening to
note that the young
and the educated will
be promoted to the
rank of ministers. All
these years, mostly
senior members in a political
party have been appointed minis-
ters and they become ‘experts’
overnight and dictate to public
officials who have had long years
of experience, or appoint their
cronies to high managerial posts
and they in turn lick the boots of
the minister, get all financial bene-
fits and perks at the
expense of
the public.
In my long years of service
spanning three decades there was
only one Ministry for Power and
Energy and the Ceylon Electricity
Board ran as a profit-making state
enterprise with knowledgeable
ministers at the helm, who were
well briefed by competent
Secretaries and staff.
Political interference caused
this vital organisation to face
heavy losses and today the issue of
a US company NFE coming in on
an LNG project, without the
normal tender procedure
has become a threat to
the government. Even
Cabinet Ministers
have vehemently
criticized the
action of the
government,
and
sought a
legal
remedy.
G .A. D. Sirimal
BORALESGA-
MUWA
tion. Panchamar families find online educa-
Vaddukoddai, parents from the community
tion expensive and inaccessible. These wor-
affected in the recent caste violence are
rying trends result chiefly from the absence
of support systems within our free educa- expressing their protest against the way
tion system that cater to the specific needs their children are traumatized in school.
of Panchamar children and other marginal- The judicial victories achieved by profes-
ized groups. They underline need to re- sionals from the Panchamar castes, like the
imagine free education from a homogenous Principal applicant who faced discrimina-
system blind to the hierarchies of caste and tion, give the community hope and confi-
class into a variegated terrain with addi- dence to advance their struggles for justice.
tional mechanisms to address the chal- Their present-day struggles find inspiration
lenges faced by deprived communities like and guidance from the anti-caste struggles
the Panchamar. of the past too.
It is high time the dominant caste com-
munities introspected into the ways in
Caste at the University
which they have (ab)used the education sys-
At the University of Jaffna, issues relat-
tem to preserve and multiply their privi-
ed to caste take a back seat in academic
leges, and joined Panchamar and other
conversations. Although the academic com-
caste groups in their quest for justice. It is
munity at the University gives prominence
also high time the state, instead of taking
to Tamil nationalist aspirations and con-
advantage of the caste-based fissures
demns the ongoing militarization of the
among the Tamils or framing caste as an
North, open discussions about caste are
internal problem of the Tamils, acknowl-
hardly encouraged, barring a few occa-
edged its own failure in eliminating
sions. A section of the academic communi-
casteism in the education sector and intro-
ty is warped in its view that discussing
duced practices that can democratize free
caste in public will cause disunity among
education in ways beneficial to the
Tamils.
Panchamar and other historically disadvan-
The academia’s silence, its attempts to
taged communities in the North and else-
reduce caste to a sociological reality within
where.
flawed frameworks of multiculturalism and
(Mahendran Thiruvarangan is a Senior
its refusal to recognize caste as one of the
Lecturer attached to the Department of
central ways in which power operates with-
Linguistics & English at the University of
in and outside the classroom need to be
Jaffna.)
challenged. As a center of higher education
Kuppi is a politics and pedagogy happen-
in the North, the University should give,
ing on the margins of the lecture hall that
within its social focus and research culture,
parodies, subverts, and simultaneously reaf-
a prominent place to caste and its workings
and questions of social justice. firms social hierarchies.

A clear message from the Kanpur tax rates and tax collection, economist
episode is that the cash economy is alive Arthur Laffer, concluded that tax collec-
and kicking. Probably, instead of outlaw- tion is maximum at a certain tax rate
ing cash, the Government should try to and a higher tax rate would result in
integrate the cash economy in the formal reduced tax revenue because people
economy. Also, Direct and Indirect Tax would not have enough incentive to
provisions should be harmonised. That work hard. Rather, there would be more
said, ersatz solutions like tinkering with incentive to evade taxes.
tax rates cannot solve the deep-rooted Proceeding on Laffer’s theory,
structural problems of our tax system income-tax rates were cut drastically
after the liberalisation of 1991.
By DEVENDRA SAKSENA Consequently, collection of direct taxes
increased from Rs.10,606 crore in FY

A
massive cash seizure, by the
Directorate General of GST 1990-91 to Rs.68,305 crore in FY 2000-01,
Intelligence (DGGI), from the to Rs.4,45,995 crore in 2010-11 and to
premises of a gutka manufacturer in Rs.11,37,685 crore in FY 2018- 19.
Kanpur had the unintended conse- Applying this principle to the GST
quence of precipitating bitter slanging regime, reduction in rates, simplifica-
matches on TV channels, between tion of processes, moving towards one
spokespersons of sundry political par- slab of taxation, all may be required to
ties, with every speaker alleging links increase voluntary compliance.
between the raided person and rival Another thing to be kept in mind is
political parties. that Direct Taxes are progressive, aimed
The unsavoury spectacle had its at the rich, while Indirect Taxes are
denouement in the PM, FM, UP CM, regressive, affecting the poor more than
President of SP and other leading politi- the rich. Advanced economies collect
cians joining the low-level debate. The most of their tax revenue from Direct
public, always sceptical of the morality Taxes. As the Indian economy matured,
of politicians, were left wondering if all Direct Tax collection, which was only
allegations made by political leaders one fourth of the Indirect Tax collection
against each other were true! Creditably, in the 1980s, overtook Indirect Tax col-

Tax and Politics

the DGGI, and its parent entity, the
Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC),
kept away from the raging controversy.
Playing by the rulebook, both CBIC and
DGGI refrained from disclosing unnec-
essary details about the search, to the
extent that even the names of the offi-
cers involved in the search were not
revealed.
Perhaps, GST officials had learnt a
lesson from the Mumbai drug bust,
where a hunger for publicity had
boomeranged, resulting in the Zonal
Director of Enforcement Directorate
being slandered by politicians while the
accused, aided by expensive lawyers,
came out as lily-white victims.
According to information available in
the public domain, wrong doing of the
Gutka group was unearthed consequent
to interception of a truck with defective
papers in Gujarat. The modus operandi
of GST evasion was simple enough;
goods were under-invoiced by the Gutka
group, so that e-Way Bills were not
required for transportation.
Truck drivers carrying gutka con-
signments collected sales proceeds in
cash, which was used to pay suppliers
and employees. A question naturally
arises, as to why the local intelligence
units of the CBDT and CBIC were
unable to detect the rampant tax eva-
sion by the Gutka group, keeping in
mind that Kanpur and Kannauj, are not
exactly bustling with big businesses?
The answer may lie in the manner
GST is administered. At the apex level,
GST is administered by the GST Council
consisting of the Union Finance
Minister and State Finance Ministers.
The Revenue Secretary functions as
Secretary to the GST Council while the
Chairperson, CBIC, is a permanent,
non-voting invitee to the GST Council.
Almost everything related to GST,
including laws, rules and rates, falls
under the purview of the GST Council.
Administration of GST at the opera-
tional level is divided between the
Centre and States, with control over 90
per cent of taxpayers having a turnover
below Rs.1.5 crore vesting with State tax
administration and jurisdiction over the
remaining 10 per cent vesting with
CBIC. Taxpayers with turnover above
Rs.1.5 crores are divided equally
between State tax administration and
CBIC. With such a complex structure,
and absence of tax professionals at the
top, administration of the GST Act has
become a challenge.
It does not help that GST is levied in
five different tax slabs: 0 per cent, 5 per
cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per
cent. Additionally, there is a special rate
of 0.25 per cent for rough, precious and
semi-precious stones and 3 per cent on
gold. A cess of 22 per cent on top of 28
per cent GST is levied on items like aer-
ated drinks, luxury cars and tobacco
products. Multiple tax rates force busi-
nesses to classify inputs and outputs
based on the applicable tax rate which
makes compliances onerous for small
businesses.
Further, to claim input tax credit, a
firm requires to match invoices between
outputs and inputs; such exercises
increase the compliance burden and the
compliance cost, leading to evasion. Due
to slow refund processing, working capi-
tal gets locked up, and complicated
administrative processes often lead to
frauds. Only 5 countries viz. India Italy,
Luxembourg, Pakistan and Ghana have
four or more GST rates. The World
Bank’s India Development Update 2018,
called India’s GST regime too complex.
Interestingly, India has the second-high-
est GST rate among the 115 countries
studied by World Bank.
Along with changes in the Indirect
Tax regime, the last few years have wit-
nessed profound changes in assessment
and appeal procedures of the Income-
tax Department. Earlier, the Income-tax
Department had a decentralised work-
ing model with Income-tax offices being
located at the remotest places for con-
venience of taxpayers, who could file
their returns and access their Assessing
Officer at a place close to their homes.
Income-tax Officer in moffusil towns
kept themselves well informed about the
activities of taxpayers in their jurisdic-
tions. Now with e-filing and jurisdiction-
less, faceless assessments, local officers
get little information about business
activities in their area.
Previously, the Income-tax Officer
could conduct surveys – a very effective
intelligence gathering tool and a potent
weapon against tax evasion ~ and advise
the Investigation Wing about bigger
cases of tax evasion. Presently, surveys
and searches are actively discouraged
with the power to order surveys and
searches being vested with much more
senior officers. The result is a paucity of
local knowledge which means that cases
like the Kanpur one go undetected.
Probably, this is the price the Income-
tax Department has to pay for its
emphasis on centralisation of informa-
tion and ‘non-intrusive investigation’ as
opposed to old school intelligence gath-
ering.
Even in the present technologically
advanced times, a mixture of both may
be required to catch tax evasion. It may
be added that the Income-tax
Department is yet to come to grips with
the new procedures, with a number of
cases being filed in High Courts by
assessees alleging procedural irregulari-
ties by AOs, in assessment proceedings.
The Department had to change the pro-
cedure for dealing with appeals, compre-
hensively, after some adverse observa-
tions by higher Courts.
Voluntary compliance by taxpayers,
which is the basis of the present tax
regime, can only come about if the
Government collects revenue at a rate
and in a manner that is acceptable to
taxpayers. “Tax should be collected from
people like a honey bee draws nectar
from a flower, without harming it”,
wrote Chanakya, in Arthashastra, circa
300 BCE.
Studying the relationship between
lection in FY 2007-08, progressively
increasing to 56 per cent of total tax rev-
enues in FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15.
Reversing this trend, the present
Government increased GST rates across
the board and imposed extortionate
levies on petroleum products, which did
yield extra revenue but at the cost of
inflation, a slowing economy, and a dis-
torted tax structure, with Indirect Tax
collection consistently exceeding Direct
Tax collection after FY 2018-19.
A clear message from the Kanpur
episode is that the cash economy is alive
and kicking. Probably, instead of out-
lawing cash, the Government should try
to integrate the cash economy in the for-
mal economy. Also, Direct and Indirect
Tax provisions should be harmonised.
That said, ersatz solutions like tinkering
with tax rates cannot solve the deep-
rooted structural problems of our tax
system. A Direct Tax Code has been in
the offing since 2010 and was last heard
about in 2020, but nothing concrete has
emerged, so far.
In fact, looking to the changes in the
business environment, a comprehensive
tax code encompassing both Direct and
Indirect Taxes is required. Great
Britain, from where we inherited our
tax system, has integrated Direct Taxes
(Inland Revenue) and Indirect Taxes
(Customs and Excise) under Her
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Board
in 2005. Similarly, the US IRS Code 1986
encompasses both Direct and Indirect
Taxes. We have to proceed on similar
lines so that the Indian tax system
works as an integrated whole ~ not in
separate silos of GST Council, CBIC and
CBDT. (The Statesman/ANN)
(The writer is a retired Principal
Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax)
 8 Tuesday 4th January, 2022
The Island Features
Clergy confer blessings on
President to do right thing
By Jehan Perera
born into a Buddhist family, the disci-
plines I received when I was studying at
Ananda College, Colombo, one of the

T
he president has recently been
venting his frustrations on public
administrators and government
officials whom he sees as failing to deliv-
er on their duties and commitments.
Several of them have been fired from
their positions and some have resigned
on their own. Ironically, most of these
persons who have been moved out by
design or by circumstance have been per-
sons against whom there were no allega-
tions of corruption, unlike in the case of
many in the government. Though he had
appointed many retired and serving mili-
tary officers to high positions in the
state, it does not seem to work well
either, though this is less acknowledged.
There is a lack of cohesion across many
sectors and even within the ruling
alliance. Building cohesive relationships
between political parties and communi-
ties across the country is a challenge fac-
ing the President in 2022. The most
important thing to hope for in the new
year is that President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa gets the right team around
him and implements a zero-tolerance for
corruption policy with all sections of the
community being treated with fairness
and equity.
The country is going into an uncer-
tain future in the New Year. Its foreign
reserves have never been so low before
threatening default on foreign loan
repayments. The disconnect between the
lifestyles of the rulers and ruled has
never been so stark before. On the
ground, people were lining up to buy gas
cylinders for cooking purposes. In the air
were as many as one fourth of the coun-
try’s parliamentarians with their fami-
lies, who went abroad to enjoy Christmas
festivities using dollars that are not
available for import of essential food
items. The national airline is continuing
to make huge losses which denies the
state the resources to subsidise other
needy segments of the population. Such
an inequitable situation was not antici-
pated when the country went to the polls
in November 2019 in the hope of electing
a strong leader who would instil disci-
pline and self-discipline in the country
and take it on a course of Singapore-
style development (or even China-style
development) with greater efficiency and
zero tolerance for corruption.
There was, and continues to remain,
high hopes that President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa will make a change for the
better as he comes from outside of the
political party system that has got
steeped in corruption, much as the
United States over a century ago.
“Chicago politics is a national cliché,
evoking images of a one-party system,
dominated by a boss-controlled
Democratic political machine whose
crafty politicians dangle patronage
before competing ethnic and racial
groups in return for votes. Indeed, no
political, ethnic, class, or gender group
in the city or its suburbs has escaped the
lure of patronage politics or the stain of
corruption. When reform Republicans
captured control of the Common Council
in the late 1890s, they behaved exactly as
had the ousted Democrats. Republicans
replaced all Democratic appointees with
their own followers, a practice the
Republicans had decried when done by
Democrats. Democratic Alderman
Johnny Powers did not find this strange:
“To the victors belong the spoils,”
explained Powers.” http://www.encyclo-
pedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/989.html
Tough decisions
Addressing the gathering at an event
in which he was bestowed an honour by
Buddhist monks, the President recalled
that he had been elected by a majority of
the Sinhala people and promised to pro-
tect them and their heritage. He said, “I
pledge to protect and nurture the
Buddhist philosophy in this country. We
must always protect the Sinhala culture
and heritage that has a history of thou-
sands of years. Therefore, the govern-
ment will continue to provide patronage
to protect our values, traditions and cus-
toms.” Equally significantly, he also said,
“I will always uphold the right of all Sri
Lankans to live in peace and harmony by
preserving their religious identities and
to live with dignity in association with
the main culture of this country that
persisted throughout the history. I am
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
ready to embark on a new journey by
overcoming the obstacles we have
encountered so far, and to fulfil the aspi-
rations of the people who elected me as
President of this country. I responsibly
declare before this Most Venerable
Sangha community that I am ready to
take any tough or bold decisions that
need to be taken in this regard.”
There are some key things the presi-
dent needs to do to honour his pledge to
uphold the right of all Sri Lankans to
live in peace and harmony, by preserving
their religious identities. The interna-
tional community, most notably the
European Union, has been insisting that
the PTA should be amended or abolished
to bring Sri Lanka’s laws, pertaining to
the arrest and detention of people, in
line with international law. There is cur-
rently a case before the courts in which
the eminent lawyer M.M Zuhair has
argued that the accused in the case per-
taining to the attacks on some Buddha
statues at Mawanella are completing
three years in state custody, though there
is not a single eyewitness who had seen
any of the accused in this case attacking
any of the Buddha statues. They are in
remand custody without the availability
of judicial recourse to bail, under the
provisions of the PTA. But where attacks
on other religious sites have taken place,
the suspects have all been given bail.
This is a clear case of discrimination,
unequal treatment before the law and
unequal protection of the law contrary
to Article 12(1) and 12(2) of the
Constitution (https://island.lk/no-eye-
witnesses-but-suspects-in-remand-for-
three-years-defence-counsel/).
There are other issues too where Sri
Lanka is falling short of international
standards, and in a most shameless way,
due to political interference. The country
now risks getting downgraded in regard
to international trafficking. “Officials
working to combat human trafficking in
Sri Lanka revealed that a number of
women trafficked to Sri Lanka from
Uzbekistan have been assisted over the
past few months. The foreigners either
arrive in Sri Lanka as tourists or on a
work visa and are forced into sex. The
official said that the women who escape
and seek support often face issues with
shelters or safe houses. The official also
revealed that internal trafficking is also
continuing with some brothels operating
with powerful backing. They are often
alerted about such brothels by authori-
ties who find that their hands are tied
because of the involvement of VIPs.
Human trafficking in Sri Lanka is at a
level that the country faces the risk of
being downgraded in the 2022
Trafficking in Persons Report issued by
the United States” (https://www.dai-
lymirror.lk/breaking_news/Uzbek-
women-trafficked-to-Sri-Lanka-for-
sex/108-228034).
Collective effort
In his speech accepting the award
from the Buddhist monks, the president
said, “On this occasion, I would like to
specially mention the fact that I was
leading Buddhist schools in the country,
the inspiration I received from following
the advices of the Maha Sangha and the
discipline I received from serving in the
Army were the factors that made my life
better.” The president comes across as
an abstemious person, being a vegetari-
an, and not indulging in ostentatious
and self-indulgent practices. He needs to
ensure that the law and ethical prac-
tices are followed, and not shameless
cover ups and the pursuit of ill-gotten
wealth at any cost, regardless of who
wants to break them, even those near to
him, due to past and present relation-
ships.
The Chief Secretary of Kotte Sri
Kalyani Samagri Maha Sangha Sabha,
Head of the Department of Pali and
Buddhist Studies, University of
Peradeniya, Aggamahapanditha Most
Ven. Prof. Kotapitiye Rahula Anunayake
Thera, delivering the main sermon, said
that the blessings of the Maha Sangha
will be conferred on the President to
build the country properly managing
the remaining three years as there is
still more time left. When there is a suc-
cess, there are many people to share it.
But when an attempt fails miserably, the
blame falls on the leader himself. Most
Ven. Prof. Kotapitiye Rahula Anunayake
Thera said that this was a normal situa-
tion and wished the President strength
to build the country in the future brave-
ly while facing bitter experiences in pol-
itics
(https://www.newswire.lk/2022/01/02/i-
have-the-strength-to-endure-such-
insults-with-equanimity/).
It is an observation of management
theory that one man, however compe-
tent or strong, cannot run a country on
his own. He can run a system and give it
leadership and ensure that it operates
without breaking down. The president’s
pledge of a new constitution provides
an opportunity to reform the system of
governance and put an end to the viola-
tions and weaknesses in it that breeds
impunity and resentment which is the
fuel for extremism of all sorts. The rein-
troduction of the scheme of appointing
higher state officials through a constitu-
tional council consisting of members of
government, opposition and civil socie-
ty would lead to appointments that are
well deliberated and have a wider politi-
cal backing rather than ad hoc appoint-
ments that disappoint. The present dete-
rioration in the integrity and quality of
decision making, at multiple levels and
in multiple institutions, highlights the
need for a strong system of government
based on checks and balances to which
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa can give
leadership as urged by the religious
clergy and, indeed, all people of good-
will.

Transform your kid’s personality with these five easy tips

Raising a confident and
robust child can be quite a task.
As a parent, you need to ensure
that your child gets a positive
environment that can help them
learn and understand the world
around them.
SNS:
majority of physical and mental
development happens during the early stages of
childhood, which is why you must start
indulging in your child’s personality develop-
ment at an early age—wondering from where to
start?
Parents have an important role in influenc-
ing kids’ lives starting from birth on – helping
shape their beliefs about themselves, guiding
them emotionally growing up, and shaping who
they will become as adults! They can make a
attention to your child’s activities and inter-
ests. Keep track of the new things he learns.
2. Be emotionally supportive
Be emotionally supportive to your children
during hard times – this means talking through
problems together rather than trying to fix
them on your own or making empty promises
of how everything will be better tomorrow.
3. Accept and move on
Learn to accept the shortcomings of your
kid. Stop being too harsh to the kid and your-
Setting a good example for your child has many
benefits, and most of them are good for you as
well.
5. Punish lovingly
Punishment as an act might sound rude but
is important for kids to learn the difference
between good and bad. Having said that, it
doesn’t mean to be abusive or violent.
The trick to handling your child is to pun-
ish him lovingly. When you punish them,
explain to them the reason, so that they under-

P
arenting is not a cakewalk. It is a lifetime
role that you play as soon as the kid
comes into the world. It is not just a chal-
lenging role, but quite demanding too. You need
to understand and deal with many things daily,
which you have never heard or experienced
before. And all this calls for an extreme amount
of patience and calmness.
Raising a confident and robust child can be
quite a task. As a parent, you need to ensure
that your child gets a positive environment that
can help them learn and understand the world
around them. It may not be wrong to say that a
big difference by giving positive feedback about self too. It is important to accept the reality stand and don’t repeat it in future.
what kids do well and providing support when and move on with the positives of their person-
things don’t go so smoothly. It also helps if they ality. Rather, it is suggested to fuel
get down on kid-level with playtime activities his passion.
such as playing house, reading books together, 4. Set a good example
etc. Learning begins at
So, here are 5 parenting tips from our blog home and for that, you
posts on how parents can help boost their need to set a good
child’s personality! example. It is
1. Attention advisable that to
In the age of the internet, you must pay be on your best
close attention to your child’s behavior and the behavior at
way he/she deals with situations. Pay close all times.

Sri Lanka’s state-owned
F enterprises:
A major crisis in the making
By Migara rodrigo
S
ri Lanka has a whopping 527 state-owned
enterprises1 (SOEs). The 55 SOEs classified
as “strategically important” alone employ
10% of the public sector workforce2, or about
1.9% of all workers. Such a large number of SOEs
are not the norm globally3; many other countries
(such as India) have been reducing their stakes in
SOEs and, in some cases (e.g. Air India), have
been privatizing them entirely. SOEs - particular-
ly many in Sri Lanka - tend to be grossly ineffi-
cient, loss making, and a burden on the taxpayer.
The time is ripe for major SOE reforms.
What is an SOE?
A SOE is traditionally defined as a commer-
cial entity that has majority ownership/control
by a nation’s government - in Sri Lanka, this can
include statutory bodies, regulatory agencies, pro-
motional institutions, educational institutions,
public and limited companies. While Sri Lankan
SOEs have traditionally been incorporated by an
Act of Parliament, in recent years these entities
have also been incorporated under the Companies
Act instead. Sri Lankan SOEs can be divided into
three categories: 55 Strategic SOEs, 287 SOEs with
commercial interests, and 185 SOEs with non-
commercial interests. Unlike nations such as
India which mandate internal audits of their
SOE’s business activities and publish an annual
overview with a balance sheet of each individual
business, the majority of Sri Lankan SOEs do not
reveal this pertinent information to the public;
financial information is available for just 10.4% of
SOEs.
Fundamental Problems with Sri Lankan SOEs
Contrary to what some believe, low quality of
talent is not the most significant issue with SOEs;
many employees are eminently qualified and
capable. Unfortunately, these organizations fall
victim to government mismanagement and cor-
ruption. In addition to excessive employment to
fulfill their political ambitions, there have been
allegations that some SOEs have been formed
purely to facilitate corruption - for example, the
Lanka Coal Company engaged in fraudulent deals
to purchase coal causing a loss of over Rs. 4 bil-
lion (allegedly with the knowledge of the minister
in charge)4. SOE financials are late and few
obtain ‘clean’ audit reports. Investigations have
revealed repeated instances of fraud, mismanage-
ment, corruption and negligence. Furthermore,
the internal control, monitoring and governance
frameworks seem inadequate to deal with these
problems – of over 500 SOEs, regular information
is only available for 55. Even obtaining a complete
list of entities proved to be a challenge. Public
access to information is limited - the PED has not
released an annual report since 2018, and right-to-
SNS: MHAI (Menstrual Health Alliance of
T
he covid-19 pandemic and the India) was released during a work-
implementation of lockdown shop held by Dasra. In the workshop,
have resulted in the worsened a quick survey was conducted to
condition of women in the nation. assess the status of production, dis-
As soon as the first phase of the
lockdown was announced on the fate-
ful eve of March 24, 2020, in India,
people rushed to the market to stock
up on essentials. But it was the wom-
enfolk who had to prepare for more
than just groceries and household
items. They had to worry about their
menstruation cycles as well.
However, due to sudden isolation,
access to menstrual hygiene products
has been severely impacted (to date
there is a crisis!). Strange as it may
sound, since the lockdown, there’s
been a reported dearth of menstrual tions are deprived of the basic necessity to maintain their hygiene during peri-
hygiene products in the market, espe-
cially sanitary pads. Moreover, all
ods. However, the rural population faces another threat of unawareness which
this has affected the women who are
unable to maintain menstrual
hygiene during periods which has
caused hazardous impacts on their
health.
We live in a society where talking
about menstruation is taboo. In a
nation where every year around 2
million girls start to bleed, we consid-
er it shameful to talk about periods.
Indian women grow up facing the
restriction of not entering religious
places during this time of the month
as they are considered to be impure.
The lockdown proved to be a
catastrophe for the women as it halt-
ed the supply of basic menstrual
products like pads and cotton rolls.
The females in many parts of the
nation were(still they are!) into a situ-
ation that forced them to use clothes
and even banana leaves leading to
fatal infections.
According to one study, only 36%
of India’s 355 million menstruating
females use sanitary napkins, while
the rest use old rags, husk, ash,
leaves, mud, and soil, and other life-
threatening materials to manage
their flow.
Currently, a study conducted by
The Island Features
information requests often go unanswered.
Moreover, SOEs have few budget constraints
and shareholder (public) accountability, and
therefore have limited incentive to control costs.
Unlike with private sector enterprises, which
have a need to make a profit, many SOEs (particu-
larly in Sri Lanka) can simply borrow from other
state organizations/banks or the government
when they require additional funds, which under-
mines the threat of bankruptcy as a source of dis-
cipline5. Some recently established SOEs have
found a new way of bypassing budgets and over-
sight: by incorporating as companies rather than
through an act of Parliament, they are excluded
from Parliamentary accountability and allowed to
Figure 1: Trends in Labour Productivity of SOEs (2010-2018)
Figure 1 Source: Ginting, Edimon et al, 2020, Reforms, Opportunities, and Challenges for State-Owned
Enterprises, Asian Development Bank
rack up unsustainable debts and surpass budgets
more easily. This has led to SOEs burning
through taxpayer rupees: the cumulative losses of
the 55 strategic SOEs from 2006-20 amounts to Rs.
1.2 trillion.
Finally, while some SOEs do manage to make a
profit this is, more often than not, due to the
advantage that these companies have in an
uneven playing field. In addition to lax budgetary
requirements and ability to rack up unsustain-
able debts, these companies are supported by the
government through direct subsidies and state-
backed guarantees; by regulators through exemp-
tions from antitrust policies and preferential
treatment; and by the justice system through an
ability to sidestep parliament. This has led to pri-
vate sector organizations being crowded out of
the industries that SOEs operate in. Instead of
tribution, and reach of the menstrual
hygiene products during and after the
lockdown. The results stated that yet
around 62% of women have limited
access to the pads and 22% are not
Pandemic triggers ‘sanitary
pad crisis’ in India
If we broadly look at the present situation, both the rural and urban popula-
makes them more vulnerable.
having private firms in the market-place with effi-
cient and high-quality services, the Sri Lankan
taxpayer is beset with SOEs with total liabilities
of 4-5% of GDP6.
Potential Reforms
Given that the nation has reached an econom-
ic tipping point, with serious questions about
debt sustainability and government solvency, it is
clear that immediate action must be taken.
Advocata proposes a short term policy solution
consisting of privatization, restructuring and dis-
investment, and listing on the Colombo Stock
Exchange. None of these solutions are particularly
radical in the global or local context. According to
Anarkali Moonesinghe, CEO of CIMB Sri Lanka,
the two main policies of both Western and Eastern
governments when reforming SOEs are to reduce
subsidies and increase efficiency, forcing SOEs to
compete more equitably with private enterprises.
Alternatively, full or partial privatization is a pos-
sible solution: SLTMobitel’s service has markedly
improved following its 1997 privatization and the
entrance of competitors such as Dialog Axiata, all
held accountable by the broadly competent
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
Listing on the CSE would allow these firms to have
broad-based direct ownership, while also improv-
ing the growth of the CSE and capital markets.
Importantly, these firms would have to be ‘corpora-
tized’ before listing, an opportunity to improve pro-
ductivity and eliminate bloat. There are, unfortu-
nately, firms that will essentially have to be given
away due to their huge debts and poor reputations.
A prime example of this is SriLankan Airlines,
getting them at all.
While the lack of options is one
worrisome subject, the unavailability
of menstrual products is another
ordeal. Sanitary pads, a deemed
(A representational image)
Tuesday 4th January, 2022
9
which has racked up Rs. 316 billion in losses7 since
control was taken from Emirates in 2008. While
some will regard this as a blow to our national
pride, Sri Lanka would not be alone in taking such
a pragmatic step to improve government finances
and customer experience; Air India, the Indian
national carrier, is currently in the process of
being sold to the Tata Group for the relatively
small sum of INR 18,000 crore. This would also
inspire confidence in Sri Lanka amongst foriegn
investors as it would show the country’s commit-
ment to meeting its upcoming debt servicing obli-
gations.
Furthermore, long term solutions include
strengthening governance/limiting corruption &
influence, improving efficiency, enacting cost-
reflective pricing, and finally unbundling key sec-
tors. This applies particularly to firms like the
Ceylon Electricity Board which, as a natural
monopoly, cannot be broken up and privatized
without losing efficiency. A 2006 study by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency recommended
breaking up CEB into three parts: “making the
generation, transmission, and distribution divi-
sions…independent”8. Despite the 15 years and
multiple nationwide blackouts that have occurred
since, GoSL continues to drag their feet on the
issue, as it is politically unpopular. Cost-reflective
pricing (also prevented due to political unpopulari-
ty) is another essential reform. The existing sys-
tem of having electricity tariffs priced below cost
is a public subsidy whose cost will be borne by
future generations. It is also inequitable, as the
government could provide low cost services to
those who need it by giving them direct cash trans-
fers, instead of subsidizing the wealthy who can
afford to pay. A similar situation is evident with
the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which current-
ly makes a loss of Rs 23-38 per litre of fuel9; again,
a public subsidy to those who can often afford to
pay the market price. Finally, greater accountabili-
ty, by means of annual internal audits and the
availability of SOEs’ financial information to the
public, is also important to ensure these firms
stick to the targets they are given.
A successful and thriving market, in most
industries, will only occur with the presence of
three crucial factors: competition, a good frame-
work, and competent regulation. By reforming Sri
Lanka’s SOEs to meet these criteria, we will
ensure a good customer experience, a reduction in
the government deficit, and general prosperity for
all key stakeholders.
Migara Rodrigo is a Researcher at the Advocata
Institute. He can be contacted at migara.advoca-
ta@gmail.com. The Advocata Institute is an
Independent Public Policy Think Tank. Learn more
about Advocata’s work at www.advocata.org. The
opinions expressed are the author’s own views. They
may not necessarily reflect the views of the
Advocata Institute.
necessity, were reduced to the mercy
of government officials, who ‘missed’
including the menstrual hygiene
products in the first guidelines and
the list of essential items.
The situation for the quarantined
women and the women who were
traveling back to their towns and
cities has to face the worst scenarios.
The conditions had forced them to
shift to clothes and rags. The ones
who were using old clothes and rags
had access to a limited quantity only
and hence they were using it for
longer than recommended.
If we broadly look at the present
situation, both the rural and urban
populations are deprived of the basic
necessity to maintain their hygiene
during periods. However, the rural
population faces another threat of
unawareness which makes them
more vulnerable. There have been
deaths due to the infections caused by
unhygienic practices during menses,
but they have not been reported yet.
Nearly 40% of the females of our
nation are unaware of menstrual
hygiene and this lack of awareness
can cause them a life! Nevertheless,
with the ongoing situation, things
have gone downhill. There is a fur-
ther rise in the lack of basic menstru-
ation hygiene items such as the dis-
continuous supply of water, and
other necessary products. The small-
scale industry has stopped and large-
scale industries are unable to reach
the needy. The supply is discontinu-
ous and the demands are not fulfilled.
The lockdown has made women more
vulnerable to various diseases.
There are a few social workers
and NGOs only who are coming to
help these women, they are trying to
match the demand and supply of the
necessary products required for
maintaining their menstrual hygiene
and reproductive health. Red is con-
sidered to be the colour of love, so
why does love change to disgust when
it comes to periods?
10 Tuesday 4th January, 2022 The Island Features
Rocker down with Manilal with the Cuban
duo in the Maldives

Covid for second time

Kiss rocker, Paul
Stanley has tested posi-
tive for the Omicron vari-
ant of COVID-19, and, it’s
reported, that he has
come down with the virus
for a second time, despite
being fully vaccinated,
and his family members
also contracted coron-
avirus.
Alongside a selfie, the
69-year-old musician wrote Kiss rocker Paul Stanley: “I’m
on Instagram: “My glad I’m vaccinated’
Omicron face! My entire show and in between
family has it. I’m tired and shows. The tour also has a
have sniffles. Most of my COVID safety protocol offi-
family have absolutely no cer on staff full-time that is
symptoms. Do as you ensuring everyone is close-
choose. I’m so glad I’m vac- ly following all CDC guide-
cinated.” lines.”
KISS were forced to can- In his own statement in
cel shows after Paul caught August, Paul Stanley
coronavirus the first time wrote: "A Full Press
in the summer. Release Will Be Issued
The group were just Shortly about upcoming
four days into the next leg KISS shows. I had been
of their delayed 'End of sick with flu-like symptoms
The Road' tour when the and was tested repeatedly
rock legend tested positive. and was negative. As of
Paul and the rest of the late this afternoon, I tested
band - comprising Gene positive. The crew, staff
Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and band have all tested
and Eric Singer - are fully negative once again. More
vaccinated against the res- to follow."
piratory virus and insisted The band told fans:
they had been following "Tonight's #KISS show at
COVID-19 safety protocols. The Pavilion at Star Lake
In a statement, the in Burgettstown, PA (USA)
group said: “Everyone on is unfortunately postponed
the entire tour, both band due to Paul Stanley testing
and crew, are fully vacci- positive for COVID. More
nated. The band and their information about show
crew have operated in a dates will be made avail-
bubble, independently, to able ASAP. Everyone on the
safeguard everyone as entire tour, both band and
much as possible at each crew, are fully vaccinated."

E-Pals While in town,

Manilal will continue
to do his thing as a
=Name: Lea (Lebanon)

Layout by Chamath Gunawardena

solo artiste, backed by
=Age: 17 a keyboardist or gui-
=Gender: Female tarist – no more
=E-Mail: leahbustani1551@gmail.com He did the Upekkha.
(Hey, there! I’m Leah, from Lebanon - half Filipino, half Christmas Eve and New “The lobby scene is what I plan to do –
Lebanese. I hopped on this site to, hopefully, make new, long Year’s Eve scene at the similar to what I was doing before my
lasting friendships. I’m looking forward to study law next year, in Heritance Aarah resort Maldives trip.”
university. I’m fluent in Arabic and I know some French and – a 40 minutes ride, by Manilal also went on to say that right
English! I’m mainly into movies/TV shows. So, hit me up – seaplane, from the capi- now, due to the pandemic, the scene, in
doesn’t matter where you're from, just be genuine and kind) tal Male, said Manilal. Colombo, is not conducive for bands.
=If you would like to be listed in our E-Pals column, e-mail Manilal did his “Duos can find work but it’s hard for a
your details to: jetliner02@yahoo.com thing with a Cuban duo band to have any kind of work coming their
and they did light up way, on a regular basis, and so I decided to
the place, I’m told, with call it a day where Upekkha is concerned.”

Seen 'N' Heard their infectious music.

The resort, accord-
ing to Manilal, is patro-
SEEN…quite a few Covid-19 ‘super-spreader’ events nised by rich holiday-
taking place, during the festive period, in our scene. makers, seeking the
Unfortunately, being a ‘land like no other,’ no one excitement and
seems bothered, or concerned, about the ultimate conse- enchantment these
quences. resorts have to offer.
Well, if we continue to ‘party’ all the time, before Surprisingly, our
long, we will have to face the music. folks, connected with
And then…what happens? tourism, are still not in
a position to attract
such tourists to our
World Singles Top 10 beautiful beaches…and
resorts.
1. All I Want For One of the guests, at
Christmas Is You – Mariah the Heritance Aarah
Carey resort, was the famous
2. Easy On Me - Adele Merlina and Suresh: Duo scene in the Maldives Italian singer Eros
Ramazzotti, who is also

T
3. Stay – Kid KAROI and he Maldives seem to have come to the
rescue of some of our musicians, who popular throughout the Spanish-speaking
Justin Bieber world as he has released some of his albums
continue to find the going pretty
4. Cold Heart - Elton tough in Colombo. in Spanish, as well.
John and Dua Lipa Quite a few did emplane for the Manilal describes his stay in the
5. Last Christmas – Maldives, during the festive period, to enter- Maldives as exciting.
Wham! tain guests, holidaying at some of the top “Although I’m fully vaccinated, with the
6. ABCDEFU – Gayle resorts over there. booster, as well, I had to spend four days,
Merlina and her husband are doing the confined to my room, at the resort, before
7. Shivers – Ed Sheeran the fun began.
duo scene and so is Shafi and his daughter.
8. Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah “Christmas Eve was beautiful as we did
There are quite a few others who went as
Ah) – Ckay solo artistes – mainly for Christmas and all the lovely songs, connected with the fes-
9. Bad Habits – Ed New Year events. And, most of them, I tivities, plus Cuban music, my music, DJ
Sheeran believe, will be back soon. music, etc., at the Bandhi Pool Bar.
Mariah Carey: ‘All I Want For “And, there was so much of excitement
10. Heat Waves – Glass Manilal Perera found work coming his
Christmas Is You’ (01) on the night of 31st December, as well, and
Animals way, as a solo artiste, at a luxury resort in
the Maldives. I’m hoping to get back to Colombo, some-
time this week.” Meeting up with popular Italian singer Ramazzotti, at
UK Pop Top 10 the Heritance Aarah resort

1. Merry Christmas – Ed
Sheeran and Elton John
2. Last Christmas –
Wham!

Aquarius…new scene in 2022

3. All I Want For
Christmas Is You –
Mariah Carey
4. Fairytale Of New York
– Pogues, feat. Kristy Aquarius, although not They didn’t look for vocalist), and Raffi (on key-
MacColl much in the news, these work, on 31st night, as, boards).
5. Rockin’ Around The days, have had their fair according to Benjy, he wants Raffi, says Benjy, was
Christmas Tree – Brenda Ed Sheeran and Elton John: share of performances, in to make sure that they now with Aquarius when they
Lee ‘Merry Christmas’ (01) the pandemic-hit scene here. plan out something extra performed in Dubai, on a
6. Merry Christmas Everyone – Shakin Stevens Led by their dynamic special for music lovers. long-term contract.
7. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like – Michael Buble bassist, Benjy Ranabahu, And, they are working on “We are now working on
8. Come On Home For Christmas – George Ezra they have been doing the that goal. a repertoire, and an act, that
club scene (not on a regular There are two new faces will give the public some-
9. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Andy
basis) and some private in the present six-piece line- thing to talk about,” said
Williams
events, as well. up – Sid Peris (frontline Benjy.
10. Driving Home For Christmas – Chris Rea Bassist Benjy: Working on a new scene

Sudoku No. 4966
Solution to No. 4965
KAKuRo 4203
Solution 4202
How to play: Fill in the blank squares, using 1 to 9, without repeating
any number in any line. The lines must be filled in with numbers that
add up to the total in the shaded box at the top or beginning of each
line. A number in the bottom half of the shaded box is the down-
ward total; in the top half, it’s the horizontal total.
John Abraham and wife Priya
Runchal test Covid-19 positive
Actor-producer John
Abraham and his wife
Priya Runchal have test-
ed positive for Covid-19
and are currently home
quarantined. Sharing
the news on Instagram
Stories on Monday, John
revealed that he came in
contact with a Covid
John Abraham with wife Priya
positive person three
days ago.
He wrote, "I came in con-
tact 3 days ago with someone
who I later learned had Covid.
Priya and I have tested posi-
tive for Covid. We have been
quarantined at home so
haven't been in contact with
anyone else."
He further shared that they and Shilpa Shirodkar shared
are experiencing mild symp-
toms. "We are both vaccinated
Tuesday 4th January, 2022
11
Date: 04-01-2022
Aries: It is a day of good and bad
results. You will do you duties in a
straightforward manner. Your employ-
ees will be obedient to you. While you
will develop new friendships, you will
understand better as a result of asso-
ciation with new friends.
Taurus: It is a day of good
Andy Capp
and bad results. You will partic-
By Reg Henry Scargelli ipate in friendly meetings and
friendly discussions. You will
work independently. You will
launch your plans. You will not
accept others’ criticisms.
Gemini: It is a day of auspi-
cious results. It is an auspicious
day for commitment to educa-
tion. You will go forward accord-
No knowledge of arith- ing to your opinion. You will go
metic is required to enjoy about your work in a manner
this. All you need is a logi- that draws others’ attention.
cal mind, a pencil and an
eraser. Try it. Suffer its tor-
ture. Discover its ecstasy. Cancer: It is an auspicious day.
You will standout at your place of
Wizard of Id
It's a mind game you will
solve with reasoning and By Parker and Hart work. You will take part in activi-
logic. The rules are very ties of common good and pilan-
simple. Fill in the grid with throphy. Your expenditure will be
numbers so that every
more today than on other days.
row, every column and
every small 3x3 box con-
tains the numbers 1 to 9.
Each number has its allot-
Leo: It is a day of good and
ted place if you look hard bad results. Your hopes will be
enough. No number somewhat frustrated. While you
should be repeated in any will face disappointments, and dis-
row, column or 3x3 box. appointing problems will come
Here's an easy one to try - your way, it is a day of much
See tomorrow's Island for
expenditure. While you will act on
solution.
behalf of others, you will come
across situations that perturb your mind.
Virgo: It is an auspicious day.
You will be engaged in distant
Mother Goose & Grimm By Mike travels. It is an auspicious day for
interviews and collective discus-
sions. You will be successful in
your investments. You will be vic-
torious in competitions.
Libra: It is an auspicious day.
You will go about your work with
enthusiasm. You will achieve
your goals. You will be have
heartburns because of associa-
tion with others. You will partici-
pate in pleasant functions.
Sorpio: It is a day of good
and bad results. You will be
engaged in distant journeys,
pilgrimages and picnics. You
wil have new employment
benefits: It is a good day for
Mutt & Jeff creativity.
Sagittarius: It is an auspi-
cious day. While you will be
able to succeed in your aspira-
tions that had been planned
for a some time, you will be
engaged in activities of com-
mon good. You are likely to
achieve employment gains.
Capricorn: It is a day of
good and bad results. You will
be involved in much travelling.
The day will be spent in
engagement in working on the
needs of others. You will par-
ticipate in parties and enter-
Pickles
tainment.
Aquarius: It is an auspicious
day. You will take part in your
duties with enthusiasm. You will
participate in parties. Your word
will be accepted in society. You
will participate in activities of
common good. You will receive
the love and respect of others.
Pisces: It is an auspicious
day. You will stand tall among
your associates. You will be suc-
cessful in academic and literary
activities. You will be involved in
spending your time and wealth
on behalf of your relatives.
Daily Island Crossword No. 3867
Across 12 Curl, wind, or twist together (8)
7 Obeisance (6) 14 Hole where a key is inserted (7)
8 Beer maker (6) 16 Frustrate (6)
9 Exude (4) 18 Turn on or around an axis or a centre
10 Sudden intense happening (8) (6)
11 Outrage (7) 19 Far more than usual or expected (5)
13 Crook (5) 22 Baloney (4)
15 Connect (5)
17 Compact (7) Crossword No. 3866
20 Pocket watch (3,5)
21 Brass wind instrument (4)
Runchal
and experienced mild symp- 23 strongly opposed (6)
toms. Please stay well and 24 Most recent (6)
healthy. Masks up," he added. Down
John Abraham shared a 1 Rectangular groove cut into a board so
note on Instagram Story. that another piece can fit into it (4)
Recently, several other
Bollywood actors including
2 Stagger (6)
Mrunal Thakur, Nora Fatehi 3 Dishonourable (7)
4 Die away (5)
that they have tested positive 5 Bean (6)
for Covid-19. 6 Stone (8)
 12 Tuesday 4th January, 2022
ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket
World Cup team records
F
ans across the globe are counting
down the days to the start of the
2022 ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket
World Cup and the chance to watch the
brightest young superstars in action.
Sixteen teams will be bidding for glory
as the very best U19 players in the world
come up against each other on the biggest
stage, with West Indies hosting the tour-
nament for the first time ever.
But while silverware will be the pri-
mary goal, the teams will also be looking
to etch their names in the history books
by beating some of the long-standing
records set over the last 34 years.
And ahead of the latest edition, here’s
a look at some of the most impressive
team records from the ICC U19 Men’s
CWC since the tournament first came into
being in 1988.
Highest inning totals
Brace yourselves for this one.
Australia U19s bludgeoned 480 for the
loss of just six wickets against Kenya
back in 2002 - with a run rate of 9.6 an over
- in what can only be described as a stun-
ning display in Dunedin.
That innings score would be the sec-
ond-highest in ODI history if the senior
side hit it, and they weren't bad with the
ball either, bowling Kenya out for 50
inside 22 overs.
Craig Simmons starred that day, hit-
ting 155, but Shaun Marsh was also out-
standing.
Marsh’s 125 runs from 81 balls along
with George Bailey's blockbuster 56 from
26 balls were enough to make 20th
Enel Unal's goal came in the ninth minute
Real Madrid
stunned by Getafe
R
eal Madrid missed the chance to
open up an 11-point lead at the
top of La Liga as they lost to
Getafe.
Enes Unal scored the only goal after
just nine minutes when he robbed Eder
Militao of possession inside Real
Madrid's penalty area.
Luka Modric went closest to an
equaliser, striking the crossbar with a
powerful drive.
Carlo Ancelotti's side have played
two games more than closest chal-
lengers Sevilla, who face Cadiz on
Monday.
Chelsea fight back to draw
C
helsea came from two goals down
to earn a draw with Liverpool in
a Stamford Bridge classic - a
result that only strengthens
Manchester City's stranglehold on the
Premier League title race.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
missed the game after a suspected posi-
tive test for Covid-19 while Chelsea
manager Thomas Tuchel dropped
£97.5m record signing Romelu Lukaku
from his squad after a controversial
interview in which he expressed dis-
content with his current situation.
It looked like Klopp would be the
happier of the two bosses when Sadio
Mane, fortunate to escape with only a
yellow card after flattening Cesar
Azpilicueta with a high elbow in the
opening seconds, pounced on Trevoh
Chalobah's mistake to put Liverpool in
front after nine minutes.
Mohamed Salah's moment of indi-
vidual genius, a feint to fool Marcos
Alonso then a perfect near-post finish,
put Liverpool in command before
Chelsea staged their comeback on the
stroke of half-time.
Mateo Kovacic's spectacular volley
flew beyond Liverpool keeper
The Island
ICC Youth World Cup Trophy.
January 2002 a historic day in Australian innings total in ICC U19 Men’s CWC histo-
cricket.
New Zealand are some way off with the
second-highest total, but their score of 436 Chittagong means they hold the unfortu-
for four against Kenya in Christchurch nate distinction of being the tourna-
during the 2018 tournament shouldn't be ment's only team ever to possess a run
sniffed at either.
India can claim the third-highest
innings total thanks to their score of 425 23 runs needed to win in 3.5 overs to
for three against Scotland in Dhaka in secure a 10-wicket victory with 277 balls
2004 while Sri Lanka hit 419 for four remaining as Cameron Huckett (four for
against Kenya in 2018.
Lowest Inning totals
A record no team will want to usurp in tied for second place with totals of 41.
this year’s tournament is currently held
by Scotland, who finished with the lowest South Africa in Auckland during the 2002
Real dominated the first half but
only forced one save from Getafe goal-
keeper David Soria, who did magnifi-
cently to tip Modric's long-range drive
past the far post.
The Croatian midfielder also struck
the woodwork with a thunderous left-
footed shot from the edge of the Getafe
penalty area, while Toni Kroos fired
wide from a promising position.
Real increased the pressure in the
second half and went close to salvaging
a point through Casemiro, but the mid-
fielder's sweetly struck effort was
palmed to safety by Soria.
Caoimhin Kelleher, in for Alisson who
also had a suspected positive test for
Covid, after 42 minutes before
Christian Pulisic raced clear to
equalise in first-half stoppage time.
In a hugely entertaining game, both
sides had chances to win in the second
half with Chelsea keeper Edouard
Mendy saving superbly from Salah and
Mane while Kelleher thwarted Pulisic.
A winner could not be found, which
leaves Chelsea, in second, 10 points
behind City while Liverpool, in third,
are 11 adrift of the leaders with a game
in hand.
Tuchel's decision to drop Lukaku
from his squad for such a vital game
was always going to be a high-risk
strategy given the stakes.
Was Tuchel showing strong leader-
ship and imposing discipline or was he
using a sledgehammer to crack a nut,
weakening Chelsea in his determina-
tion to lay down the law?
It looked for 42 minutes like Tuchel's
ploy would backfire as Liverpool's
lethal attack punished Chelsea and
Stamford Bridge was in subdued mood
with the home team struggling to make
an impact. (bbc)
SPORTS
ry back in 2004.
Their total of 22 against Australia in
rate below one an over.
In response, Australia knocked off the
seven) played a starring role.
Canada, Japan, and Bangladesh are all
Canada slumped to their total against
Mohammad Hafeez retires
from international cricket
P
akistan all-rounder Mohammad
Hafeez has retired from interna-
tional cricket, ending a career
that spanned over 18 years. He, how-
ever, will continue to play and be
available for T20 franchise cricket.
Hafeez, who made his international
debut in 2003 in an ODI versus
Zimbabwe, played his last inter na-
tional game against Australia in the
T20 World Cup semifinal that his side
lost last November. He initially had
announced that the 2020 T20 World
Cup would be his last assignment, but
the postponement of the tournament
due to COVID-19 extended his stay
with the side. He ended his career
having played 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and
119 T20Is accumulating 12,780 runs
across formats and 253 wickets.
"Today I say goodbye to interna-
tional cricket with pride and satisfac-
tion," Hafeez said. "In fact, I have
earned and accomplished more than I
had initially envisaged and for that, I
am thankful to all my fellow crick-
eters, captains, support staff and the
Hafeez made his international debut way back in 2003. (cricbuzz)
tournament, while Japan's performance
came against India in Bloemfontein in the
2020 edition.
Bangladesh suffered a similar fate in
Kuala Lumpur in 2008, with South Africa
bowling them out for 41 to win by 201 runs
after skipper Wayne Parnell had helped
his side to 242 for eight.
Most tournament wins
India became the only side to win four
ICC U19 Men’s CWC when they came out
on top at the start of 2018 in New Zealand
and they have won 63 of their 83 matches
overall.
Their previous tournament wins came
in 2000, 2008, and 2012, making them the
most successful side in history having
never missed a tournament in the compe-
tition’s history.
Bangladesh won the competition in
South Africa for the first time two years
ago and now they will be looking to
become only the second side to win back-
to-back titles.
The only team able to make that claim
as of 2022 is Pakistan, who won the tour-
nament in 2004 and 2006 and have the
third most wins with 56 from 81 matches
played.
The second most successful team in the
competition’s history is Australia, who
won the first tournament as hosts before
winning the 2002 and 2010 editions in New
Zealand.
They remain the only side to win on
home soil and have 57 wins from 79 match-
es.
England, South Africa, West Indies and
Pakistan Cricket Board who helped
me out during my career.
"I am extremely fortunate, lucky
and proud to have been considered
worthy of donning the national kit
with Pakistan emblem for 18 years.
My country and my team have always
been at my forefront and therefore,
every time I stepped on to the field, I
tried to raise their profile and image
by playing hard and tough but within
the rich traditions of spirit of crick-
et.
"When you have a professional
career as long as mine, you're bound
to have your share of highs and lows,
and I was no different. Results apart, I
can say with conviction that I had
more highs as I had the privilege of
playing with and against some of the
finest exponents of the bat and the
ball of my era."
Earlier, Hafeez had retired from
Test cricket in December 2018. He has
subsequently been overlooked for
ODIs after the 2019 World Cup with
his last game coming against
Bangladesh all have one title to their
name.
That means only seven of the 16 teams
competing at this year's competition have
won it before.
Group C will see at least one potential
new winner progress to the Super League.
Most consecutive wins and losses
Unsurprisingly, India also hold the
record for the most consecutive wins, reg-
istering 11 consecutive victories from
their 2018 title triumph through to the
2020 edition.
Australia sit in second place again,
with nine wins in a row that includes
their 2002 title success through to the 2004
edition, while four teams have eight con-
secutive wins.
India have achieved that feat on three
occasions while Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Australia have also registered eight
consecutive wins in the history of the ICC
U19 Men’s CWC.
The unwanted record for most consecu-
tive losses belongs to Papua New Guinea,
who hold the top two spots with 21 defeats
in a row and 13 consecutive losses.
That first record started on their tour-
nament debut in 1998 and concluded in
2008, defeating Bermuda by seven wickets
in Johor to put an end to their losing
streak.
Papua New Guinea also lost 13 in a row
between the 2012 and 2018 editions of the
tournament, while Namibia have lost 11
consecutively (2008-2014) and Canada lost
10 in a row (2002-2004).
Bangladesh at Lord's.
Hafeez has the highest number of
T20 World Cup appearances, having
led Pakistan to the semifinal in the
2012 World T20. He also led the side in
2014 when Pakistan were ousted in
the group stage. As captain in T20Is,
he led Pakistan to 18 wins in 29 games
with 11 losses.
"Hafeez has been a wholehearted
cricketer who worked tirelessly at his
game to have a long and fruitful
career," said PCB Chairman Ramiz
Raja. "His game evolved with time,
adjusting to different formats quite
intelligently. Later in his career, he
became a T20 specialist, where he was
never out of touch with moder n
demands of this testing format. His
batsmanship took a sprightly turn,
nailing sixes almost at will.
"He has worn the green blazer with
pride for which we at the PCB are
thankful. I wish him best of luck for
his future life and thank him again
for his magnificent contribution to
Pakistan cricket."
 The Island SPORTS Tuesday 4th January, 2022 13

Mominul, Liton put

Bangladesh in pole position
On the back of fine efforts from Liton Das
(86) and Mominul Haque (88), Bangladesh
surged ahead on day three of the opening Test
versus New Zealand, finishing on 401/6, in front Brown is in his sixth season with the Celtics. (bbc)

Brown hits career high

by 73 at close of play.
Barring the first session, it turned out to be
another near-perfect day for Bangladesh. In the

as Boston Celtics win

morning session, it was New Zealand's pacemen
who had held the upper hand as they kept a
tight leash on the scoring rate and also bagged
a couple of scalps. Neil Wagner, New Zealand's
best bowler from day two, continued to bowl
with good rhythm as he dismissed the
overnight batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy for 78.
Kyle Jamieson then fluffed a tough chance
off his own bowling to give Mominul a reprieve.
The big turning point came in the 80th over
when Wagner forced Mominul to edge one
behind. However, the third umpire adjudged a
marginal call as a no-ball. Even though
Mominul lost his batting partner - Mushfiqur
Rahim - at the stroke of lunch break, he contin-
ued to stonewall New Zealand's bowlers.
The Bangladesh skipper was beaten on
enough occasions and also when he edged it,
the ball generally found a way through the cor-
don. However, he deserves a fair share of the
credit for being able to erase all those close
shaves and concentrate on the next ball. After
the break, he also found an able ally in Liton as
the visitors gained the upper hand. At the start
of his innings, Liton played with a carefree
approach as he cracked some eye-catching
drives, alongside the occasional pull and drive.
At the other end, Mominul too started to
grow in confidence as he brought out a few
drives and glances. The duo also ensured that
the second session would turn out to be a wick-
etless one. It was only in the final session when
Trent Boult broke the 158-run stand by snuffing
out Mominul LBW, with a delivery that moved a
bit off the seam. Mominul also took a review
but to no avail. Just 14 runs short of his second
Test ton, Liton then gifted his wicket away by
slashing one to the wicketkeeper.
Jaylen Brown scored a
career-high 50 points as the
Boston Celtics claimed a 116-
111 overtime win over the
Orlando Magic.
Brown, whose previous
best was 46 against the New
York Knicks in October, scored
21 points in the fourth quarter.
It helped the Celtics come
from 14 points down with four
minutes and 20 seconds left in
regulation time.
He started overtime with
his fifth three-pointer of the
game, and also had 11
rebounds and four assists.
"I was just trying to be
aggressive the entire time," he
said.
"My team-mates encour-
aged me to take the shots. I
feel like I took some good
looks and they went down
tonight."
Liton Das scored 86 and Mominul Haque 88 as Bangladesh ended day three on 401/6. (cricbuzz) Brown's layup with 38 sec-
onds left in regulation levelled
Mehidy Hasan, though, put paid to New advantage and post a defining win away from the score at 98-98 and he
Zealand's hopes of making further inroads. He home. scored again to put Boston up
even cracked the occasional punch and cut as Brief scores: 100-98 with 30 seconds left, but
the lead continued to swell. On occasions, the New Zealand 328 (Devon Conway 122, Tim Frazier scored for
rub of the green went Bangladesh's way, but the Henry Nicholls 75; Shoriful Islam 3-69) Orlando to force overtime.
batters showed the required temperament and Bangladesh 401 for 6 (Mominul Haque 88, Both teams were missing
skill to give the side a chance to ram home the Liton Das 86; Trent Boult 3-61) their leading scorers with
Orlando's Cole Anthony side-
lined by a sprained ankle
while Boston's Jayson Tatum
missed a fourth straight game
because of Covid-19 concerns.
Elsewhere, Dallas
Mavericks star Luka Doncic
marked his return from a 10-
game absence with 14 points,
10 assists and nine rebounds
in their 95-86 away victory
over the Oklahoma City
Thunder.
The 22-year-old had missed
five games with an ankle
injury and then five more
because of Covid.
"My chest was burning,"
said the Slovenian, who played
31 minutes on his comeback.
"It was a weird feeling, but
happy. Very happy."
Thunder rookie Josh
Giddey became the youngest
NBA player to post a triple-
double with 17 points, 14
assists and 13 rebounds.
Aged 19 years and 84 days,
Giddey surpassed LaMelo
Ball's record of 19 years and
140 days, and also came up
with four steals in his first
game back after missing the
last three for Covid reasons.
 Rs. 5/- upwards Tuesday 4th January, 2022

Mahela to boost Sri Lanka U19s’

Youth World Cup campaign
by Reemus FeRnando The ICC Youth World Cup will
commence on January 14 with two
Tennis nationals 2021
Nesangi, Vishmi win Under
Group ‘D’ matches. Sri Lanka

F
ormer Sri Lanka captain
Mahela Jayawardene is set drawn in Group ‘D’ will com-
to join Sri Lanka Under 19 mence the campaign with their

16 girls’ doubles title

team for the ICC Youth World Cup
in West Indies. A Sri Lanka
Cricket official confirmed that the
consultant coach will leave the
island on January 9th to join the
team which has already left for the
Youth World Cup.
“Mahela will be with the Sri
Lanka Under 19 team during the
entire tournament. He will leave
the island on January 9th and will
remain with the team during the
entire competition,” Ashely de
Silva, the Sri Lanka Cricket CEO
said in reply to a query by The
Island yesterday.
Sri Lanka Cricket appointed
Jayawardene as the ‘Consultant
Coach’ for the National Teams
with effect from January 1, 2022.
He was already providing his
expertise for the youth team when
he was appointed.
At the time of his appointment
Jayawardene was quoted as hav-
ing said that he would be helping
in terms of team’s preparation
and strategic-thinking during
Mahela Jayawardene will leave the island on January 9 to join Sri
tournaments.
Lanka Under 19 team in West Indies.
match against Scotland on the
same day. The Youth World Cup
will run till February 5.
Sri Lanka Under 19s are
coached by Avishka
Gunawardena, who was appointed
to the post in September last year.
The team did well during home
series under Gunawardena’s tute-
lage during the last few months
before leaving for two overseas
assignments.
The team captained by St.
Joseph’s College, Darley Road
spinner Dunith Wellalage were the
runners up to India Under 19s at
last week’s Asian Cricket Council
Under 19 Asia Cup in UAE, from
where they left for the West Indies.
The defeat at the hands of India
was the only blemish in that tour-
nament.
They commenced preparations
with a 5-0 victory against Nesangi Hemakumara (right) and Vishmi Serasinghe
won the Under 16 girls’ doubles title.
Bangladesh Under 19s in a series
played in Dambulla before win- (Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
ning a five-match series against
their England counterparts in
Colombo last month.

SA pacers continue to dictate terms despite Rahul fifty

South Africa continued to make inroads
in the second session of the second Test to
leave India in more trouble at the Wanderers
Stadium, Johannesburg yesterday. KL Rahul
scored a patient half-century but was one of
two wickets to fall post lunch as India went
into Tea at 146/5. It was a better session for
India in terms of runs as they got 93 in the 25
overs that were bowled, scoring at close to
four an over, as against the run-rate of 2.04
for their 53 runs in the opening session.
Rahul and Vihari, while continuing to
face some unplayable deliveries, were a lot
more proactive after the Lunch break to take
the fight back to the South African pacemen.
Vihari was dropped at point by Temba
Bavuma off Lungi Ngidi while Rahul edged a
Marco Jansen delivery that flew over gully.
But they also did not miss out on boundary-
scoring opportunities as they extended their
partnership past 40. However, a well-directed
short ball from Kagiso Rabada did the trick
as Vihari got an inside edge while looking to
fend it away and saw Rassie van der Dussen
hold on to an excellent catch at short leg.
Rahul went on to register a fifty and with
Rishabh Pant providing him good support,
they were laying the platform for a partner-
ship to prosper. Having displayed good judge-
ment throughout his innings, Rahul went for
a pull off Jansen with two fielders stationed
at the deep and ended up getting a top edge to
fine leg which ended his stay worth 133 deliv-
eries. R Ashwin, coming in at the fall of the
fifth wicket, was positive from the outset as
he punched a straight drive and went
through the cover region for a couple of fours
off Ngidi. Keshav Maharaj was finally given
the ball in the 50th over, which was also the
last over before the break, as Pant and
Ashwin prevented any further damage with
the latter even striking a boundary off the
last ball.
Earlier, the first hour belonged to the
Indian openers who overcame a testing peri-
od to help their team off to a solid start.
Mayank Agarwal was dealing in boundaries
while Rahul, captaining India for the first
time after Virat Kohli was ruled out of the
Test due to an upper back spasm, was watch-
ful with his approach. While they were trou-
bled on a few occasions, the openers managed
to keep the South African pacers at bay. But
South Africa were all over the visitors by the
time it was Lunch, using the bounce offered
by the Wanderers pitch to good effect. Lungi
Ngidi was the best of the lot, asking a lot of
questions with his accurate lengths and
direction. While he did not taste success, the
other bowlers followed his method and
reaped rewards.
Jansen tempted Mayank with a full length
delivery that went away, and the bounce did
the trick as the opener edged it to the 'keeper
to depart for a brisk 26. Cheteshwar Pujara's
first run came off an inside edge which just
evaded short leg as Ngidi continued to test Nithila Goonetilleke (left) and Thilina Dissanayake were the
the Indian batters, without getting the Under 16 boys’ doubles champions.
rewards for his efforts. Jansen and Olivier
also peppered Pujara with incoming deliver- Bishop’s College player the quarter-final of the
ies directed at his inside edge, with the batter Nesangi Hemakumara and five-team competition.
continuing to be lucky. Pujara's 30-ball strug- Vishmi Serasinghe of Ave They beat Senulya
gle, which yielded only three runs, eventually Maria Convent, Negombo Wijayawardane and Binudi
came to an end when he looked to press for- won the Under 16 girls’ Wijayawardane 6-4, 6-3 in
ward to an Olivier delivery with extra doubles title of the Tennis the semis.
bounce. Ajinkya Rahane fell first ball, guid- Nationals 2021 at the Sri Dinara de Silva and
ing a length delivery to third slip as he Lanka Tennis Association Saajida Razick also had
became Olivier's 50th Test scalp Rahul and courts on Monday. only one hurdle to clear to
Vihari were unbeatan at Lunch and also saw The duo beat Dinara de reach the final. They beat
off the first hour after the break before South Silva and Saajida Razick 6- Inuki Jayaweera and
Africa hit back against with key wickets. 3, 7-5 in the final. They had Melasha Randini 6-3, 6-2 in
Brief scores: India 146/5 (KL Rahul 50, only the semi-final hurdle the quarter-final before
Mayank Agarwal 26; Marco Jansen 2-18, to clear to reach the final receiving a walkover in the
Duanne Olivier 2-47) as they received a bye in semis.

“I am determined to win”-
says Vidanage as he receives
Queen’s Baton
by Reemus FeRnando
Weightlifter Chanthana Vidanage
said that he was working hard to accom-
plish a difficult task of winning a medal
when he takes part in the 2022
Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The 40-year-old who inspired youth to
Weightlifters Chinthana
Vithanage and Dinusha Hansani
with the Queen's Baton.
take up weightlifting with his gold
medal victory at the 2006
Commonwealth Games will be compet-
ing in his sixth games in Birmingham
this year.
“I will attempt to win a medal there.
That is my goal. There will be a tough
competition but I am determined and
am working hard to achieve that,”
Vidanage said in an interview with The
Island after receiving the Queen’s
Baton in its Sri Lanka leg yesterday.
Vidanage will be competing in the
81kg category. Vidanage won a bronze
at the recently held Commonwealth
Weightlifting Championships where he
lifted a total weight of 300kgs.
Weightlifter from Polonnaruwa estab-
lished a new Sri Lanka record with a
total weight of 306 kgs prior to that
event.
The Queen’s Baton – the forerunner
to the 2022 Birmingham
Commonwealth Games was welcomed
in Sri Lanka at the Bandaranaike
International Airport making it the
25th of its destinations yesterday. The
Baton will travel to selected locations in
the country until its departure on
January 6.

Published by Upali Newspapers (Private) Limited, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13 and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Tuesday 4th January, 2022

ASPI closes at all-time high; CSE proving profitable
by hiran h.Senewiratne
The CSE is still the most attractive
and profitable of places to invest in due to
the high inflation and low interest rate
regime in the country. Accordingly, the
All Share Price Index of the stock market
surged by 399.81 points yesterday to close
at an all-time high of 12,625.82, stock mar-
ket analysts said.
Headline inflation, as measured by
the year-on-year (YOY) change in the
Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCP1),
increased to a record 12.1 per cent in
December 2021 from 9.9 per cent in
November 2021.On an annual average
basis, the CCPI increased to 6 per cent in
December 2021 from 5.3 per cent in
November 2021.
The Central Bank said an in-depth
analysis of the key drivers of current
inflation suggests that a large component
BOC chair optimistic about
notable economic growth in 2022
by Sanath nanayakkare
B
ank of Ceylon Chairman Kanchana
Ratwatte expects that growth will
rebound in 2022 with three primary ele-
ments as drivers of the economy, moving for-
ward.
According to his predictions, Sri Lanka
should see notable rebound in earnings from
tourism, SME sector businesses and foreign
remittances.
Speaking at an event held at its Head
Office In Colombo yesterday with a multi-reli-
gious ceremony to invoke blessings on the
staff of the bank, all its customers and all Sri
Lankans in general, Ratwatte said, “I see a
rainbow on the horizon. Sri Lanka should see
a significant rebound in the tourism sector,
small and medium enterprises (SME) sector
and the country's foreign remittances base in
the first half of the year. The Bank of Ceylon
stood as a tower of strength during the Covid-
19 pandemic for nearly two years supporting
to hold the national economy in place, and will
unwaveringly continue to do so until the coun-
try gets back to normalcy,” he said.
The following are some excerpts from his
speech.
“Today signifies a momentous day in my
life. Two years ago, I assumed duties as chair-
man of this giant organisation which com-
prises a family strongly bonded with one
another. I regard being able to serve for BOC
as a great fortune in my life.”
“In the past two years despite challenges
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, BOC was
able to give promotions to its employees in
compliance with the due process. Also, we
absorbed the trainees who had successfully
concluded their training into our permanent
carder. We were able to give promotions from
junior executive ranks up to the echelon of
general manager amid the pandemic chaos as
a recognition for their dedication and loyalty
towards the bank.”
“Most notably, we were able to successfully
complete the official process in signing the
collective agreement with the trade unions of
the bank providing the basis for sound rela-
tions between the management and employ-
Sri Lanka Insurance inaugurates business operations for 2022
The inauguration of Sri Lanka
Insurance business operations for the
year 2022 took place on the 3rd of
January 2022 at Sri Lanka Insurance
head office with the participation of
the Chairman, corporate manage-
ment, and the staff of SLIC.
Adhering to the health and safety
guidelines provided by the health
authorities due to Covid 19 pandemic
situation, Sri Lanka Insurance held
the event with a minimum number of
participants, and the event was live-
streamed to branches and all staff
members via zoom. The event was SLIC Chairman Eng.Vijitha Herath and CEO Chandana L. Aluthgama inaugu-
comprised of religious observations rated business operations for year 2022 by lightning the oil lamp
performed by religious leaders of all
four religions. January 2022.
Established in 1962 as a state insur-
er, Sri Lanka Insurance celebrates 60 Insurance has been synonymous in its
years of service to the nation 0n 1st of effort in aligning the corporate goals to
of inflation is driven by supply-side fac-
tors.
Amid those developments the stock
market was positive throughout the day
and most of the valued counters showed a
considerable price appreciation backed
by LOLC Group counters. LOLC Group
counters, including LOLC Finance 79.5
points, Commercial Leasing and Finance
58.2 points, LOLC Holdings 50.2 points,
Browns Investments 35 points and
Expolanka Holdings (Not a LOLC Group
company) 50 points contributed to the All
Share Price Index yesterday, which broke
a record by being the highest intra-day
level.
During the day market commenced
trading at 10.30 am and at the end of the
day both indices moved upwards. All
Share Price Index went up by 399 points
and S and P SL 20 rose by 114 points.
Turnover stood at Rs 9.6 billion with six
BOC Chairman Kanchana Ratwatte, General Manager/CEO K.E.D Sumanasiri and
CFO Russel Fonseka inaugurate the BOC SME Circle at the BOC Head Office in
Colombo yesterday.
ees.”
“With that said, our happy workforce is
not solely because of those motivations but
also because of the positive work environment
which encourages collaboration and commu-
nication; which is a unique feature of the BOC
family.”
“BOC's improved strategies to counter the
pandemic saw significant resilience in its for-
eign remittances base. In 2019, remittances
stood at USD 2.5 billion for BOC. In 2020, we
managed to reach USD 2.8 billion. Despite the
ongoing external challenges, this year we have
crossed the USD 3.5 billion benchmark of
remittances.”
“We thought the pandemic's vulnerable
conditions would be an opportune moment to
launch and implement the BOC Export Circle
to support the SME sector to revive the bat-
tered businesses and help take the surviving
ones to the next level. Last year, BOC placed
special emphasis on the revival of businesses
through Export Circle.. Thus a revival unit
was established to rekindle the businesses hit
by the pandemic. I am proud to say that many
the country’s economic development
Through 6 decades Sri Lanka goals whereby the corporation has
always strived to serve beyond the
mandate of insurance and was at the
Rs 21 million, its shares traded at Rs 8.
In the retail market top seven compa-
nies that mainly contributed to the
turnover were Browns Investments Rs
1.52 billion (86.7 million shares traded),
LOLC Finance Rs 890 million (35.7 million
shares traded), Co-operative Insurance Rs
680 million (81.9 million shares traded),
crossings. Those crossings were reported LOLC General Insurance Rs 481 million
in Prime Lanka Residence ,which crossed (22.2 million shares traded), Expolanka
21.7 million to the tune of Rs 256 million Holdings Rs 452 million (1.1 million
and its shares traded at Rs 11.80, Royal shares traded), Commercial Leasing and
Ceramic 750,000 shares crossed for Rs Finance Rs 305 million (8.9 million shares
59.25 million, its shares traded at Rs 79, traded), Brown and Company Rs 249 mil-
Ambeon Holdings one million shares lion Rs 249 million (636,000 shares traded).
crossed for Rs 51 million, its shares trad- During the day several valued coun-
ed at Rs 51, Renuka Holdings two million ters share prices appreciated. Those com-
shares crossed for Rs 41 million, its shares panies were, Tess Agro share price appre-
traded at Rs 20.50, LOLC Holdings 300,000 ciated by 70 per cent or Rs 1.10. Its share
shares crossed for Rs 35.4 million and it price started trading at Rs 1.50 and at the
shares fetched Rs 1180 and Kotagala end of the day it moved to Rs 2.60, LOLC
Plantations 2.5 million shares crossed for Finance share price appreciated by 34
The launch of BOC Fuel Card. Ms. Ramya Ranaweera , Director Finance, Hovel
Holdings receives the first fuel card from BOC Management.
of these companies have stayed afloat and the be factored into the current situation.”
BOC has been able to turn around almost Rs. Talking about revenue from Tourism, he
35 billion worth of assets through this exer- said,” Up to 2019 prior to Easter Sunday
cise. I see a few smiling faces here who have attacks, Tourism generated a minimum of
been served by the Revival Unit of the BOC.” USD 4.5 billion. As a result of the pandemic,
“BOC managed to overcome most of the Tourism sector had to be looked after by other
issues the pandemic introduced to us out of sectors. It was a double whammy on the econ-
the blue by ensuring seamless online banking omy. In contrast, now I see a bright side emerg-
services for our customers. However, most ing as more than 200,000 tourists arrived in the
employees reported to work upon ensuring country last year.”
minimised impact of the pandemic on them.” “The livelihoods of Sri Lankan migrant
Talking about external sector challenges, workers came to a complete standstill for two
he said,”“A 20-foot container of a particular years due to travel restrictions imposed glob-
item that came from Shanghai via Singapore ally. Now we see the encouraging trend of
for USD 900 in 2019, costs USD 8000 today. The them going back to their overseas jobs as well
prices of wheat and petroleum have surged as students going abroad for higher education.
among other commodities. Today a litre of On a daily basis, the BOC gets requests from
petroleum in India is 104 Indian rupees. It is customers to remit amounts ranging from
about LKR 270. The State is still subsidising USD 2500 - 20,000 for their children's higher
petroleum products. Has the consumption education requirements. We oblige with that
gone down at current prices? No, it hasn't. segment of customers regardless of which
Despite the lockdowns, usage of petroleum bank they initially banked with.”
increased. Letters of Credit (LCs) opened by “BOC reached rupees one trillion in its
the BOC for petroleum imports grew by 20% asset base in 2012 - the equivalent of a USD 5
despite Coronavirus lockdowns. These should billion worth company when converting the
New businesses are being handed over to mark the year 2022
forefront in assisting the country in all In celebration of the triumphant
national catastrophic moments. The 60 years, Sri Lanka Insurance intro-
corporation is constantly evolving to duces the “Medi 60” Senior Citizen
Health Insurance Plan to cover an
uphold the high standards set out in its
corporate vision and mission. array of health insurance needs of
Tuesday 4th January, 2022
points or Rs 2.80. Its share price shot up to
Rs 26.80 from Rs 20, Industrial Asphalts
share price appreciated by 28 per cent or
20 cents. Its share price moved to 90 cents
from 70 cents, Softlogic Holdings share
price appreciated by 24 per cent or Rs
8.10. Its share price shot up to Rs 42.40
from Rs 34.30, Watawala Plantations
share price appreciated by six per cent or
Rs 8.25. Its share price appreciated to Rs
138.25 from Rs 130 and Singer Sri Lanka
share price appreciated by 13 per cent to
Rs 2.60. Its shares started trading at Rs
19.90 at the end of the day they moved to
Rs 22.70. During the day 773 million
share volumes changed hands in 73000
transactions,
Yesterday the US dollar was quoted at
Rs 202.18, which was the Central Bank
controlled price. But the actual price in
the market is more than Rs 250 per US
dollar.
-Pics by Saman Ranaweera
currency at LKR 200 per US dollar. In 2018, it
reached two trillion making it a USD 10 billion
worth company. In March 2021, we reached
the 3 trillion mark which made it a USD 15 bil-
lion company. I am proud to say that every
year we will be adding USD 5 billion to the
asset base of BOC. By next year, we should be
a USD 20 billion company. This is the strength
on which we continue to serve our customers
and the nation at large. Dear customers, let me
tell you that BOC is resilient and strong
enough to hold the economy until the country
gets back to normalcy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of encour-
aging Sri Lankan SME and Micro entrepre-
neurs, the Bank also launched BOC SME
Circle yesterday.
In addition to that the Bank launched
the BOC Fuel Card. The BOC fuel top-up
card is designed to be beneficial to cus-
tomers who face the hassle in managing
their fuel expenses. The card is offered to
corporate entities, fleet operators and indi-
viduals to add convenience to their daily
operations.
senior citizens. The product was
launched as a tribute to the senior gen-
eration for their valuable contribution
towards the economic progress of Sri
Lanka and recognizing their limited
access to health insurance due to age
constraints.
The ‘Medi 60’ Health Cover
enables senior citizens to reimburse
medical charges, including hospital &
surgery costs and medicinal expenses.
Senior citizens between the age of 60
and 70 are now eligible to apply for
this cover, while the policy can be
renewed until the policyholder reach-
es 80 years of age. Moreover, policy-
holders also receive attractive dis-
counts for laboratory tests, medicine
delivery and free wellness pro-
grammes in collaboration with
ayubo,life.
Page II Business News / Advertorial Tuesday 4th January, 2022

MAIN BOARD
ARPICO INSURANCE ....................202,273 ...........25.9 .............29.00 ................31.90..............27.00 ..........27.20 ............5.0.......1.3
A.SPEN.HOT.HOLD..........................32,401 ...........42.3 .............42.10 ................42.90..............40.00 ..........40.40...........-4.4......-1.9
ASIA SIYAKA ..................................414,819 .............3.2 ...............3.30 ..................3.50................3.20 ............3.40 ............6.2..........2
ABANS ...............................................1,500 .......210.25 ...........205.00 ..............224.75 ............205.00 ........220.00 ............4.6.....9.75 3rd,January, 2022
BANSEI RESORTS ............................2,159 ...........10.8..............11.40 ................11.50..............10.20...........11.00 ............1.8..........2
ACCESS ENG SL.........................1,961,411 ...........31.9 .............32.20 ................34.40..............32.20 ..........34.00 ............6.5.......2.1
BERUWALA RESORTS ...............1,174,530 .............1.5 ...............1.40 ..................1.60................1.40 ............1.50 ...............0..........0
ACL ................................................723,367 .......100.25 ...........102.75 ..............108.00 ............101.00 ........104.50 ............4.2.....4.25
BOGALA GRAPHITE ......................276,730 .......101.75 ...........104.00 ..............126.00 ............103.00.........116.25 ..........14.2.....14.5
ACL PLASTICS...................................7,293 .......570.75 ...........600.00 ..............600.00 ............575.00 ........590.50 ............3.4...19.75
BOGAWANTALAWA .......................109,867 ...........22.5 .............24.00 ................24.00..............22.30 ..........22.50 ...............0..........0
ACME .............................................224,591 ...........17.2 .............17.20 ................21.00..............17.20 ..........19.80 ..........15.1.......2.6
BPPL HOLDINGS .............................77,980 ...........28.2 .............28.50 ................29.00..............27.50 ..........27.50...........-2.4 .......-.7
AGALAWATTE.............................2,555,084 ...........53.7 .............56.00 ................59.00..............55.40 ..........57.80 ............7.6.......4.1
LMF ..................................................28,733 .......268.75 ...........263.00 ..............265.00 ............260.75 ........261.75...........-2.6 ........-7 BROWNS .......................................637,724 .........369.5 ...........380.00 ..............409.00 ............375.00 ........381.25 ............3.1 ...11.75
AHOT PROPERTIES ........................19,656 ...........44.1 .............44.90 ................46.00..............44.90 ..........45.00 ............2.0..........9
LVL ENERGY..................................164,151 ...........10.5 .............10.60 ................10.70..............10.50 ..........10.70 ............1.9..........2 BROWNS INVSTMNTS ............ 86,750,555 ...........16.3 .............17.00 ................17.90..............16.90 ..........17.40 ............6.7.......1.1
AITKEN SPENCE ...........................193,318 ...........82.4 .............83.50 ................83.50..............80.00 ..........80.30...........-2.5......-2.1
MALWATTE ......................................16,121 ..............28 .............27.00 ................28.40..............27.00 ..........27.50...........-1.7 .......-.5 C T LAND ...........................................1,458 ..............30 .............31.00 ................31.00..............29.80 ..........30.00 ...............0..........0
ALLIANCE ........................................45,947 .......104.75 ...........108.00 ..............108.00 ............103.00 ........105.00 ...............2........25
MALWATTE [MAL.X0000] ...................3,386 ...........18.2 .............17.40 ................18.20..............17.30 ..........18.20 ...............0..........0 C.W.MACKIE ....................................61,397 ..............68 .............67.70 ................68.50..............67.00 ..........67.00...........-1.4 ........-1
AMANA BANK..............................1,348,964 .............4.4 ...............4.50 ..................4.50................4.30 ............4.30...........-2.2 .......-.1
MELSTACORP ............................1,614,992 ...........56.1 .............56.50 ................58.60..............56.00 ..........57.40 ............2.3.......1.3 CALT ...........................................2,058,315 ..............18 .............18.40 ................19.10..............17.60 ..........18.60 ............3.3..........6
ASIA ASSET ...................................195,403 .............8.4 ...............8.40 ..................9.00................8.20 ............8.50 ............1.1..........1
MERC. SHIPPING ..............................2,451 .......103.25 ...........104.25 ..............110.00 ............103.25 ........103.25 ...............0..........0 CEYLON TEA BRKRS ......................30,885 .............4.2 ...............4.10 ..................4.40................4.10 ............4.30 ............2.3..........1
ASIA ASSET [AAF-P-0000] ................... 343 ...........10.1 ...............9.60 ..................9.90................9.60 ............9.60...........-4.9 .......-.5
MERCHANT BANK ......................2,537,946 .............5.9 ...............5.90 ..................6.30................5.80 ............6.00 ............1.6..........1 CFI ........................................................469 ...........89.9 .............83.60 ................94.00..............83.60 ..........93.80 ............4.3.......3.9
ASIA CAPITAL ................................506,657 .............8.6 ...............8.90 ..................9.20................8.10 ............8.40...........-2.3 .......-.2
MULLERS....................................3,356,591 .............2.3 ...............2.20 ..................2.80................2.10 ............2.70 ..........17.3..........4 CITRUS HIKKADUWA ....................282,443 .............6.8 ...............6.90 ..................7.00................6.70 ............6.80 ...............0..........0
ASIRI .......................................................55 ...........32.5 .............33.00 ................33.00..............33.00 ..........32.50 ...............0..........0
NAMUNUKULA.................................15,807 .......389.75 ...........399.00 ..............449.00 ............392.00 ........426.75 ............9.4........37 CITRUS WASKADUWA ...............1,242,241 .............3.7 ...............4.00 ..................4.00................3.70 ............3.70 ...............0..........0
ASIRI SURG .....................................10,860 ...........17.3 .............17.50 ................17.60..............17.30 ..........17.50 ............1.1..........2
NAT. DEV. BANK...............................96,713 ...........68.9 .............68.60 ................70.00..............68.50 ..........69.10 ...............2..........2 COM.CREDIT.................................146,810 ...........30.4 .............31.00 ................32.90..............31.00 ..........31.90 ............4.9.......1.5
AUTODROME ...........................................1 .........109.5 .............98.00 ................98.00..............98.00 ........109.50 ...............0..........0
NATIONS TRUST .............................39,757 ..............55 .............55.00 ................55.70..............54.00 ..........54.90.............-.1 .......-.1 COMMERCIAL DEV............................7,532 ............136 ...........139.25 ..............140.00 ............135.00 ........135.00.............-.7 ........-1
BAIRAHA FARMS.............................40,553 .........286.5 ...........277.00 ..............297.00 ............277.00 ........284.50.............-.7 ........-2
NATIONS TRUST [NTB-X-0000]............176 ...........65.1 .............60.10 ................65.00..............60.10 ..........61.10...........-6.1 ........-4 COOP INSURANCE ..................81,908,406 ................7 ...............7.10 ................12.00................7.00 ............8.60 ..........22.8.......1.6
BALANGODA .................................206,177 ...........30.3 .............31.00 ................31.00..............28.10 ..........30.00.............-.9 .......-.3
NAWALOKA ...................................297,047 .............9.2 ...............9.30 ..................9.50................9.20 ............9.30 ............1.0..........1 DILMAH CEYLON ...................................81 .........747.5 ...........750.00 ..............755.00 ............750.00 ........747.50 ...............0..........0
BUKIT DARAH.......................................475 .........402.5 ...........400.00 ..............415.00 ............400.00 ........404.25 ...............4.....1.75
NESTLE .............................................9,479 .......1215.5 ..........1,210.00 1,220.00 1,185.00 .....1,206.75.............-.7....-8.75 E - CHANNELLING.........................310,143 ...........26.2 .............27.50 ................28.80..............25.80 ..........26.00.............-.7 .......-.2
C M HOLDINGS................................12,027 ............149 ...........155.00 ..............155.00 ............140.00 ........142.25...........-4.5....-6.75
OVERSEAS REALTY......................305,659 ...........19.2 .............19.60 ................20.00..............19.30 ..........19.60 ............2.0..........4 ELPITIYA ........................................247,136 ............150 ...........156.75 ..............156.75 ............150.00 ........154.75 ............3.1.....4.75
CARGILLS...............................................15 .......215.25 ...........217.00 ..............217.00 ............216.75 ........215.25 ...............0..........0
PAN ASIA .......................................728,480 ...........15.5 .............15.80 ................16.00..............15.50 ..........15.60 ...............6..........1 EQUITY TWO PLC .............................2,098 ...........50.8 .............50.20 ................52.90..............50.00 ..........50.10...........-1.3 .......-.7
CARGO BOAT ....................................3,245 ..............68 .............67.90 ................71.50..............67.90 ..........70.30 ............3.3.......2.3
PANASIAN POWER .......................418,329 .............5.5 ...............5.50 ..................5.70................5.50 ............5.60 ............1.8..........1 FC TREASURIES ...........................236,543 ...........40.3 .............40.50 ................43.00..............40.00 ..........41.60 ............3.2.......1.3
CARSONS...............................................26 ............307 ...........296.00 ..............306.00 ............286.00 ........307.00 ...............0..........0
PEOPLE'S INS ...............................564,981 ...........34.3 .............34.40 ................41.50..............34.40 ..........37.90 ..........10.5.......3.6 FIRST CAPITAL ................................13,117 ...........42.2 .............43.30 ................43.30..............41.90 ..........42.50 ...............7..........3
CDB....................................................2,330 .......173.75 ...........171.75 ..............185.00 ............171.75 ........173.50.............-.1......-.25
PEOPLES LEASING XC.................397,878 ...........10.7 .............10.60 ................10.70..............10.50 ..........10.60.............-.9 .......-.1 FORTRESS RESORTS ....................15,680 ...........13.4 .............13.50 ................13.60..............13.30 ..........13.30.............-.7 .......-.1
CDB [CDB.X0000] ..............................2,629 ...........88.8 .............91.00 ................93.90..............89.40 ..........89.40 ...............6..........6
PGP GLASS ...................................311,156 ...........18.2 .............18.50 ................18.60..............18.30 ..........18.40 ............1.1..........2 GALADARI ..................................2,463,417 ...........22.2 .............22.00 ................25.40..............21.20 ..........25.00 ..........12.6.......2.8
CENTRAL FINANCE.........................78,774 ..............93 .............95.10 ................95.10..............93.00 ..........93.30 ...............3..........3
PRINTCARE PLC ...............................9,937 ...........48.6 .............49.50 ................49.50..............47.50 ..........48.00...........-1.2 .......-.6 GUARDIAN CAPITAL .......................71,872 ...........34.2 .............35.00 ................35.50..............33.90 ..........34.90 ............2.0..........7
CENTRAL IND. .................................77,513........211.75 ...........216.50 ..............226.75 ............213.75 ........219.50 ............3.6.....7.75
R I L PROPERTY .........................1,023,278 ...........14.3 .............14.40 ................14.50..............14.00 ..........14.30 ...............0..........0 HAPUGASTENNE ............................35,718 ...........44.9 .............45.00 ................50.00..............43.00 ..........47.90 ............6.6..........3
CEYLINCO INS. ....................................241 .....2249.75 ..........2,200.00 2,200.00 2,100.00 .....2,134.25...........-5.1..-115.5
REGNIS............................................97,384 ...........66.7 .............66.70 ................77.00..............66.70 ..........75.10 ..........12.5.......8.4 HATTON .........................................101,631 ...........12.6 .............13.00 ................14.10..............12.20 ..........13.90 ..........10.3.......1.3
CEYLINCO INS. [CINS.X0000]..............760...........1197 ........1,160.00 1,200.00 1,160.00 .....1,191.50.............-.4......-5.5
RENUKA AGRI ............................7,612,220 .............5.5 ...............5.70 ..................5.80................5.60 ............5.80 ............5.4..........3 HNB FINANCE .................................84,372 ...........10.4 .............10.20 ................10.70..............10.20 ..........10.30.............-.9 .......-.1
CEYLON GUARDIAN .........................3,644 ............104 ...........104.00 ..............104.00 ............102.50 ........103.25.............-.7......-.75
RENUKA CITY HOT. .........................14,603 .........353.5 ...........360.00 ..............370.00 ............315.50 ........364.25 ............3.0...10.75 HNB FINANCE [HNBF-X-0000].........11,070 .............9.6 ...............9.50 ..................9.50................9.10 ............9.30...........-3.1 .......-.3
CEYLON INV...................................113,240 ...........53.6 .............54.00 ................55.00..............52.80 ..........52.90...........-1.3 .......-.7
RENUKA FOODS ...........................301,586 ...........20.5 .............21.10 ................22.20..............20.10 ..........22.00 ............7.3.......1.5 HVA FOODS .....................................31,995 .............6.7 ...............6.70 ..................6.90................6.70 ............6.90 ............2.9..........2
CEYLON TOBACCO...........................5,556 ............878 ...........869.00 ..............878.25 ............869.00 ........878.00 ...............0..........0
RENUKA FOODS [COCO.X0000].....77,410 ..............14 .............14.20 ................14.20..............13.90 ..........14.20 ............1.4..........2 JANASHAKTHI INS. .......................774,425 ...........30.7 .............28.60 ................34.00..............28.60 ..........32.70 ............6.5..........2
CHEMANEX .......................................3,501 ...........77.3 .............77.40 ................77.50..............77.40 ..........77.40 ...............1..........1
RENUKA HOLDINGS...................2,518,021 ...........19.4 .............19.30 ................21.40..............19.00 ..........20.40 ............5.1..........1 JETWING SYMPHONY .........................432 ...........12.6 .............12.70 ................12.70 ..............11.80 ..........12.50.............-.7 .......-.1
CHEVRON........................................86,575.............113............114.00 ..............114.00 ............112.75.........113.00 ...............0..........0
RENUKA HOLDINGS [RHL.X0000] ..26,565 ...........13.1 .............13.70 ................13.70..............13.00 ..........13.60 ............3.8..........5 JOHN KEELLS ...................................5,130 ...........71.9 .............69.00 ................71.90..............68.50 ..........68.60...........-4.5......-3.3
CIC .................................................279,936 ..............65 .............64.10 ................66.00..............64.00 ..........65.00 ...............0..........0
RESUS ENERGY ...........................359,182 ...........40.9 .............40.80 ................41.50..............40.00 ..........40.20...........-1.7 .......-.7 KAHAWATTE......................................4,354 ...........27.6 .............27.60 ................27.90..............27.50 ..........27.60 ...............0..........0
CIC [CIC.X0000] .............................162,166 ...........49.1 .............49.60 ................49.90..............48.90 ..........48.90.............-.4 .......-.2
RICHARD PIERIS ........................3,429,611 ...........24.6 .............24.80 ................26.10..............24.80 ..........25.50 ............3.6..........9 KEELLS FOOD........................................15 .........159.5 ...........161.50 ..............161.50 ............161.50 ........159.50 ...............0..........0
CITRUS LEISURE ..........................239,433 .............8.9 ...............9.00 ..................9.10................8.80 ............9.00 ............1.1..........1
ROYAL CERAMIC........................3,600,347 ...........78.1 .............78.50 ................80.10..............78.50 ..........79.30 ............1.5.......1.2 KEELLS HOTELS ...........................345,150 ...........14.7 .............15.00 ................15.00..............14.20 ..........14.30...........-2.7 .......-.4
COLD STORES ..................................1,797 ............530 ...........528.00 ..............530.00 ............527.25 ........528.25.............-.3....-1.75
S M B LEASING.........................28,738,718 .............2.3 ...............2.40 ..................2.40................2.20 ............2.30 ...............0..........0 KELSEY .............................................1,712 ...........35.3 .............36.30 ................36.30..............32.10 ..........34.50...........-2.2 .......-.8
COLOMBO CITY ...................................200 ............900 ...........898.00 ..............900.00 ............898.00 ........900.00 ...............0..........0
S M B LEASING [SEMB.X0000].59,991,213 ................7 ..................70 .....................80...................60 ...............70 ...............0..........0 LANKA CERAMIC..................................481 ............150 ...........154.50 ..............157.50 ............150.00 ........153.00 ............2.0..........3
COLOMBO LAND...............................3,310 ...........34.4 .............33.10 ................34.70..............33.10 ..........34.40 ...............0..........0
SAMPATH....................................1,917,819 ...........52.1 .............52.40 ................52.40..............51.70 ..........52.00.............-.1 .......-.1 LAUGFS POWER .............................69,959 ...........10.5 .............10.50 ................11.00..............10.40 ..........10.60 ...............9..........1
COMMERCIAL BANK .....................793,611 ...........79.3 .............79.10 ................80.90..............79.10 ..........80.20 ............1.1..........9
SAMSON INTERNAT. ..............................12 ............202 ...........214.75 ..............215.00 ............202.00 ........202.00 ...............0..........0 LAUGFS POWER [LPL-X-0000] .......54,241 .............8.5 ...............8.60 ..................8.90................8.50 ............8.80 ............3.5..........3
COMMERCIAL BANK [COMB]........348,986 ..............72 .............73.00 ................73.00..............71.50 ..........72.50 ...............6..........5
SANASA DEV. BANK........................15,952 ..............43 .............42.70 ................44.00..............42.70 ..........43.50 ............1.1..........5 LCB FINANCE LTD......................8,863,986 .............3.9 ...............3.90 ..................4.10................3.80 ............4.00 ............2.5..........1
CONVENIENCE FOOD .............................3 ..........1246 ........1,205.00 1,205.00 1,205.00 .....1,246.00 ...............0..........0
SARVODAYA DEVFIN ......................58,320 ...........19.4 .............18.80 ................19.90..............18.70 ..........19.50 ...............5..........1 LIGHTHOUSE HOTEL........................7,894 ...........34.9 .............36.00 ................36.00..............35.00 ..........35.60 ............2.0..........7
DANKOTUWA PORCEL .................391,605 ...........14.6 .............14.90 ................15.80..............14.50 ..........15.20 ............4.1..........6
SEYLAN BANK.................................12,447 ..............44 .............43.00 ................45.00..............43.00 ..........44.00 ...............0..........0 LOLC GENERAL INS ................ 22,251,009 ...........20.5 .............21.10 ................22.60..............20.60 ..........21.70 ............5.8.......1.2
DFCC BANK PLC .............................73,284 ..............60 .............59.00 ................59.70..............58.00 ..........58.70...........-2.1......-1.3
SEYLAN BANK [SEYB.X0000] .......199,659 ...........33.3 .............33.40 ................34.00..............33.30 ..........33.60 ...............9..........3 LOTUS HYDRO................................27,334 ...........10.2 .............10.80 ................10.80..............10.40 ..........10.70 ............4.9..........5
DIALOG..........................................544,785 ...........10.9 .............10.90 ................12.90..............10.90 ..........10.90 ...............0..........0
SEYLAN DEVTS...............................47,303 ..............18 .............18.10 ................18.20..............17.80 ..........18.00 ...............0..........0 MACKWOODS ENERGY................125,127 .............2.9 ...............3.00 ..................3.10................2.80 ............3.00 ............3.4..........1
DIMO.......................................................59 ............618 ...........620.00 ..............658.50 ............620.00 ........618.00 ...............0..........0
SIERRA CABL ............................1,041,604 ...........14.3 .............14.30 ................14.80..............13.90 ..........14.60 ............2.1..........3 MAHAWELI COCONUT.........................151 ..............54 .............50.10 ................50.20..............50.00 ..........50.20...........-7.0......-3.8
DIPPED PRODUCTS .....................703,187 ...........50.7 .............51.00 ................51.50..............49.90 ..........50.50.............-.3 .......-.2
SIGIRIYA VILLAGE................................501 ...........43.7 .............45.00 ................45.00..............43.70 ..........43.70 ...............0..........0 MAHAWELI REACH ..............................713 ...........17.1 .............15.10 ................17.20..............15.10 ..........17.20 ...............5..........1
DOCKYARD .......................................8,978 ...........79.4 .............79.40 ................79.40..............76.40 ..........76.60...........-3.5......-2.8
SINGER FINANCE ......................1,214,121 ...........17.2 .............17.60 ................20.30..............16.80 ..........19.40 ..........12.7.......2.2 MARAWILA RESORTS ................1,326,443 .............3.9 ...............4.00 ..................4.10................3.80 ............3.90 ...............0..........0
DOLPHIN HOTELS...........................17,199 ...........37.2 .............36.60 ................36.60..............36.20 ..........36.30...........-2.4 .......-.9
SUNSHINE HOLDING .................4,594,014 ...........45.4 .............46.00 ................51.80..............45.20 ..........49.00 ............7.9.......3.6 MASKELIYA ...................................187,530 ...........15.8 .............16.00 ................16.90..............15.50 ..........16.20 ............2.5..........4
DURDANS..........................................1,046 ............151 ...........154.75 ..............154.75 ............150.00 ........153.25 ............1.4.....2.25
SWISSTEK .....................................435,659 ..............46 .............46.90 ................46.90..............45.00 ..........45.80.............-.4 .......-.2 MILLENNIUM HOUSE ....................141,590 .............6.2 ...............6.10 ..................6.30................6.00 ............6.20 ...............0..........0
DURDANS [CHL.X0000].....................8,319 .........123.5 ...........129.50 ..............134.00 ............129.50 ........129.75 ............5.0.....6.25
TALAWAKELLE XD...........................31,031 ...........52.2 .............52.60 ................55.50..............52.00 ..........52.40 ...............3..........2 MYLAND.........................................685,673 ...........26.7 .............27.00 ................29.00..............26.40 ..........26.60.............-.3 .......-.1
E B CREASY ......................................5,170 ...........26.5 .............28.00 ................28.00..............26.50 ..........27.40 ............3.4..........9
TANGERINE............................................99 ..............66 .............65.00 ................72.70..............65.00 ..........66.00 ...............0..........0 NUWARA ELIYA ......................................15 .....1244.25 ........1,152.00 1,156.00 1,152.00 1,244.25 ..............0..........0
EAST WEST .....................................11,752 ...........10.4 .............10.70 ................10.70..............10.20 ..........10.40 ...............0..........0
TEA SMALLHOLDER .........................1,245 ...........35.3 .............36.50 ................37.00..............36.20 ..........36.30 ............2.8..........1 PALM GARDEN HOTL...........................341 .........121.5 ...........126.75 ..............128.00 ............120.25 ........127.25 ............4.7.....5.75
EASTERN MERCHANT....................57,890 ................9 ...............8.90 ..................8.90................8.80 ............8.90...........-1.1 .......-.1
TEEJAY LANKA..............................744,494 ...........44.4 .............44.40 ................45.60..............44.40 ..........45.10 ............1.5..........7 PEGASUS HOTELS .........................17,493 ...........38.5 .............38.70 ................40.80..............38.70 ..........39.10 ............1.5..........6
EX-PACK .....................................1,937,692 ...........21.7 .............22.00 ................22.00..............20.90 ..........21.10...........-2.7 .......-.6
THREE ACRE FARMS ....................130,252 .......300.25 ...........288.00 ..............330.00 ............288.00 ........321.50 ............7.0...21.25 PEOPLE'S MERCH ............................8,276 .............6.8 ...............7.00 ..................7.20................6.90 ............7.10 ............4.4..........3
EXPOLANKA ...............................1,169,222 .......375.25 ...........377.00 ..............393.50 ............377.00 ........386.75 ............3.0 .....11.5
TOKYO CEMENT ...........................614,078 ...........59.8 .............62.00 ................63.30..............61.90 ..........62.00 ............3.6.......2.2 PRIME FINANCE..............................10,149 ...........18.8 .............18.80 ................19.00..............18.80 ..........19.00 ............1.0..........2
FORT LAND ...................................283,857 ...........25.4 .............26.00 ................26.30..............25.60 ..........26.00 ............2.3..........6
TOKYO CEMENT [TKYO.X0000].1,173,637 ...........49.7 .............51.30 ................54.00..............51.30 ..........52.40 ............5.4.......2.7 PRIMERESIDENCIES .............. 33,543,250............11.2..............11.50 ................12.80 ..............11.50 ..........12.40 ..........10.7.......1.2
GESTETNER.........................................150 ...........75.4 .............79.90 ................79.90..............79.50 ..........79.50 ............5.4.......4.1
UNION BANK .................................446,164............11.1..............11.00 ................11.40..............10.90...........11.00.............-.9 .......-.1 RAIGAM SALTERNS ........................89,291 ................8 ...............8.20 ..................8.40................8.10 ............8.20 ............2.5..........2
GRAIN ELEVATORS.......................125,861 .......121.75 ...........122.00 ..............127.00 ............121.75 ........125.00 ............2.6.....3.25
UNION CHEMICALS .............................310 .......971.25 ...........930.00 ..............930.00 ............910.00 ........920.25...........-5.2.......-51 RENUKA HOTELS..............................6,003 ............101 ...........102.00 ..............102.00..............93.60 ..........94.50...........-6.4......-6.5
HAYCARB ......................................303,689 ...........76.8 .............76.90 ................76.90..............75.00 ..........75.80...........-1.3 ........-1
UNISYST..........................................20,964 ...........21.9 .............22.30 ................22.30..............20.30 ..........21.00...........-4.1 .......-.9 RICH PIERIS EXP ............................22,180 .......846.25 ...........862.50 ..............862.50 ............800.00 ........807.25...........-4.6.......-39
HAYLEYS .......................................828,978 ............130 ...........130.00 ..............132.00 ............128.75 ........129.25.............-.5......-.75
UNITED MOTORS ............................11,271 ...........93.1 .............92.00 ................96.00..............87.10 ..........95.20 ............2.2.......2.1 ROYAL PALMS ...................................2,555 ...........27.4 .............27.20 ................27.90..............27.10 ..........27.80 ............1.4..........4
HAYLEYS FABRIC.......................1,895,912 ...........41.2 .............41.20 ................42.00..............41.00 ..........41.30 ...............2..........1
VALLIBEL .......................................220,800 .............8.6 ...............8.60 ..................8.80................8.60 ............8.70 ............1.1..........1 SATHOSA MOTORS ...............................22 .........201.5 ...........226.25 ..............226.25 ............225.75 ........201.50 ...............0..........0
HAYLEYS FIBRE ..............................63,377 ...........81.3 .............81.40 ................84.00..............79.80 ..........80.50.............-.9 .......-.8
VALLIBEL FINANCE .........................74,961 ...........39.9 .............40.40 ................40.40..............39.50 ..........39.90 ...............0..........0 SERENDIB HOTELS ..........................2,130 ...........20.6 .............19.00 ................20.50..............19.00 ..........20.10...........-2.4 .......-.5
HAYLEYS LEISURE ...........................6,712 ...........22.5 .............22.50 ................22.80..............22.50 ..........22.70 ...............8..........2
VIDULLANKA .................................425,522 .............6.7 ...............6.80 ..................6.90................6.70 ............6.80 ............1.4..........1 SERENDIB HOTELS [SHOT.X0000].12,639............11.5..............11.60 ................11.80 ..............11.20...........11.60 ...............8..........1
HDFC .................................................6,658 ...........30.5 .............30.50 ................31.00..............30.50 ..........30.80 ...............9..........3
VIDULLANKA [VLL-X-0000]..............10,210 .............5.3 ...............5.70 ..................5.70................5.40 ............5.40 ............1.8..........1 SERENDIB LAND......................................3 .....2001.75 ........1,986.00 2,149.00 1,986.00 2,001.75 ..............0..........0
HEMAS HOLDINGS .......................577,222 ...........66.9 .............67.00 ................67.90..............66.50 ..........67.00 ...............1..........1
WATAWALA ....................................710,475 ............130 ...........131.50 ..............146.00 ............129.00 ........138.25 ............6.3.....8.25 SHAW WALLACE ........................3,960,974 ...........12.9 .............13.00 ................14.70..............13.00 ..........14.10 ............9.3.......1.2
HNB................................................162,704 ............135 ...........135.00 ..............136.00 ............134.75 ........135.00 ...............0..........0
WINDFORCE XD..............................84,070 ...........18.2 .............18.40 ................18.40..............18.20 ..........18.30 ...............5..........1 SINGER IND..........................................105 ..............46 .............46.00 ................47.00..............45.90 ..........46.00 ...............0..........0
HNB ASSURANCE..........................198,111 ...........48.4 .............48.60 ................52.70..............48.30 ..........49.60 ............2.4.......1.2
YORK ARCADE..................................2,052 .........210.5 ...........217.50 ..............217.50 ............202.00 ........206.75...........-1.7....-3.75 SINGHE HOSPITALS .....................106,471 ................3 ...............3.10 ..................3.10................3.00 ............3.00 ...............0..........0
HNB [HNB.X0000] ............................11,948 .......122.25 ...........122.00 ..............123.00 ............120.25 ........122.75 ...............4..........5
hSENID BIZ .................................2,957,284 ...........34.6 .............35.00 ................35.30..............33.00 ..........34.30.............-.8 .......-.3 SOFTLOGIC................................3,044,482 ...........34.3 .............35.50 ................43.50..............35.00 ..........42.40 ..........23.6.......8.1
HORANA ..........................................26,869 ...........30.1 .............30.00 ................32.70..............30.00 ..........32.00 ............6.3.......1.9
SECOND BOARD SOFTLOGIC CAP........................7,883,913 .............8.8 ...............8.90 ..................9.20................8.80 ............8.90 ............1.1..........1
HOTEL SIGIRIYA ....................................10 ..............85 .............85.00 ................85.00..............85.00 ..........85.00 ...............0..........0
ABANS FINANCIAL ..........................11,690 ..............32 .............30.80 ................34.00..............30.80 ..........32.00 ...............0..........0 SOFTLOGIC FIN ............................206,443 ..............13 .............13.00 ................15.00..............13.00 ..........14.40 ..........10.7.......1.4
HOTELS CORP. ...............................84,391 ...........18.4 .............19.00 ................19.00..............17.10 ..........17.80...........-3.2 .......-.6
AMBEON CAPITAL.........................325,041 ..............18 .............18.20 ................18.90..............18.00 ..........18.60 ............3.3..........6 Softlogic Life ................................1,368,250 ..............71 .............70.00 ................75.00..............69.70 ..........71.10 ...............1..........1
HUNTERS .............................................483 ............650 ...........649.75 ..............650.00 ............649.75 ........650.00 ...............0..........0
BROWNS BEACH ..............................9,812 ...........12.5 .............12.50 ................12.50..............12.00 ..........12.30...........-1.6 .......-.2 TAL LANKA.........................................5,302 ...........22.1 .............20.00 ................22.00..............18.90 ..........21.40...........-3.1 .......-.7
INDUSTRIAL ASPH. ................167,441,183 ................7 ..................80 ..................1.00...................70 ...............90 ..........28.5..........2
COMM LEASE & FIN ...................8,978,890 ...........29.9 .............30.30 ................35.60..............30.00 ..........34.00 ..........13.7.......4.1 TESS AGRO ..............................49,323,697 .............1.5 ...............1.70 ..................2.60................1.70 ............2.50 ..........66.6..........1
JAT HOLDINGS ..............................110,959 ...........21.5 .............22.00 ................22.20..............21.50 ..........21.60 ...............4..........1
DISTILLERIES................................240,588 ..............17 .............17.50 ................17.50..............17.00 ..........17.20 ............1.1..........2 TESS AGRO [TESS.X0000].......23,824,414 .............1.1 ...............1.20 ..................1.60................1.20 ............1.60 ..........45.4..........5
JKH ................................................799,594 ............150 ...........149.00 ..............153.25 ............149.00 ........152.75 ............1.8.....2.75
EDEN HOTEL LANKA.....................471,271 ...........33.3 .............34.00 ................34.00..............31.00 ..........32.80...........-1.5 .......-.5 UDAPUSSELLAWA ..........................37,736 ...........60.2 .............64.00 ................64.00..............56.40 ..........58.80...........-2.3......-1.4
KANDY HOTELS ..............................90,252 .............8.4 ...............8.60 ..................8.60................7.90 ............8.10...........-3.5 .......-.3
HUNAS FALLS ......................................632........1100.5 ...........953.00 ...........1,150.00 ............952.25 .....1,032.00...........-6.2....-68.5 UNION ASSURANCE ............................173 ............294 ...........293.50 ..............295.00 ............286.50 ........292.25.............-.6....-1.75
KEGALLE .........................................39,511 ............168 ...........173.50 ..............174.00 ............166.00 ........170.25 ............1.3.....2.25
KOTMALE HOLDINGS ..........................100 .......444.25 ...........430.75 ..............430.75 ............430.75 ........430.75...........-3.0....-13.5 VALLIBEL ONE XD .........................693,231 ...........72.6 .............74.00 ................74.00..............71.50 ..........73.00 ...............5..........4
KELANI CABLES..............................54,778 .......489.75 ...........490.50 ..............521.00 ............475.00 ........489.75 ...............0..........0
LOLC DEV FINANCE .........................1,454 .......325.25 ...........338.25 ..............403.00 ............338.25 ........340.25 ............4.6........15 WATCH LIST
KELANI TYRES ................................92,567 ...........98.6 .............99.00 ................99.60..............95.40 ..........96.70...........-1.9......-1.9
LOLC FINANCE.........................35,708,875 ..............20 .............20.10 ................27.30..............19.90 ..........26.80 ..........34.0.......6.8 ANILANA HOTELS.......................1,640,229 .............1.4 ...............1.30 ..................1.50................1.30 ............1.40 ...............0..........0
KELANI VALLEY.............................260,728 ...........87.9 .............89.00 ................91.80..............88.00 ..........88.90 ............1.1..........1
MADULSIMA ..................................172,709 ...........12.6 .............12.40 ................12.40 ..............11.00...........11.80...........-6.3 .......-.8 BIMPUTH FINANCE .......................308,852 .............8.1 ...............8.30 ..................8.40................7.50 ............7.70...........-4.9 .......-.4
KINGSBURY................................1,006,479 .............9.5 ...............9.60 ..................9.90................9.50 ............9.70 ............2.1..........2
ODEL PLC ..........................................4,047 ...........25.2 .............26.00 ................26.00..............24.00 ..........25.50 ............1.1..........3 BLUE DIAMONDS ..........................362,741 ................9 ..................80 ..................1.00...................80 ...............90 ...............0..........0
KOTAGALA .................................4,790,034 .............7.7 ...............7.90 ..................8.10................7.80 ............8.00 ............3.9..........3
ON'ALLY................................................462 ...........32.5 .............32.60 ................32.80..............32.50 ..........32.80 ...............9..........3 BLUE DIAMONDS [BLUE.X0000] 4,939,474 ................5 ..................50 .....................60...................40 ...............50 ...............0..........0
L O L C HOLDINGS ........................233,251...........1162 ........1,174.50 1,239.00 1,174.50 .....1,209.50 ............4.0.....47.5
ORIENT FINANCE..............................2,546 ..............16 .............15.90 ................16.70..............15.90 ..........16.00 ...............0..........0 MULTI FINANCE ..............................44,898 ...........15.5 .............16.30 ................16.30..............15.00 ..........15.40.............-.6 .......-.1
LAKE HOUSE PRIN. ...............................29 .........146.5 ...........157.75 ..............157.75 ............155.00 ........146.50 ...............0..........0
PDL .......................................................145 .........133.5 ...........148.50 ..............148.50 ............147.50 ........148.00 ..........10.8.....14.5 NATION LANKA.........................39,423,748 .............1.3 ...............1.40 ..................1.60................1.20 ............1.60 ..........23.0..........3
LANKA ALUMINIUM .......................606,347 ...........26.6 .............26.60 ................27.20..............26.00 ..........26.70 ...............3..........1
SENKADAGALA .................................1,006 .......757.25 ...........849.75 ..............869.50 ............680.00 ........819.00 ............8.1...61.75 RADIANT GEMS ................................1,002 ..............21 .............22.00 ................22.00..............21.00 ..........21.00 ...............0..........0
LANKA ASHOK........................................33 .......698.25 ...........686.25 ..............687.50 ............686.25 ........698.25 ...............0..........0
SINGER SRI LANKA....................3,706,090 ...........19.9 .............20.00 ................23.70..............19.90 ..........22.70 ..........14.0.......2.8 SERENDIB ENG.GRP ........................9,379 ................7 ...............6.90 ..................7.00................6.80 ............6.90...........-1.4 .......-.1
LANKA HOSPITALS ...........................4,873 ...........54.9 .............56.80 ................56.80..............54.80 ..........54.90 ...............0..........0
SLT ...................................................14,216 ...........38.8 .............38.80 ................39.00..............38.10 ..........38.80 ...............0..........0 SINHAPUTHRA FIN.....................1,215,870 ...........26.8 .............28.00 ................29.00..............25.70 ..........28.10 ............4.8.......1.3
LANKA IOC..................................1,786,792 ...........73.2 .............73.40 ................76.90..............72.80 ..........73.70 ...............6..........5
TRANS ASIA .........................................223 ..............55 .............54.00 ................55.00..............54.00 ..........54.10...........-1.6 .......-.9 SINHAPUTHRA FIN [SFL.P0000] ...487,415 ...........14.3 .............15.30 ................16.20..............14.90 ..........15.30 ............6.9..........1
LANKA REALTY..............................419,839 ..............26 .............26.00 ................26.10..............25.50 ..........25.70...........-1.1 .......-.3
EMPOWER BOARD
LANKA TILES .................................422,304.............110 ............111.25 ..............115.50 ............110.50.........112.75 ............2.5.....2.75
CHRISSWORLD...............................40,239 ...........21.3 .............22.50 ................23.00..............21.10 ..........22.40 ............5.1.......1.1 MARKET STATISTICS
LANKA VENTURES............................5,000 ..............55 .............55.00 ................55.00..............55.00 ..........55.00 ...............0..........0
EML CONSULTANTS......................559,193 ..............25 .............26.00 ................27.40..............25.20 ..........25.90 ............3.6..........9
LANKA WALLTILE ..........................207,860 .......124.25 ...........126.00 ..............132.00 ............126.00 ........130.50 ............5.0.....6.25
DIRI SAVI BOARD EQUITY DETAILS ......................................................................TODAY................................................................................PRV.DAY
LANKEM DEV. ................................390,803 .............6.3 ...............6.40 ..................6.40................6.10 ............6.20...........-1.5 .......-.1
AGSTAR PLC .................................209,917 ...........10.6 .............10.80 ................11.00..............10.50 ..........10.70 ...............9..........1
LAUGFS GAS...................................56,052 ...........24.2 .............25.50 ................25.80..............23.90 ..........25.00 ............3.3..........8
ALUMEX PLC .................................608,242 ...........15.9 .............16.00 ................16.50..............15.90 ..........16.20 ............1.8..........3 VALUE OF TURNOVER(RS.) ......................................9,639,789,411.25 ...................................................................8,238,422,958.00
LAUGFS GAS [LGL.X0000] ..............44,532 ...........17.5 .............18.30 ................18.30..............17.20 ..........17.20...........-1.7 .......-.3
AMANA LIFE..........................................373 ..............19 .............18.00 ................18.90..............18.00 ..........18.40...........-3.1 .......-.6 VOLUME OF TURNOVER(NO.)..........................................773,929,435 ...........................................................................858,005,915
LAXAPANA.......................................51,294 ...........17.1 .............17.50 ................17.50..............16.70 ..........17.10 ...............0..........0
AMANA TAKAFUL...............................3,276 ...........12.7 .............12.70 ................12.70..............12.10 ..........12.40...........-2.3 .......-.3 TRADES(NO.) .............................................................................74,046....................................................................................73,892
LB FINANCE...................................351,796 ..............68 .............68.00 ................68.30..............67.10 ..........67.90.............-.1 .......-.1
AMBEON HOLDINGS ..................1,137,444 ...........48.9 .............49.60 ................51.00..............49.00 ..........50.10 ............2.4.......1.2 MARKET CAPITALIZATION(RS.) .........................5,668,673,963,417.60 ............................................................5,489,168,333,312.15
LEE HEDGES.................................144,826 ..............90 .............90.90 ..............100.00..............88.00 ..........88.80...........-1.3......-1.2
AMF CO LTD...................................114,184 ...........13.6 .............13.60 ................13.60..............13.10 ..........13.10...........-3.6 .......-.5
LION BREWERY ..................................161 ............550 ...........531.50 ..............540.00 ............531.00 ........535.25...........-2.6..-14.75

Explore the world in New Anthoney’s Farms becomes first and only
GHG verified poultry company in Sri Lanka
2022 with Emirates’
With the view of adhering to globally
recognized sustainability practices, New
Anthoney’s Farms (Private) Ltd, one of
the leading names in the poultry sector

new special fares

was awarded the prestigious Greenhouse
Gas Verification Statement from
Netherlands-based Control Union
Certifications, verified in accordance with
ISO 14064-3-2006 standards.
This makes New Anthoney’s Farms the
mega event, will be eligible to first and only GHG (Greenhouse Gas) vali- New Anthoney’s Farms

E
mirates, the world’s
largest international air- receive a free Emirates Expo dated poultry producer in the country, Chairman/Co-Founder Emil Stanley
line, has launched a new Day Pass for every flight ticket adopting a carbon-conscious mindset
(L) and CEO Neil Suraweera
campaign to bring passengers booked with the airline. For throughout its entire vertical supply
even closer to more unforgettable more information on this pro- chain. These GHG emissions are mini- essential amino acids, is produced using a
travel experiences in 2022, offer- motion, please visit the dedicat- mized by many of its initiatives such as 100pct all-natural process to ensure it’s
ing customers in Sri Lanka the ed offer page. energy saving optimization, responsible safe and antibiotic-free, with intensive
benefit of special fares* to a vari- Meanwhile, customers trav- waste disposable systems, shifting to solar biosecurity measures. The animal welfare,
ety of popular destinations, elling to or via Dubai anytime power consumption, reducing paper usage safety and health standards comply with
starting from US$ 290 in until March 31 2022, can explore through automation, among others. It is that of the National Chicken Council,
Economy Class and US$ 645 in the city for less with My also the first and only poultry producer to USA.
Business Class. Emirates Pass Expo 2020 Dubai, break away from conventional plastic or ‘‘Going green for us has always been
Customers participating in through which they enjoy exclu- polythene materials to adopt compostable, beyond just a social responsibility, it is
this unmissable offer will also sive discounts and benefits at bio-degradable packaging. more of a moral obligation and require-
have guaranteed access to flexi- over 500 retail, dining, and Emil Stanley, Chairman/Co-Founder of ment. This validation among the numer-
ble ticket options and COVID-19 recreational attractions by sim- New Anthoney’s Farms, commenting on ous other credentials we have acclaimed is
medical travel insurance for added peace ject to the rate of exchange on the day of ply showing their Emirates boarding this achievement said ‘‘We take great a stepping-stone towards a long journey of
of mind. purchase. pass. pride in pursuing environmental-friendly providing the ‘right’ chicken for the well-
Emirates passengers can take advan- Business Class fares to these destina- Additionally, the Earn a Mile a industry-best practices since our inception being of all livelihoods,’’ added New
tage of the promotion by booking their tions start at US$ 645 (approximately Rs Minute in Dubai enables Emirates cus- and gaining the GHG verification is an Anthoney’s Farms CEO Neil Suraweera.
flight on Emirates.com or via participat- 131,900) to Male, US$ 1,215 (approximate- tomers to earn one Skywards Mile for incredible milestone not just for the com- New Anthoney’s Farms is a GMP,
ing travel agents from 3 to 17 January ly Rs 248,500) to Dubai, US$ 2,038 (about every minute spent in Dubai until March pany but for the country’s poultry sector HACCP, and ISO 22000 certified company,
2022, for travel dates throughout 2022 in Rs 416,800) to London, US$ 2,345 (about 31 2022. Existing and new Emirates overall. This reflects our ability and com- with local and international halal accredi-
Economy Class and Business Class. Rs 479,600) to Rome, and US$ 2,835 (Rs Skywards members who sign up for the mitment towards minimizing carbon emis- tations. Established in 1986, New
Among the popular destinations cov- 579,800) to New York. program before March 31 2022, can avail sions and preserving our ecology for many Anthoney’s Farms has experienced
ered by these special all-inclusive fares In addition to these new special fares, the offer Mile A Minute, and will earn up generations to come.’’ tremendous growth and success over the
on Economy Class are Dubai, at just US$ customers travelling to Dubai or consid- to 5,000 Miles. The offer is applicable on This green certification was in recog- years with a distinctive reputation for
290 (Rs 59,300 at current rates of ering a stopover at the holiday hotspot, all Emirates flight tickets purchased nition for the company’s commitment on trust and quality, and this is well reflected
exchange), Male at US$ 315 (approximate- can enjoy even more value-add offers between August 1 2021 and March 31 advancing the haritha-ready produce of in its strong, loyal relationships fostered
ly Rs 64,400), London – US$ 807 (about Rs from Emirates. These include a free 2022, for travel during Expo 2020 Dubai. chicken. Its ‘HarithaHari’ chicken gives among its stakeholders. The company is
165,000), Rome – US$ 600 (about Rs Emirates Expo Day Pass. Emirates cus- Emirates‑marketed, flydubai‑operated the natural freshness, the right taste and on an expansion drive to increase produc-
122,700) and New York – US$ 870 (about tomers visiting and travelling through flights with an Emirates (EK) flight num- aroma, and the right nourishment one tion capacity including an ambitious
Rs 177,900). All fares in Rupees are sub- Dubai anytime during the Expo 2020 ber are also included in the offer. would expect. Its meat, enriched with export-growth oriented strategy.
Tuesday 4th January, 2022
Rakuten Viber Partners with SLT-
MOBITEL Mobile to Offer “Unlimited
Free” Data Packages to Subscribers
Rakuten Viber joins hands with SLT-
MOBITEL Mobile to offer “Viber Free”
data packages that help users stay con-
nected, no matter where they are. This
joint endeavour will enable SLT-MOBI-
TEL Mobile subscribers to enjoy unlim-
ited data when using Viber across popu-
lar data plans.
Both Mobitel Pre-Paid and Post-Paid
subscribers can now get access to unlim-
ited Viber data to enjoy unparalleled fea-
tures such as free VoIP calls, group
video chats, communities, utilities chat-
bots, and fun stickers on Viber’s messag-
ing platform that offer enhanced securi-
ty to preserve
user data priva-
cy. Pre-Paid cus-
tomers with
Anytime plans
ranging from Rs.
399, Rs.499,
Rs.699, Rs.999,
and Rs.1999 are
eligible for this
offer and Post-
Paid customers
with Anytime
plans ranging
Rs.1290, Rs.1690,
Rs.2090, Rs.2990
and Rs.3890 can
enjoy the free Shashika Senarath,
Viber offer. Chief Marketing Officer
“We are delighted to partner with
Viber to offer our valued customers a
unique experience by delivering value
beyond the standard packages in the
market today. The tie up will cater to the
surge in usage of instant messaging
across Sri Lankans while keeping in
mind customer data security,” said
Shashika Senarath, CMO at Mobitel
(Pvt) Ltd. Stating further, Shashika
stressed that, “This long-term partner-
ship with Rakuten Viber allows us to
bring our collective resources, expertise,
and integrate them in a way that offers
Korean Ambassador hosts
the Annual GKS Alumni
Reunion Gala Dinner 
The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS)
alumni reunion was held on the 6th of
December 2021 at the Jetwing Colombo
Seven Hotel. The annual event was a
wonderful occasion bringing all facets of
the alumni community together includ-
ing the future GKS participants in Sri
Lanka. It was a delightful evening with
the Alumni sharing their positive life
experiences during their stay in Korea
that has had a significant impact on their
lives.
Addressing the gathering, Korean
Ambassador to Sri Lanka, H.E. Santhush
Woonjin JEONG stated that “I am very
glad that the network of GKS alumni
family is expanding over the years. The
GKS programme offers many valuable
opportunities for young people globally
including in Sri Lanka to pursue higher
education in Korea. As scholars who
received this wonderful opportunity, I am
sure you experienced the merits of
studying in Korea. It is now your duty to
provide useful information and advice to
aspiring Sri Lankan students who wish
to study in Korea. I hope more and more
people are encouraged to pursue this
scholarship as it will enhance the friend-
ship between our two countries and pro-
mote educational cooperation.”
GKS is designed to provide students
with opportunities to study at higher
educational institutions in Korea at grad-
uate-level degrees, which will enhance
international education exchange and
deepen mutual friendship between Korea
and Sri Lanka. Through the Global
Korea Scholarship (GKS), offered by
Korea's National Institute for
International Education Development
Business News / Advertorial
users a secure and enhanced user expe-
rience.”
As migration to digital technologies
continues to be driven by the pandemic,
it’s important for service providers to
accelerate their digital capabilities to
keep pace and offer services that are in
line with the changing customer
demands.
“We have a diverse user base and it
has always been our aim to help them
stay connected, no matter who they are
or where they’re from,” said David Tse,
Rakuten Viber Senior Director for
APAC. “We see great synergy between
Viber’s and SLT-
MOBITEL’s cus-
tomer-centric
approach and
such partners
will allow us to
continue to scale
and offer our
users in Sri
Lanka with
great choice of
data plans to
enjoy our full
suite of messag-
ing features and
utilities.”
Rakuten
Rakuten Viber, Viber’s partner-
David Tse, Senior ship with SLT-
Director for APAC
MOBITEL
Mobile is yet another initiative by the
popular messaging platform that contin-
ues to reinvent its service offerings for
an enriched user experience.
Users may subscribe to the service
via the SLT-MOBITEL Mobile SelfCare
app, DataMart app, topping up or by vis-
iting the nearest communication outlet.
More information can be obtained about
the “Unlimited Free” data packages by
visiting the SLT-MOBITEL website via
https://www.mobitel.lk/freeviber
(NIIED), students worldwide including in
Sri Lanka can study in Korea for free.
Every year, more than 10 Sri Lankan stu-
dents have received this scholarship
from Korea to pursue undergraduate and
graduate programmes in Korea.
GKS envoy Dr. Sachini Amarasekara
shared valuable information on “lan-
guage learning and postgraduate train-
ing experience in South Korea”. She
praised the excellent set of teachers and
in-depth knowledge she gained from her
experience in Korea which contributed
immensely to her career as a lecturer in
the University of Colombo.
The Immediate Past President of the
GKS Alumni Association in Sri Lanka,
Dr. Aruna Ranaweera delivered a presen-
tation on “GKS, Lessons Learnt from
Korea & Beyond.” As a senior lecturer at
the Department of Physics and
Electronics in the University of
Kelaniya, he said that GKS has had a
great impact on his professional success.
The valuable lessons learnt from his stay
in Korea have helped him achieve the
Award for the Innovator of the
University and the Award for the recipi-
ent of the highest amount of Research
Grant in Sri Lanka.
The President of GKS Alumni
Association Tharanga Ranasinghe also
presented insightful advice on his expe-
riences as a Volunteer in Korea during
GKS. The informative presentations
reflected their love and appreciation to
Korea and their enjoyable educational
experience in Korea.
The guests enjoyed an excellent din-
ner alongside lively conversation remi-
niscing their amazing time in Korea.
Bottle-to-bottle recycling can boost Sri Lanka
in the transition to circularity in plastics
By AmilA
ABeynAyAkA
Dr. Abeynayaka is a
Policy Researcher
currently attached
to the IGES Centre
Collaborating with
UNEP on
Environmental
Technologies
(CCET), Institute
for Global
Environmental
Strategies (IGES),
Japan.
P
ollution
caused by the irresponsible disposal
of plastics is a significant issue, par-
ticularly in developing countries like Sri
Lanka.
According to Great Britain’s Royal
Statistical Society, it is estimated that only
9% of all plastics ever produced globally
has been recycled. This is particularly
concerning since according to the United
Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), all nations collectively produce
about 300 million metric tonnes of plastic
every year – nearly equivalent in weight
to that of the entire global human popula-
tion.
However, not all plastics are equal in
this equation. Polyethene terephthalate
(PET) plastics, in particular, stand out,
given that they are 100% recyclable. PET
is considered the most promising food-
packaging plastic for recycling and is used
extensively for this purpose, particularly
for the production of bottles containing
drinks, hand sanitisers, dishwashing liq-
uid etc. In addition, PET is more suitable
for the recycling process, given its ability
to minimise the possibility of contamina-
tion following consumption.
Hence, in sharp contrast with the over-
all recycling rate of plastics, PET bottle
recycling rates in some countries exceed
80%. Sri Lanka also aspires to increase its
PET bottle collection and recycling rate
from 27% to 100% by 2025 to ‘ensure safe,
high-quality and durable products,’ as per
the National Action Plan on Plastic Waste
Management in Sri Lanka (NAPPWM).
The changes required
Technology is not a constraint and is
already available within the country.
However, achieving this target requires
crosscutting enabling conditions, includ-
ing legal arrangements and policy
changes, stakeholder engagement and dia-
logue, public participation, financing, and
capacity development.
Legal and policy changes are neces-
sary for a crucial shift towards bottle-to-
bottle recycling. This relates to recycling
an entire PET bottle to produce a new PET
bottle, a concept that has been successful-
ly implemented in many developed
regions.
After being used by consumers, the
three common scenarios for PET bottles
are; bottle-to-bottle recycling, incineration
and landfill disposal.
It is clear that bottle-to-bottle recycling
is by far the preferred option among these
options. It reduces pollution and carries a
host of other benefits, including reducing
carbon emissions by decreasing the need
for new plastics.
However, Sri Lanka doesn’t legally
allow recycled products in food-grade
manufacture. The Extraordinary Gazette
Notification No. 1160/30 of 29th June 2010
OPPO continues winning streak in 2021
Leading mobile
phone & accessories
brand, OPPO, in a
recent statement noted
that 2021 was a challeng-
ing year which also ush-
ered in many opportuni-
ties for the brand to
forge ahead with inge-
nuity & innovation. 2021
marked OPPO’s 17th
year in business and the
brand particularly
reflected on its journey
from being a mobile
phone manufacturer to
a trailblazer in the
industry over a short
span of ten years.
In 2021 OPPO earned
the “EISA BEST PROD-
UCT ADVANCED SMARTPHONE 2021-2022”
for its flagship Find X3 Pro Smartphone, for
the second consecutive year, which is a testa-
ment to the brand’s commitment for excel-
lence. Locally OPPO celebrated its 5th year
anniversary of the partnership with leading
home & electronic appliances retailer Abans
PLC by renewing the contract for further
three years.
Commenting about the journey over the
past year, CEO of XINDA Lanka (OPPO Sri
Lanka) Bob Li said: “We are very thankful
for the growing support & loyalty from our
local clientele. We look forward to offering
you more & better in 2022 in keeping with
prohibits the use of ‘any food in any pack-
age, appliance, container or vessel that
has been made from recycled plastic.’ This
reality needs to change and conducive reg-
ulations/policies should be introduced.
Implementing the changes
In terms of implementation, bottle-to-
bottle recycling can be done through two
methods; mechanical and chemical recy-
cling. The first refers to using mechanical
processes (which typically involve clean-
ing, grinding, re-melting, and re-granulat-
ing). It is considered that through this
method, bottle-to-bottle recycling is possi-
ble up to 4 to 6 times for PET plastics.
Chemical recycling, in contrast, uses a
chemical process to achieve this objective,
to break down the material to its original
form for processing and, after that, for the
production of new items. This system
allows potentially infinite cycles of recy-
cling. Still, it has implications for the com-
paratively larger generation of carbon
emissions associated with transboundary
PET waste movements.
Besides the method of recycling that
should be employed, another critical con-
sideration is whether bottle-to-bottle recy-
cling carries risks since the plastics could
potentially get contaminated, especially in
food-grade packaging. For instance, con-
tact between plastics and other waste,
such as electronic waste, increases the
risk of the presence of toxic metals in
recycled plastics.
However, such concerns can be
addressed by putting the necessary safe-
guards in place by adopting models simi-
lar to those of developed countries. For
instance, in the European Union (EU),
recycled plastics used in food contact
materials should only be obtained from
recycling processes that have been
assessed for safety by the European Food
Safety Authority and authorised by the
European Commission.
Transition to a ‘circular’ model
Such certification ensures the separa-
tion of different types of waste, domestic
waste collection systems with storage and
our vision to make technology affordable &
accessible to all.”
The CEO teased about the launch of a
new exciting product at the beginning of the
new year which he said he was confident will
be received well by the local market given its
unparalleled capabilities.
OPPO unveiled many impressive innova-
tions in 2021 including: AR application
CybeReal powered by real-time spatial com-
puting, next-generation Under Screen
Camera (USC) technology, ColorOS12 operat-
ing system which is one of the first OEMs to
run on Android 12, self-designed Imaging
NPU MariSilicon X and OPPO Air Glass
which is equipped with OPPO’s self-devel-
Page III
transportation that avoid contaminations
and sound tech-driven recycling. Another
alternative exists, too, including chemical
recycling to regenerate material similar to
virgin material.
However, such efforts require collabo-
ration between and high levels of aware-
ness among all stakeholders. This
includes manufacturers and recyclers in
the private sector, consumers and the
Government. The model used in Japan
provides an excellent case study. In this
model, consumers ensure proper segrega-
tion of used plastic containers and pack-
ages, which facilitates the collection of
the segregated waste by the Municipal
Government. Manufacturers recycle this
waste and, after that, use it in products.
Hence, all stakeholders play an equally-
critical role, which ensures the smooth
functioning of the system.
Sri Lanka too can transition to a simi-
lar model, with high ‘circularity,’ which
involves a ‘closed loop’. In this, the value
of plastics is retained through reuse and
recycling, not allowing leakage into the
environment. This is unlike the present
‘linear’ model in which plastics are used
and disposed of, creating significant dam-
age.
Such a model will be beneficial eco-
nomically – for instance, by reducing for-
eign exchange lost through imports of
plastics each year and socially and envi-
ronmentally – by reducing pollution and
its harmful effects – which includes the
likes of the increased spread of diseases
such as dengue.
Hence, Sri Lanka should begin the
transition towards bottle-to-bottle recy-
cling of PET plastics. However, as indicat-
ed, this requires the support of all stake-
holders.
The author would appreciate your feed-
back on the article. You can start a conver-
sation with Dr. Abeynayaka directly on
Twitter on @litterlifecycle.
Web: www.iges.or.jp/en | www.ccet.jp
Transforming “waste” into “resources”
once again (a Japanese example)
oped Spark Micro Projector
& a bespoke diffraction opti-
cal waveguide display.
Globally, OPPO debuted
its first foldable flagship
smartphone this year –
OPPO Find N – following
four years of extensive
Research & Development.
Locally, OPPO unveiled the
OPPO F19 Pro with a sleek
outlook & optimized user
experience, OPPO Air True
Wireless Earphones for an
unparalleled listening expe-
rience and the all-new OPPO
A16 for seekers of style cum
functionality.
OPPO’s other significant
feats during the year in
review include becoming the
first smartphone brand to partner the
Parisian Grand Slam Roland-Garros, hosting
OPPO Renovators 2021 to promote art & cul-
ture through technology, collaborating with
celebrity architect Kengo Kuma to create the
installation “Bamboo Ring: Weaving a
Symphony of Lightness & Form” which was
displayed in Milan’s Cortile dei Bagni court-
yard during Milan Fashion week, partnering
with Riot Games to sponsor the League of
Legends World Championship 2021 and being
part of the ICC T20 World Cup of 2021 as a
Prime Sponsor. OPOP is one of ICC’s global
partners and has covered numerous champi-
onships & tournaments since 2016.

Double digit growth in
taxi-hailing industry  trends, the expansion of this industry in
W
ith fuel prices at the pump
increasing and commodities set
to take another bump, PickMe
says it is vital not to take our eyes off
the ball. “Despite all shortcomings, the
wheels of the economy must not stop
turning,” says Zulfer Jiffry, CEO of
PickMe. The company has increased
incentives to their driver partners in
order to stay focused and strengthen
their service offering as they are seeing
an increase in demand for their services.
The PickMe CEO says, “It is only log-
ical that people stop using private cars,
and fuel guzzling 4 wheel drives by
switching to a more economical form of
travel. This is where our ride hailing
service will play a significant role in
stepping up to manage the crisis we are
facing in the transport sector.” The com-
pany is of the view that owning cars to
manage one’s transport is becoming a
thing of the past. “Today one has to have
more community solutions that are not
only a saving on the family budget but
would also have a macroeconomic
impact, especially now, in terms of our
dollar spend.”
Global stats say the taxi-market
which was at $ 69 billion in 2019 is
expected to hit $120 billion by 2027, regis-
British Council plans to reopen
Teaching Centres for Young Learners
At the British Council in Sri Lanka
we’re excited to be preparing for the
reopening of our teaching centres for
face-to-face classes on 7 January 2022 in
Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Matara.
After a considerable period of closure
due to the pandemic, our students and
teachers are keen to be back in class-
rooms to resume face to face
learning.
Since the onset of the pan-
demic, all of our classes have
been online to make sure our
students don’t miss out on
their English learning journey.
They have also been taking
part in sessions with our teach-
ers online with activities such Helen Sykes,
as Keep Fit and Fun, baking, Deputy Director
crafts, storytelling, quiz and Teaching
evenings, yoga and conversa- Centre Manager,
tion clubs. With mainstream British Council Sri looking forward to opening
schools closed this interaction Lanka
with peers alongside opportu-
nities to try out new skills has
been critical for the wellbeing of our
young learners.
As we moved online this year, our
young learners in Sri Lanka have cele-
brated success as winners in the British
Council global international speaking
competition and global art competition as focuses on much more than just language
well as taking part in exciting opportuni-
ties in their online classrooms to connect
live with students in other British
Council teaching centres around the
world. This term students have been con-
necting with students in Spain, Taiwan
and Korea to begin new friendships and
learn about their cultures and way of life. part of a global network of English learn-
Helen Sykes, Deputy Director and
Teaching Centre Manager, British
Council Sri Lanka stated; ‘’All our stu-
dents have had a lot of fun and learnt just our syllabus. As a supplement to our
as much as in our classrooms, but we
know that many of our learners have
really missed their face-to-face classes
and a significant number paused their
learning with us waiting until we are
back face to face to continue their learn-
Published by Upali Newspapers Ltd, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13. and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Tuesday 4th January, 2022
Business News
tering a compound annual growth rate booking channels, indicating that the
of 12.3% from 2020 to 2027. These num- surge in cost of vehicle ownership is
bers clearly point to a rise in demand for fueling the growth of the global taxi
ride-hailing and ride-sharing services, market.
and a rise in demand from online taxi CEO of PickMe says, going by global
and interact safely with peers and devel-
op self confidence in an inclusive, diverse
and fun learning environment.
One Parent stated, ‘My sons experi-
ence at British Council has been amaz-
ing. Not only have I witnessed a massive
and exponential growth in his English
both in terms of speaking and writing, I
have also seen his confidence and fluency
in using this language grow as well. This
is the only class my son actually looks
forward to. I believe that it is this passion
for learning English that British Council
has imbued in him through the relaxed,
fun, and engaging environment present
there that is responsible for his improve-
ment’.
Our pre-school courses, ‘Learning
Time with Timmy’ developed in collabo-
ration with Academy Award®-winning
Aardman animation studios, is hugely
popular with little ones and their parents.
Fun and interactive, we have weekly
classes for three, four and five-year-olds.
ing with us. There is no substitute for
Our ‘Primary Plus’ course for six to
face-to-face interaction, and it works won-
eleven years, focuses on developing your
ders for building confidence and spoken
child’s creativity so that they can express
skills in language learning. We know
themselves with confidence that goes
from feedback that our students and par-
beyond their English language skills. Our
ents feel comfortable and are ready to
‘Secondary Plus’ course for twelve to sev-
return to our classrooms and so, with all
enteen years, is packed with content and
the government safety guidelines in place
skills to build confidence and help your
we are really excited and can’t
child reach their full potential in their
wait to welcome past students
future lives as young adults.
back and new students in to
Registration has started for young
our four British Council teach-
learners for the new academic year start-
ing centres around the island
ing in January. You can book a level test
very soon.’’
online on our website www.britishcoun-
Each year, the British
cil.lk or give us a call on 0707521521 for
Council teaches over 100 mil-
more information.
lion students worldwide in our
teaching centuries in over 100
CIPM inaugurates CIPD UK approved Center in Sri Lanka
countries. In Sri Lanka we
teach all levels from age 3
through to 18. We are also
back up face to face for our
adult learners in 2022. Its
quick and simple to register
for our courses with an online level check
and consultation to make sure we place
you in the right class before you register.
Our products, developed by our expert
international teams and taught by experi-
enced teachers uses a methodology that
skills. We focus on the development of
leadership and collaboration skills, criti-
cal thinking skills, digital literacy and
autonomous learning in a relaxed envi-
ronment where our students can be them-
selves and have fun learning. Students
who join the British Council become a
From left to right - CEO of CIPM - U.A.C Obeyesekere, President of CIPM – Jayantha Amarasinghe, Chairman,
ers from across the globe with opportuni- Professional and Academic Affairs Committee of CIPM – Dr. Neil Bogahalande, Director, Professional and
ties to interact with their peers from Academic Affairs of CIPM – G Weerathunge at the ceremony
classrooms around the world built into
CIPM Sri Lanka – the Nation’s leader in
human resource management, in another
courses for young learners we run events
historic milestone in its journey to develop
in our library, global competitions and a
internationally competitive people leaders to
variety of online fun and free activities to
take Sri Lanka to the next level, inaugurated
have fun in English with our expert
Sri Lanka’s only approved Center for the
teachers. Our premises are a safe and
Chartered Institute of Personnel
secure space for children; a place to meet
Development (CIPD), UK recently with the
the country is inevitable. However, the
only impediment they see in Sri Lanka
is the stoppage of commercial imports of
all vehicles to the country in the last two
years. “We are seeing a double digit
increase in demand for PickMe services
but only a single digit in supply in terms
of new driver partners joining PickMe.
And this is mainly due to the lack of
new vehicles coming into the market.”
Sri Lanka has built a network of high-
ways with the goal of improving the
country’s transport and logistics indus-
try. However, for it to become a reality
there has to be the movement of com-
mercial vehicles transporting people and
goods.
An efficient transport system allows
easy movement of labour from house-
holds to workplaces, goods and services
between suppliers, homes and work-
places. There is a direct correlation
between their GDP growth and this sec-
tor. “While we understand the need to
cut down the imports of vehicles into
Sri Lanka currently, vehicles especially
motorbikes, three wheelers and small
cars should be the first to be released
from restriction when the country opens
up!”
Genesis of a new era for
Siyapatha Finance
Ananda Seneviratne, Managing
Director of Siyapatha Finance, at the
inaugural event
Siyapatha Finance PLC, a fully owned
subsidiary of Sampath Bank PLC, is one of
the most trusted premier financial service
providers in Sri Lanka. With over 16 years
of industry experience and performance
that is a testament to their commitment to
customers across the country, Siyapatha
Finance has consistently upheld its values
of loyalty, openness, trust, and service
excellence.
Growing from strength to strength,
Siyapatha Finance has moved into its new
head office branch building in a more cen-
tralised geological setting, located at No.
111, Dudley Senanayake Mawatha,
signing and exchanging of the partnership
agreements online. The signing ceremony
was held in virtual mode at CIPM Sri Lanka
Members’ Lounge in the presence of
Jayantha Amarasinghe-President, CIPM Sri
Lanka, Ken Vijayakumar-Vice President,
CIPM, Dr. Neil Bogahalanda-Council
Member and Chairman of the CIPM
Tuesday 4th January, 2022
Colombo 8. This new state-of-the-art 13-
storey building interlaced with modern
technology will be the main hub of opera-
tions aiming to enhance the overall
Siyapatha experience for all stakeholders.
The new building is equipped with demar-
cated spaces and floors for financial servic-
es, ample customer parking, and an audito-
rium of superior quality for the purpose of
in-house training, development pro-
grammes, and much more.
A consistent provider of flexible and
creative financial solutions to customers,
generating greater values for stakeholders
while assuring corporate governance
through an empowered professional team,
Siyapatha Finance is now geared to focus
on maximising customer convenience.
Expressing his sentiments at the inau-
gural event, Mr. Ananda Seneviratne,
Managing Director of Siyapatha Finance,
stated: “We are filled with new hope as we
continue our journey in the new head
office branch, here in Colombo. We hope
that by relocating to a more centralised
geological location, we will be more acces-
sible to our customers and better able to
assist them with all their financial
requirements, upholding our strong priori-
ties of providing our customers with the
best service possible. This modern high-
tech infrastructure expansion is definitely
a boost to our identity as an organisation
that sustains the trust and stability of our
customers with highest respect. It also per-
sonifies the sustainability of our business,
as we continue to grow as one of Sri
Lanka’s leading financial organisations.”
Professional and Academic Affairs
Committee, U. A. C. Obeyesekere-Chief
Executive Officer, CIPM, G. Weerathunge-
Director, Professional and Academic Affairs,
CIPM, and Heads of Departments of CIPM
Sri Lanka and Victoria Winkler-Director
Professional Development, and Charlotte
Cope-Lead Center and Student Partnership
Officer, of CIPD UK who joined online from
London.
“This is a momentous occasion for the
people management profession in Sri Lanka.
Consequent to the accreditation of CIPM’s
Chartered Qualification for Human Resource
Management (CQHRM) by CIPD UK, the
world recognized chartered HR body with
over 160,000 members worldwide, we are
pleased to announce that CIPM is now
accredited and recognized as Sri Lanka’s
only Approved Center for CIPD, UK. This col-
laboration between CIPM Sri Lanka and
CIPD UK is global and offers a premier quali-
fication to Sri Lanka’s people professionals.
With this significant milestone, many
avenues will be opened to capture the global
HR market. I am happy and excited to see the
results of this collaboration,” said Jayantha
Amarasinghe-President CIPM Sri Lanka.