Author: TELO Admin

CVTE, the China Guangzhou-based global leader in Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) last week announced plans to enter the Sri Lankan market and offer world class audio-visual solutions to multiple sectors.

The Guangzhou Shiyuan Electronic Technology Company Ltd., (CVTE) which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange commands a revenue of $ 3 billion and currently exports to nearly 200 countries.

“We are keen to serve the Sri Lankan market and currently in discussion with prospective partners,” CVET Global Business Group General Manager Mark Wan told a select group of Sri Lankan journalists who undertook a study tour of Guangdong Province (formerly Canton), a booming hub in the Southeast part of China, courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo.

Established in 2005, the multiple awards winner CVTE specialises in the design, development, and sales of display technology (including LCD main boards, LED Walls, intelligent interactive tablets, intelligent interactive panels), computing devices and services, power and new energy, display control, supply chain services, home appliances, medical devices and related intelligent hardware. Its flagship brands are Seewo which serves the education sector and MAXHUB caters to the commercial sector.

Its business areas are components, education, corporate services, intelligent hardware, artificial intelligence and health care.

Apart from being the pioneer of China’s Interactive Flat-Panel Display (IFPD) Industry, one third of TVs in the world use CVTE motherboards. It holds over 30% of global market share with over 580 million pieces sold globally, according to Mark. Over 50% of China’s top 500 corporations use CVTE conference solutions. Another remarkable achievement is that half of the classrooms in China use CVTE Smart Classroom solutions under the Seewo brand.

Seewo, provides integrated solutions on educational information technology by providing interactive flat panels with other peripherals. This allows more students with different backgrounds to have the same experience as others in the process of learning in addition to empowering teachers. Solutions include teaching hardware and applications for schools and campuses, teacher development tools, management platform for pre-school, primary and higher education institutions.

Having played a leading role in the transformation of education digitisation in China, CVTE’s Seewo brand entered into a strategic partnership with UNESCO in 2020.

CVTE’s IFP under MAXHUB brand integrates the functions of projector, whiteboard, advertising signage, computer, microphone, audio, etc. It satisfies the needs of conferences, presentations, corporate training and video conferencing, while adding the beauty of technology to the conference room.

CVTE has over 6,700 employees, half of whom are engaged in R&D and CVTE is also credited with over 6,000 patents as well as over 2,400 computer software and design copyrights. On patents, CVTE is ranked as the first among Guangzhou enterprises. Given the growing global demand, CVTE in 2017 set up manufacturing operations in India as well.

CVTE’s success was such that there is a Harvard Business Review case study on the company and its art of management and organisation in the digital age. The company said it is committed to elevate richer and more efficient communication experience in electronics both the consumer and commercial sectors.

The High Commissioner India, Santosh Jha, sought the blessings of the Mahanayaka Theros of Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters, the Most Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Mahanayaka Thero and Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Mahanayaka Thero respectively during a visit to Kandy on Thursday.

The High Commissioner underlined that Buddhism was central to age-old connect between the people of India and Sri Lanka and briefed the Mahanayakes, of various initiatives undertaken by Government of India to strengthen bilateral Buddhist ties.

He specifically mentioned that measures are being taken expeditiously to roll out the solar electrification of temples across the country through Indian government assistance.

He offered prayers at the Dalada Maligawa for the prosperity and well being of the people of the two countries as also stronger and deeper connections between them.

He also prayed for closer bilateral relations through further diversification in both scale and scope at the Kataragama Dewalaya.

He visited Hanthana Estate and took stock of the Indian Housing Project. While the Indian government has already built 50 houses in the Estate under the third phase, more housing units are being constructed in the next phase of the project.

Overall, the government of India has committed to building 14,000 new houses for plantation workers in the two phases of the project.

The High Commissioner inaugurated an Ayurveda camp, aimed at the physical well being of the plantation workers. He also distributed study materials and umbrellas to school going children in the Estate. He remarked that these are keeping in line with India’s firm commitment to the overall uplift of the plantation workers and the Indian origin Tamil community in particular.

It may be recalled that a multi-sectoral grant package to the tune of SLR 3 billion was announced by the Indian government during the visit of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to India in July 2023.

The commemoration of the 23rd anniversary of the Pongu Tamil Declaration took place at Jaffna University, marking a significant event in the region’s history.

On Wednesday, a commemoration was observed at the Pongu Tamil Memorial Obelisk, situated in front of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Jaffna.

The gathering paid homage to the Pongu Thamizh Declaration, a pivotal moment in the struggle for Tamil rights.

In 2001, amidst the suppression by the occupying Sri Lankan military, the Jaffna University community organized a massive uprising event themed “Pongu Tamil.”

Despite facing challenges, including security checkpoints and restrictions imposed by the Sri Lankan security forces, over ten thousand people, comprising university and high-school students, residents, and representatives of civil organizations, demonstrated on January 17th, urging the government to respond to the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and engage in negotiations.

Thousands more people were turned away by Sri Lankan security forces at checkpoints set up along the major roads leading to the university, residents said. Reporters were not permitted into the university either.

Following this, there were mass protests and rallies held throughout the North-East, particularly in Vavuniya and Batticaloa in support of the Pongu Thamil rally in Jaffna.

Hundreds of undergraduates of the Eastern University in Batticaloa and the College of Education in Vavuniya gathered for peaceful rallies urging the Sri Lankan government to start peace talks with the LTTE and to recognize the Tamil people’s right to self-determination.

The rallies were later echoed in Tamil diaspora communities worldwide in 2008.

The Pongu Thamil Declaration articulated the aspirations of the Tamil people, emphasizing the withdrawal of the Sri Lanka Army from Tamil land and the establishment of an interim administration with full powers entrusted to the LTTE.

The international community was urged to recognize and support this interim administration.

Excerpts from the Pongu Thamil Declaration stated, “We want our land. Hence Sri Lanka Army should leave our land. To restore normalcy in our lives, an interim administration with full powers should be handed over to the LTTE. The international community should come forward to recognize such an interim administration.”

“We cannot think of peace while our lands and homes are occupied by the government troops. Under this circumstance, peace talks should be held on the basis of traditional homeland, self-determination, and Tamil nationalism concepts and a just and lasting political solution should be found for the ethnic conflict.”

The commemoration day, organized by the Jaffna University Students’ Union, saw the participation of University Senior Lecturer M. Lambirayan, the University Staff Association, and students.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has pardoned two prisoners who had been serving life sentences for LTTE activities after being convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations.

The prisoners, Nagalingam Madansekar and Selvathurai Kirubakaran, have been pardoned following Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s recommendation, backed by a Prison Department report that said the duo had displayed good behaviour.

The prisoners have been pardoned by the President under powers vested with him under Article 34(1) of the Constitution.

Both men had been convicted after being indicted in the Colombo High Court. Mr. Madansekar had been convicted of charges filed under the Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulations on March 29, 2023 and sentenced to life in prison.

Mr. Kirubakaran had been found guilty of charges filed under the PTA. He had filed an appeal against his conviction, but on July 20, 2022, the Court of Appeal affirmed the ruling and sentence given by the Colombo High Court.

Minister Prasanna Ranatunga ruled out any agreement between Parliamentarian Dhammika Perera and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) on the Presidential candidacy.

He told reporters after the Matara District Coordination Committee meeting that they cannot put the country in trouble again by appointing an inexperienced President.

“I am an active member of the party. As far as I know, the SLPP has not entered into any agreements with Dhammika Perera on the Presidential candidacy,” he said responding to a question.

He said the SLPP has not taken a decision to field a candidate for the Presidency as yet and added that the SLPP should give President Ranil Wickremesinghe another chance if he is contesting.

The Supreme Court has declared former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to grant presidential pardon to former MP Duminda Silva, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, as invalid.

The relevant court order was issued by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court when several petitions filed by the late Premachandra’s wife and daughter, Sumana and Hirunika Premachandra and former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Attorney-at-Law Ghazali Hussain, was taken up in court this morning (17 Jan.).

The judge bench was presided over by Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and consisted Justices Gamini Amarasekara and Arjuna Obeysekara.

Thus, the Commissioner General of Prisons was instructed by the Supreme Court to take the relevant measures necessary so as to impose the impending sentence against Duminda Silva, adding that former President Gotabaya had failed to follow the proper legal procedure when granting the said amnesty.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court ordered the Commissioner General of Prisons to take steps to implement the sentence previously imposed on this petitioner.