Author: TELO Admin

Britain added seven countries, including Egypt and Sri Lanka, to its “red list” of destinations that require hotel quarantine on return to England on Thursday, in a review that also saw Portugal move from “green” to “amber”.

No countries were added to the quarantine-free green list.

The full list of countries added to the “red list” is: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Trinidad & Tobago.

All changes to the lists will come into effect at 0400 (0300 GMT) on June 8, the government said.

The official website of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, www.mahindarajapaksa.lk reported to have been hacked yesterday (June 2), Information Technology Society of Sri Lanka (ITSSL) President Rajiv Yasiru Kuruwitage said.

He said the website domain (.lk) was hacked into and redirected to a website called decentralized digital currency Bitcoin (₿).

When visiting the Premier’s official site, it was directed to content related to Bitcoin and again grant access to another web page.

Mr Kuruwitage said they had identified that the cyber attackers had to have an automatic downloading path to the web contents to computers or mobile phones.

However, he claimed that the www.mahindarajapaksa.lk website is now restored.

Funding a construction project in Sri Lanka does not permit the funding country to use its language in connection with the said project, as the national official languages policy permits only the use of Sinhala and Tamil as the official languages and English as the link language, the Government noted.

Ministry of Public Services, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Secretary J.J. Rathnasiri, when queried by The Morning on whether the language of another country could be used in a construction project funded by that country in Sri Lanka, in addition to the Sinhala and Tamil and English languages, said that there was no such possibility.

“Such grants come to the Treasury. Therefore, it is not possible to use the languages of those countries. At the ministry level, instructions have been given to use all three languages – Sinhala, Tamil, and English – for communication purposes,” he said.

Furthermore, Rathnasiri added that all government agencies have been instructed to implement the national official languages policy properly.

He made this explanation in relation to allegations levelled against several institutions, including the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department, that it has acted in a manner that is in violation of the national official languages policy.

A plaque was recently unveiled at the opening of the smart library at the AG’s Department which only contained a script in the Sinhala, English, and Mandarin (Chinese) languages, and not Tamil, which is an official language. The Chinese Government had sponsored the establishment of the said library and the then AG, President’s Counsel (PC) Dappula de Livera, and the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka were also present during the inauguration. The incident caused much controversy and former AG’s Co-ordinating Officer State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said that the plaque, which had not contained the Tamil script, was inadvertent and that steps had been taken to replace it.

Meanwhile, when queried as to whether the Ministry of Justice had conducted an investigation into the incident at the AG’s Department at the ministry level, Ministry Secretary P.K. Mayadunne said that such an investigation was not carried out, as it was an independent institution. However, he said that all government institutions are bound to abide by the national official languages policy.

Recently, a photograph of a nameboard which did not contain Tamil at the Colombo Port City was shared on social media claiming that the Tamil language has been replaced by Mandarin. Later, the Colombo Port City, in a media release, stated that the said signboard had been removed from the site long before the photograph had started to circulate on social media and that it was an old photo.

Attempts to contact the Official Languages Commission of Sri Lanka and the Department of Official Languages to inquire as to whether they have taken any action with regard to the said incidents proved futile.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed officials to ensure the economy does not collapse.

He called on the Governors and District Secretaries to extend their fullest support to the continuation of the operations at factories and development projects.

The President also said that Governors and District Secretaries should personally intervene to maintain essential services and prevent any disruption to the lives of the people.

The President expressed these views at the monthly meeting held with the Governors and District Secretaries at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (02).

The President pointed out the importance of looking into the possibility of operating a factory or carrying out a development project uninterrupted in compliance with health recommendations instead of shutting them down at once when an infected person is detected at a factory or a project premises.

The challenges and problems faced by the public in the face of travel restrictions was discussed at length at the meeting.

President Rajapaksa said that although the Government had given instructions to maintain industries and essential services in compliance with proper health recommendations, there were shortcomings in the implementation of this initiative at divisional level.

The President instructed that the mechanism for distributing surplus fruits and vegetables purchased from the farmers at the divisional level should be properly implemented. He stressed that it was the responsibility of all stakeholders not to allow the agrarian economy to collapse.

He said that projects that are being implemented with local funds and foreign loan assistance should meet the relevant targets properly.

The President also instructed the Governors and District Secretaries to maintain direct contacts with State Ministers and relevant Secretaries in order to ensure the implementation of Government launched projects including the rehabilitation of 10,000 tanks, development of 100,000 kms of rural roads, establishment of 1,000 National Schools and housing, regional hospital, drinking water supply and renewable energy development projects.

President Rajapaksa also noted that the vaccination process is currently being executed in a scientific and sophisticated manner and added that he expects further support from the political authorities as well as the Governors and all public officials when facilitating necessary assistance to the health sector to run the operation smoothly and swiftly avoiding any inconvenience to the people.

President Rajapaksa said that the Government has decided to provide organic fertilizer to farmers free of cost and requested the Governors to provide necessary assistance to overcome the challenges in promoting organic farming. It was also stated that the government has planned to provide aid and facilitate loans at a concessionary interest rate via state banks to small-scale businesses and farmers’ associations for the production of organic fertilizer.

The Governors commended the commitment of the Government led by the President in efforts to contain the current pandemic while safeguarding the lives of the people and in making the country’s future successful despite overwhelming odds.

The District Secretaries pointed out that the gazetting of ports, railways, customs, fuel supply, public transport services, banks and local government bodies as essential services has greatly assisted them to carry out their duties.

The Governors of the Provinces, Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Government officials were also present at the discussion.