Six Grama Sevagar Divisions in Trincomalee District have been placed under isolation order with immediate effect, says the Commander of Sri Lanka Army General Shavendra Silva.
Thereby, the following Grama Sevakar Divisions will be isolated until further notice:
Uppuveli police area:
• Sumedagampura GS Division
Trincomalee police area:
• Moodovi GS Division
• Koviladi GS Division
• Linga Nagar GS Division
China Bay police area:
• Kavattikuda GS Division
• China Bay GS Division
Minister of Education Professor GL Peiris says the government is planning on reopening state universities on Monday, the 10th of May.
Speaking during a media briefing the Education Minister said lectures and classes will continue online, to minimise the disadvantage to students as a result of having to close universities due to unavoidable circumstances.
Minister GL Peiris noted that students will be admitted to universities in September, based on the 2020 GCE Advanced Level Examination results.
The Education Minister said the results will be released within the next seven days.
He noted the A/Level Exam concluded on the 1st of November last year.
Minister Peiris said since the examination results are being released promptly students will be admitted to local universities in September, instead of having to wait another year.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and the Chinese Communist Party maintain very close ties, said Sri Lanka’s Education Minister Professor G. L. Peiris on Wednesday (28).
“There is a streamlined program by the Chinese Communist Party to train our party members. I have attended an online program along with Basil Rajapaksa and SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam,” said the Minister.
Professor G. L. Peiris made these comments regarding the visit by Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe to Sri Lanka.
The number of people found to be infected with the coronavirus in Sri Lanka in a day reached 1451 this evening, the highest daily total so far.
Yesterday (Tuesday) a record 1096 people were found to be infected in Sri Lanka which was the highest daily total at the time.
A number of areas in Sri Lanka have already been isolated as a result of the spread of the virus since the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Schools around the island have also been closed this week as a precaution while institutions have been instructed to operate using only essential staff.
A number of countries have also issued travel advisories on Sri Lanka after the country was placed on a coronavirus alert.
The US, UK, and Australia are among the countries that issued updated travel advisories on Sri Lanka.
The UK noted that Sri Lanka has been moved to Risk Alert Level 3 due to an increase in coronavirus cases.
The travel advice states that due to a prevalence of COVID-19 cases in the community, there is a high risk of changes to flights and airport operations at short notice.
“Lockdowns are being imposed in affected areas, and travel restrictions may also be imposed at short notice. Those not adhering to restrictions risk arrest. The local authorities are conducting random COVID-19 tests in some parts of the country, including borders of the Western Province. You should follow the advice of local authorities. Regulations are in place to enforce social distancing and the wearing of a face mask in public areas,” the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said with regards to Sri Lanka.
Australia has advised its citizens not to travel to Sri Lanka.
“Do not travel to Sri Lanka due to the health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the significant disruptions to global travel,” the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said.
The US says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 2 travel health notice for Sri Lanka due to COVID-19, indicating a moderate level of COVID-19 in the country.
Sri Lanka and China agreed to enhance defence cooperation, particularly in terms of high level exchanges and training, informed sources said.
The enhancement of defence ties and other bilateral cooperation were discussed when visiting Chinese National Defence Minister Wei Fenghe held talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa today.
According to informed sources, Sri Lanka was appreciative of China’s cooperation.
Before his arrival in Sri Lanka, he visited Bangladesh and met with the top political and military leaders there. He is the second top ranked official from China to visit Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic after foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi visited the island last October
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and visiting Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe held bilateral discussions at Temple Trees today.
The Prime Minister’s Media Division said several representatives of the Chinese government also attended the meeting with the Premier.
The Defence Minister and a 37-member Chinese delegation arrived in the island around 10:50 last night.
Earlier today, General Wei also held bilateral discussions with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and several senior government officials.
This is the second-high profile visit due to be undertaken by a Chinese official to Sri Lanka following senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi’s visit in October.
Opening Remarks by the Hon.Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Bilateral Discussion with General Wei Fenghe, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense of CHINA
Hon. Minister, I’m am very happy to welcome you to Sri Lanka. We appreciate your deciding to visit despite the pandemic situation.
We have had a number of high-level visits from China since the outbreak of the pandemic. I look forward to our discussion today and the opportunity, through this visit, to further strengthen our already strong and friendly bilateral relations.
At the outset, allow me to convey my warm wishes on the 100th year anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party this year and for all its achievements. It is indeed an important
milestone.
Furthermore, let me also congratulate you on your achievementsin poverty alleviation. China has uplifted nearly 100 million rural residents out of absolute poverty. And you have accomplished this 10 year in advance of the completion of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal in poverty alleviation. This is an impressive achievement.
Hon. Minister, I think we can agree that it has now become very clear to the entire world that vaccines will be the only way to overcome this pandemic.
On that front, on behalf of all Sri Lankans, I extend my sincere appreciation for the generous donation of 600,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment since the outbreak of the pandemic.
We look forward to China’s continued support in dealing with this crisis.
Despite the increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, our Government has decided not to pursue country-wide lockdowns due to the impactsuch lockdowns have on our economy and society. I’m sure you’ll agree that there is still a lot that needs to be done for post-pandemic economic recovery. One of our main priorities in this effort is to attract investments from around the world. I look forward your support in rebuilding investor confidence in Sri Lanka.
Hon. Minister, I thank you once again for your visit and look forward to working closely with you and your Government to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic and further enhance our cooperation.
Sri Lanka’s Colombo Gazette news website crashed yesterday after a bot attack traced to IP addresses in China, Managing Editor Easwaran Rutnam said.
Rutnam told EconomyNext this morning that the English-language edition of the website was recovered a few hours after the attack but the Sinhala-language edition is still down.
Yesterday’s denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a sequel to a similar event that occurred in March last year, he said, when the site could not be recovered for two full days.
On both occasions, Rutnam said, the Colombo Gazette developers traced the IP addresses of the botnet to China and Hong Kong.
“A massive amount of Tor and bots were detected by cloud flare tracing networks for AS53667 PONYNET, AS4134 CHINANET-BACKBONE No.31,Jin-rong Street, AS4837 CHINA169-BACKBONE CHINA UNICOM China169 Backbone,” Rutnam said, quoting the developers.
A bot attack is the use of automated web requests to manipulate, defraud, or disrupt a website, application, API, or end-users. Bot attacks started out as simple spamming operations and have branched into complex, multinational criminal enterprises with their own economies and infrastructures, online resources say.
A DDoS attack is when cybercriminals command their infected bot army to overload a website to the point that it stops functioning and/or access is denied.
It is unclear at present what the motivations of the attackers might be in attacking Colombo Gazette.
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had discussions with visiting Defence Minister of China General Wei Fenghe, his office said.
“The Chinese Defence Minister said the bilateral discussions held with the President were extremely fruitful,” the statement said without giving details.
“He also said the relations between the two nations were further strengthened by this visit.”
Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong, Deputy Chief of staff of Joint Staff Department under the China’s Central Military Commission Lieutenant General Shao Yuanming, Major General CiGuowei and Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera were also in the meeting.
Minister Wei is on a two day visit to Sri Lanka.
While saying that the capacity in hospitals where COVID patients were treated had exceeded, Director General of Health Services Dr Asela Gunawardana yesterday cautioned the public over irresponsible behaviour, stating that the number of hospitalisations surged within a week.
“As these hospitals receive patients from all over the country, they are expected to exceed their capacities by tonight,” Dr. Gunawardana said, adding that the Infectious Diseases Hospital and the Homagama Hospital were burdened with the case-load.
“There will be no issue if we are able to balance the incoming patients and the patients who are being discharged,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the virus that was currently spreading in the country was attributed to a new virus strain that posed a great risk.
He told media that in the previous variant, at least 95 percent of COVID-19 patients showed mild symptoms while only five percent showed complications of symptoms.
“The number of admissions to hospitals and ICUs also remained at a lower rate in the previous virus strain. However, the number of ICU admissions has considerably gone up consequent to the new variant,” he said.
“Besides, there is also a tendency that the youths getting complications of symptoms and being admitted to ICUs, which shows the gravity of the situation,’ the Doctor said.
Therefore, Dr. Gunawardana urged the people to strictly follow health guidelines and restrict unnecessary movement.
Moreover, he stressed that they would have to tighten the prevailing regulation if people continued to act irresponsibly.
“People’s behaviour during the festive season was not satisfactory and therefore, everyone has to now face the music. If we are to go back to our normal routine, everyone will have to act responsibly, adhering to the health guidelines and if not, the situation will become worse,” Dr. Gunawardana added.
The visit of the Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe to Sri Lanka which begins on Tuesday (27) is significant as it indicates Sino-Lankan relations may go beyond economic engagement to acquiring a military dimension.
A local Sunday paper reported that Wei’s visit will result in China giving Sri Lanka equipment to modernize the army, navy and air force and enhancing the training component. Though independent confirmation of this has not been possible, what is clear is that China is looking beyond infrastructure development projects in Sri Lanka. It views the island nation as a strategic asset in the military sense also.
China has been a supplier of military hardware to Sri Lanka during the long drawn out war against Tamil separatists when other countries refused to supply arms on humanitarian grounds or because they were partial to the Tamil movement. China did not have any such considerations. After the war ended in 2009, training of Sri Lankan troops and the supply of new hardware continued, albeit on a limited scale. The focus then shifted to infrastructure development in a significant manner with China building highways, a container terminal, a whole new port and a new airport with amazing speed.
Earlier in April, Sri Lanka inked an agreement with the State-run China Development Bank for a loan of US$ 500 million. A month or so earlier it signed a currency swap deal worth US$ 1.5 billion with China to ensure fiscal stability in the face of the unceasing pandemic. “The US$ 500 million loan was a part of the US$ 1 billion loan (signed before), out of which US$ 500 million was released last year,” the Sri Lankan embassy in China explained. A Sunday paper added that another US$ 700 is being sought.
Apparently under pressure from the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, who spoke to his Sri Lankan counterpart Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan government tried to speed up implementation of the languishing US$ 1.4 billon Colombo Port City project. A hurriedly drafted Port City Commission Bill was submitted to Parliament. But the Bill was immediately taken to the Supreme Court by 19 litigants who alleged the Bill bristled with unconstitutionalities. The most embarrassing allegation was that the Sri Lankan government was creating a “Chinese colony in Sri Lanka” through the Colombo Port City Commission Bill. The Court’s verdict is awaited.
It is in this situation that the Chinese Defence Minister Gen.Wei Fenghe comes to Sri Lanka for a three-day stay which ends on Thursday (29). Chinese sources described the visit as a routine one undertaken as part of a trip to other countries. On the face of it, this could very weIl be just that, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
Wei’s sojourn in Vietnam, just prior to his arrival in Colombo, may provide a clue to what might emerge from his trip to Sri Lanka. On Monday (26), Wei met the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. On the Sino-Vietnamese conflict in the South China Sea, Trong was soft, saying the two countries should properly handle the issue based on mutual trust and respect, and prevent any related negative effect on bilateral relations. President Phuc said Vietnam firmly upholds the One-China principle and opposes any forces’ interference in China’s internal affairs.
“Vietnam will stay on guard against and firmly resist any schemes to undermine the Vietnam-China relations, and will never follow other countries in opposing China,” Phuc noted.
Both countries spoke about enhancing military cooperation. But no details were given.
Likewise in Sri Lanka too, military cooperation is likely to be discussed. In his phone conversation with President Rakapaksa on March 29, President Xi Jinping had said that “China attaches great importance to the development of bilateral ties, and stands ready to work with Sri Lanka to determine the strategic direction and achieve steady growth of the relationship.”
There was no mention of military cooperation in Xi’s remarks, but the use of the term “strategic direction” is noteworthy in the context of the US and Indian interest in recruiting Sri Lanka as a partner in their ventures to safeguard their maritime security interests against alleged Chinese expansionism in the Indian Ocean Region. Sri Lanka is already a part of the India-inspired Indian Ocean Maritime Domain Awareness Structure. The Secretariat for this is located in Colombo.
However, China has a long way to go before it can claim to have achieved a credible presence in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Its naval reach is still short of the requirement in the IOR, which is still dominated by the US and India. But at the same time, China has a pressing need to safeguard its ships plying on the East-West route which lies just south of Sri Lanka. Its efforts to get a foothold in Sri Lanka will thus continue.
But progress in this sphere will necessarily be incremental as alarm bells will started ringing in India the moment Colombo talks of military cooperation with China. India, which considers Sri Lanka as being within its legitimate strategic ambit, got alarmed in 2014 when President Xi Jinping’s visit to Colombo almost coincided with the secret visit of a Chinese submarine to Colombo port.
The US-based Sri Lankan expert, Nilanthi Samaranayake argues in a special report for the United States Institute of Peace, that South Asian leaders are well aware of the Indian military’s operational reach into their countries—whether invited or uninvited. As a result of their fundamentally asymmetric relationship with India, South Asian countries do not have the political will or capability to meaningfully cross this rising power. This includes providing military basing access to China, Samaranayake warned..
More recently, India objected to the Sri Lankan government’s giving a Chinese company the contract to build three small power plants on some islands in North Lanka located very near Indian shores across the Palk Strait. The Lankan government had to keep that project in abeyance.
