A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, June 8, 2017
Flood Recovery: Govt. mulls donor conference
2017-06-08
As
the floodwaters receded, the government encountered fresh challenges in
the reconstruction of affected areas with measures for mitigation of
damages from future natural disasters. All in all, the government did
not face any major issue in feeding the displaced because donations
out-poured from people’s largesse. Yet, the state machinery is riddled
with shortcomings in the delivery of aid for people.
At the Cabinet meeting conducted last Tuesday, the President assigned
Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Finance Minister Mangala
Samaraweera and Special Projects Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama to take
steps to call for a donor conference. That is to raise funds for
rebuilding the flood-hit areas of the country.
However, Minister Karunanayake, as Foreign Affairs Minister, suggested
that the government should declare an emergency situation first for such
a conference to be called. The government was not receptive to this
idea at the Cabinet meeting as it would have serious ramifications on
other sectors of the economy, mainly tourism.
Then, the President asked the assigned ministers to study the situation
and recommend how to proceed with this proposal. Finally, it ended up to
be a tentative proposal, pending other requirements to be fulfilled.
For it to be done, a need assessment of the five affected districts
should be done. Alongside, the Foreign Minister was asked to engage with
the head of diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka to do some preparatory
work. Therefore, it is a time-consuming exercise to call for a donor
conference.
Rishad complains of his Cabinet paper leakage
At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad
Bathiudeen made a cry that his Cabinet paper - seeking approval to
privatize Lanka Mineral Sand Ltd - had been leaked out to some
undesirable hands. As such, he sought to withdraw the paper. He said he
would resubmit a fresh one to the Economic Management Committee headed
by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe later.
Initially, he had proposed to bring an Indian investor for this company.
Initially, he had proposed to bring an Indian investor for this company.
Not all Basmati rice varieties are of proper quality
Rice trading was embroiled in a sort of crisis after a video footage
went viral on the internet that imported ‘Basmati rice’ looked like it
was made of plastic. In a video footage widely shared in the social
media, a lady demonstrated how her Basmati rice turned pasty after it
was cooked. She formed lumps of cooked rice and butted them on the floor
to see them bouncing off a little. She even said her cooked rice
remained fresh relatively for a long time. She tried to drive home the
point that ‘freshness could not be retained for so long if it were
natural.
“This looks like a conspiracy of local mill owners to mislead consumers about imported rice varieties. If rice is made of plastic, it would cost at least Rs.1,000 a kg. Then, we cannot sell them”
This made a blow to Basmati rice trading in Sri Lanka. The Cooperative
Wholesale Establishment (CWE), which sold Basmati rice in this case,
denied these reports. Instead, it said this appeared to be a conspiracy
hatched with vested interests to bring CWE or SATHOSA to disrepute.
Basmati rice is imported mainly from India and Pakistan through the normal trading channel.
Besides, a certain quota of Basmati rice is imported under duty-free
conditions from Pakistan under the provisions of the Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka. The private sector was involved in the
import of this duty free quota of Basmati from Pakistan. However, the
CWE took it over from the private sector.
Under the FTA, Sri Lanka has given a tariff rate quota of 6,000 tonnes
of Long Grain Basmati Rice from Pakistan. In fact in 2014, the
government stopped issuing licence to import any variety of Basmati rice
from Pakistan till the exhaustion of this quota under the FTA. The
Certificate of Origin, issued by the Pakistani authorities was accepted
on the first-come-first-served basis till this quota was exhausted.
However, this practice has now been done away with. The Basmati variety,
that is allowed, has grains with long slender shape. The milled
length of a grain should be more than 6.6 mm, and the milled breadth 2
mm.
Outside the tariff rate quota, different other varieties of Basmati rice
are being imported to the country, and some of them however, do not
belong to the best quality category.
Against this backdrop, let alone another online dialogue has been initiated by those advocating the international best practices of trading and consumer rights.
Against this backdrop, let alone another online dialogue has been initiated by those advocating the international best practices of trading and consumer rights.
These groups refer to the code of practice, adopted in the UK on Basmati
rice. It has been done to provide improved protection for people who
consume Basmati rice and assist local authorities in their enforcement
work.
According to sources, the code applies to pre-packed as well as non
pre-packed rice, and where rice is used as an ingredient in other foods.
Basmati rice is recognised for its unique cooking properties and
distinctive aroma, and sells for two to three times the price of other
long grain rice varieties.
The UK code of practice on basmati rice is a result of work by the UK
rice industry, British Retail Consortium (BRC), Local Authorities
Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS), and the Association of
Public Analysts (APA). It lists the varieties that are currently
approved by the Indian and Pakistani authorities that could use the
description ‘Basmati’, and lays down the minimum specifications and
labelling requirements for rice sold in the UK.
The present crisis, involving basmati rice trading seems to have been
triggered by the lack of knowledge on the quality of food items imported
to the country and the measures adopted for quality assurance. Also, it
is needed to have proper anti-dumping laws. Once that is done and
information disseminated to consumers, such issues could be averted in
the future.
Meanwhile, the Association of Importers of Essential Commodities scoffed
reports that ‘plastic rice’ had been imported under the pretext of
basmati.
A spokesman for the body said such plastic rice, as claimed, does not exist.
“This looks like a conspiracy of local millers to mislead consumers about imported rice varieties. If rice is made of plastic, it would cost at least Rs.1,000 a kg. Then, we cannot sell them,” he said.
A spokesman for the body said such plastic rice, as claimed, does not exist.
“This looks like a conspiracy of local millers to mislead consumers about imported rice varieties. If rice is made of plastic, it would cost at least Rs.1,000 a kg. Then, we cannot sell them,” he said.
JO not in favour of talks
The Joint Opposition (JO) engaged in an intense debate on reports that
President Maitripala Sirisena is contemplating talks with his
predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa on the measures for uniting the party.
After the talks, the JO, led by MR decided forthwith that such talks
were no longer necessary. It assigned MP Kumara Welgama, a close
confidante of MR to announce it publicly for the people to know.
The JO is sceptical that this would yet be another ploy by the President
to dupe it. Instead, it is trying to hone strategies in its own in view
of the future elections without any alignment with the President’s
SLFP. It has come to realize that it is not feasible to work out any
unity between the incumbent President and his predecessor as acrimony
between them is so bad.
MR is currently on a visit to Japan to attend some religious functions.
Once he returns, the JO is planning some measures to mount a campaign
urging the government to conduct the local authorities’ election as soon
as possible. The election is overdue for more than two years as of now.
Already,
it has started engaging the diplomatic community in Colombo about the
delay in conducting the polls. Earlier, the JO leaders such as Dinesh
Gunawardane met with EU Ambassador Tung-Lai Margue. Alongside, he called
on Canadian High Commissioner Shelley Whiting on the same matter.
In this task, the JO has chosen to talk the embassies and High
Commissions of the countries that espouse elections as the pillars of
democracy.
NP Ministers face corruption charges
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran appointed a committee
to investigate allegations of corruption and malpractices against the
Provincial Board of Ministers.
It is learnt that evidence has been given before this committee against these ministers mostly by those representing the TNA. It looks like an internal issue of the TNA as a result
The report was to be submitted to the Chief Minister yesterday. The TNA
controls the Provincial Council. All the provincial ministers belong to
the TNA. Nonetheless, it is learnt that evidence has been given before
this committee against these ministers mostly by those representing the
TNA. It looks like an internal issue of the TNA as a result.