“Remember…. We will change all this when we come” said JVP/NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), addressing a public rally during an election campaign in early September 2024 held for his presidential candidacy. “Change” became a keyword in their election campaigns all through parliament elections as well. When AKD said “all this” he meant mega corruption in governance, waste, negligence and inefficiency in the State, summing them all as the “dirty political culture” groomed and left by previous governments. We were thus promised a “change” with a new political culture that would be “clean and people centric”.

This clean and people centric “new culture” promised, lacked “transparency” from day one. Lack of transparency leads to lack of communication and accountability too. My personal experience with this NPP government to this day, is their total refusal to even acknowledge a letter addressed to the President, the Prime Minister and Ministers. Refusal to acknowledge letters of request to meet with President, the PM and Ministers, is strictly adhered to when requests come from individuals and organisations outside their politics.

Absence of transparency and accountability in this JVP/NPP government seems incomparably greater than what it was with previous governments, accused of corruption and waste. No major figures in previous governments ignored letters and requests for meetings. They at least acknowledged, even if an appointment was not granted. They rarely refused to meet with trade union leaders whatever political colour, with professional associations and with social organisations and activists.

Beyond that, JVP/NPP leadership’s denial of publishing information was evident when they ignored Opposition requests for names of former government MPs whom they accused without naming to be tabled in parliament, for recommending foreign liquor licenses. To date, those names have not been tabled in parliament and the accusation remains a mere slander. Just 02 months since forming the government, the JVP/NPP leadership got directly involved in one of the largest corruptions to date, releasing 323 containers without inspection by Customs that were “red flagged” and therefore mandated to be physically checked by Customs Officers before release. The Deputy Minister of Ports Janith Kodithuwakku accepted in parliament the responsibility of the government in releasing them without inspection. A clear violation of law and screaming “corruption”. How people-centric and how “clean” was that beginning for a “new political culture”?

Sadly, for the people, the Opposition in parliament has failed to hold the government and Minister of Ports Bimal Rathnayake fully responsible in providing all details about the illegally released 323 containers. Seriousness of this extremely arrogant, high-handed and no doubt corrupt act of the government is mentioned in the public statement made by the Customs Trade Union Alliance (CTUA) on the issue. They clearly say, they would not take responsibility “if these particular containers are found to contain low-quality medicines rejected by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), cosmetic items deemed unfit for use, illegal cigarettes, other illegal imports, drugs or even weapons.”

Timidity of the parliamentary Opposition is one major factor that allows this JVP/NPP leadership, though novice in governance to stubbornly hold back all information they fear would adversely affect them, if made public. Timid and naïve, the Opposition even allows the JVP/NPP government to go without tabling the 07 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) the government signed with India during the most recent official visit of Indian PM Narendra Modi. When asked for these MoUs to be tabled in parliament, the callous response was by Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath who said, if the Opposition wants them, they could request under the RTI Act. This 57-year-old senior politician Vijitha Herath had been a MP from October 2000 and a cabinet minister in President Kumaratunge’s government in 2004-2005. Thus, he cannot be ignorant about rights and privileges of MPs and the responsibility of a government in providing free access to documents a government sign on behalf of Citizens of Sri Lanka. He cannot be as stupid as he sounded, asking MPs to use the RTI Act to have access to the MoUs signed, though a lady Attorney as a JVP/NPP MP kept yelling in a TV panel discussion, the Opposition should request for the MoUs via the RTI Act. How naïve the Opposition is, was proved when they allowed the government to go free with that invalid, irresponsible response.

It is common sense, the RTI Act is irrelevant for MPs. The government is bound to table that in parliament, at least when requested. IF the JVP/NPP leadership believes there is no such legal binding for now, they should at least now accept, the new “clean and people centric” political culture they promised, requires them to be transparent and accountable to “People”. Holds them responsible in establishing the tradition of providing all serious information to parliament. The Opposition should also know, the RTI Act No.12 of 2016, does not allow for any information related to national security and defence to be provided under Section 05.1(b)(i) of the Act. Thus, the RTI Act is of no relevance even to Citizens in requesting information regarding the MoU signed on defence corporation with India.

Though both signatories remain silent on details incorporated in the Defence MoU, Vikram Misri the Secretary to Foreign Affairs in New Delhi was quoted in the “Hindustani Times” of 06 April as having said, “A defence cooperation agreement finalised by India and Sri Lanka on Saturday, the first pact of its kind, will make existing initiatives more structured and lead to more joint exercises and potential defence industry collaboration”. What does the MoU specifically say about “defence industry collaboration”?

This JVP/NPP government of President AKD is now in an understanding with India on defence industry collaboration, an arms supplier to Israel for all its human massacres and tragedies in the Gaza. This same government is also accused of ignoring all complaints about illegal Israeli presence in our tourist sector, constructing illegal buildings for “Chabad Houses”. All this leads to compromising the “Sovereignty of the People” the Constitution says is “inalienable”.

Let me wind off saying, “People’s Sovereignty” therefore demands all information related to governance, out in public domain. MoUs signed with India to be tabled in parliament, forthwith.  Requires all information related to the 323 “red flagged” containers to be tabled in parliament. Claims of few million Rupees saved from fuel, from MPs salaries but not told how and where they would be used, is not transparency and accountability. President not going for Sinhala-Tamil New Year ceremonies, is not what ensures People’s Sovereignty guaranteed in the Constitution. We don’t accept a political culture without transparency and accountability as anything better and decent than what has been cultivated by corrupt regimes in the past.

“In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the People and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchise.”
Chapter I – The People, State & Sovereignty / Section 03 of the Sri Lanka Constitution.

Kusal Perera
2025 April 25

Lovely is one of between 4,000 and 6,000 snow leopards on the planet

Snow leopards cannot growl. So when we step towards one of these fierce predators, she’s purring.

“Lovely,” as she’s called, was orphaned and rescued 12 years ago in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan.

After years of relying on staff to feed her, she does not know how to hunt in the wild – and cannot be set free.

“If we release her, she would just go attack a farmer’s sheep and get killed,” Lovely’s caretaker, Tehzeeb Hussain, tells us.

Despite laws protecting them, between 221 to 450 snow leopards are killed each year, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says, which has contributed to a 20% decline in the global population over the past two decades.

More than half of these deaths were in retaliation for the loss of livestock.

Now, scientists estimate that just 4,000 to 6,000 snow leopards are left in the wild – with roughly 300 of these in Pakistan, the third-largest population in the world.

To try and reverse these worrying trends, the WWF – with the help of Pakistan’s Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) – has developed cameras powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Their aim is to detect a snow leopard’s presence and warn villagers via text message to move their livestock to safety.

The cameras operate using lithium batteries and solar panels

Tall, with a solar panel mounted on top, the cameras are positioned high among barren and rugged mountains at nearly 3,000m (9,843ft).

“Snow leopard territory,” says Asif Iqbal, a conservationist from WWF Pakistan. He walks us a few more steps and points to tracks on the ground: “These are pretty new.”

Asif hopes this means the camera has recorded more evidence that the AI software – which allows it to differentiate between humans, other animals and snow leopards – is working.

Trial and error

The WWF is currently testing 10 cameras, deployed across three villages in Gilgit-Baltistan. It has taken three years to train the AI model to detect these categories with impressive – if not perfect – accuracy.

Once we’re back down the mountain, Asif pulls up his computer and shows me a dashboard. There I am, in a series of GIFs. It correctly detects I’m a human. But as we scroll down the list, I come up again, and this time I’m listed as both a human and an animal. I’m wearing a thick white fleece, so I forgive the programme.

Then, Asif shows me the money shot. It’s a snow leopard, recorded a few nights prior, in night-vision. He pulls up another one from the week before. It’s a snow leopard raising its tail against a nearby rock. “It’s a mother leopard, looks like she’s marking her territory,” Asif says.

The cameras have been developed to detect a snow leopard’s presence and then warn villagers to move their livestock to safety

Setting up the cameras in rocky, high-altitude areas took a lot of trial and error. The WWF went through several types of batteries until it found one that could withstand the harsh winters. A specific paint was chosen to avoid reflecting light as animals pass by.

If the cellular service fails in the mountains, the device continues recording and capturing data locally. But the team has had to accept there are some problems they simply cannot solve.

While the camera lens is protected by a metallic box, they’ve had to replace solar panels damaged by landslides.

Doubt in the community

It is not just the technology that has caused problems. Getting the local community’s buy-in has also been a challenge. At first, some were suspicious and doubted whether the project could help them or the snow leopards.

“We noticed some of the wires had been cut,” Asif says. “People had thrown blankets over the cameras.”

The team also had to be mindful of the local culture and the emphasis on women’s privacy. Cameras had to be moved because women were walking by too often.

Some villages still have yet to sign consent and privacy forms, which means the technology cannot be rolled out in their area just yet. The WWF wants a binding promise that local farmers will not give poachers access to the footage.

Sitara says a snow leopard killed her sheep while they were grazing

Sitara lost all six of her sheep in January. She says she had taken them to graze on land above her home but that a snow leopard attacked them.

“It was three to four years of hard work raising those animals, and it all ended in one day,” she says.

The loss of her livelihood left her bedridden for several days. When asked if she is hopeful the AI cameras could help in the future, she replies: “My phone barely gets any service during the day, how can a text help?”

At a gathering of village elders, leaders of the Khyber village explain how attitudes have changed over the years, and that a growing proportion of their village understands the importance of snow leopards and their impact on the ecosystem.

According to the WWF, snow leopards hunt ibex and blue sheep, which stops these animals from overgrazing and helps to preserve grasslands so villagers can feed their livestock.

But not all are convinced. One local farmer questions the benefits of the animals.

“We used to have 40 to 50 sheep, now we’ve only got four or five, and the reason is the threat from snow leopards and from ibex eating the grass,” he says.

Climate change also has a part to play in why some feel threatened by snow leopards. Scientists say warming temperatures have led villagers to move their crops and livestock to higher areas in the mountains, encroaching on snow leopards’ own habitat, making livestock more of a target.

Whether the villagers are convinced by the conservation message or not, the WWF tells us legal penalties have served as a strong deterrent in recent years. Three men were jailed in 2020 after killing a snow leopard in Hoper valley, about a two-hour drive from Khyber. One of them had posted photos of himself with the dead animal on social media.

While those involved in the camera project are hopeful their AI devices can have an impact, they know they cannot be the sole solution.

In September, they are going to start trialling smells, sounds and lights at the camera sites to try to deter snow leopards from moving onto nearby villages, putting themselves and livestock in jeopardy.

Their work tracking these “ghosts of the mountains” is not over yet.

– Azadeh Moshiri, Usman Zahid and Kamil Khan Dayan

(BBC News)

China stands ready to work with all countries in the world including Sri Lanka, to firmly uphold multilateralism, oppose economic bullying and trade protectionism, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, and strive to foster a stable global environment for development, Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka – Mr. Qi Zhenhong says.

In an article he has written on the US tariffs, he says, “China and Sri Lanka are good friends, good brothers and good partners from history to present. Our cooperation has become a model of South-South cooperation. Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to work with all countries in the world including Sri Lanka, to firmly uphold multilateralism, oppose economic bullying and trade protectionism, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, and strive to foster a stable global environment for development.”

“In this process, China will resolutely implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, bring greater opportunities to Sri Lanka through China’s high-quality development, and work together to jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future for greater benefits of the people of the two countries and the region,” he adds.

The complete article is as follows : 

Uphold Solidarity and Cooperation to Build a China-Sri Lanka Community with a Shared Future

Recently, the US government, disregarding unanimous opposition from the international community, announced its decision to impose so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on all trading partners including China and Sri Lanka. This move was followed by repeated policy reversals, creating significant chaos and uncertainty on a global scale. Moreover, this uncertainty continues to accumulate, potentially causing broader turmoil and even triggering a global economic recession. 

By recklessly imposing tariffs on other countries, the US defies the fundamental laws of economics and market principles, disregards the balanced outcomes achieved through multilateral trade negotiations, ignores the fact that the US has long benefited substantially from international trade, and weaponizes tariffs to exert maximum pressure for selfish interests. This is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying. Such actions not only directly infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of global trade partners, but also pose unpredictable and severe consequences for the US economy itself. Currently, the US stock market is plunging, Treasury bonds are being sold off, and inflationary pressures are mounting, living costs and financial strain on ordinary Americans are increasing. Voices of opposition within the US against the excessive use of tariffs are growing louder.

As a matter of fact, the US and other Western developed countries have been the architects and long-time leaders of the global free trade system established after World War II. People in Global South countries, including China and Sri Lanka, have only been able to earn meagre foreign exchange earnings by working really hard to provide high-quality, low-priced commodities to developed countries like the US. Meanwhile, the US, by occupying the high end of the industrial chain, has earned substantial profits by exporting services, high-tech products and equipment. What’s more, many products manufactured by developing countries like China and Sri Lanka and exported to developed countries are essentially products of Western companies. 

The US and its ruling class are the primary beneficiaries of economic globalization, while the Global South countries have long called for reform of the unjust international political and economic order. However, the US repeatedly claims to be harmed by trade deficits, ignoring the role of imported goods in reducing its living costs and diversifying its consumers’ choices, not to mention the dominant position the US holds in service trade. Today, the US is wielding tariffs as a weapon to intimidate other countries, attempting to force “manufacturing re-shoring” through measures that defy basic economics. This approach is a case of repaying kindness with enmity—it harms others while failing to solve the US’s own problems. This approach undermines the development rights of countries around the world, especially those in the Global South, and runs counter to the principles of globalization. Such actions are doomed to fail. This approach has caused widespread disappointment and unease across the globe and has been encountered with unanimous opposition from the international community.

Openness and cooperation are the prevailing trends of history, and mutual benefit is the shared aspiration of all. For the majority of countries committed to development and revitalization—including Sri Lanka—a free and open multilateral trading system is of vital importance. A secure and stable international environment is indispensable, and the more cooperative and reliable economic and trade partners there are, the better. Looking back at history, the evolution of globalization has always advanced through twists and turns amid turbulence. Since the formation of the modern world system, depressions and wars have occasionally erected high walls between countries and continents. But the common pursuit of cooperation and prosperity of humanity has always broken through these barriers and brought global integration to new heights. 

A major country should have the responsibilities of a major country. It must not pursue profit at the expense of principles, nor should it bully the weak with its strength. As the second largest economy, the second largest market for consumer goods, and a firm supporter of the multilateral trading system, China has always believed that cooperation is the only right path to addressing global challenges, and multilateralism is the inevitable choice for overcoming the difficulties the world faces. There are no winners in trade or tariff wars. Protectionism is a dead end. Solidarity and cooperation is the right way forward for humanity. China will continue to work with the international community to firmly oppose the US’s reckless imposition of tariffs. 

Moreover, China will continue to advance high-standard opening up, and implement high-standard policies for trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, share development opportunities with the world to achieve mutual benefits, win-win outcomes and shared prosperity, and promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Since 2017, the negative list for foreign investment has been shortened from 93 to 29 items nationwide, and all restrictions on access in the manufacturing sector have been removed. In 2024, 59,000 foreign-invested companies were newly established in China, up by 9.9 percent year-on-year. China’s total import and export of goods reached RMB 10.3 trillion in the first quarter this year, of which exports exceeded RMB 6 trillion with a relatively fast growth of 6.9 percent. China is the world’s market and a source of opportunities for every country. In a world full of uncertainties, China will continue to seek joining hands rather than throwing punches, removing barriers rather than erecting walls, and promoting connectivity rather than decoupling. We will further expand the trade network, be an even stronger magnet for investment, and provide stability and positive energy to the world economy through high-quality development and high-standard opening up.

China and Sri Lanka are good friends, good brothers and good partners from history to present. Our cooperation has become a model of South-South cooperation. Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to work with all countries in the world including Sri Lanka, to firmly uphold multilateralism, oppose economic bullying and trade protectionism, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, and strive to foster a stable global environment for development. In this process, China will resolutely implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, bring greater opportunities to Sri Lanka through China’s high-quality development, and work together to jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future for greater benefits of the people of the two countries and the region.