The Graduation Ceremony of Defence Services Command and Staff Collage Course 19 was attended by the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya as the Chief guest on 16th of December at Nelum Pokuna Theater.

The Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC), the highest seat of military learning, marked the graduation of Course 19 by recognizing 149 graduates, including 26 Foreign Course Participants whose presence underscored the growing international engagement and the spirit of regional and global military cooperation.

The special Awards were awarded to graduates who have excelled in academic achievements under the three different levels of special awards of the Golden Owl Award, the Golden Pen award and the Commandant’s honours by the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, and the journals of the 10th edition of Defence and Security Journal and Owlet were officially presented to the Prime Minister during the event.

Addressing at the event, the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya reflected on the severe impact of Cyclone Ditwah and paid tribute to those who lost their lives, with special remembrance of members of the Armed Forces who were engaged in rescue and relief operations. The Prime Minister commended the Armed Forces for their professionalism, discipline, and unwavering commitment, emphasizing their coordination with civil authorities and the public to deliver timely rescue, relief, and recovery assistance during a period of national adversity.

The Prime Minister extended appreciation to the foreign course participants for the valuable contributions made through the sharing of operational experience and national perspectives, which enriched the programme and strengthened mutual understanding.

The Prime Minister further stated that the future will demand leaders who can adapt, learn, and respond to change without losing ethical direction. Technology will continue to transform military operations, but sound judgment, discipline, and responsibility will remain central to leadership. The professional relationships formed at Defence Services Command and Staff College will matter in future peacekeeping missions, humanitarian operations, multinational exercises, and regional responses to crisis.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister to the Ministry of Defense Major General (Retd) Aruna Jayasekara, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Sampath Thuyacontha, Army Navy and Air Force Commanders, former Commanders of the DSCSC, serving senior officers from the tri services and representatives from the diplomatic corps, other distinguished guests, and family of the graduates.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

A meeting was held between the officials of the Government Translators’ Service Union and the Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, at the Prime Minister’s Office on December 16, to discuss the issues faced by the officers of the Government Translators’ Service.

Attention was drawn to the existing salary issue in the Government Translators’ Service, the salary disparity between grades, and vacancies.

The Prime Minister stated that several issues have arisen due to the previous governments not implementing salary increases in the public service through a proper and logical method, and that the discussions regarding salary disparities are currently underway. The Prime Minister also mentioned that a positive course of action is expected to be taken on this matter within the coming year.

The discussion was attended by the Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputantri, President of the Government Translators’ Service Union Mujibar Rahman, and a group of officials.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාල සහ විදේශීය විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අතර අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම්වලට එළැඹීම සඳහා අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය හිමි වී තිබේ.

ඊයේ (දෙසැම්බර් 15) පැවති අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල හමුවේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාල සහ විදේශීය විශ්ව විද්‍යාල, විදේශීය සංවිධාන අතර අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම්වලට එළඹීම පිණිස අධ්‍යාපන, උසස් අධ්‍යාපන සහ වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය වශයෙන් ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමිය ඉදිරිපත් කළ යෝජනාව අනුව ඒ සඳහා වන අනුමැතිය හිමි විය.

ඒ අනුව එක් තීරයක් සහ එක් මාවතක් සඳහා වන ජාතික හා ජාත්‍යන්තර විද්‍යා සන්ධානය (Alliance of National and International Science Organizations for the Belt and Road Regions ANSO) පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය අතර දේශගුණික විපර්යාස හා පරිසර දුෂණය පිළිබඳ ජාත්‍යන්තර ජල සමුළුව පැවැත්වීමට අදාළව වන ව්‍යාපෘති ගිවිසුම.

පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය සහ චීනයේ හොංකොං චීන විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය අතර මනුෂ්‍ය හා සත්ත්ව ප්‍රජාව තුළ MRSA රෝගය (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) සම්ප්‍රේෂණය වීම පිළිබඳව හා ඒවායේ ක්ෂුද්‍රජීවී නාශක හා ජෛව නාශක ප්‍රතිරෝධය පැහැදිලි කර ගැනීම සහ ජානමය විවිධත්වය අධ්‍යයනය කිරීම අරමුණු කර ගනිමින්, පර්යේෂණ සහයෝගිතා ගිවිසුම (Research Collaboration Agreement) සහ ද්‍රව්‍ය හුවමාරු ගිවිසුම (Material Transfer Agreement).

කැලණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය සහ ජපානයේ - කියෝතෝ තොරතුරු විද්‍යා උපාධි අධ්‍යයන විද්‍යාලය අතර අධ්‍යයන සහයෝගිතාව ඉහළ නැංවීම, පීඨ හා සිසුන් අතර අධ්‍යාපන, වෘත්තීය හා සංස්කෘතික ක්‍රියාකාරකම් තුළින් මිත්‍රත්වය ඉහළ නැංවීම සහ ඒකාබද්ධ පර්යේෂණ, සම්මන්ත්‍රණ, වැඩමුළු පැවැත්වීම යන අරමුණු සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා වන අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම.

වවුනියා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය සහ මැඩ්‍රාස් ඉන්දියානු තාක්ෂණ ආයතනය අතර අන්‍යෝන්‍ය එකඟතාව සහිත ක්ෂේත්‍ර වල අධ්‍යයන හා පර්යේෂණ සහයෝගිතාව ඇති කර ගැනීම, අධ්‍යයන තොරතුරු සහ ද්‍රව්‍ය හුවමාරු කර ගැනීම, සිසුන් හා අධ්‍යයන කාර්ය මණ්ඩල හුවමාරුව සහ ඒකාබද්ධ සම්මන්ත්‍රණ, වැඩමුළු සඳහා අනුග්‍රහය ලබා දීම යන අරමුණු සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා වන අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම.

ඉන්දියානු සංස්කෘතික සබඳතා කවුන්සිලය (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) සහ වවුනියා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය අතර ආරාධික මහාචාර්යවරුන්ගේ සේවය කොන්ත්‍රාත් පදනම මත වවුනියා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය වෙත ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා වන අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම.

යන ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් කිරීම සඳහා ඒ අනුව අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයේ අනුමැතිය හිමි වී ඇත.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

H.E. Isabelle Catherine Martin, the newly appointed High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on 15 December 2025 at Temple Trees.

The High Commissioner conveyed Canada’s condolences over the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah and reaffirmed Canada’s readiness to extend further support to Sri Lanka during the recovery process. The Prime Minister expressed her appreciation for the assistance extended by the international community, including Canada, noting that Sri Lanka has now entered the second phase of post-disaster recovery following the completion of rescue and immediate relief operations.

The Prime Minister further noted that schools are scheduled to reopen from the following day, with the majority able to resume normal operations. She emphasised the importance of returning to normalcy and gradually scaling down relief centres where appropriate.

The High Commissioner reaffirmed Canada’s focus on supporting the agricultural sector, recognizing its importance to livelihoods and economic stability. In response, the Prime Minister informed that the Government has advised farmers to recommence cultivation and has already initiated support measures to assist them.

The High Commissioner also highlighted the importance of effective implementation of official language policies to ensure inclusivity and equal opportunities for all citizens, noting the potential use of artificial intelligence tools to support translation and communication. The Prime Minister expressed interest in expanding cooperation in the education sector, particularly in teacher exchange programmes alongside existing student collaboration initiatives, and noted Sri Lanka’s ongoing engagement with the Commonwealth of Learning.

Attending the meeting on behalf of the High Commission of Canada were Mr. Patrick Pickering, Acting Counsellor (Political and Trade), and Mr. Kiril Iordanov, Head of Cooperation. Representing Sri Lanka were Mr. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister; Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatta, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister; and Ms. Pramuditha Manusinghe, Director (Europe & North America), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

H.E. Mr. Sergey Viktorov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Sri Lanka, paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on 15 December at Temple Trees.

The meeting focused on Sri Lanka’s ongoing rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts following Cyclone Ditwah. The Prime Minister outlined the government’s priorities in the recovery process, including the restoration of essential infrastructure, housing, and agricultural livelihoods. She also highlighted the support extended by international partners in facilitating these efforts.

Discussions further covered the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. Both sides explored opportunities to enhance economic engagement, with emphasis on promoting investment and increasing tourist arrivals from Kazakhstan. The potential for collaboration in the field of education, particularly through student exchange programmes and joint research initiatives, was also noted as an area of mutual interest.

Representing the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan was Mr. Rustem Jamankulov, Deputy Head of Mission. Representing Sri Lanka were Mr. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister; Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatta, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister; Ms. Chamari Rodrigo, Director General, bSoutheast & Central Asia Division; and Ms. Irosha Cooray, Director, Southeast & Central Asia Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The ninth phase of the islandwide programme to recognise outstanding achievers of G.C.E. Advanced Level implemented by the Presidential Fund, was held under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on the 14 th of December at Temple Trees.

Under this phase, students from the Western Province who obtained excellent results at the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examinations in the year 2023 and 2024 were recognised. Accordingly, 361 outstanding students from the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts were awarded scholarships amounting to LKR 36.1 million by the Presidential Fund.

Addressing at the event, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Presidential Fund is a public fund belonging to the people, and that the government has made a special effort to ensure it is perceived and functions in the interest of the general public.

The Prime Minister further noted that the government has succeeded in transforming the Presidential Fund which previously seen as accessible mainly to those holding special power or positions, and characterised by complex procedures difficult for ordinary citizens into a simplified system that allows applications to be submitted online and through Divisional Secretariat offices near you.

The Prime Minister emphasised that all these programmes are being implemented with the objective of developing human resources in a manner compatible with the contemporary world with the aim of moving the country forward. She further stated that the government is committed to nurturing human resources capable of understanding and navigating the complexities of the modern world.

She noted that in this regard, a new agenda has been initiated to bring a transformation into the education system from 2026 onwards, with the aim of producing productive and responsible citizens.

The Prime Minister also stressed the need to nurture a responsible human resource that values democracy, loves and protects the environment, demonstrates leadership, compassion, and a sense of collectivity.

The Prime Minister reiterated that every government has intervened in the education of students using public funds generated through the taxes paid by all citizens, and noted that, it is precisely because you possess the ability to serve society and provide leadership that you are considered valuable to us.

The Prime Minister stated, the recognition conferred today is an investment in you and those who receive education and recognition under the government intervention bear a responsibility to serve society.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Mr. Anil Jayantha, stated that while the Presidential Fund had previously been widely known among the public primarily as a source of financial assistance for severe illnesses such as heart disease, the scope of its utilisation has been expanded under the new government, with education identified as a key focus area.

He further noted that the government’s vision of inclusivity is closely aligned with the objectives of the Presidential Fund.

The event was attended by the Senior Additional Secretary to the President and Secretary to the Presidential Fund, Mr. Roshan Gamage; Members of Parliament Mr. Chandana Sooriyaarachchi, Mr. Chandima Hettiarachchi, and Lieutenant Commander (Retired) Prageeth Madhuranga; Governor of the Western Province Mr. Hanif Yusoof; the Chairman of the University Grants Commission; members of the Board of Management of the Presidential Fund; public officials; the students who were recognised; and their parents and guardians.

Prime Minister’s Media Division