The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (16) granted permission for the family member of late businessman Dinesh Schaffter, to bury his remains, which were exhumed on a request of the five-member committee of judicial and forensic medical experts appointed to uncover the actual cause behind the death of the reputed businessman.

Accordingly, Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya ordered for the late businessman’s remains to be buried in a plot from the cemetery belonging to the “Church of England” denomination located at the Jawatte Public Cemetery in Colombo, where his wife requested permission for the burial.

The Additional Magistrate has issued this order following the consideration of the recommendations made by the five-member experts’ committee against the cremation of the deceased’s remains.

Later, the Additional Magistrate, who ordered the case to be recalled on October 31, also stated that the court expects the final report of the experts committee to be submitted on that date.

Earlier, the court had ordered the five-member committee of judicial and forensic medical experts appointed to uncover the actual cause behind the death of the late businessman to look into whether permission can be granted for the cremation of his remains and to inform the court.

There, the court was informed that wish of the deceased family members was to cremate the remains of Mr. Schaffter, and that if the court orders for the late businessman’s remains to be buried, his wife has allocated a plot from the cemetery belonging to the “Church of England” denomination located at the Jawatte Public Cemetery in Colombo.

The Additional Magistrate who took this request into consideration, ordered to submit the affidavits of the family members to the court in relation to that request, and to take measures to confirm the relevant facts.

However, the five-member experts committee had informed the court that the report indicating the cause of death of late businessman Schaffter cannot be submitted until his remains are released.

(adaderana.lk)

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who attached great importance to international cooperation under China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said that he looks forward to finding solutions to global challenges on the platform of the BRI.

President Wickremesinghe expressed these views while participating in the LEADERS TALK interview programme broadcasted on the CCTV channel of China, prior to his official visit to China.

It was reported that the President and the First Lady are scheduled to arrive in China this (16) afternoon. He left for Singapore last night (15) to go to China.

He will be attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) which will be held on Oct 17-18, as 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the BRI.

The 2023 forum will be a very important event marking the 10th anniversary of the BRI global cooperation platform, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier this year.

Wickremasinghe, who commended the BRI as the Rubber-Rice Pact in the new era, participated in the first BRF as prime minister of Sri Lanka in 2017.

In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Wickremasinghe said that with the third Belt and Road Forum fast approaching, he expects meaningful exchanges on navigating today’s difficulties including debt burden on low-income and middle-income countries and climate change issues.

With many countries facing hardships, the president stressed collective solutions will be the key, he stressed.

“From the first Belt and Road Summit for International Cooperation in 2017, then the second and up to now, the world situation has changed. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the economy of every country. At the same time, we also face the challenges brought by climate change, and it is a must to develop a green economy. There is also the debt pressure on low and middle income countries, such as Sri Lanka, which is undergoing a debt crisis. Many other countries have debt problems too. In the face of new difficulties and major global challenges, we hope to find solutions by participating in international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative,” Wickremasinghe said.

In 1952, China and Sri Lanka opened the door for friendly exchanges by signing the Rubber-Rice Pact, demonstrating their national spirit in the fight against hegemony and power politics, and breaking the Cold War isolation imposed by the West.

Meanwhile, the representatives of Tamil political parties met with the President at the President’s Office yesterday (15) demanding that the lands acquired by the government in Batticaloa District be returned to the people.

The Eastern Province Governor, Mahaweli Director General, army chiefs, government officials and others participated in the meeting.

Examinations Commissioner General Amith Jayasundara said that the scholarship examination was successfully completed yesterday (15) without any obstacle.

Speaking to the media, he said that the examination results are expected to be released within 45 days.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Examinations Lasika Samarakoon said that the evaluation of the examination papers will be held for six days starting from the 26th.

He said that all answer sheets of the examination are to be received by the Examinations Department from regional collection centers across the country by today morning (16).

He said that 11 children who were receiving treatment in hospitals were referred to the nearest examination center for the examination and 4 children who were receiving treatment at the Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama were given an examination center in the hospital.

Commissioner General Jayasundara said that special arrangements were made with the support of Disaster Management Centre (DMC) units, army, police and others to facilitate the students to visit examination centers due to the adverse weather prevailing in the Southern Province.

He said that he would like to thank the officials, all the teachers, armed forces personnel and the police, and the DMC officials for providing the facilities to hold the examination without an issue especially due to the adverse weather conditions in the Southern Province.