No COVID-19 deaths have been confirmed yesterday (15) by the Director-General of Health Services.

Accordingly, the current COVID-19 death toll remains at 16,829.

The first group of Sri Lankan public sector accounting and auditing professionals participated in Sri Lanka Public Sector Accounting Standards 11-20 through a training by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and its public sector wing, the Association of Public Finance Accountants of Sri Lanka (APFASL).

The U.S. Government, through its development arm – the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – supported the training under its Partnership for Accelerating Results in Trade, National Expenditure, and Revenue (PARTNER) activity.

The first 50 of a total 600 public sector accountants and auditors learned about the standards, which provide a framework for preparing and presenting financial statements under the accrual accounting system in line with international best practices. The partnership of USAID, CA Sri Lanka, and the APFASL will also train 1,200 public sector workers on the effective application of IT systems for data management, analysis, and strategic decision-making.

“As one of the country’s longstanding development partners, we are committed to help strengthen and streamline Sri Lanka’s public financial management practices and thereby its path to recovery,” USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives Mission Director Gabriel Grau said at the inaugural training. “Further strengthening skills and competencies of key accounting and auditing professionals can help contribute to this long-term goal through improved financial analysis, planning, and management”.

In his opening remarks, Mr. V. Kanagasabapathy, President of APFASL, said: “Strong public financial management is imperative to achieve the long-term goals of any country, therefore, in our standing as the public sector wing of CA Sri Lanka, APFASL has taken immense pride in being a catalyst in helping strengthen the public financial management practices in Sri Lanka. We are delighted that the U.S. Government has recognized our important work and is supporting our efforts to help public sector accounting and auditing professionals perform better.”

Mr. Heshana Kuruppu, CA Sri Lanka Vice President said, “The public sector in Sri Lanka is considered to be large in comparison to the size of our economy, employing approximately 1.5 million people. This sector also holds the key to helping change the lives of 22 million people. Excellent public financial management will play a critical role in achieving this important objective and improve productivity of the sector. As the national body of accountants, CA Sri Lanka together with APFASL are committed to helping the public sector contribute effectively to the economy. The launch of this landmark program with USAID is part of our continuing efforts to achieve this crucial goal.”

The World Methodist Peace Award presented by the World Methodist Council for rendering a commendable service creatively with fearless conformity for the building of peace, justice and harmony in the countries around the world has been awarded to Rev. Ebenezer Joseph, the President of the Methodist Church Sri Lanka.

The World Methodist Peace Award honoured by over 80 million Methodist devotees across the world began in 1977. Since then, this peace award has been presented 38 times to people dedicated to peace and reconciliation around the world.

The award recipients include great personalities who committed to national religious and ethnic harmony in the US, Egypt, England, Zimbabwe, South Korea, Ireland, Germany, Israel, South Africa, Ghana, Argentina, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Australia, Nigeria, Kenya, Bolivia as well as Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev and Kofi Annan.

Reverend Ebenezer Joseph is the first recipient of the Peace Award in the Asian region. Born in Kandapola, Nuwara Eliya, Rev. Joseph received his basic education from Wesley College, Colombo.

He then pursued higher education at the Theological Institute in Tamil Nadu and obtained bachelor’s degrees from several universities.

He commenced his career as a Methodist pastor in 1980 and started his work at the City Mission Church located in Dam Street, Colombo. The reverend priest helped the members of the low-income families in the area and played a large role in protecting the Tamil people during the July 83 riots.

From 1999 to 2020, he held the position of General Secretary of the National Christian Board twice.

Rev. Ebenezer Joseph worked very closely with Ven. Itthepane Dhammalankara Maha Nahimi, Maduluawe Sobitha Nahimi, Banagala Upatissa Nayaka Thera, Bellanwila Wimalarathane Nahimi, Murutthettuwe Ananda Thera and other religious leaders to build national unity among the people of the North and South following the end of the war.

Together with Buddhist and other religious leaders, he worked to convey a deep message about the religious harmony of Sri Lanka to the world by participating in various conferences abroad.

He has already received many national and international honors and awards for his work in building reconciliation in the country.

Rev Leslie Dareeju, the General Secretary of the Assembly of the Sri Lanka Methodist Church said the ceremony of presenting the Award to Rev. Ebenezer Joseph will be held on Saturday, February 18 at 5:00 pm at Wesley College, Colombo under the aegis of the President of the World Methodist Church Bishop K.J. Park (S. Korea) and its Secretary General Bishop Ivan Abraham (S.Africa).