The Evening Wrap: Leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake elected President of Sri Lanka

Leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was on Sunday declared winner in Sri Lanka’s presidential race, obtaining a mandate that signals a clean break from the island nation’s political establishment and ushers in unprecedented change. Mr. Dissanayake was officially declared President-elect by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka after it completed a second count of votes, an exercise undertaken for the first time in the country’s election history. The tally of preferential votes cast by voters became necessary since neither Mr. Dissanayake, nor his chief challenger, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, secured the 50% plus one vote in the first round, which is necessary for winning. Mr. Dissanayake secured 42.31% of the votes. Mr. Premadasa was in the second spot with 32.76%, while incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe came third with under 20% of the vote share. The three candidates dominated the election, which was the first to be held after the economic crisis of 2022, the worst seen in the country since its independence. Thirty five other contestants were in the race, including Namal Rajapaksa, son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Tamil candidate P. Ariyanethiran. An opposition legislator from capital Colombo, Mr. Dissanayake ran for the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, a coalition helmed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front), a party with Marxist-Leninist roots. “AKD”, as he is popularly known, has pledged to end corruption and change the political culture of the country through an effective campaign targeting scores of Sri Lankans who sought change after the country’s painful economic crash in 2022. Sunday’s poll outcome is a big win for Mr. Dissanayake, with his vote share growing well over tenfold from the 3.16% he secured in 2019, when he challenged Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mr. Premadasa. It marks the first time Sri Lanka’s presidency will be held by a party with no links to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party [SLFP] or the United National Party [UNP] or their offshoots that have dominated the country’s politics for over seven decades. “We stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history,” Mr. Dissanayake said in an X post on Sunday evening. “This dream can only be realised with a fresh start. The unity of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and all Sri Lankans is the bedrock of this new beginning. The New Renaissance we seek will rise from this shared strength and vision,” the President-elect, who is due to be sworn in on Monday, said. Indian men and women win maiden Chess Olympiad golds India’s men’s and women’s teams won gold at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest on Sunday. The Indians won the biggest tournament in chess even before the tournament was over. The Indians, seeded second, was assured of the gold after D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, their standout players in the Hungarian capital, won their games in India’s final round match against Slovenia. That meant India would at least draw the match regardless of the games of R. Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi. P. Harikrishna completed the Indian team and he played as the reserve-board player. India’s only rival for the gold, China, could not have caught up with India. This is undoubtedly the best moment ever for India at the Chess Olympiad. Two years ago, India’s second team had won the bronze when the Olympiad was held at Mamallapuram, near Chennai. The Indian women had also won the bronze in that Olympiad. This time they won the gold thanks to victories in the final round for D. Harika, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal in their match against Azerbaijan. In the other game, R. Vaishali drew, as India won 3.5-0.5. GST Council is looking at rates item by item for rationalisation: Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is looking at the GST rates, item by item, for rationalisation and the process was being discussed for a long time and delayed due to several factors including the impact of COVID-19. In an interaction with senior journalists of The Hindu Group of Publications at The Hindu’s head office in Chennai, Ms. Sitharaman, while responding to a question on rationalisation of GST, said: “It has been delayed for a long time and it’s much overdue due to various factors including the impact of COVID-19, election in some States. Now there is the seriousness, saying we need to take this up. The committee [Group of Ministers committee on rate rationalisation] is looking into it item by item.” On a question related to GST compensation and compensation cess, she said “Everyone knows that the GST compensation cannot continue after June 30, 2022, and that is by law. So paying off the compensation in the first five years after implementation of the GST continued and ended in June 2022. The cess continues to be collected. Whether it has to continue or not and the rate and items on which the cess should be levied is being discussed in the GST Council.” According to her, “There are some States that want the GST compensation to continue. But, it cannot continue in the very spirit of how it was brought in. It was introduced to make sure that States don’t have any apprehensions about their revenue resources coming down to a drastically low level and that they cannot sustain themselves, after the implementation of the GST regime.” Ms. Sitharaman also pointed out that the GST compensation scheme was brought in at a fairly high rate. “No State was growing anywhere near 14%. Everybody who analyses the economy will know it. For instance, Tamil Nadu’s growth rate was around 6.5%, before 2017. The State would have earned around ₹4.23 lakh crore. Whereas, the State had earned ₹5.23 lakh crore, because of the compensation scheme and post that because of the GST. You [the State] are better off today. The wild allegations that come about the GST system will have to be countered with patience. But when it comes from a State government, whose Finance Minister is sitting in the [GST] Council, randomly because it politically suits them, I leave it as such. But it has no logic in it.” She said the Constitution gives the Union government every right to levy cesses. “Though the money collected through cesses is not shared with the States directly through devolution, it goes for building roads, schools, ports and hospitals. It is perfectly constitutionally legitimate for the Centre to collect cess. It doesn’t go through the devolution which was designed by the Finance Commission, a constitutional body,” she added. Army seeks information on ‘entry of 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar’ The Army on Sunday, through a social media post, sought information from Manipur security adviser Kuldiep Singh to provide details on intelligence regarding the alleged entry of 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar on September 28. The post on X was later deleted. The post on X by Spear Corps, Indian Army said, “These inputs have very serious security implications and the office of Security Adviser has been requested to share the details so that appropriate necessary action can be taken at the earliest.” A defence source said the inputs were yet to be shared with the Army. Mr. Singh, while addressing a press conference in Imphal on September 20, had said the government was aware of intelligence inputs regarding the entry of “900 Kuki militants” on September 28 and “unless it is proven wrong it is 100% correct.” The inputs were first shared by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s office with the Director General of Police and the security adviser last week, a copy of the leaked letter showed. A Manipur government source said the security adviser did not say that the inputs shared by the Chief Minister’s office had been verified. “What he meant was that if an information has come from the office of the Chief Minister, it cannot be taken lightly. In the wake of the input, alerts were sent to all district police chiefs and also the Assam Rifles and the Army. Ground units have been asked to check the veracity of the message which specifically mentioned September 28 as the date of entry of Kuki militants from Myanmar,” the source said. The source added that the press conference was convened as the inputs had spread panic among the people in the Valley districts and it was pertinent to provide accurate information to the people. “A narrative was being built that 900 Kuki militants have entered the State, which is not correct. The idea was to assure the people that the security agencies had taken cognisance of the intelligence inputs and steps were being taken on the ground to thwart any such movement if at all it happens. The security adviser’s statement was misinterpreted to state that it was 100% correct that militants have entered from Myanmar,” the source said. The 1,643 km India-Myanmar border runs along the States of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km). In Brief: The Israeli military said on Sunday that it closed the Al Jazeera TV office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, because it incited “terror”. The closure order was signed after a legal opinion and intelligence assessment “determined that the offices were being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger the security and public order in both the area and the State of Israel as a whole,” a military statement said. The Qatar-based news network condemned the raid. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 22 September 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake elected President of Sri Lanka Leftist leader [Anura Kumara Dissanayake]( was on Sunday [declared winner in Sri Lanka’s presidential race]( obtaining a mandate that signals a clean break from the island nation’s political establishment and ushers in unprecedented change. Mr. Dissanayake was officially declared President-elect by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka after it completed a second count of votes, an exercise undertaken for the first time in the country’s election history. The tally of preferential votes cast by voters became necessary since neither Mr. Dissanayake, nor his chief challenger, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, secured the 50% plus one vote in the first round, which is necessary for winning. Mr. Dissanayake secured 42.31% of the votes. Mr. Premadasa was in the second spot with 32.76%, while incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe came third with under 20% of the vote share. The three candidates dominated the election, which was the first to be held after the economic crisis of 2022, the worst seen in the country since its independence. Thirty five other contestants were in the race, including Namal Rajapaksa, son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Tamil candidate P. Ariyanethiran. An opposition legislator from capital Colombo, Mr. Dissanayake ran for the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, a coalition helmed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People’s Liberation Front), a party with Marxist-Leninist roots. “AKD”, as he is popularly known, has pledged to end corruption and change the political culture of the country through an effective campaign targeting scores of Sri Lankans who sought change after the country’s painful economic crash in 2022. Sunday’s poll outcome is a big win for Mr. Dissanayake, with his vote share growing well over tenfold from the 3.16% he secured in 2019, when he challenged Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mr. Premadasa. It marks the first time Sri Lanka’s presidency will be held by a party with no links to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party [SLFP] or the United National Party [UNP] or their offshoots that have dominated the country’s politics for over seven decades. “We stand ready to rewrite Sri Lankan history,” Mr. Dissanayake said in an X post on Sunday evening. “This dream can only be realised with a fresh start. The unity of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and all Sri Lankans is the bedrock of this new beginning. The New Renaissance we seek will rise from this shared strength and vision,” the President-elect, who is due to be sworn in on Monday, said. Indian men and women win maiden Chess Olympiad golds India’s men’s and women’s teams [won gold at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest]( on Sunday. The Indians won the biggest tournament in chess even before the tournament was over. The Indians, seeded second, was assured of the gold after D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, their standout players in the Hungarian capital, won their games in India’s final round match against Slovenia. That meant India would at least draw the match regardless of the games of R. Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi. P. Harikrishna completed the Indian team and he played as the reserve-board player. India’s only rival for the gold, China, could not have caught up with India. This is undoubtedly the best moment ever for India at the Chess Olympiad. Two years ago, India’s second team had won the bronze when the Olympiad was held at Mamallapuram, near Chennai. The Indian women had also won the bronze in that Olympiad. This time they won the gold thanks to victories in the final round for D. Harika, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agrawal in their match against Azerbaijan. In the other game, R. Vaishali drew, as India won 3.5-0.5. GST Council is looking at rates item by item for rationalisation: Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the [Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is looking at the GST rates, item by item, for rationalisation]( and the process was being discussed for a long time and delayed due to several factors including the impact of COVID-19. In an interaction with senior journalists of The Hindu Group of Publications at The Hindu’s head office in Chennai, Ms. Sitharaman, while responding to a question on rationalisation of GST, said: “It has been delayed for a long time and it’s much overdue due to various factors including the impact of COVID-19, election in some States. Now there is the seriousness, saying we need to take this up. The committee [Group of Ministers committee on rate rationalisation] is looking into it item by item.” On a question related to GST compensation and compensation cess, she said “Everyone knows that the GST compensation cannot continue after June 30, 2022, and that is by law. So paying off the compensation in the first five years after implementation of the GST continued and ended in June 2022. The cess continues to be collected. Whether it has to continue or not and the rate and items on which the cess should be levied is being discussed in the GST Council.” According to her, “There are some States that want the GST compensation to continue. But, it cannot continue in the very spirit of how it was brought in. It was introduced to make sure that States don’t have any apprehensions about their revenue resources coming down to a drastically low level and that they cannot sustain themselves, after the implementation of the GST regime.” Ms. Sitharaman also pointed out that the GST compensation scheme was brought in at a fairly high rate. “No State was growing anywhere near 14%. Everybody who analyses the economy will know it. For instance, Tamil Nadu’s growth rate was around 6.5%, before 2017. The State would have earned around ₹4.23 lakh crore. Whereas, the State had earned ₹5.23 lakh crore, because of the compensation scheme and post that because of the GST. You [the State] are better off today. The wild allegations that come about the GST system will have to be countered with patience. But when it comes from a State government, whose Finance Minister is sitting in the [GST] Council, randomly because it politically suits them, I leave it as such. But it has no logic in it.” She said the Constitution gives the Union government every right to levy cesses. “Though the money collected through cesses is not shared with the States directly through devolution, it goes for building roads, schools, ports and hospitals. It is perfectly constitutionally legitimate for the Centre to collect cess. It doesn’t go through the devolution which was designed by the Finance Commission, a constitutional body,” she added. Army seeks information on ‘entry of 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar’ The Army on Sunday, through a social media post, [sought information from Manipur security adviser Kuldiep Singh]( to provide details on intelligence regarding the alleged entry of 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar on September 28. The post on X was later deleted. The post on X by Spear Corps, Indian Army said, “These inputs have very serious security implications and the office of Security Adviser has been requested to share the details so that appropriate necessary action can be taken at the earliest.” A defence source said the inputs were yet to be shared with the Army. Mr. Singh, while addressing a press conference in Imphal on September 20, had said the government was aware of intelligence inputs regarding the entry of “900 Kuki militants” on September 28 and “unless it is proven wrong it is 100% correct.” The inputs were first shared by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s office with the Director General of Police and the security adviser last week, a copy of the leaked letter showed. A Manipur government source said the security adviser did not say that the inputs shared by the Chief Minister’s office had been verified. “What he meant was that if an information has come from the office of the Chief Minister, it cannot be taken lightly. In the wake of the input, alerts were sent to all district police chiefs and also the Assam Rifles and the Army. Ground units have been asked to check the veracity of the message which specifically mentioned September 28 as the date of entry of Kuki militants from Myanmar,” the source said. The source added that the press conference was convened as the inputs had spread panic among the people in the Valley districts and it was pertinent to provide accurate information to the people. “A narrative was being built that 900 Kuki militants have entered the State, which is not correct. The idea was to assure the people that the security agencies had taken cognisance of the intelligence inputs and steps were being taken on the ground to thwart any such movement if at all it happens. The security adviser’s statement was misinterpreted to state that it was 100% correct that militants have entered from Myanmar,” the source said. The 1,643 km India-Myanmar border runs along the States of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km). In Brief: The Israeli military said on Sunday that it closed the Al Jazeera TV office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, [because it incited “terror”](. The closure order was signed after a legal opinion and intelligence assessment “determined that the offices were being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger the security and public order in both the area and the State of Israel as a whole,” a military statement said. The Qatar-based news network condemned the raid. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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