Rajapaksa's opponents win control of key panel in Lankan Parliament
Colombo, Nov 23 : Ousted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe's alliance on Friday won control of a powerful panel in Parliament, dealing a major blow to President Maithripala Sirisena and his prime ministerial appointee Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sirisena's party members walked out of Parliament, which resumed its session on Friday after being adjourned on Monday, protesting against Speaker Karu Jayasuriya's move to appoint five members of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which is led by the President.
The Speaker named five members from the United National Front (UNF) of Wickeremesinghe, and one each from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
This is in continuation of the political unrest plaguing the country since October 26.
Both Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa claim to be the prime ministers. Wickremesinghe says his dismissal is invalid because he still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.
Jayasuriya, at the start of the session, announced that following a meeting of all party leaders which ended without an agreement over the composition of the committee, he had decided to grant five members each to the UPFA and the UNF.
The committee would comprise 12 members, he said. Senior UPFA member Dinesh Gunawardena slammed the speaker's conduct as biased.
"I urge you to recognise us as the government and give us the majority in the select committee.
"We have precedents that even during the minority governments in the past the government had been given majority in the select committee," he said.
Lakshman Kiriella on behalf of the ousted government said that Jayasuriya has declared the members based on two previous votes that there was no government and the purported government does not exist.
Wimal Weerawansa, another Sirisena backer, said that if Jayasuriya was not recognising the government, they would not recognise Jayasuriya as the Speaker.
"We will leave the chamber allowing you to conduct a meeting of the United National Party," Weerawansa said and led Sirisena's side out of the chamber.
Jayasuriya then proceeded to take a vote on his decision on the select committee composition after a vote was moved by JVP's Vijitha Herath.
The proposal was adopted with 121 votes for and nothing against. The members of the UNF, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Tamil National Alliance voted in favour.
Sri Lanka is witnessing a political crisis since President Sirisena abruptly sacked Wickremesinghe on October 26.
Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered snap election. The Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.
Speaker Jayasuriya then ordered a floor test in the 225-member assembly to end the ongoing political crisis, a move which invited the wrath of the government of Rajapaksa.
The UNF has already moved two motions of no trust against Rajapaksa and they are to move a third vote again, perhaps Friday. Rajapaksa, however, has refused to step down.
On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe's party handed Parliament another motion, demanding suspension of funds of all ministry secretaries whom they claim had been illegally appointed since October 26.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
