COLOMBO (News 1st) – President Maithripala Sirisena attended a number of events in Polonnaruwa over the course of today (September 25).

The second phase of the ShilpaSena exhibition series organized by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research was held at the Gal Lella, National Sports Stadium in Polonnaruwa.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held under the auspices of President Maithripala Sirisena.

President noted that there is no provision in the constitution to minimize brain drain which is harmful to the country. He added that engineers tend to migrate over other specialists from various fields. He confirmed his point stating that the country has a deficit of 75% of engineers who are needed to develop the country.

He further added that the Sri Lankan state sector lacks 25% of doctors. He went on to note that most who benefitted from free education have gone overseas forsaking Sri Lanka. He added that if their expertise remained in the country it would be highly beneficial.

He questioned why the brain drain would continue to take place and noted that in order to avoid it Sri Lanka needs to establish a culture which would produce graduate students who don’t protest on the streets.

• Air Force Commander conferred with “Officer of the CISM Order of Merit”
• Police protection only for essential persons
• National Poson Week commences
• Weekly fuel quota increased
• IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura to arrive in Sri Lanka