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News

Sajith against MR’s third term

SajithUnited National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa had pledged to back a people’s struggle to prevent the incumbent president from contesting for a third term.

Mr. Premadasa who was speaking at a programme organised to distribute drinking water to the drought victims in Hambantota said a peoples’ struggle is needed to prevent the incumbent president from contesting for the third term and that he will back such a struggle.

Quoting late President J. R. Jayawardene he said it is not worth allowing a person to hold the executive presidency for the third time if he is not able to fulfill what is expected from him during his first and second terms as the president.

Also he said the constitution in the USA had been amended 27 times since 1789 but these amendments have been made to strengthen democracy and people’s power.

Today he said a question has arisen as to whether the present president is able to contest once again or not. He said some constitutional experts had explained that the incumbent president cannot contest for another term as per the Interpretation Ordinance as the 18th Amendment is not valid for the past.
Mr. Premadasa stressed that referring the matter to the Judiciary would not help considering the event in the recent past. In this context he referred to the episode with regard to former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake whom he said was impeached for not agreeing with the stance of the ruling UPFA on certain matters.

In such a scenario Mr. Premadasa said the best option would be to launch a people’s struggle to prevent any violation of constitution by the present regime. (Yohan Perera)

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

News

Ebola surveillance and contingency planning ongoing in UK

Overall risk of Ebola remains low but robust, well-tested infectious disease systems active permanently in UK.

3d-ebola-virusPublic Health England is continuing to work with government colleagues to ensure the UK remains alert to, and prepared for, the risk of Ebola. The overall risk of Ebola to the UK remains low.

The UK contingency plans for Ebola have always been based on the assumption that there is a low, but nevertheless real, risk of importing a case of Ebola from West Africa. However, it is important to remember that even if a case is identified here, the UK has robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases.

Continue reading >>https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ebola-surveillance-and-contingency-planning-ongoing-in-uk

Source: www.gov.uk

News, SL Media UK

President declares open three MTLs in Kuliyapitiya area

[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Mahindodaya Technological Laboratories (MLTs) built at three schools in the Kuliyapitiya Educational Zone in North Western Province (Wayamba) were vested in the students under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday, 10 September.
The President declared open the MLTs in Kuliyapitiya Kanadulla Dharmaraja Maha Vidyalaya, Baragedera Anagarika Dharmapala Maha Vidyalaya and Bingiriya Sri Saranankara National School respectively. The President was warmly welcomed on arrival by the students, teachers and parents of the schools. After vesting in the laboratories with the students, the President made an inspection tour while looking in to their educational activities. The President also exchanged views with students, teachers and parents at schools.
The President said in Kuliyapitiya that the government is taking measures to upgrade and further improving the education in the country under a proper future plan. This plan is committed to provide benefits of education that is once limited to urban areas to the students in rural areas as well. Addressing those gatherings the President also explained the steps have taken by the government for the future of the students. As a result of this many students from village schools obtain distinctive results in major examinations. The President said that when the present government took over in 2005, the IT literacy was three percent. He emphasised that at present the IT literacy rate is well over 50 percent and further said that he wanted to make it 75 percent soon. The President said only thing that cannot be stolen is education. Therefore he requested the students to become fruitful citizens in the country by obtaining a sound education with the facilities provided by the government.
The programme to build 1000 Mahindodaya Technical Laboratories, is being implemented successfully island wide in order to increase IT literacy and language skills among students. Each laboratory is comprised with a computer lab with 40 computers, language lab with 20 computers, mathematic unit and distant education centre.
Senior Minister S.B. Nawinna, Ministers Bandula Gunawardena, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Johnston Fernando, Salinda Dissanayake and Jayaratne Herath, Parliamentarian Shantha Bandara and Wayamba Chief Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara were among those who joined the President on the occasion.
The residents of those areas who came to know about the President’s arrival in Kuliyapitiya gathered outside the schools. The President did not forget to exchange pleasantries with them.
Pix by: President Media Unit
News, SL Media UK

Indian Defence Secretary calls on the President

[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Indian Defence Secretary Mr. R.K. Mathur made a courtesy call on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Kandy this morning.
Expanding training opportunities, issues related to fishermen, overall defence related matters concerning both countries were discussed between the President and Indian Defence Secretary when he met the President. President Rajapaksa emphasied that he has continuously maintained that cooperation between Sri Lanka and India in the sector of defence which is an important aspect of the strong friendship shared by the two South Asian neighbours.
 
The Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Mr. Y.K. Sinha, Joint Secretary of India’s Ministry of Defence Mr. Ram Suhag Singh and Joint Secretary of India’s Ministry of External Affairs Mrs. Suchitra Durai, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Mrs. Kshenuka Seneviratne and Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera were also present.
Meanwhile the second Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) between the Defence Secretaries of India and Sri Lanka was held in Colombo on 09 October 2014.  Defence Secretary, Shri R.K. Mathur and the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa co-chaired the meeting along with their delegations, comprising officers from the Defence Ministries, External Affairs Ministries and the Armed Forces of both the countries.  During the dialogue, various ongoing defence cooperation initiatives were jointly reviewed and new avenues for cooperation identified.  The regional security situation and issues of maritime security were also discussed at the meeting. The inaugural Annual Defence Dialogue was held at New Delhi on 31 January 2012.
Pix by: Nalin Hewapathirana
UK Community News & Photos

SRI LANKAN GOLFING SOCIETY’s 2014 AUTUMN MEETING

The Autumn Meeting held at Suffolk Golf & Spa Hotel on 26th & 27th September was a complete success and the results were:

Match – Kandy V Colombo held on Saturday 26th was won by Kandy

Individual competition held on 27th – Dukes Court Travel Shield for the Gentlemen Golfers and Spectra Cup for the ladies

Winner of Dukes Court Travel Shield –

20140927_213251

Dr. Veerasiri PUNCHIHEWA


 

 

 

 

 

 

Winner of Spectra Cup –

20140927_213053

Mrs. Shanti SOMARATHNE.

UK Community News & Photos

Hon Ranil Wicramasighne meets NYF UK

National Youth Front UK, the Youth Wing of the United National Party the largest independent political party in Sri-Lanka had a important meeting with the opposition leader Hon. Ranil Wicramasinghe on the 3rd of October in London with the participation of all members and officials of the NYF. The event was organised by the president of the National Youth Front UK Mr Madawa Senanayake and other officials of the NYF.

More photos>>https://www.facebook.com/srilankanspuwath

The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the plan to make UNP victories in the upcoming presidential election in Sri-Lanka which may take place anytime between January and March next year.

The welcome speech was done by Mr Madawa Senanayake who emphasised the importance of a lasting and stable political change in Sri-Lanka for the betterment of the people of our country and confirmed the support of NYF to help UNP win the election with the leadership of Hon Ranil Wicramasighe.

One of the highlights of the meeting was to propose a theme which is hope of Sri-Lanka with the intention of bringing about a UNP government to power to help alleviating poverty, create long term investment opportunities to create sustainable employment for the youth and improve living standards of people. A lack of all of these factors have contributed to under development and the gap between the rich and poor in Sri-Lanka today has widened to an alarming level which may result in many more youth leaving the country and social unrest.

Hon Sagala Rathnayake who is the international affairs secretary of the UNP in his guest speech mentioned that a significant number of educated and qualified youth of Sri-Lanka has left the country because of the social, political and economic reasons who live in countries such as the UK and appreciated their help and support to the UNP. Mr Sagala Rathnayake also stressed the importance of international unity to the political movement of the UNP.

Hon Ranil Wicramasighne gave a short speech during the meeting and said despite any political interference, threat or challenge by the current government of Sri-Lanka, UNP stand a very good chance to win the general elections next year with the support and dedication of all its members and supporters. Mr Wicramasighne also highlighted the importance of getting rid of this regime which has become a barrier to the economic development in Sri-Lanka and said the recent changes that took place within the UNP and the strides UNP took by increasing its vote base in the recently concluded UVA elections have created new hope among people that a new UNP government is imminent.

The meeting which lasted for more than two hours and Hon Ranil Wicramasighne also took the opportunity to talk to each and every official of the NYF and expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to the youth Officials of NYF for their support and dedication to promote UNP to the Sri-Lankan community living in the UK.

Numal Perera the vice president of the NYF UK in his speech thanked the efforts and commitment of Hon Sagala Rathnayake and commended him for a well thought out speech.

Dasitha Gamage who is the chief organiser of NYF UK briefed about various events and activities NYF UK laid out over the last three years and Isuru Ranaweera then offered a trophy and gift to Hon leader.

Overall the event and meeting was a massive success with the participation of over 50 NYF UK officials and many well wishers of the UNP living in the UK

By Indika Cooray

News

No official resignation from SL High Commissioner in UK Chris Nonis; says Cabinet spokesperson

Keheliya RabukwellaCabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the External Affairs Ministry has not yet received a resignation from the Sri Lankan Higher Commissioner to the United Kingdom Dr. Chris Nonis.

Journalists questioned the Cabinet Spokesman on several media reports about the resignation of High Commissioner Chris Nonis.

Later the minister changed the previous reply after contacting External Affairs Minister G.L. Peries.

Journalists also asked the minister who would be the UPFA candidate in the forthcoming Presidential election.

The Minister said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will contest from the UPFA in a forthcoming Presidential election.

Source: Hiru News (Sri Lanka)

Latest Events

KATHINA CEREMONY – 2nd November 2014

KATHINA CEREMONY
KATHINA signifies the traditional end of the Vassa (Rainy) Season pertaining to the Buddha’s own home
ground in Northern India. A Vihara may perform this ceremony only once in any particular year. Kathina
is an auspicious event giving devotees the rare opportunity of offering a Kathina Robe to the Sangha who
have observed the Rainy Retreat (Vassa) at this Vihara. The occasion also gives an opportunity for
practising Dana (generosity) in providing useful requisites to the monks and to the Vihara in general. The
ceremony commemorating this event will be celebrated at the Vihara on Sunday, 02
nd November 2014.

UK Community News & Photos

London Elle Festival & Tug of war– 2014

IMG_8210_1280x853The first ever Elle tournament outside Sri Lanka was organised by Athula Dassana Multi Cultural Buddhist Community Centre in 2012. The Elle Festival was organised for third time on the 24/08/2014 at Little Harlington Playing Fields ground, Heathrow. The Chief organiser of the event was Venerable Wanduramba Kassapa Thero who is the chief incumbent of the Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple. The event concluded successfully with the support of all Sri Lankan residents in and around the London area.

More Photos >>  www.facebook.com/srilankanspuwath

The chief guest of the event was Mayor of Harlington Councillor Catherine Dann. In addition Councillor Dr.Tania Mathias and Councillor Mr.Manjeet Buttar.

Mr.Niranjan Pathirathna from The Sri-Lankan High Commission also resided.

The chief guest specifically commented on the importance of events of this nature, which promoted a national game. The special feature of the event was that it was open to all religious communities without prejudice.

Elle bats and balls were specially made and provided by the Association of Elle, Sri-Lanka.

The Development Lottery Board and Maliban Biscuit of Sri Lanka were the sponsors of the T- Shirts.

Estetica Dental Clinic sponsored the caps which highlighted the Logo of Athula Dasssana Multi Cultural Buddhist Community Centre. This is the Charity under which The Athula Dassana Buddhist Temple is governed.

Mr BandaraWekadapola who is a former Sri Lankan police Rugby player and Rugby Referee of London Society organised and managed the tournament on the day. Mr B. Wekadapola and Mr. Newmal Perera refereed the competition. Ten teams participated and  ‘London Eagles’ became the champions.

The Tug of War Competition was judged by Mr.Terence Spoorc – Vice President of the Tug of War UK ( Middlesex ). ‘Black Court Security’  were the champions the  of Tug of War.

There were many events for the children at The London Elle festival.

The Co-Sponsors of the Elle event were UK Cargo – Mr Indunil Wijenayaka, Tarrin Constantine Associates.Media coverage for the event was provided by the newspaper Ceylon UK – Mr Ranga Ranasinghage. Other sponsors were Mr.Uditha Senanayake from Vonmack, Mr. Chanuka Samarakoon, Mr. Nilantha Kuruppuarachchige and TILLMAX company.

All who participated the event had an opportunity to experience various Sri Lankan food items, such as Kotthu, Biriyani, Hoppers, short eats , drinks and other Sri Lankan Sweets.  A Sri-Lankan craft and nik naks stall raised funds for the ADMCBCC Charity (No: 1155139).

The finale of the festival gave the visitors a taste of Sri-Lankan music.

The support provided by all organisations, members of the committee and devotees of the temple which consisted of more than 600 Sri Lankans was very much appreciated by Ven Wanduramba Kasspa Thero. We hope that the support given for this event will continue in promoting Sri Lankan traditional events in London in the future.

Reported by Pushpika Sugandi Ekanayaka    

News, SL Media UK

President declares open Veressa River walking tracks

[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
The Veressa River walking tracks, an area for jogging and exercising was officially declared open for the use of the public by President Mahinda Rajapaksa last evening (09 August).

The area affiliated to the Veressa River in Bellanwila and Attidiya, located along the main road between the Bellanwila Raja Maha Vihara and the Pillewa Vihara.
While urban regeneration is the common theme of all development projects, the Government at the same time intends to further develop Colombo and beautifying the surroundings of the Colombo by creating new space. As such, efforts have been made to develop the Veressa River area and other such segments of the town as pedestrian friendly, picturesque localities with space for the people. This was also conducted under the intention of uplifting the character of the town as a green, clean and urban environment. The programme was initiated under the Colombo Development project with the support of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Authority.
In the past this area was a marshy and unclean site and with an unbearable unpleasant smell emanating from it. The entire area has been fully developed as an environment friendly location under the guidance and instructions of Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The marshy land has been developed with the construction of a pleasant reservoir as a solution to the frequent flood situation experienced in the area. Jogging footpaths have been constructed in the area.
There are also lanes to ride bicycles and engage in physical exercises adding a novel experience to the people. Recent developments have made the area around this part of the river what it is now with the river’s perimeter cleared of brush and widened for quite a breathtaking view of the water. Along the length of the public walk, people are spoilt for choice when it comes time for a breather, with ample number of benches facing the rippling stream. And yet, some prefers to lie in the cool grass or laze on the large stone stairwell that leads down to the river.
The space, symbolically welcomes the discerning. One could call this the green zone, it is lush with greenery for one thing, and it is amidst a bustling town. People needed this as it is a prototypical setting, and folks will come here for refreshment, to simplify the challenges of the mundane. The nurturing combination of the water, the walkway, the trees, the grass and the pedestrian crossing take you from busy to benevolent.
Therefore the new development programme will lead to endowing to the future generation in the area which is also a paradise of many local and migrant birds.
Pix by: Sudath Silva
News, SL Media UK

Forward march of the government for the welfare of common masses will not be halted- President Rajapaksa

[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
 
“This government is committed to provide benefits to all segment of the society and did not limit its service to a particular class of people worked to achieve set targets. Therefore we will never stop the targeted forward march for the welfare of common masses” said President Rajapaksa. 

The President made these remarks at a ceremony held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium to distribute ‘Ranbima’ title deeds on 19 August. Around 1500 landless families that had lived for long in government owned lands, received Ranbima deeds from the President. This event was organised by the Land Reform Commission (LRC). It has granted over 50,000 title deeds for such families since 2007. 

Addressing the ceremony, the President said obtaining ownership of a plot of land is a significant moment for anyone. It would help the people to utilise them with dignity and pride because some have been awaiting ownership of land for three decades. According to the Mahinda Chinthana, it had been scheduled to offer land ownership to one million landless families. 

The President further said that land value is increasing significantly owing to the ongoing infrastructure development and requested all the recipients to get the best use of their lands. The fertile agricultural lands immensely contribute to the country’s economic stability and therefore asked them to manage their lands productively to simultaneously enhance their livelihoods and increase contribution to the national agricultural output. The President urged recipients of land deeds to cultivate more local crops in their lands to meet both their needs and that of the country. 

The president further said that the government’s next target is to provide pure drinking water to each and every household in the country. This will also be achieved without delay. Sri Lanka’s literacy rate on IT has been praised by the international community. Due to this achievement Government of France has donated a sum of one million US dollars to expand Nenasala IT teaching programme. 

The present government never does anything for political gain or for attracting votes. Everything is done to a proper plan, a set target and with a result oriented vision. Therefore the present government which aims to bring benefit to the masses would not be halted for any reason,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. 

Chairman of the LRC, Nimal Punchihewa and Director General Harigupta Rohanadheera also addressed the ceremony. 

Venerable Maha Sangha, Minister S.B.Dissanayake, Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharana, Governor of the Western Province Alewi Maulana, Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga were present. 

Pix by: Sudath Silva

 

News

37 Lankans trapped in Iraq brought back

glThirty seven Sri Lankans, initially believed to be held hostage by Iraqi rebels will be brought back to Sri Lanka today, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said.

He told Daily Mirror that the Sri Lankans had worked in an area controlled by rebels, they were not held hostage though earlier believed to have been so. He said the Sri Lankan authorities were able to secure escape from the rebel-held areas with the support of Kurdish authorities.(Kelum Bandara)

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

 

SL Media UK, Sports

What a fitting tribute to Sri Lanka cricket legend Mahela

[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Sri Lanka bade farewell to their former test and ODI captain Mahela Jayawardena this morning (18 August) as he helped his side to win the second test and the series 2-0 against Pakistan in Colombo. He scored 54 runs in his final inning of test cricket. President Mahinda Rajapaksa also graced the occasion to witness Sri Lanka’s cricket legend’s final hours of play in test cricket at SSC grounds.
Spectators were let into the ground for free this morning on the final day to witness one of their prolific batsmen, Mahela’s last test appearance as Sri Lanka won the match by 105 runs in the second and final test against Pakistan. The firecrackers were set alight the moment Rangana Herath grabbed the final wicket, his 14th in the match setting a perfect farewell for Mahela. Sentiment ran high as Mahela was carried around the ground by his team mates on their shoulders, in presence of his family, team-mates – current and former, among the hundreds of fans who had come over to say their goodbyes to the legend. The Pakistan team, led by their coach former Pakistani captain and fast bowling legend Waqar Younis, joined in congratulating the batsman.
Sri Lanka batting first scored 320 runs for their first innings and 282 runs for the 2nd innings. Pakistan scored 332 runs in their first innings and all out for 165 runs in their 2nd innings. Sri Lanka’s slow left arm orthodox bowler Rangana Herath named as the player of the match for his career-best match-haul of 14 wickets for 184 runs and also won the player of the series award for taking 23 wickets in the two test match series.
Sri Lanka cricket legend former captain Mahela Jayawardena played 149 tests matches and scored 11,814 runs in 252 innings. His highest score in an inning is 374. He also maintained a 50 percent average in batting. He had scored 34 centuries and 50 half centuries and taken 202 catches in the matches. He played his debut test against India at R.Premadasa Stadium in 1997 and rendered his service for the team for 17 years. He bade farewell for the T-20 cricket just after Sri Lanka winning the last ICC T-20 World Cup in Bangladesh and hereafter he will play only for the One Day International Cricket until 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia.
President Rajapaksa exchanged pleasantries with the players of both teams and congratulated the Sri Lankan team for their series win. The president also presented a memento to Mahela Jayawardena for the excellent service rendered for Sri Lanka Cricket to achieve many goals in the international cricket arena.
Chief selector of Sri Lanka Cricket Sanath Jayasuriya MP, parliamentarians Namal Rajapaksa and J Sri Ranga, Chairman Sri Lanka Cricket Jayantha Dharmadasa and Secretary Nishantha Ranathunga were also present at the occasion.
Pix by: Nalin Hewapathirana
News, SL Media UK

බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ ටැක්සි ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තයට තල්ලුවක් දෙයි

[ජනක අලහප්පෙරුම ලන්ඩනයේ සිට]
ලන්ඩනය, බර්මින්හැම් සහ මැන්චෙස්ටර් යන බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ ප්‍රධානම නගර තුනක ටැක්සි 300ක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අසිරිය විදහාපාන අලංකාර ඡායාරුප ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරමින් මෙරට සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය නගාසිටුවීමට ඉදිරිපත් වී තිබේ. ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යංශයේ මග පෙන්වීම යටතේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක ප්‍රවර්ධන කාර්යාංශය මෙහෙයවීමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය ලොව පුරා ප්‍රචලිත කිරීමේ ප්‍රචාරණ ක්‍රියාවලියේ මුල් පියවරක් ලෙස බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය, ප්‍රංශය, ජර්මනිය, ජපානය සහ කොරියාව යන රටවල සංචාරකයින් ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීමට ගත් පියවරක බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය ඉලක්ක කරමින් ගෙන යන ප්‍රචාරක කටයුත්තේ එක් අංගයක් ලෙස මෙය නම් කල හැකිය.
මෙමගින් එංගලන්තයේ අනෙකුත් ප්‍රධාන නගරද ආවරණය වන පරිදි ලන්ඩනය, බර්මින්හැම් සහ මැන්චෙස්ටර් යන නගර මුල් කරගෙන එක් නගරයකට ටැක්සි 100 බැගින් පුරා සති 12ක්  මුළුල්ලේ මෙලෙස ටැක්සි භාවිතා කරමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ජනතාව අතර ප්‍රචලිත කිරීමට කටයුතු සැලසුම් සකසමින් තිබේ.  ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක ප්‍රවර්ධන ආයතනය මෙම ප්‍රචාරණ කටයුත්ත සඳහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ මීඩියා ඒජන්සි ගෘප් නමැති දැන්වීම් ප්‍රචාරක ආයතනයක් සමග ගිවිසුමකට එළඹ ගෙන ඇත.
එම දැන්වීම් ප්‍රචාරක ආයතනය සඳහන් කර තිබුනේ අගෝස්තු 11 දින සිට ආරම්භ කරන මෙම ප්‍රචාරක කටයුත්ත මගින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආකර්ශනීය සංචාරක මර්මස්ථාන නිරුපනය කරන දර්ශනීය ඡායාරුප බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ජනතාවගේ ඇස ගැටීමට සලස්වන බවයි. “ශ්‍රී ලංකා 2014 අ ජර්නි අවෙයිට්ස්- ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරයකට පැමිණෙන්න” ලෙස ඇරයුම් කෙරෙන තේමාවක් යටතේ නම් කර ඇති මෙම ප්‍රචාරණ කටයුත්ත මගින් බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ ප්‍රධාන නගර තුනක අති විශාල ජනතාවක් අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය පිළිබඳව ලබා දෙන පණිවිඩය මගින් යහපත් ප්‍රතිඵල ලැබෙනු ඇති බවත් මෙය ඉතාමත්ම සාර්ථක ප්‍රචාරණ මාධ්‍යයක් බවත් මීඩියා ඒජන්සි ගෘප් ආයතනයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී ලී ඩෙන්ටිත් මහතා පැවසිය. මෙමගින් ටැක්සි වල ගමන් කරන මගීන්ටත්, පාරේ එහා මෙහා යන අනෙකුත් වාහන වල යන ජනතාවටත්, පදිකයින්ටත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය පිළිබඳව කිසියම් හෝ පණිවුඩයක් ලබාදීම මෙමගින් අපේක්ෂා කරන බවත් ඔහු වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කළේය.ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක ප්‍රවර්ධන ආයතනය පසුගිය මාර්තුවේද මේ ආකාරයටම ජර්මනියේ බර්ලින් නගරය මුලික කරගෙන ටැක්සි භාවිතයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය නාග සිටුවීමට අවශ්‍ය ප්‍රචාරණයක් ලබා දීමට කටයුතු කර තිබුණි. මීට ප්‍රථම ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් සේවයත් ලන්ඩනයේ ටැක්සි භාවිතා කරමින් මෙවැනිම ප්‍රචාරණ කටයුත්තක නියැළුණි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වභාවික පරිසර අලංකාරය, රමණිය මුහුදු තිරය, ඓතිහාසික නටබුන් සහ සිද්ධස්ථාන, වන ජීවින්, ආයුර්වේදය ආදී විවිධ  මාතෘකා නිරුපනය කෙරෙන ආකර්ශනීය ඡායාරුප ඇලවූ ටැක්සි එංගලන්තයේ විදි පුරා, නගර හරහා ඇදී යන දර්ශනය කාගේත් අවධානයටත් ආකර්ෂණයටත් ලක්වී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තයට සවියක් වේ යයි කාගේත් පැතුමයි.පසුගිය වසර දෙකහමාර තුන ඇතුලත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කීර්තිනාමයට හානිවන බොහෝ දේ සිදුවෙද්දී එයට ප්‍රතිචාර වශයෙන් අර්ථවත්, හරවත් උපායශීලි ලෙසින් කිසිවක් සිදු නොවුණු වකවානුවක ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යංශයත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචාරක ප්‍රවර්ධන ආයතනයත් මැදිහත් වී කරන මෙම ප්‍රචාරක කටයුත්තෙන් හෝ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට කිසියම් යහපත් ප්‍රචාරණයක් ලැබුනහොත් එය පොදුවේ රටටත් සංචාරක කර්මාන්තයේ වර්ධනයටත් සෙතක් වනු ඇත.
  ඡායාරුප: ප්‍රනීත් හෙට්ටිආරච්චි
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Annual Sri Dalada Perahara comes to an end Diyawadana Nilame hands over the Sannasa to the President

[By Janaka Alahapperuma]
Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela handed over the Sannasa this afternoon (11 August) to President Mahinda Rajapaksa informing the successful completion of the Kandy Sri Dalada Esala Perahera-2014 at the President’s House, Kandy. The final Randoli Perahera of the annual Esala Perahera Festival that centres the Dalada Maligawa paraded the streets magnificently last night on Nikini Full Moon Poya Day. The Perahera concluded today morning with the water cutting Day Perahera parading on the streets. 

According to the traditional customs, Diyawadana Nilame (Chief Custodian) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth Relic) accompanied by the Basnayaka Nilames of the main four Devalayas reported the successful completion of the annual Esala Maha Perahera of the Maligawa and the four Devalayas. The Sannasa- Perahera Report (Scroll of Memorandum) formally announces to the President that the Annual Esala Perahera was held successfully in keeping with the age old traditions. The President thereafter handed over the Sannas Pathraya to the secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga entered the shrine room with the Nilames and made offerings to the Lord Buddha.
A traditional ceremony was held under the patronage of the President to present awards and certificates of appreciation to artistes who participated in the Perahera. Speaking at the ceremony, President Rajapaksa extended his profound thanks on behalf of the Government and the people of Sri Lanka, to all those who were involved in the conduct of the Dalada Perahera in such grandeur and its successful conclusion. The President noted that the Esala Perahera began during the time of King Sri Kithsirimewan in the 10th Century AD to honor the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha as Sri Lanka’s main cultural event and thanked Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela and the Basnayake Nilames of the Devala’s for conducting the Perahera in accordance with the unique traditions.
The President also said that his Government which has realised the responsibility of protecting and nurturing the Buddha Sasana in the country will continue to help develop Buddhist Vihara’s and other Buddhist shrines for the development and sustenance of Buddha Sasana.
The President also presented certificates to the artistes who performed in the Perahera. The once in a lifetime Presidential award and cash prizes were presented to few selected artistes while many outstanding artistes and dance troupes were also presented certificates and cash prizes. Merit certificates were presented to artistes and all other special artistes were felicitated.
The President also posed for a group picture with the Basnayake Nilames. The President and the First Lady thereafter gave food to two baby elephants, Mihin Raja and Abhaya Raja which are belongs to the Dalada Maligawa.
First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Governor of the Central Province Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, Chief Minister of the Central Province Sarath Ekanayake, Kandy Mayour Mahendra Ratwatte, Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, District Secretary of Kandy Gamini Seneviratne and many distinguish invitees were present at the ceremony.
Pix by: Sudath Silva
News

Anura reveals names of relatives in Foreign Service

While criticizing the country’s foreign policy JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday revealed names of relatives of government politicians and henchmen in the Foreign Service.

Speaking in Parliament he also said that Sri Lanka’s Foreign Service has become a branch of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party because of these appointments and also revealed that most of the appointments had been made based on relationship and not based on education qualifications.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
The full list is as follows:

relation-ship-list

News

New passport pass-back service for UK visa applicants in SL

John Rankin_CIThe British High Commission in Colombo today announced the launch of a passport pass-back service for UK visa applicants applying at the visa application centre in Colombo from August 11, 2014.

Passport pass-back is a user-pay service that enables customers to retain their passport for the majority of the application processing period. Such an option will be useful for frequent travellers, particularly business visitors, holiday-makers planning tours around multiple countries, and settlement applicants. The cost to applicants will be additional LKR 9,400 (at current exchange rates); payable at the point they submit their application at the Visa Application Centre in Colombo. This is the first time such an option has been available to Sri Lankan travellers.

Customers applying for visit, employment or student visas will need to submit their passports within 10 working days of applying for their visa. Those customers applying under the settlement route will need to submit their passports within 4 weeks of notification.

This new service will not be available to applicants who want to apply under the UK’s Priority Visa service or Business Express Program.

John Rankin, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka said:

“The passport pass-back service will be welcomed by frequent travellers from Sri Lanka. This will help travellers to plan their itineraries and obtain other visas in a more efficient way. I am pleased that UK Visas have launched this traveller-friendly service in Sri Lanka, giving local travellers the opportunity to enjoy the same facilities as their other South Asian counterparts.”

Thomas Greig, Regional Director Central Asia, South Asia and Turkey, UK Visas and Immigration:

“Following our continuous efforts of delivering better customer services, I am delighted that the passport pass-back service is now available in Sri Lanka. While we remain committed to offering the fastest possible delivery time, this service is being offered to enable our customers to have more flexibility when applying for their visa to the UK. This service will benefit some of our key business visitors and tourism customers.

We will continue to listen and respond to the needs of high-value Sri Lankan customers so that we can provide them with a service that supports economic growth, while at the same time maintain the security of our borders.”

Further Information:

1.    The passport pass-back service is an optional service and incurs an additional fee.

2.    The fee for the passport pass-back is £40 including taxes or LKR 9,400, plus the standard fee for the type of visa being applied for.

3.    Further information about the fees, eligibility criteria and how to schedule an appointment are available at www.vfs-uk-sl.com (additional services)

4.    This new service is not available to applicants who have already applied under the Priority Visa service or Business Express Program as the turnaround time for these categories is very short.

5.    Applicants who have already lodged an application before 11th August will not be able to retrospectively access this service.

6.     How To Apply.  Applicants are required to complete an application form and book an appointment online to attend the Visa Application Centre (VAC). If the applicant wishes to pay for this service, they can notify the VAC staff on arrival or pay online at the VFS shopping cart prior to arriving at the VAC.

7.     Additional Document Copies: Applicants can choose to use the photocopy service at the VAC (at an extra cost) or submit their own copies of the passports that meet the following criteria:
Copy of the passport in either colour or black and white, on white paper min 60 gsm, photocopied 600 dpi minimum, actual size without any reduction or magnification, and orientated in landscape.

If applicants choose to submit their own copies, the VFS staff will check the pages against the original Passport to ensure it is a true and accurate copy.

8. Tracking Of PPB a Application: When the application has been submitted and all appropriate fees have been paid, a barcode sticker will be placed on the cover of the passport and the passport will then be returned to the applicant.  The applicant will need to sign that they accept the terms of the service on payment of the service and agree not to remove the barcode which has been placed on the passport.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

News

Sri Lankan cyclists spark police scramble after riding on M74 on Wednesday

glasgow 2014Avoiding long-haul truckers, slow-moving caravans and tractors is not many people’s idea of the ideal warm-up for a Commonwealth Games  time trial.

But that is exactly what the four members of Sri Lanka’s cycling team were confronted with on Wednesday when they decided to go on a training ride down one of Scotland’s busiest motorways.

Continue Read >>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/commonwealthgames/10985967/Commonwealth-Games-2014-Sri-Lankan-cyclists-spark-police-scramble-after-riding-on-M74-on-Wednesday.html

Source: The Telegraph (UK)

News

Protest on Lanka cleared by Glasgow

CWOrganisers of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow today admitted they had decided to allow a Tamil group to protest outside the venue against Sri Lanka.

Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg said that there was a Tamil protest outside Celtic Park ahead of the opening ceremony against the inclusion of Sri Lanka in the event.

“We’ve made a very strong commitment to allow peaceful protests. The feedback we received last night from Tamil protesters was they were happy with the opportunity,” the Independent quoted Grevemberg as saying.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had earlier pulled out of the opening ceremony of the Games following security concerns. Meanwhile President Rajapaksa, as the Chair in Office of the Commonwealth, has conveyed his warm greetings to the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation His Royal Highness Prince Tunku Imran for the 20th Commonwealth Games that got under in Glasgow, Scotland, yesterday.

“These Games are a unique feature in the Commonwealth calendar, bringing together athletes from across its regions into one arena,” President Rajapaksa said in the message. “Aptly called the ‘Friendly Games,’ they are a symbol of the camaraderie and unity among the diverse Commonwealth family.”

While conveying his best wishes to all the teams participating in the Games, the President also pointed out that athletes who excel at the Commonwealth Games often go on to distinguish themselves on a wider international platform such as the Olympics. In the message to Prince Imran, President Rajapaksa also commented on the significance of sports as a healer.

“The Games also stand out in their significance to the people of the Commonwealth due to the importance of sports as a healer,” the President said. “We, in Sri Lanka, are particularly cognizant of this aspect of the Games, as sports continue to play a crucial role in fostering reconciliation and unity amongst the people, with the country having recently emerged from the shackles of terrorism.”

Source: Colombo Gazette

News

MR wants world leaders to see SL’s reality

Mahinda RPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday said he wishes to see more foreign leaders visiting his country to experience the island’s post conflict progress.
Rajapaksa commented on the progress of the country while receiving the Prime Minister of Portugal, Pedro Passos Coelho. The Portuguese leader arrived here on a two-day visit.
The president also explained the successful military campaign which ended the three-decade-long separatist movement by the LTTE.
“It would take time to heal the wounds of war because a lot of young people died from the south and the north,” Rajapaksa said, adding the visits by foreign leaders were important.
He said the war devastated north had recorded over 20 per cent growth highlighting the government’s development work in rebuilding the infrastructure.
The LTTE was defeated in a military campaign in 2009, ending a nearly three decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
UK Community News & Photos

Vas Aradhana And Katina Ceremony – 2014

Kathina, today, is celebrated as the largest alms giving festival of the Buddhist world. Heathrow Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple is currently taking part in a Vassa (rainy season). The season lasts for three month, at the end of this season there is a Katina festival.

The Vas Aradhana at Heathrow Temple (Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple) was performed on 12th July 2014, on the Esala Full Moon Poya Day by Dr. Nishani with staff of Estetica Dental, Mr. Seevali Liyadipita, Mrs. Iranganee Samarakoon, Mrs. Piyumika Jayasena and Mr. Chandraguptha together with the other lay devotees of the temple.

They invited Most Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa Thero, chief Incumbent of the temple to reside in the temple during the rainy (Vassa) season and assured to provide the basic requisites during the three months from the Full Moon of August to Full Moon of November.

The rainy season in India start in July and continues for about three months. At the time of Buddha there were 62 religions in India and most of these religions practised non-violence to the extreme. During the rainy season when monks were going out for alms (Pindapatha), those people complained to Buddha that the monk were threading on the tender grass and worms and other small creatures in the mud, thus causing harm to them. The Buddha who respected other religions, advised the monks to spend the rainy retreat staying in one place, focusing on the advancement of spiritual development as well as for the benefit of the society.

At the end of the rainy season Kathina Ceremony is held by the lay devotees to express their gratitude to the Sanga by offering the Katina robe and other requisites. This year Kathina Ceremony takes place in HeathrowAthulaDassanaTemple on 02nd and 3rd of November 2014.

UK Community News & Photos

පොසොන් සැමරුම @ Sheffield, United Kingdom

බුදුරජානන් වහන්සේගේ උතුම් වු ශ්රි සත්ධර්මය රෑගේන මිහිදු මහ රහතන් වහන්සේ ඈතුලු ධර්මදුත පිරිවර අනුරාධපුර මිහින්තලයට වෑඩමකිරිම මීට වසර 2300කට පෙර පොසොන් පොහොයදිනක සිදුවුනි. දෙවන පෑතිස්ස රජ සමයේ සිදුවු මහින්දාගමනය මෙරට ඉතිහසය නව පරිච්ජේදයකට යොමු කල අර්ථාන්විත සමාජ ක්රමයක පදනම දෑම්මෙය. භික්ෂු,භික්ෂුණි , උපාසක,උපාසීකා ලෙස බේදිගොස් රට පුරා බුදුදහමේ අර්ථය ගල ගීයේය. ඒය කෙතරම් වෑදගත් ද යත් මිහිදු හිමියන් අනුබුදු ලේසින් වවහාර කරමින් ලක්දේරණේ නිර්මල බුදු දහම දිවිහිමියේන් මේතාක් කාලයක් සුරෑකුයේ වලාකුළෙන් මිදුණු අහසේ බබළන පූර්ණ චන්ද්රයා ලෙසිනි.

අපගේ බොද්ධ සිරිත් විරිත් හා සදහම් රසය ඉදිරි පරම්පරාවට දායද කිරිම අරමුනුකර ගනිමින්, ලංකාවේන් ඉතා බෑහෑරව ජිවත් වන Sheffield ශ්රිලංකිය සෑදහෑවතුන් තෙවන වරටත් සංවිධනය කරන ලද පොසොන් සෑමරුම මේවරත් Sheffield හා ඒ අවට වෙසෙන බෑතිමතුන් රෑසකගේ දායකත්වයේන් හා Manchester කෙතුමති විහාරස්ථානයේ ස්වාමින් වහන්සේලාගේ සහභාගිත්වයේන් අති උත්කර්ෂවත් ලේස පසුගිය ජුලී මස 5 වන සෙනසුරාද දින Sheffield බොද්ධ මධයස්ථානයේදී පෑවෑත්වීනී..
Sheffield පුරවරයේ ඉතා නිශ්කලංක ප්රදෙශයක පිහිටි මේම රමණීය බොද්ධ මධ්යස්ථානය පෑමිනෙන්නන්ගේ මහත් ආකර්ශනයට ප්රත්ර වීණි. ප්රධාන ශාලවේ පසක අම්ඹස් තල අනුරුව දෑකුම්කලුව නිමවා තිබිනි. මිහිදු හිමියන් ඈතුලු දුත පිරිස කුලුනු නෙතු අරා වෑඩ සිතින අකරයක්ද, දොහොත් මුදුන් දී වෑද ගත් දේවාම් පියතිස්ස රජතුමා ද , මරණයේන් ගෑල්වූ මුව පොව්වා ගේ සනුකම්පිත දසුනක් අප හිත්තුල සෑබෑවින්ම සලිතවිණී. කුඩා දරුවන් විසින් අලංකාර කරන ලද පහන් කුඩු ලෙලදිමින් අසිරිමත් දසුනක් ඒක් කලේය. සුමාල්, කෙවින් ඈතුලු තරුණ කෑල ඉතා ලහි ලහියේ සංවිධනත්මකව සෑරසීලි හා අනේකුත් සුදානම් කර ගන්න ආකරයක් අපට දිස්විය
මේ වෑඩසටහන සදහා Manchester සිට වෑඩමවු කේතුමති විහාරයේ , විහාරදිපති පුජ්ය පිදිවිල්ලේ පියතිස්ස නායක හිමි, අනුරධපුර කටුකෑලියාව භික්ෂු පුහුණු මධයස්ථානවාසී පුජ්ය හල්මිල්ලෑවේ සද්ධාතිස්ස හිමි, කේතුමති විහාරස්ථානවාසී පුජ්ය ගල්පොත්තයායේ ප්රේමානන්ද හිමි , පුජ්ය හල්පොත්තයායේ සීවලී හිමි යන ගරු ස්වාමින්වහන්සේලා පෑමිනි සිටි පිරිස තෙරුවන් පිහිටුවීමේන් හා බුද්ධ පුජා, මල් පහන් පුජ කිරිමේන් අනතුරුව, සාංගීක දානයක් ද පිලිගෑන්විනී. දනය සංවිධන කටයුතු කිරිමට මුලික වු ශාන්තා ලියනගේ හා මංගලිකා ජයවර්ධන මහත්මියන්, චරිත් අබේරත්න මහත්මා ගේ මහගු පරිශමය අගය කලයුතුය.

ඉන් අනතුරුව අනුරධපුර කටුකෑලියාව භික්ෂු පුහුණු මධයස්ථානවාසී පුජ්ය හල්මිල්ලෑවේ සද්ධාතිස්ස හිමි, යන් විසින් දේශනා කරන ලද ධර්මදේශනය වඩාත් වෑදගත් වුයේ පොසොන් පොහොයේ අර්ථවත් කම හා ධර්ම මර්ගාවබොදයේ වටිනාකම පෙන්වාදේන හරවත් සමබර ධර්ම දේශනවක් පෑවෑත්වීමෙණි. ධර්ම දේශනය අවසන් වුයේ සේත් පිරිත් සජ්ජායනවකිනි..

සෙනුරී හා ෂෙහාන් තීත්තගල යන දරුවන් නාට්යමය ආරකින් පොසොන් පුරාවත පණපෙවිම සෑමදේනාගේම අවධානයට ලක්වුණී. අනතුරුව බෑතිගී සරණිය ආරම්භ වුයේ හසීනි ලියනගේ,සදලි රොඩ්රිගො, ජයනි විජේකොන් හා හේෂදු දේවසුන්දර යන සිගිත්තන්ගේ කන්කලු ගයනයකිනි. ලන්කාවේන් බෑහෑරව ජිවත් වුවද, දෙමාපිය අභාෂය තුලින් ලත් මේ දරුවන්ගේ සහජ හෑකියාව පෑමිනසිටි සෑවොගේම පුදුමයට පත් කෙරුණේ අපගේ උරුමය අනගතයට දායාද වන සලකුනු වල පෙරනිමිත්තක් පසක් කරව්ම්නී.

බෑතීගී සරණිය හුදේක් වෙනස් වුයේ තරුණයන් විසින්ම නිර්මාණය කරන ලද නව ගීත තුනක් මේහිදි ඒලිදෑක්විම නිසාවේනී, කොළඹ මියුසීයස් විදුහලේ ඉගනුම ලබන මද්රිරි පෙරමුණුගම විසින් රචිත “පෙරදින වෙසගේ” ගීතයද, Cranfield විශ්වවිද්යලයේ ඉගනුම ලබන බුද්ධී මනුරංග මහිපාල වීසීන් රචිත “සදහම් සිසිල” යන ගීතයන්ට සංගීත සංකලනයේන් සුමාල් කේෂව හා ලයාන් ආසිරි බන්ඩාර විජේකොන් දායකවීණ. . ගියවර ඒලිදෑක්වු “වීත රාගී බුදුපියානණි” ගීතයට සංගීතය හා පදරචනය කලේ ලයාන් ආසිරි බණ්ඩාර විජේකොන් විසිනි. අමතර සංගිත උපකරන හා උපදේස් සෑපයිමේන් ජේම්ස් ජයවර්ධන අපට අත්වෑලක් දුන්හ. ගායනයේන් සහභගී වු පානිනී රොද්රිගො,සාන්තා ලියනගේ, නිදර්ශා විජේකොන්(Manchester), වින්ද්යා සෙව්වන්දී (Leeds),ශිරොමි අපොන්සු(London), මංගලිකා ජයවර්ධන , සුමාල් කේෂව හා Stoke on Trent සිට පෑම්ණී දුලිප ජයසුන්දර, දුස්මන්ත හේනානයක,මිතිල වනසිංහ, කුමුදුනි ජයසුන්දර යන පින්වතුන්ය. අසන්නන්ගේ සිත් සමවෙදි බක්තියේන් ප්රබොදමත් වුයේ පෑයක පමණ කලයක් නිමේෂයක් මේන් නොදෑනුවත්වම ගේවෙමිනී. ගිතයේන් ගිතයට අසන්නන් ප්රිතියේන් අශිර්වාද ප්රකාශ කරන ආකරය දක්නට ලෑබිණි, ඒමෙන්ම බොහො දෙනා පොත් පිංචක් අත හොවා ඒ දෙස බලමින් ගයනයට සහයොගි විය.

මේම උලෙලට සහයොගය දෑක්වීමක් ලෙස Sheffield නගරයේන් දුරස්ව පිහිටී ලන්ඩන් නුවර ශ්රීලන්කා මහ කොමසාරිස් කර්යාලයේ නියොජනයේන් පෑමිනී සේපාල රත්නායක මහතා මෙවෑනි උත්සව සංවිධානය කිරිමේ වෑදගත්කම හා බොද්ධ සමජ චාරිත්ර අනගත පරපුරට දායද කිරිමේ වෑදගත් කම අගයමින් සංවිධායකයන් දිරිමත් කරමින් කෙට් දේශනයක් පෑවෑත් විය.

Sheffield නගරයේ කවුන්සලය නියොජනය කරමින් පෑම්ණි Sarah Jane Smalley මහත්ම්ය, මේම උත්සවය සතුටින් රස වින්ද බවත් ලංකාවේ බොද්ධ සංකෘතිය අංග මේහි පෑවෑතිවිම ගෑන අඩම්බර වන බවත් පෑවසිය.

මනා හසලත්වයක් පිලිබිබු කරමින් ස්තුති කථාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කලේ තවීදු ලියනගේ පුතු විසින්ය.මේ සියල්ල අතර තුර නිහඩවම ඒ හෑම සිදුවිමක්ම කාච්යට හසු කරමින් ඉතා මහත් සේවයක් සෑපයු ජයවන් විජේකොන් හා තුෂාර දේවසුන්දර සොහොයුරන්ද අගය කල යූතුමය.

ඉන් අනතුරුව පෑමිනි සිටි සියල්ල බත් දන්සල බුක්ති විදිමට ආරාධනා ලෑබිණී, මවුබිමේන් ඒතෙර දුරු රටක වුවද දේශිය රස වට්ටොරුවකට නිර්මංශ දානයක් ලෙස සෑකසු මේම බත් දන්සලට Sheffield හි වෙසෙන දායක පිරිස්ගේ ඉතා නොමසුරු දායකත්වය අප අගය කල යුතු වන්නේ ශුද්ධා සිත් පෙරදෑරිකරගත් ලංකිකයන් දන් දීමේහි මහත් සේ පුරුදු වු ජාතියක් වන බව නොවඩුව පසක් කරමිනි.නම් වශයේන්, රංග තේනුවර,පානිනී,ෂිරොමි රොද්රිගො,ජයන්ති සිල්වා, ලාලි සහ උපාලී ,මංගලිකා , ගයත්රී,සෙව්වන්දි,කුමුදිතා, උදය,කාවින්දී සහ සම්පත්,මහේෂ්, අයොමි සහ රකීත,අච්නි සහ තරීදු,තිරුනී සහ හසිත,දිනේෂ් , මිනොෂා, කසුන්, චරිත් යන පින්වතුන්ය. දානය පිලිගෑන්විමෙන් තිරුනි, කාවින්දි, කසුන් උඩුපොරුව, ඉසුර හේරත් හා තරුණ මිතුරු කෑල සහයොගයක් දෑක්වීය. ඉතා සංසුන්ව බොහො වේලවක් රෑදෙමින් විශාල පිරිසක් නොඅඩුව දන්සල ප්රිතියේන් රසවින්දහ.

ඉන්පසු එලබුනේ ශාලාව හා ඒ අවට ශුද්ධ ප්රවිත කිරිමයි. පෑමිණි සියලු දේන නොබසුබටව හා ඉතා කඩ්සරව මේසදහා අත්වෑල් බෑදගත් නිසාවේන්ම ඉතා ඉක්මනින් හා නිසි ලෙස ශාලාව නෑවත සකසන ලදි. වෑඩසටහන මුලිකත්වය හා සාර්ථකව සංවිධානයට වේරදුන් ලාල් ජයවර්ධන මහතා හා මංගලිකා ජයවධන මහත්මිය ගේ මුලිකත්වය ඉතා අගය කොට මෙන්ම, තව තවත් මේවෑනි වෑඩසටහන් පෑවෑත්වීමට ශක්තිය ධර්යා සියලු සංවිධායකයන්ට ලෑබේවායි සියල්ලන්ගේ පෑතුම හා අශිර්වදය වීය. මේ උත්සව්ය සදහා ලන්ඩන්,ලිවපූල්,ලීඩ්ස්, මෑන්චේස්ටර්, Stoke on Trent හා නන් දේසින් පෑමිණ සහයොගය දෑක්වු සියලු දේනා අමතක නොකල යුතුය.

යහපත් අරමුනු මුදුන් තබා ගත් මෙම වාර්ෂික වෑඩසටහන, පෙර වසරටත් වඩා ඉතා සාර්ථකව අවසන් වුයේ ලබන වසරේද පවත්වීමේ අදිටන් ඈතිවය. . පුරා දින ගනනාවක් ඉතා ප්රරිශමයකින් නොතකා මෙම වෑඩසටහන සංවිධානය කල සියලු Sheffield වාසින් ගේ විඩාව තම නිහතමානි ආත්ම තුප්තියෙන් යටපත් වුයේ පොසොන් පුන්සද මුදුන් වි අලොකයේන් අන්ද්දකාරය පහව යන්නාක් මෙන්ය.

Photo Credit to Jayawan Wijekoon

Poson Full moon day is significant to Sri Lankans because, on this day 2300 years ago Arahath Mahinda from India arrived in Sri Lanka, met King Devanampiyatissa and introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka. It must make us proud how our ancestors have kept this significance alive over the centuries.
With the view of making the current generation aware of the significance of Poson, Sri Lankans living in and around Sheffield celebrated this event on 5th July 2014 for the third year running. The event that was held at the picturesque Sheffield Buddhist Centre was attended by the Ven. Pidiwille Piyatissa Nayaka Thero and GalpoththayayePemanada Thero of Kethumathi Buddhist Temple in Manchester along with visiting monks Ven. Halmillewe Saddhatissa from Anuradhapura and Ven. Galpoththayaye Seevali.

Everyone who attended from most northern cities of England and even some from London, enjoyed the peaceful, serene environment of Sheffield Buddhist Centre. The main hall was decorated by lanterns constructed by the younger generation. Layan Wijekoon, Sumal Keshawa, Prince Kevin, Seuwandi, Mangalika and others were seen rushing to prepare the main hall with lanterns and erecting the reconstructions by the artistic Sri Lankan students of the Sheffield Universities. These were the scenes of Ambasthale with breath taking figures of Arahath Mahinda, King Devanampiyatissa, the deer, the Ambasthala rock, the mango fauna etc.

The proceeding started with Buddha Pooja, and alms giving to the monks prepared by Shatha Liyanage, and Mangalika with delicacies prepared also by @charith abhayaratne. Many others too provided dishes for the alms. At the onset there were also refreshments for the congregation. Then followed the main sermon by the visiting Ven. Halmillewe Saddhatissa from Anuradhapura who preached on the significance of Poson and the importance of Buddhist philosophy.

Young Shehan and Senuri Tiththagala expertly enacted the Poson seen at Ambasthale. The Bhakthi Gee which followed started with a performance by the very young children viz. Jayani Wijekoon, Hesadu Devasundara, Hashini Liyanage and Sandali Rodrigo. The efforts of their parents in motivating & assisting these children are highly commendable which will contribute for the preservation of the Sri Lankan culture for future generations.

Then followed the premier performance of two new songs one “Peradina Wesange” by Madree Peramunugama a student from Musaeus College Colombo and “Sadaham Sisilen” by Buddhi Mahipala a student at The University of Cranfield. There was also the song “Wieetha Ragi” by Layan Asiri Bandara Wijekoon which had its premiere at our festival last year. The musical director was Layan Asiri Bandara Wijekoon and Sumal Keshawa assisted as his right hand. James Jayawardena also provided guidance, assistance and some equipment. The main choir consisted of Panini Rodrigo, Shantha Liyanage, Nidarsha Wijekoon, Shiromi Aponso, Sumal Keshawa, Mangalika Jayawardena, Seuwandi from Leeds and Duleepa Jayasundara, Dushmantha Hennayaka, Mithila and Kumuduni from Stoke-On-Trent. The congregation joined in the singing with the lyrics in the excellently produced brochure.

The minister of Consular Affairs and Immigration of the Sri Lanka High Commission of London, Mr. Sepala Rathnayake addressed the congregation stressing the importance of this sort of function to maintain and propagate the Sri Lankan and Buddhist culture and traditions among citizens living abroad. The Sheffield City Councillor Sarah Jane Smalley in her address commented on how much she enjoyed this event and expressed her pleasure to see these events being organised in Sheffield.

The vote of thanks was by Thavidu Liayanage. The commendations should also be extended to Jayawan Wijekoon and Thushara Dewasundara who undertook and did the photography and video of the entire event with quiet efficiency.

The event concluded with Dansala to which many contributed with their delicacies. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the vegetarian Sri Lankan cuisine. These delicacies in a land far away from home were expertly prepared and kindly contributed by so many including Ranga Thenuwara, Panini & Shiroma Rodrigo, Jayathi Silva, Gayathri, Seuwandi, Kumuditha, Udaya, Karvindi & Sampath, Thiruni & Hasitha, Mahesh, Ayomi & Rakitha, Achini , Dinesh, Minosha, Kasun, Lali & Upali, Mangalika and others. The excellent Dansala overseen by Thiruni, Kavindi, Kasun Uduporuwa & Isura Herath was a success and turned out to be a leisurely networking event.

Thanks must also go to the many that joined hands to clean and tidy up the venue. The guidance received from Lal and Mangalika Jayawardena in organising this event is much appreciated and it is that everybody’s wish that events such as these can be organised in the future which as per the current trend will become more and more popular and successful.

Photos Click here : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.659520660802625&type=1
Videos: Click here; http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL04LfcXssKjRkKTWXfU2JgBJVC9Jpb97t

News

Absolutely poverty-free Sri Lanka by 2020, predicts PB

Dr. P.B. Jayasundare‘Sri Lanka will have attained the status of an advanced middle-income country by 2020, absolutely free of poverty, Dr. P.B. Jayasundare, Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Planning observed last week after the IT/BPM Industry Review 2014 was presented to him at the Institute of Policy Studies in Colombo.

The IT/BPM Industry Review 2014 indicated that export revenue earned by the industry grew to US$ 720 million in 2013 from US$ 213 million in 2007 while total employment increased to 75,100 from 33,700 in the corresponding period.

“Your review’s future outlook indicates that you have set your vision to achieve US$ 5 billion in exports by 2022 while generating 200, 000 jobs, and creating 1,000 startups. But I want to see that target achieved by 2020. My ambitions are more passionate than yours,” he said with good humour.

Madu Ratnayake, Chairman SLASSCOM, speaking at the event said, “Our global brand position improved significantly during the last five years. ATKearney ranked Sri Lanka among the top 25 destinations in their global ranking in the last three consecutive rankings. Gartner ranked Sri Lanka among the top 30 global locations. IBM, Tholons and several others ranked Sri Lanka at the top of their respective leader boards. The recent ‘Outsourcing Destination of the Year’ award in the UK by the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) was a true validation of the tremendous progress we’ve been able to achieve.”

By Sanath Nanayakkare
Source: The Island (Sri Lanka)

 

News

Foreign couple sentenced to death Murder of child and maid

Justice and lawThe Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced to death a Ukrainian couple found guilty of a double murder committed in 2010.

They murdered an eight-year-old child and a housemaid at Rajagiriya on February 23, 2010.

High Court Trial-at-Bar Judges Devika de Livera Tennakoon and Wimal Nambuwasam said that the prosecution had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused Mashour Eugene and Yanna Brishyana indicted with the murder of child Victoria Kim and housemaid Daisy Manohari were guilty.

When the death sentence was read out, Yanna Brishyana appealed to the court to have her executed immediately instead of sending her to prison.

By Samantha Illeperuma
Source: The Island 

News

Three Supermoons in a Row – NASA

In June of last year, a full Moon made headlines.  The news media called it a “supermoon” because it was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2013.   Around the world, people went outside to marvel at its luminosity.

If you thought one supermoon was bright, how about three….? The full Moons of summer 2014—July 12th, August 10th, and Sept. 9th–will all be supermoons.

Read more>>
Source: science.nasa.gov

Latest Events

ESALA CELEBRATION 2014

THE DHAMMACAKKA FESTIVAL 2004

The Dhammacakka (Esala) Festival marks the delivering of the First Sermon known as Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta) by the Buddha, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, near Benares, India. This event will be celebrated at the London Buddhist Vihara on Sunday 13th July 2014.