OnePlusOneEquals presents ‘Charity Ball’ annual dinner dance on 23 November 2012 at Premier House Banqueting, Harrow, Middlesex.
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KP ENJOYING ‘DIPLOMATIC PRIVILEGES’ – UNP
The United National Party (UNP) today accused the government of treating the senior most surviving Tamil Tiger leader as “a pet” and providing him with “diplomatic privileges” while pocketing LTTE money in return.
Immediately after the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan, alias ‘KP’, the government declared him as the chief arms procurer, international fund raiser and current leader of the LTTE, UNP MP Tissa Attanayake said.
He claimed that man who is not only a suspect in the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, but also supplied state of the art weapons to Prabhakaran to kill Sri Lankan forces, has now become a “pet” of the government and has obtained freedom.
When KP was brought down to Sri Lanka following his arrest, the government stated that the LTTE’s assets amounting to around Rs. 200,000 million, its bank accounts, ships and fuel stations will be acquired by the government, he said.
The government itself said the money in LTTE accounts amount to 600 million dollars and that 18 ships were controlled by the Tamil Tigers, Attanayake said while inquiring as to what has now happened to this Rs. 200,000 million in assets and under whose custody they are.
“We can understand the government’s necessity to release Kumaran Pathmanathan.”
Either this large sum of money has “gone into someone’s pocket” and KP was released in exchange or he was released with an ulterior motive, the UNP spokesman said at a press briefing today.
Attanayake said he believes releasing such an international criminal without any form of trial or hearing is a grave crime in its own.
Comparing the plight of the country’s soldiers who won the war and how the man who supplied weapons to kill the soldiers is being treated, he stated Kumaran Pathmanathan is enjoying “diplomatic privileges.”
Source: Adaderana (Sri Lanka)
DHARMA DESHANAWA – Heathrow Vihara
Dharma Deshanawa (VAS BANA) will be held on Saturday, 27th October 2012 at 7.00pm. All are invited!
“Women should take the lead in conserving energy for the future generation” says Sri Lanka’s First Lady at WEF in Dubai
Sri Lanka’s First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa said that women should take the lead in conserving energy for the future generation to make sustainable development a reality. “As women we should make a vital contribution to protect energy on behalf of the sustainable development for the posterity”. She made these remarks while addressing the World’s First Ladies Conference at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Hall which was held under the patronage of Chairman of the World Energy Forum Dr. Harold Hyunsuk Oh. Mrs. Rajapaksa said that women can discharge a significant service to safeguard the future generation from the energy crisis. She further emphasised that all women should unite in this respect. Women and development are two important forces that could not be separated.
Delivering the keynote speech, Royal Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of the United Arab Emirates highlighted energy and water issues as they relate to women, empowerment and advancement of women, and women’s role in sustainable development at the conference.
First Lady Rajapaksa expressed her gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for taking the lead on behalf of the posterity, organizing such forums. Representatives of the World Energy Forum, the World Health Organization and the United Nations joined in this conference as observers.
The First Ladies Summit was organized on the sidelines of the World Energy Forum held at the same venue from October 22-24. The meeting drew attention to crafting an international constitution and policies for energy conservation. The United Nations has declared 2012 as the International Sustainable Energy Year. Pictures are seen here First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa is addressing the summit and in a friendly conversation with Royal Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of the United Arab Emirates.
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Pix by: Lalith Welivitigoda
Govt. to introduce laws against match fixing
The government will introduce anti-corruption laws to prevent match fixing in cricket, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said. A committee had been appointed for the purpose.
Mr. Aluthgamage made these remarks during a debate in the House on the challenges confronting international cricket. Referring to suspicions in various quarters that the T-20 final between Sri Lanka and the West Indies had been fixed, he said that investigations had indicated that such suspicions were groundless.
However, he said, it was reasonable for anyone to have such doubts as the Sri Lanka team had lost four world cup finals since 2007.
“We investigated this. There is no truth in it. It is reasonable that the people entertained such doubts. Sri Lanka played well up to the final and then lost it. There is betting involving in cricket. Some people bet that the third ball of the 44th over will be a no ball. Others bet that the umpire will remove his cap or sunglasses during a particular over. Much to other peoples’ amazement, they win their bets,” he said.
He said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had identified match fixing as a menace that plagued the cricketing world, and England, India, Australia and South Africa had enacted anti-corruption laws to deal with the problem.
“Since 2000, 2o players have been banned for life from playing in ICC organised cricket matches after being found guilty of match fixing. The ICC has set up an anti-corruption and security unit. We made use of their services during the Sri Lanka Premier League tournament,” he said.
The minister said the services of world renowned psychologists would be obtained in future for the stress management of Sri Lankan cricketers.
“Ours is a team with plenty of talent. There was no reason for us to be beaten at the finals. We need to improve the psychological condition of players. They need stress management,” he said. (KB and YP)
Source: Daily mirror (Sri Lanka)
Harsha Rajapaksha of Rahula College takes ten wickets in an innings
Left-arm paceman Harsha Rajapaksha of Rahula College, Matara has taken all ten wickets in an innings, in a spell of ten overs, to restrict Devapathiraja College, Ratgama to a paltry 23 runs on day one of their Under-19 cricket encounter at Uyanwatta Stadium, Matara yesterday.
Rajapaksha has given away just eight runs in his 9.3 overs which also included four maidens, according to his school officials who confirmed the notable feat.
In a telephone interview, Rajapaksha told The Island that his opponents were beaten by the swing and Yorkers of his.
“They were beaten by out-swingers and when they left the ball, it got them bowled. I also used Yorkers to good effect. I am really pleased with my performance,” said Rajapaksha whose previous best feat had been couple of five-wicket hauls.
In reply, Rahula scored 206 for eight wickets declared.
Scores:
Devapathiraja MV 23 all out in 19.3 overs (Harsha Rajapaksha 10/08)
Rahula 206 for 8 wkts decl in 41.5 overs (Tharindu Narasinghe 87, Piyushan Kulatunga 84; Prasanna Karunawansa 4/18, Dilshan Kanchana 4/64).
Source: Island (Sri Lanka)
Photos courtesy of island (Sri Lanka)
Deported Sri Lankan asylum seekers return
Twenty-eight Sri Lankan asylum seekers, who were deported from Britain, arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake in a special flight a short while ago. They included 14 Tamils, 9 Sinhalese and 5 Muslim.The CID will record statements from them, Police sources said.
Earlier international media reported that 60 Lankan asylum seekers were to be deported from Britian.
Earlier, the London based Guardian said that the UK high court has ordered that the imminent deportation to Sri Lanka of a number of Tamils be halted amid claims they may be tortured on their return.
Three solicitors’ firms have confirmed to the Guardian that a number of their clients had been given last-minute reprieves and would no longer be flown out of the country on a specially chartered UK Border Agency (UKBA) flight that was expected to be leave on Tuesday afternoon. It is understood that a further 10 to 12 firms have also lodged last-minute appeals on behalf of their clients.
By Deepa Adikari
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
New Zealand chasing Murali’s help
Sri Lanka’s most successful international bowlers, Muttiah Muralidharan and Chaminda Vaas will assist new New Zealand bowling coach Shane Bond during the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, the stuff.co.nz reported.
Head coach Mike Hesson today announced Muralidharan would be involved before the management team departed Christchurch this morning, but Vaas’ involvement was meant to remain under wraps.
But Bond himself let the cat out of the bag before apologising to Hesson.
Fairfax Media understands Vaas is still under contract in Sri Lanka, but has agreed to work with the Black Caps during the eight-match tour that includes one Twenty20 international, five one-dayers and two tests.
Hesson and co couldn’t ask for better help; Muralidharan is the leading test wicket-taker of all time with 795 scalps while left-armer Vaas is easily the second most successful Sri Lankan bowler with 355 wickets.
Vaas will work with the entire bowling group, but will also spend time helping the three left-arm seamers in the Black Caps squad; Trent Boult, James Franklin and Neil Wagner.
Boult and Franklin are involved with both the limited overs squad that left today and the test squad while Wagner is only involved in the test squad.
With Hesson and assistant coach Bob Carter batting and fielding specialists and Bond more accustomed to quick bowling, the involvement of Muralidharan fills a big gap in the spin coaching ranks.
And with four spin options in each of the side’s limited overs and tests squads, plus wickets expected to take plenty of turn, Muralidharan’s expertise will be welcomed with open arms.
“Obviously Muralitharan lives in Sri Lanka in Colombo and he’s someone we’ve got contacts with,” Hesson said today at Christchurch airport on the eve of the team’s departure.
“We haven’t been able to firm things up but we’re also looking into the possibility of another specialist coach [in Vaas]. We’ve got some guys lined up but they add to the mix and help Shane in terms of his development – and also the players.
“We play half of our cricket in the sub-continent and even now the West Indies’ conditions are very sub-continental. We’ll get exposed to a lot of spin, and in this series 70-80 per cent of our overs we face will be spin-based. How well we adapt and how well we play them will dictate the outcome.”
New Zealand open their tour with their one Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka next Tuesday at Pallakele – the same ground where the Black Caps were eliminated from the Twenty20 World Cup earlier this month.
Source: Daily Mirror(Sri Lanka)
ඊයේ කොළඹදී කොළඹ රාජකීය සහ තර්ස්ටන් සිසුහු ගැටෙති
කොළඹ රාජකීය සහ තර්ස්ටන් විද්යාලවල ශිෂ්යයන් දෙපිරිසක් අතර ඊයේ (23 වැනිදා) දහවල් තර්ස්ටන් පාරේදී සිදුවූ ගැටුමකින් ශිෂ්යයන් නව දෙනකු තුවාල ලබා ඇත.
මෙම ගැටුම මැඩ පැවැත්වීමට ගිය කොළඹ දකුණ පොලිස් අධිකාරි ප්රේමලාල් රණගල මහතා ද සුළු තුවාල ලැබූ අතර පොලිස් කොස්තාපල්වරයකු තුවාල ලබා රෝහල් ගත කර තිබේ.
මෙම ගැටුම්කාරී තත්ත්වය මෙහෙය වූ රාජකීය විදුහලේ ශිෂ්යයන් අටදෙනකු පොලිස් භාරයට ගෙන තිබේ.
මෙහිදී තුවාල ලැබූ ශිෂ්යයෝ වැඩි දෙනකු කොළඹ රාජකීය විද්යාලයේ සිසුහු වෙති. තුවාල ලැබූවන්ගෙන් දෙදෙනකු ජාතික රෝහලේ ප්රතිකාර ලබන අතර සෙසු ශිෂ්යයන් බාහිර ප්රතිකාර ලබා පිටව ගොස් ඇත.
පසුගිය දින කීපයක් තිස්සේම රාජකීය සහ තර්ස්ටන් විද්යාලවල ශිෂ්යයන් අතර ගැටුම්කාරී තත්ත්වයන් උද්ගත වී තිබිණි.
ඊයේ (23 වැනිදා) පෙරවරුවේ කොළඹ තර්ස්ටන් විද්යාලය ඉදිරිපිට සිටි ශිෂ්යයකු රාජකීය විද්යාලයේ ශිෂ්යයන්ගේ ප්රහාරයකට ලක්ව තුවාල ලැබූ අතර ඔහු රෝහල් ගත කරනු ලැබීය.
ඊයේ (23 දා) දහවල් 2.00 ට පමණ රාජකීය විද්යාලයේ උසස් පෙළ සහ සාමාන්ය පෙළ පංතිවල අධ්යාපනය ලබන ශිෂ්යයන් දහසකට අධික පිරිසක් තර්ස්ටන් විද්යාලයේ ප්රධාන දොරටුව අසලට පැමිණ ඇත.
ඒ වනවිට විද්යාලයේ කටයුතු අවසන් කර ශිෂ්යයෝ පිට වී යැමට සූදානමින් සිටියහ. පාසලෙන් පිටව යන ශිෂ්යයන්ට පහර දීමට රාජකීය විද්යාලයේ ශිෂ්යයන් පැමිණ සිටින බව දැනගත් තර්ස්ටන් ශිෂ්යයන් විදුහලේ ක්රීඩාංගණය දෙස සිට මාර්ගයේ සිටි රාජකීය ශිෂ්යයන්ට ගල්මුල් ප්රහාර එල්ල කර තිබේ.
මෙම සිද්ධියෙන් තර්ස්ටන් මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කළ වාහන කීපයක්ද ගල්මුල් ප්රහාරයට ලක් වී ඇත. ගැටුම මැඬ පැවැත්වීමට සඳහා එහි පැමිණ පොලිස් නිලධාරින්ද ගල්මුල් ප්රහාරයට ලක් වී තිබේ.
පසුව තර්ස්ටන් ශිෂ්යයන් රාජකීය විද්යාලයේ නේවාසිකාගාරයකට ද ගල්මුල් ප්රහාර එල්ල කර ඇත.
සිද්ධිය සැලවූ වහාම ක්රියාත්මක වූ කොළඹ දකුණ පොලිස් අධිකාරි ප්රේමලාල් රණගල කුරුඳුවත්ත කොල්ලුපිටිය පොලිස් ස්ථානාධිපතිවරුන් වන කපිල ප්රෙAමදාස, මංගල දෙහිදෙණිය ඇතුළු නිලධාරීන් සිද්ධිය වූ ස්ථානයට පැමිණ ගැටුම සමතයකට පත්කර ශිෂ්යයන් පලවා හැර තිබේ.
ප්රදේශයේ ආරක්ෂාව සඳහා විශේෂ පොලිස් බල ඇණි කීපයකම යොදවා තිබිණි. මේ අතර කොළඹ රාජකීය විද්යාලයේ සිසුන් හා කොළඹ තර්ස්ටන් විද්යාලයේ සිසුන් අතර ඊයේ (23 වැනිදා) දහවල් තර්ස්ටන් පාරේදී ඇති වූ ගැටුම ඡායාරූප ගත කරමින් සිටි “දිවයින” ඡායාරූප ශිල්පී සමන් අබේසිරිවර්ධන ගේ කැමරාව උදුරාගත් සිසුවකු කැමරාවේ තිබූ චීපය(Cයසච) ගලවාගෙන ඇත.
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
Sinhala Mass – October 2012
THIS MONTH’S MASS
Sunday October 28, 2012 at 5:00 pm Those who wish to take part in the offetory procession with offerings are welcome
YOUTH GROUP MEETING
4:00 pm same day (before mass)
FELLOWSHIP Those who wish to bring any refreshments for the fellowship after mass are most welcome.
No 1, Peter Avenue, Willesden Green, London. NW10 2DDMAP
Contacts
Rev.Father Rohitha Rodrigo : 07404241305, 02084514677
Kelum : 07757528844
Shiran : 07534224363
St. Mary Magdalen’sCatholic Church Let us join together EVERY LAST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH to celebrate the Eucharist in sinhala as one Sri Lankan family
THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN SENT TO YOU BY SRI LANAKAN CATHOLIC CHAPLAINCY IN THE UK
MADUSHA MAYADUNNE 2ND RUNNER UP AT MISS INTERNATIONAL
Madusha Mayadunne became the 2nd runner up at the 52nd Miss International 2012 pageant held in Okinawa, Japan.
Fernanda Cornejo from Ecuador crowned her successor Ikumi Yoshimatsu from Japan at the end of the event, a glittering ceremony held at Okinawa Prefectural Budokan Arena Building.
“I’m very thankful to everybody in Sri Lanka for giving me this opportunity to be here today and representing Sri Lanka and winning this tonight,” Mayadunne said.
“I dedicate this to my parents, for all the support they have given me in life and so far in this pageant. Thank you,” she said speaking to Ada Derana following the Miss International beauty pageant, which intends to promote world peace, goodwill, and understanding.
Miss Japan Ikumi Yoshimatsu bested 68 lovely ladies from all over the globe in the 52nd edition of Miss International to get the night’s most coveted crown. It was a proud moment for her as she was crowned in front of her countrymen being the first Japanese to wear the Mikimoto crown.
Miss friendship was won by Ameeksha Dilchand of Mauritius, Best in Talent was awarded to Russia’s Ekaterina Meglinskaia, Nicole Velasquez of Honduras was adjudged Best In national Costume while Miss Photogenic was also won by Japan.
Mayadunne was among the fifteen finalists including Colombia, Brazil, Japan, Finland, Namibia, Venezuela, UK, USA, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Paraguay, Mexico, India and Haiti.
Source: Adaderana(Sri Lanka)
අවුරුදු දෙකහමාරේ දරුවා අලවල පස් කන්දට යට වෙයි
අත්තනගල්ල අලවල මහකන්ද පාරේ හෑපනාකන්දේ පාමුල නිෙවසකට මහ වැසි මැද ඊයේ 22 පස්වරුවේ පස් කන්දක් කඩා වැටී යටවී සිටි මව බේරාගෙන රෝහල් ගත කෙරුණු අතර ඇගේ වයස අවුරුදු දෙකහමාරක් වන දරුවා සොයා ගැනීමේ මෙහෙයුම් ඊයේ රාත්රිය වනතුරුත් සිදු කෙරිනි.
මව හා දරුවා පමණක් නිෙවසේ සිටින අවස්ථාවේ පස්කන්ද කඩා වැටී ඇති අතර නිෙවසේ සුන්බුන් සමඟ පාරට විසිවී සිටි මව බේරාගත් ප්රදේශවාසීහු ඇය වහාම වතුපිටිවල රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කරනු ලැබ ඇත. සිද්ධීය සැලවීමත් සමඟ ගම්පහ දිස්ත්රික් ආපදා කළමණාකරන ඒකකය, නිට්ටඹුව පොලිසිය ප්රදේශවාසීන් හා එක්ව අත්තනගල්ල ප්රාදේශීය ලේකම් ඩී.එම්. බස්නායක මහතාගේ මෙහෙයවීම යටතේ ඊයේ රාත්රී වනතුරුත් කඩා වැටුනු පස් කන්ද හා නිවසේ සුන්බුන් ඉවත් කරමින් දරුවා සෙවීමේ මෙහෙයුම් සිදු කෙරිනි.
බැකෝ යන්ත්රයක්ද යොදා ගනිමින් මේ මෙහෙයුම් සිදු කෙරුනු අතර රාත්රීය උදාවීමත් සමඟ එම කටයුතු සිදු කිරීමේ ගැටලූකාරී තත්ත්වයක් උද්ගතව පැවැතිනි.
තුවාල ලත් ඒ.ඩී. සන්ධ්යා මහත්මියට වෛද්ය කන්ඩායම් ප්රතිකාර කරමින් පවතින බව ඇගේ තත්ත්වය ගැන කළ විමසීමේදී වතුපිටිවල රෝහලේ ප්රකාශකයෙක් කීය. පස් කණ්ඩියට නිවස යටවීමත් සමග දරුවාගේ ලතෝනි හඩ ඇසුනු බව තුවාල ලත් මව රෝහල් ගත කරන අතරදී පවසා ඇත.
මේ අනතුරින් වෙනත් කිසිවකුට අනතුරක් වූ බවට වාර්තා වී නොතිබුනි.
කොටදෙණියාව සමූහ එම්. පී. කුමාර
Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)
හිටපු එල්ටීටීඊ සාමාජිකයෝ 3ක් වෙඩි තැබීමේ ජාතික සංචිතයට
එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. සංවිධානයේ ත්රස්තවාදී ක්රියාවලට සම්බන්ධව සිට මානුෂීය මෙහෙයුමේදී රජයට භාරවූ දක්ෂතම වෙඩික්කරුවන් තිදෙනෙකු ජාතික වෙඩි තැබීමේ සංචිතයට තෝරා ගෙන ඇත.
පුනරුත්ථාපනය වන එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. සාමාජිකයන් 135ක් අතුරින් ජාතික වෙඩි තැබීමේ සංචිතයට තෝරාගෙන ඇත්තේ කේ. රජීවන්, ටී. තවෙන්තිරන් හා සෙල්ලමුත්තු පුෂ්පකුමාර් යන තිදෙනාය.
ලබන වසේර ඉන්දියාවේ පැවැත්වෙන දකුණු ආසියානු ක්රීඩා උලෙළේදී ශ්රී ලංකාව නියෝජනය කරමින් තරග වැදීමට මේ ක්රීඩකයන් තිදෙනා යොදා ගන්නා බව ක්රීඩා ඇමැති මහින්දානන්ද අලුත්ගමගේ මහතා දිනමිණට පැවසීය.
ප්රින්ස් ගුණසේකර
Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)
President Rajapaksa visits Dubai to participate World Energy Forum
President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Dubai to attend the World Energy Forum-2012 which will be held at International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 22 to 24 October. The World Energy Forum was formed in 2008 to use energy for sustainable development without causing environmental damage. So far two conferences of this Forum have been held at the UN headquarters with the participation of leaders of the energy sector and heads of state. This is the first time that this high-level International Energy Conference will be taking place outside the UN headquarters.
According to a press release issued by the UAE, the World Energy Forum has chosen Dubai as a venue to host this year’s three day event, because of Dubai’s geographic and strategic location and the political stability of the United Arab Emirates. Its being a global hub for finance, business, trade, tourism and very popular holiday destination in today’s world. Over 2,000 delegates, including 22 Heads of States are expected to attend the World Energy Forum 2012. One of the primary objectives of this conference is to table a road map for a sustainable energy mix that can fuel global economic and social development.
The United Nations has designated 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. At the Forum, leaders will seek tangible progress towards cleaner, safer and more sustainable energy as well as achieving universal access to modern energy services. The forum provides a unique opportunity to exchange new ideas on global energy issues from the perspectives of policy, technology, and business.
A separate conference of the First Ladies will also be held simultaneously. First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa will represent Sri Lanka in that forum. External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L Peiris, MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, Western Provincial Councilor Noufer Fouzie and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga are accompanying the President on the visit.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the UAE Sarath Wijesinghe, Consul General of Dubai M. Abdul Raheem, UAE government officials and members of the Sri Lanka Embassy were also present to welcome the President and the Sri Lankan delegation at the airport.
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Pix by: Sudath Silva
Kathina Ceremony 2012 (කඨින පිංකම 2012 හීතෘ විහාරය)
Kathina Ceremony on 24th & 25th November at Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple.
Lonely Planet names SL as best to visit in 2013
World’s most renowned and largest travel guide book and digital media publisher –“The Lonely Planet” has named Sri Lanka as number one destination in the world to visit in year 2013.
The travel experts and the voters have predicted that Sri Lanka will be on the top of the hottest new holiday destinations for the travelers in year 2013. Under the title ‘Serenity returns to Serendib “ the travel guide raves destination Sri Lanka describing the multi-faceted experiences the traveler can look for in this small Island , fused with novelty and indulgence :
“Dubbed Serendib -the origin of the word serendipity “ by seafaring Arab traders centuries ago, Sri Lanka has been anything but serene in recent decades. …South Asia’s most compact country have remained off limits to even the most intrepid traveller. .…investment is again fuelling the tourist industry and visitor numbers are steadily increasing. Prices are affordable. Indeed, Sri Lanka is emerging as one of the planet’s best-value destinations.
The travel guide book highlights the emerging new popular places to visit in Sri Lanka including the newly opened up East coast and less travelled paths in the western coast as well : “North of the capital Colombo, on Sri Lanka’s west coast, Kalpitiya and the Puttalam lagoon are eco-tourism hotspots with bird watching and kayaking. Near Dondra Head, on the south coast, mighty blue whales are regular visitors from January to April while land-based wildlife thrills include the leopards and elephants of Yala National Park, and the more rugged and remote Wilpattu National Park, open once more after being closed for more than two decades “
Being famous for pristine sandy beaches from the begining, the Lonely Planet remarks that the total experience in Sri Lanka is truly a life changing experience for any traveler:
“The gloriously arcing beaches of the nation’s east coast are now challenging traditional southern favourites. Arugam Bay’s sandy crescent is one of Asia’s best surf spots and further north, Uppuveli and Nilaveli near Trincomalee stretch for several pristine kilometers….Explore the glorious labyrinth of Galle’s 17th-century Dutch fort. In past centuries, the Unesco-listed colonial town was a prosperous hub of global trade and now boutique hotels and an emerging arts scene instil a cosmopolitan allure. Further north, you can discover Sri Lanka’s imposing ancient cities, emerging from a verdant landscape. All around the country, tuck into great-value local cuisine including grilled seafood, spicy kottu (roti chopped and mixed with vegetables) and multi-course mini banquets of different curries at family run guesthouses. Indian and Thai cooking may be world-renowned, but Sri Lanka’s time in the global gourmet spotlight can’t be far away.”
The country is becoming easier to reach due to cheap fares from regional hub Bangkok said Lonely Planet.
The annual Lonely Planet lists are compiled based on unbiased views of the staff, writers and travel community. Spokesman Adam Bennett said that the choices are not based on where travellers are already going but rather are “our pick of where we believe travellers really should consider visiting in 2013.” He said that destinations make the list for a variety of reasons, including special events, recent developments or buzz, or that the destination is up-and-coming and worth visiting before the crowds get too big.
This achievement is certainly a boost for the Tourism industry of Sri Lanka which keeps on breaking its own records through out the past years and strategically targeting 2.5 million tourist arrivals by year 2016.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
උතුරේ ආරක්ෂාවට මැදිහත් වීමට දෙමළ සන්ධානයට බැහැ – ගෝඨාභය
13 වැනි ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය වහා අහෝසි කළ යුතු බව තමන් නැවත වරක් අවධාරණය කරන බව ආරක්ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පවසයි.
විශේෂයෙන්ම දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මන්ත්රීවරුන් මෙරට චීන තානාපතිනිය හමු වී උතුරේ හමුදා ක්රියාකාරකම් සඳහා ආධාර ලබාදීම නවත්වන්න යෑයි ඉල්ලීම් කිරීම කිසිසේත් අනුමත කළ නොහැකි බව ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයා කියයි. විශේෂයෙන්ම උතුරේ ආරක්ෂක කටයුතුවලට මැදිහත්වීමට දෙමළ සන්ධානයට කිසිම අයිතියක් නැති බව ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පවසයි.
දෙමළ සන්ධානයේ මෙවැනි ක්රියාකාරකම් නිසා ශ්රී ලංකා චීන මිතුදමටත් ප්රශ්නයක් වන බව ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයා කියයි.
දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ මෙවැනි ක්රියාකාරකම් නිසා තමන්ට 13 වැනි ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය අහෝසි කර දැමිය යුතු බව යළිත් අවධාරණය කිරීමට සිදුවන බව ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයා කියයි.
ශමීන්ද්ර ෆර්ඩිනැන්ඩු
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
‘Come and witness our achievements’ – Karunathilaka Amunugama
Sri Lanka has invited foreign media and influential persons belonging to the Tamil diaspora to come and see what is happening in the country, in a move to deal with disinformation campaigns that have been launched against the country by some sections of the Tamil diaspora, said External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama.
He said, fair – minded members of the diaspora are looking for an opportunity to observe the situation in the country. We have invited them to come and see for themselves the real situation, he said.
According to Amunugama, it is a small group of the diaspora with vested interests to divide the country, that has launched disinformation campaigns against Sri Lanka.
“They have disseminated false and misleading information to the world about Sri Lanka, such as, Sri Lankan military maintains tight control over Tamil public in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, military wields control over private lives of Tamil citizens, Internally Displaced Tamil citizens suffer immense hardships and no resettlement of IDPs in the North, to name a few. He said, all false accusations made against Sri Lanka will be answered and explained in detail during the forthcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. UPR process on Sri Lanka is scheduled to be held in Geneva on the first of November.
Asked how the government will convey the country’s true position to the world outside the walls of the United Nation, Amunugama said they have launched several programs for foreign media and requested the members of Tamil diaspora to visit the country in this regard.
“We expect the arrival of at least 40 media personnel from across the globe to come to the country and experience for themselves the development and reconciliation that has taken place in the country since the cessation war.
“Print media personnel from countries, such as, Australia, Korea, USA and China will be invited to the country under this program.
The Cabinet recently approved the program,” said Amunugama.
“We have have taken steps to reach out to Tamil diaspora with an open invitation to visit the country. Although they live in foreign lands. They are people of Sri Lanka,” he explained.
He said , they should come and see how Sri Lanka has made progress in resettling those internally displaced persons and whether they live under peaceful conditions, he said.
“ These people are their kith and kin , sisters and brothers. We want to give them a chance to interact with them so that they will be of assistance to them and us,” he added.
“When they come they will get to know the real picture of the country with first hand experience, and get an idea about the level of disinformation being spread against the country by those elements with sinister agendas,” he pointed out.
by Chamikara WEERASINGHE
Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)
පස් දෙනාගේ තහනමට මගේ හිත රිදුණත් අත්සන ගැහුවා
පක්ෂයේ විනය ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා කනගාටුවෙන් වුවත් පක්ෂයේ ප්රධාන සාමාජිකයින් පස්දෙනෙකුගේ සාමාජිකත්වය අත්හිටුවීමට තමා සිය අත්සන යෙදූ බව එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ නායක, රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා පැවසීය.
මහනුවර, රිවඩෙල් හෝටලයේ දී පෙරේදා ((20 වැනිදා) මධ්යම පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණය සඳහා අයදුම්පත්ර ඉදිරිපත් කළ අයදුම්කරුවන් හමුවේ රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා මේ බව ප්රකාශ කළේය.
ඒකාධිපති ආණ්ඩුවක් සමග හැප්පෙන්න නම් හමුදාවට ඇති විනය තිබිය යුතුයි. හමුදාවට වගේ විනයක් පක්ෂයට නොමැති නම් ආණ්ඩුව සමඟ හැප්පී බලය ලබා ගැනීමට නොහැකි බවද වික්රමසිංහ මහතා එහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.
කෘත්යාධිකාරී මණ්ඩලය කිසියම් තීරණයක් ගත්විට එම තීරණ ක්රියාත්මක කළ යුතුයි. හමුදාපති වගේ නියෝග ලබාදිය යුතුයි. 2014 දී එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය බලයට ගෙන ඒමට හැකි වන්නේ එවිට යෑයිද වික්රමසිංහ මහතා තවදුරටත් පැවැසීය.
සිරිල් විමලසුරේන්ද
Source: Divaina(Sri Lanka)
KATHINA CEREMONY – London Buddhist Vihara
SUNDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2012
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, 04th November 2012.
PROGRAMME
3.00pm Ceremonial Procession with the Kathina Robe
3.15-3.30 Taking Refuges and the Five Precepts
3.30-4.00 A talk on the Significance of Kathina
4.00-4.30 The Ceremony of Offering Kathina Robe and other requisites to the Sangha
4.30-5.00 Sermon in Sinhala
5.00-5.30 Paritta Chanting by the Venerable Monks and Punyanumodana
5.30-6.00 Tea
* ALL ARE WELCOME*
Those wishing to contribute towards the Kathina Ceremony may either like to send a donation (made payable to London Buddhist Vihara – form enclosed); or choose from the Requisites List, on display on Vihara notice board.
The traditional Kapparukkha (Wishing Tree) will be placed in the preaching hall from Sunday 28th October, and the Kathina Robe will be available for stitching from 11.30 a.m. on 4th November2012) Kathina Da
Annual Civic & Kathina Ceremonies – Birmingham Buddhist Maha Vihara
The Birmingham Buddhist Maha Vihara will be held its annual civic and Kathina ceremony on 27th and 28th October 2012.
හයිඩ් රැලියට ගිය අයට එජාපයේ දොර වැසෙයි පක්ෂයෙන්, නෙරපූ බවට අද ලිපි භාර දෙයි
එක්සත් භික්ෂු පෙරමුණ විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද ඊයේ (18 දා) හයිඩ් පිටියේ පැවැති නව විපක්ෂ සන්ධාන රැලියට සහභාගි වූ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරුන් ඇතුළු ක්රියාකාරිකයන් වහාම ක්රියාත්මක වන පරිදි එජාපයෙන් නෙරපීමට එම පක්ෂය තීරණය කර ඇත.
ඒ අනුව එම සන්ධාන රැලියට සහභාගි වූ එජාප පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරුන් වෙත පක්ෂයෙන් නෙරපූ බව දන්වා අද (19 වැනිදා) උදේ වරුවේදී ලිපි යෑවීමට ක්රියා කරන බව එජාප ජ්යෙෂ්ඨ ප්රකාශකයෙක් “දිවයින”ට ඊයේ (18 දා) රාත්රියේ පැවැසීය. විධායක ජනාධිපති ක්රමය අහෝසි කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලමින් සංවිධානය කළ මෙම රැලිය සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතාගේ ප්රධානත්වයෙන් පැවැත්විණි.
එක්සත් භික්ෂු පෙරමුණ පක්ෂයේ නිල සංවිධානයක් නොවන බැවින් එවැන්නකින් සංවිධානය කරනු ලබන රැලියකට එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය සහභාගි නොවිය යුතු බවට එම පක්ෂයේ කෘත්යාධිකාරි මණ්ඩලය පසුගියදා තීරණය කරන ලදී.
ඒ අනුව එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ මන්ත්රීවරයකු හෝ ක්රියාකාරිකයකු හයිඩ් පිටියේ පැවැත්වෙන රැලියට සහභාගි නොවිය යුතු බව පක්ෂය නිල වශයෙන් දැනුම්දීමක් කර තිබිණි.
පක්ෂයේ කෘත්යාධිකාරි මණ්ඩලය ගනු ලැබූ එම තීන්දුව කඩකරමින් රැලියට සහභාගි වූ මන්ත්රීවරුන්ගේ හා ක්රියාකාරින්ගේ පක්ෂ සාමාජිකත්වය මෙලෙස අත්හිටුවා ඔවුන්ට එරෙහිව පූර්ණ පරීක්ෂණයක්ද අද (19 වැනිදා) සිට ආරම්භ කිරීමට නියමිතය.
රැලියට සහභාගි වූ මන්ත්රීවරුන් හා ක්රියාකාරීන්ට එරෙහිව පවත්වනු ලබන පරීක්ෂණය කඩිනමින් අවසන් කිරීමටත් එම පරීක්ෂණය අවසන් වූ වහා වැරැදිකරුවන් බවට ඔප්පු වන අය පක්ෂයෙන් නෙරපීමටත් පියවර ගන්නා බව එ.ජා.ප. ප්රකාශකයා පැවැසීය.
පක්ෂයේ තීරණවලට අවනත නොවන අය සමඟ වැඩකළ නොහැකි බවත් පක්ෂය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමේ අරමුණ ඇතිව මෙම තීන්දුව ගැනීමට සිදුවූ බවත් එම ප්රකාශකයා වැඩිදුරටත් පැවැසීය.
මේ අතර එක්සත් භික්ෂු පෙරමුණ විසින් හයිඩ් පිටියේදී සංවිධානය කළ විපක්ෂ සන්ධාන රැලිය සඳහා සහභාගි නොවිය යුතු යෑයි එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය ඒකමතිකව තීරණය කර තිබුණද එය නොතකා එම පක්ෂයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරුන් වන පාලිත රංගේ බණ්ඩාර, පාලිත තෙවරප්පෙරුම සහ අශෝක් අබේසිංහ යන මහත්වරු රැලියට මුල් අවස්ථාවේ සිටම සහභාගි වූහ.
එම පක්ෂයේ බස්නාහිර පළාත් සභා මන්ත්රී ශිරාල් ලක්තිලක, දකුණු පළාත් සභා මන්ත්රී මෛත්රී ගුණරත්න ඇතුළුව තවත් පළාත් සභා මන්ත්රීවරු කිහිපදෙනෙක්ද සහභාගිවී සිටියහ.
හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු සරත් එන්. සිල්වා මහතා ද රැලියට සහභාගි විය.
Source: Divaina
Picture courtesy : Divaina
President Rajapaksa meets with Sri Lankan community in Kuwait
While at the First Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit, President Mahinda Rajapaksa took the opportunity to meet the Sri Lankan community in Kuwait. The audience with the President was organised by the embassy staff under the guidance of Mr C.A.H.M.Wijeratne, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka for the State of Kuwait.
The president called on the community living in Kuwait and all other Diasporas living across the globe to play an important role as ambassadors in rebuilding their country and befalling peace and tranquility to their home land. He accentuated that it is inevitable the Sri Lankan community in general gets involved in the country’s progress and development and to have suggestion, finance and endorsement in rebuilding the country which was savaged by thirty years of brutal terrorism.
President Rajapaksa further stated that in fact, Middle East workers’ remittances to Sri Lanka are the highest in South Asia with figures doubling in the past 7 years, an estimated migrant population of 1.6 million and an annual outflow of 200,000 Sri Lankan workers. Remittance’s inflows are expected to reach $6 billion, addressing 70 % of the country’s trade deficit. The Sri Lankan government, along with many other Asian emerging economies, has acknowledged the importance of remittances in national development and has thus created several incentives to improve the inflow of money sent by migrant workers into the country. The government created the foreign employment ministry aimed at improving migrant working conditions in foreign countries and dealing with migrant worker affairs. Moreover, the government has introduced incentives to facilitate foreign employment, and has aimed to provide more benefits, the President further added. The colourful ceremony began with a cultural performance from Kandian Dancing troupe, with the lively audience chanting patriotic songs. Amidst cheers of visible joy, President Rajapaksa entered the hall filled with an atmosphere of unmistakable pride. As the President went around the hall to meet the Sri Lankans the cheers grew louder and louder as community members from every corner of Kuwait gathered to the ceremony hall wanted to show their presence and greet the President.
Accompanied by members of their family and friends the participants of the meeting thanked President Rajapaksa for the elimination of terrorism and also mentioned that they are happy with the peaceful transition and the new dawn to the nation. They urged him to eradicate the wide spread corruption too. The community also thanked Mr C.A.H.M.Wijeratne, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka for the State of Kuwait and the embassy staff for their hard work towards the success of the President’s tour and arranging the audience with the President.
Minister of External Affairs, Prof G.L.Peiris, Minister Susil Premajayantha, Monitoring MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, parliamentarian A.H.M.Azwer and the Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga were present at the occasion.
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Pix by: Sudath Silva
Annual Pirith Chanting and Almsgiving – The High Commission of Sri Lanka
Annual Pirith Chanting and Almsgiving
The High Commission of Sri Lanka
cordially invites
Sri Lankans living in the UK to the
Annual Pirith Chanting Ceremony and Almsgiving
to invoke blessings on
His Excellency the President and the People of Sri Lanka
on 17th November, 2012
from 7.00pm to 11.00pm (Pirith)
and
on 18th November, 2012
at 7.00am (Almsgiving/ Heel Dana)
to be held at 13, Hyde Park Gardens, London, W2 2LU.
(Nearest Tube Stations – Lancaster Gate & Paddington)
Sri Lanka Premier League franchise dupes international stars
Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) which is reeling after a deadly match-fixing blow has run into deeper problems as one franchise holder has defaulted player payments in a move which could have far reaching consequences for the tournament and even a player-boycott, sources told “Daily Mirror”.
Franchise holder Basnahira Cricket Dundee has not honoured the payments due to five foreign players who took part in the tournament and SLC sources said that the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) has threatened serious action unless it is settled immediately.
Australian players Daniel Smith, Cameron Borgas and Dirk Nannes have only been paid 50 percent of their promised contract fees by the franchise while two South African stars Charl Langeveldt and Rilee Rossouw have been duped even more seriously.
Langeveldt who has played six Tests and 72 One Day Internationals for South Africa, has received only 25 percent of the promised US $ 20,000 contract fee while Rossouw who had been contracted for US $ 10,000, has not received anything at all from the Basnahira Cricket Dundee.
SLC is reportedly making frantic attempts to contact the franchise owners, but their response is not clear yet.
But with FICA’s patience running out, SLPL is in a delicate position as a public statement from FICA will affect the player participation seriously.
Sources said that Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) which has similar sort of problems has been blacklisted by the FICA which has asked the players to avoid taking part in the player auction for the next edition of the tournament scheduled for December 7. The tournament is to start on January 17.
BPL franchises have paid all foreign players as promised but the local players have not received 60 percent of the promised contract fees to date, nearly an year after the tournament has been completed.
FICA which had their annual general meeting in Colombo earlier this month decided to ask all their members to avoid the BPL to show solidarity with the affected Bangladeshi players.
FICA can easily resort to this action against SLPL which is likely to deliver a cruel blow to the tournament.
FICA Chairman Tim May is reportedly in touch with SLC which is now sporting a red face having earlier made several public claims of obtaining required bank guarantees from franchise owners.
Sandeep Bhammer, Chairman of Somerset Entertainment Ventures which is the SLC’s management partner for the SLPL was very clear about the issue in an interview published on the official SLPL website prior to the tournament.
“What we have done is that all our player contracts are being approved by FICA and also as part of our contractual obligation, each of the franchise owners are required under the respective franchise agreements to provide a bank guarantee to the cricket board, prior to the arrival of the players, reflecting the full payment due to the players” Bhammer said.
“In the event that the players are not paid, the Sri Lanka cricket board will actually go ahead and cash that bank guarantee, which would have been provided to them upfront to protect against any defaults of payments to players” Bhammer added.
However a few days later Bhammer told Cricinfo that franchises were unable to acquire bank guarantees because the process of getting guarantees for each individual franchise would have taken too long and was too complicated. He said tournament organisers had instead asked franchises to acquire a “pay order” for the total amount of player salaries and they had in turn shown proof of these pay orders to FICA.
However, May rejected the claim later in an interview with the website “Island Cricket”.
“This is a complete fabrication. At no stage has any pay order [been] shown to FICA,” May said.
“Despite many requests, neither a bank guarantee nor pay order was ever produced. [Bhammer’s] assertion that it was shown to FICA is an outright and complete lie” he added.
Later, in an exclusive interview with “Daily Mirror” after the tournament, Bhammer claimed that his company had “delivered a bona fide tournament” and “all players have been paid.”
But May was very clear on the FICA position when he told Cricinfo about the importance of the bank guarantee.
“Non-production of these bank guarantees is a major breach of the player contract,” May said.
“The bank guarantees were instrumental in obtaining many players’ signatures to participate in this event.”
“I can categorically state that if the bank guarantees are not sighted by the relevant date for next year’s tournament, we will be recommending players not to travel to Sri Lanka until the guarantees are sighted by FICA and agreed to be in a form suitable for its purpose,” he added.
By Channaka De Silva
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Jayasuriya to lead World XI in Pakistan
Former Sri Lanka skipper, Sanath Jayasuriya will lead a strong World XI to Pakistan to play a friendly T20 matches, against Pakistan All Star XI, at Karachi, on Saturday and Sunday.
The World XI includes former players from South Africa and the West Indies.
Pakistan will host a World XI for two Twenty20 matches, officials said Tuesday, in hopes of moving a step closer to resuming home internationals which have been suspended for more than three years.
Mohammad Ali Shah, sports minister for Sindh province, said the matches will help restore Pakistan’s image in the world.
“We hope that this small step will pave the way for other teams to tour Pakistan and by staging these matches we hope to send a clear message that our country is safe for international sports,” Shah told a press conference.
Former West Indian batsman Alvin Kallicharan will be the manager of the World XI, said Shah.
The World XI will also include Ricardo Powell, Steven Taylor, Jermaine Charles Lawson and Adam Sanford, all from the West Indies; South Africa’s Justin Kemp, Loots Bosman, Mthandeki Tschabalala, Andre Nel, Andre Johann Seymore and Nantie Hayward; and Shapoor Zadran and Mohammad Shahzad Mohammadi of Afghanistan.
Shah said strict security would be in place.
“Around 5,000 policemen will be employed to avoid any lapse and we are sure that these arrangements will made the players at ease,” said Shah. “All the players are excited over the prospect of visiting Pakistan.”
Pakistan All Stars will be led by current all-rounder Shahid Afridi and include Younis Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Wahab Riaz and Imran Nazir.
Source: KARACHI (AFP)
Sri Lanka selectors ponder separate Twenty20 team
Sri Lanka chief selector Ashantha de Mel has said that the national selection committee may streamline the selection of teams, and have a separate Twenty20 squad, following Sri Lanka’s 36-run loss to West Indies in the World Twenty20 final in Colombo.
The changes are likely to be introduced in the one-off T20 international against New Zealand to be played at Pallekele on October 30.
Vice captain Angelo Mathews is expected to take the reins for the game against New Zealand, with Mahela Jayawardene having resigned from the captaincy following the World Twenty20 final.
“We will have to go with Mathews for the moment but we will assess the captaincy. The team should be captained by a player who has a permanent place in the side,” de Mel said. “We need to separate the Test and ODI players from the T20 players and pick a squad that will fulfill the requirements of T20 cricket.
“We will pick a young side with players who can make a clean strike of the ball,” he said. Sri Lanka hit the least sixes of the four semi-finalists in the World Twenty20 and managed only one six to West Indies’ seven in the final. “We really have to assess the situation and start building a team of T20 cricketers for the next World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014,” said de Mel.
Continue reading : http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/story/586717.html
Source: ESPNcricinfo
Pakistani, Thai and Iranian leaders call on President Rajapaksa at ACD Summit
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is attending the first ever Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit in Kuwait, held bilateral discussions with several Asian leaders Tuesday and Wednesday at Bayan Palace on the sidelines of the Summit. Among the leaders, President Rajapaksa met were Prime Minister of Pakistan Raja Pervez Ashraf, Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Pakistani Premier has told the President that Pakistan desires to further deepen economic ties between the two countries and wishes to cooperate with Sri Lanka in all spheres including trade, education, health and culture. He has also expressed the hope that the modalities for utilization of $200 million credit line will be finalized soon.
President Rajapaksa has told that Sri Lanka values Pakistan’s support and hoped that Pakistani private sector would invest more after the restoration of peace in Sri Lanka. He further noted that Sri Lanka expects Pakistani businessmen to establish manufacturing units in the Pharmaceutical Zone in Kurunegala and invest in the booming tourist industry in the island. An agreement was reached to implement a bilateral programme for the promotion of the cement and sugar industries.
During the meeting with Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the two leaders discussed with the intention of further strengthening bilateral relations, especially in trade, tourism and investment, as well as regional and multilateral issues. They also discussed the Sri Lanka Thailand Joint Commission meeting planned to be held in Sri Lanka next year. Development of the agricultural and fisheries industries and imparting Thai’s know-how and technology were among the many other topics that surfaced at the talks. In separate meeting on the same day, President Rajapaksa also held bilateral talks with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of ACD Summit.
Iranian President said that the enemies are seeking to create discord and conflict in the region but regional nations should prevent them from doing so through prudence. He said that regional problems should be resolved by regional countries without any foreign intervention. “There is no way for nations to resolve the problems and to build a better and more beautiful world other than cooperation,” Ahmadinejad stated. Commenting on the relations between Iran and Sri Lanka, Iranian leader emphasized the necessity to promote ties in all spheres and said that no power can put obstacle in the way of expanding bilateral relations.
President Rajapaksa, for his part, reiterated Sri Lanka’s determination for expanding ties with Iran, and called for the removal of obstacles and problems blocking the path of broadened cooperation between the two countries in different fields, specially the energy sector. Ministers and other officials of the respective governments also participated in these meetings
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Pix by: Sudath Silva
UK warns unscrupulous agents
While advising prospective UK visa applicants of the dangers of being misled by unscrupulous agents, the United Kingdom today warned that they would take action against those agents.
Issuing a statement the UK High Commission in Colombo said quoting UK Border Agency’s Regional Director, Thomas Greig that “We welcome genuine visitors, students and workers to the UK and are committed to ensuring the quality and availability of visa services for genuine applicants. We will, however, not tolerate abuse of the UK visa system and we have a zero tolerance of fraud. I strongly advise anyone who wants a visa for the UK not to listen to agents who offer to sell forged documents or say that they can guarantee a visa.
“We have very effective processes for detecting fraud and work with our international partners and Sri Lankan authorities to do so. When we uncover fraud, including false bank statements, education and language certificates, we will refuse the visa and the applicant will face a ten year ban on travelling to the UK, as well as possible action by the Sri Lankan authorities. We will report agents involved in fraud to the police.”
Unscrupulous agents make promises to applicants that they cannot keep.
To avoid being duped, applicants should bear in mind the following:
• You do not need to use an agent to make a UK visa application. All the information you require, and the UK visa application form, are available free of charge on the following official UK Border Agency and VFS Global websites:www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk and www.vfs-uk-lk.com.
• The UK Border Agency does not endorse any agents in Sri Lanka, nor does it have a list of preferred agents. If you wish to use an agent, choose one carefully and get the right advice. An agent should charge a reasonable fee. If you are cheated, report this to the police.
• Do not be misled by unscrupulous agents into thinking that it is acceptable to submit forged documents with your visa application. It is not. The UK Border Agency has sophisticated document verification procedures. Your application will be refused, you face a 10 year ban on travel to the UK and also further investigation by the Sri Lankan authorities.
• It is important that you complete your visa application fully and honestly. The UK Border Agency collects biometric data (finger scans and digital photographs) as part of the visa application process. We know if you have applied for a UK visa anywhere in the world and in any identity. The UK Border Agency also works closely with other countries to detect and take action against fraud in visa processes.
• Do not believe agents who say that they can, in exchange for money, influence how fast applications are processed or the final decision. They cannot. Visa decisions are made only by visa officers who work for the UK Border Agency.
• Do not believe agents who say that they have a contact in the UK Border Agency or its commercial partner, VFS Global, and can influence the speed and outcome of the decision. They cannot.
• Since 10 October 2012, agents are no longer permitted to collect your documents at the end of the visa process. You can track the progress of your application to know when your documents are ready for collection. You may also pay a small fee to receive an automated SMS on the progress of your application. Further information is available at www.vfs-uk-lk.com.
• Do not be fooled by imposters pretending to be officers from the UK Border Agency or the British High Commission in Colombo. Legitimate visa officers do not meet applicants outside their offices nor do they contact you to ask for money.
• Do not be fooled by fake websites designed to look like official government or VFS websites. Always obtain your visa information from official websites www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk and www.vfs-uk-lk.com.
If you have information that someone has abused the UK visa process or intends to do so, or has helped someone else to do this, please contact the UK Border Agency at the following email address: Ralon.Colombo2@fco.gov.uk. Please provide as much information as possible, including the contact details for the person concerned. The UK Border Agency will treat the information you provide in confidence and not disclose your details.
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
පළමු වරට ශ්රී ලංකාවෙන් සන්නිවේදන චන්ද්රිකාවක්
ප්රථම ශ්රී ලාංකේය සන්නිවේදන චන්ද්රිකාව ලබන මස 22 වැනි දින මෙරට වේලාවෙන් රාත්රී 9.30ට අභ්යාවකාශගත කෙරේ.
නව චන්ද්රිකාව චීනයේ ෂින්චෑන්ග් චන්ද්රිකා විහිදුම් මධ්යස්ථානයේ සිට චීන රොකට්ටුවක් මාර්ගයෙන් උඩුගුවනට විද 87.5 භූ ස්ථායි කක්ෂයේ රඳවා මිනිත්තු හතකට පසුව ශ්රී ලාංකීය මුහුදු තීරයට ඉහල අහසේ කක්ෂගත කිරීමට නියමිතය.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ජාතික කොඩිය සහ චීනයේ ජාතික කොඩියේ සටහනින් සමන්විත වන නව චන්ද්රිකාවේ ජීව කාලය වසර පහළොවක් වන අතර ඒ හරහා දකුණු හා මධ්යම ආසියාව , නැගෙනහිර අප්රිකාව හා ඈත පෙරදිග රටවලට 2013 ජනවාරි මුල සතියේ සිට අදාල සන්නිවේදන සේවා සැපයෙනු ඇත.
චීන රජයට අයත් චීන චන්ද්රිකා සන්නිවේදන සමාගම සමඟ ඒකාබද්ධව ක්රියාත්මක කළ ව්යාපෘතියක අවසන් ප්රතිඵලයක් ලෙස මෙය එළි දැක්වේ.
චයිනා ග්රේට් වෝල් ඉන්ඩස්ට්රී කෝපරේෂන් (China Great Wall Industry Corporation) සහ චයිනා සැටලයිට් කොමිනිකේෂන් (China Satellite Communication Co.Ltd) සමග ඒකාබද්ධව සුප්රීම්සැට් සමාගම චන්ද්රිකාව අභ්යාවකාශගත කිරීමේ ගිවිසුමට ඉකුත් 16 වැනි දා අත්සන් තැබුවේය.
ප්රථම වරට මෙවැනි සන්නිවේදන චන්ද්රිකාවක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට දායක වී ඇත්තේ ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සුප්රීම්සැට් සමාගම වන අතර ආයෝජනය කර ඇති මුදල ඇමරිකන් ඩොලර් මිලියන 360 ක් බව එම සමාගමේ සභාපති ආර්.එම්.මනිවන්නම් මහතා පැවැසීය.
මෙවැනි ඉහළ සන්නිවේදන කර්තව්යක් සඳහා දායක වූ දකුණු ආසියානු ප්රථම පෞද්ගලික සමාගම වන්නේ තමන් බවද ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන චන්ද්රිකා වැඩසටහන දියත් කිරීම සඳහා තෝරාගෙන ඇති සමාගම් හයට ශ්රී ලංකික සුප්රීම්සැට් සමාගම අයත් වන බවද ඒ මහතා ප්රකාශ කළේය.
එමෙන්ම ලෝකයේ සාර්ක් රටවලින් ඉන්දියාව සහ පාකිස්ථානය හැරුණු විට මෙවැනි කර්තව්යක් සඳහා දායකත්වය දුන් තෙවැනි රට ලංකාව බව පවසන ඒ මහතා, නව සන්නිවේදන චද්රිකාව අභ්යාවකාශගත කිරීමත් සමඟ මුළු මහත් ජාතියට විශාල කීර්තියක් හා විශිෂ්ට ස්ථානයක් අත්වනු ඇතැයි ද මෙය ජාතියේ ජයග්රහණයක් බවද වැඩිදුරටත් පැවැසීය.
Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)
“Asian Continent is not the playground of other forces”- President Rajapaksa at ACD
Asian Continent cannot be the playground of other forces, who seek our wealth, our assets of nature and human resources. Our progress must draw from the best of our own cultures and while learning from the best of others who come with genuine friendship, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. He further said; “we are seeing the dawn of the Age of Asia. We must together see it bring new light to a troubled world dominated by the grave errors of other Continents”. President Rajapaksa made these remarks at the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit in Kuwait City on Tuesday.
Asia should strive to regain and safeguard its independence that is challenged on many fronts and across many borders. The countries of Asia can succeed in rebuilding our continent by greater reliance on our cultural affinity, rich history, and the strength of our human resources, the President added. The ambition for progress and development in our Continent of Asia is limitless. Our tasks will not end till our cooperation makes us fully realize the economic, political, social, technological and human capabilities and potential of our Continent. The strides we have made have helped enlarge our ambitions with greater tasks to achieve with determination and persistence. This is the call from our great history and the hopes and promises of the future
We are also confronted with pressing challenges such as the menace of terrorism, piracy, climate change, natural disasters, environmental pollution and anti-social activities. These challenges are a call for greater cooperation as we now see in the ACD. One other challenge many developing countries, such as mine, are facing is the burden placed on the developing world by rapidly fluctuating oil prices. This has imposed a heavy strain on our resources thereby hampering our long term plans on development said the President.
Earlier Kuwait’s Emir Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah called for setting up a $2-billion fund to support development projects in Asian countries. The proposed fund could be managed by a development institution in Asia such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which could handle the financial assets and oversee their use in implementing projects in the least developed Asian countries, Shaikh Sabah said at the opening ceremony of the ACD.
“It gives me pleasure to announce that Kuwait will contribute $300 million to the fund and we hope that the proposed amount will be reached through contributions from ACD member countries,” Shaikh Sabah further added.
Monday evening President Rajapaksa was accorded a warm welcome as he arrived on a three-day visit to attend the first ACD summit. The Amir of Kuwait, accompanied by the crown prince Sheikh Nawaf al Ahmad al Sabah, reached the airport to personally greet the visiting President in a special gesture of brotherly relations between the two countries.
The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Petroleum Resources Minister Susil Premajayantha, parliamentarians Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, A.H.M.Azwer and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga also attended the summit.
Leaders from the 32 ACD member countries attended the opening of the summit amid reports that energy and food security issues topped the agenda for the event.
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Pix by: Sudath Silva
Full text of the President’s speech:
His Highness Amir Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah,
Heads of State and Heads of Government and Leaders of Delegations,
Excellencies,
Honoured Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be with you today at this landmark First Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit in this Kuwait city.
I express my appreciation to the Government of the State of Kuwait for the excellent arrangements made for this Summit and the reception accorded to me and my delegation. I also thank the Islamic Republic of Iran for the leadership given and contributions made to the ACD during their term of office.
YourHighness,
Your Excellencies,
I recall Sri Lanka proposing to the eighth ACD Ministerial Meeting held in Colombo in 2009 to take the ACD to the highest level of political participation by convening a Summit of the Heads of State or Government of Member Countries. I congratulate His Highness Amir of the State of Kuwait for making it a reality.
Though ACD is a unique regional organization, its activities are carried out through voluntary contributions and voluntary participation of the Member Countries. Although it has no binding Charter we are bound together by being Asian with strong bonds of understanding and friendship.
Friends,
We are rightly proud of Asia’s rich, multi-faceted heritage. Many civilizations have flourished in Asia. The four major religions that prevail today have their origins in Asia. Asia has also been a major source for food, energy, education, manpower and industrial products to the world.
Today, Asia is the world’s largest and most populous Continent. Together with great diversity Asia also has great unity among its people the feeling of Asianness. While modern transport links us today we were linked in the past, with the legendary Silk Routes of land and sea. We now look for new links to make our bonds stronger.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
With more than half of the world’s population Asia has an abundance of much needed human resources. It is moving ahead in exploring and the use of natural resources in manufacturing and new technology. Asia is now producing the giants of the emerging world and once powerful economies are competing for opportunities here. We stand out among the biggest producers of energy in the world and look forward to moving further ahead with new technology.
With some of the world’s largest and fast growing economies Asia also has the smallest and the least developed. Similarly, within our countries we have the rich and the poor living side by side resulting in poverty alleviation an area of high priority for all of us.
With rapidly growing economies and income levels, Asia is one of the most promising markets in the world. The abundance of our natural resources has the potential to address the challenges of food and energy security. Yet, our people are faced with threats to traditional exports as the world economy shrinks due to the crises in other regions.
We are also confronted with pressing challenges such as the menace of terrorism, piracy, climate change, natural disasters, environmental pollution and anti-social activities. These challenges are a call for greater cooperation as we now see in the ACD. The ACD seeks to combine all the sub-regions of Asia into a continent of greater strength. One other challenge many developing countries, such as mine, are facing is the burden placed on the developing world by rapidly fluctuating oil prices. This has imposed a heavy strain on our resources thereby hampering our long term plans on development. I am certain that I echo the views of many of my colleagues when I suggest that this matter calls for serious attention of this august assembly.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is useful to recall the three aims of the ACD process proposed by former Thai Prime Minister, Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra at the inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the ACD in 2002. They are,
- First, to provide for the exchange of ideas and experiences with no institutional obstructions.
- Second, to improve national and regional capabilities to make Asia a strong partner for other regions, and
- Third, to serve as a forum for Asian countries to exchange views with one another in a frank manner on international trends and developments which have a direct bearing on Asia.
The absence of institutional obstruction is what makes the ACD unique. Therefore, the Honourable Ministers and Senior Officials need a mandate to evolve a new mechanism to work together without the blocks and traps of institutional structures.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to share Sri Lanka’s own experience on the Development Framework of my Government, the “Mahinda Chinthana”, addressing the challenges of combining the positive attributes of a free market economy with domestic aspirations. Development of the rural economy and support for small and medium enterprises are the central pillars of our policy where domestic enterprises can be supported while encouraging foreign investment.
There are many other fields which we are developing to achieve poverty alleviation an important area of cooperation in our continent. We are investing heavily in infrastructure and Information Technology, to empower our large rural population who are the main beneficiaries of our economy. We see tourism as a rapidly developing sector with useful stimulus to create and sustain employment. With increased employment opportunities particularly to the rural youth these also reduce the gaps in income levels.
Excellencies,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Over the last 10 years, the ACD has made important advances in identifying 20 areas of cooperation. It is now time to follow up on decisions made. This will help take the ACD towards further progress for the people of Asia.
After its first decade, the ACD must now move to implement the projects of cooperation to significantly transform our vision into reality. In a world of increasing crisis the urgent areas of action include reducing the impact of climate change, protecting the environment and ensuring sustainable development. We must work hard to generate employment ensure food security while reducing poverty, expanding literacy and ensuring gender equality.
It is our belief that Asia should strive to regain and safeguard its independence that is challenged on many fronts and across many borders. The countries of Asia can succeed in rebuilding our continent by greater reliance on our cultural affinity rich history, and the strength of our human resources.
Today, we see two contrasting, and opposing trends in the world, namely, the increased competition among countries in a globalized market place and the strengthening of regional integration. These two trends provide good reason why we, as Asians, should consider the importance of regional forums such as the ACD.
As the only pan-Asian regional cooperation mechanism, the ACD has the potential to bring diverse voices together. This will help forge collective economic strategies to maintain Asia’s competitive advantage over other regional groupings. This is important at a time when the troubles in one regional grouping are causing grave problems the world over.
As countries in diverse regions come together for better economic strength, we cannot be the only continent without an effective regional forum to consolidate our strengths and to project a unified voice in world affairs.
In this light, this first Summit of Asian leaders has deep meaning. The ACD Study Group to be launched, will pool the resources of Asian government officials academics and experts to map out the future directions of the ACD. It is our search for new ways to realize the great potential of this forum with new ideas to better shape our cooperation as Asians.
The ACD represents an influential platform for each Member State to create favourable conditions for its foreign-economic activity. The ACD provides access to the markets and promotes bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the countries and international institutions of the Asian continent.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The ambition for progress and development in our Continent of Asia is limitless. Our tasks will not end till our cooperation makes us fully realize the economic, political, social, technological and human capabilities and potential of our Continent.
The strides we have made have helped enlarge our ambitions with greater tasks to achieve with determination and persistence. This is the call from our great history and the hopes and promises of the future.
This Continent of Asia cannot be the playground of other forces, who seek our wealth, our assets of nature and human resources. Our progress must draw from the best of our own cultures and while learning from the best of others who come with genuine friendship. We are seeing the dawn of the Age of Asia. We must together see it bring new light to a troubled world dominated by the grave errors of other Continents.
I am confident that our commitment to cooperate within the Asian framework will see the progress of the Asian Dialogue. I wish all the ACD Member States success in implementing their goals and tasks to fully realize the Age of Asia.
Let me conclude with the assurance that we look forward to working closely with Tajikistan who will be the next host of the ACD.
May the Blessings of the Noble Triple Gem be with you.
Thank you.
By Janaka Alahapperuma
කුඩාවැල්ලේදී යාත්රාව පැහැර ගනිති; ධීවරයෝ තිදෙනෙක් අතුරුදන්, මුහුද මැද බිහිසුණු කොල්ලයක්
තංගල්ල කුඩාවැල්ල ධීවර වරායෙන් මුහුදු ගිය ධීවරයන් පිරිසක් රැගත් ට්රොaලර් යාත්රාවකට මහ මුහුද මැදදී වෙනත් යාත්රාවකින් කඩාවැදුණු සන්නද්ධ පිරිසක් එහි සිටි ධීවරයන්ට අමානුෂික ලෙස පහර දී කපා කොටා දෑත් දෙපා ගැටගසා ඔවුන් මහ මුහුදට ඇද දමා ධීවර යාත්රාව පැහැරගෙන ගොස් ඇත.
සන්නද්ධ පිරිස විසින් මහ මුහුදට ඇද දැමූ ධීවරයන් අතුරින් දෙදෙනකු විදේශ නෞකා දෙකක් මගින් පෙරේදා (15 වැනිදා) රාත්රි බේරාගෙන පසුව නාවික හමුදාවට භාරදී තිබේ. මුහුදට ඇද දැමූ ධීවරයන්ගෙන් තිදෙනකු පිළිබඳ කිසිදු තොරතුරක් ඊයේ (16 දා) දහවල් වනතුරුත් ලැබී නොතිබිණි.
නීති විරෝධී අන්දමින් ඔස්aටේ්රලියාවට පුද්ගලයන් රැගෙන යන සංවිධානාත්මක කණ්ඩායමක් මෙම ට්රොaලර් යාත්රාව පැහැර ගන්නට ඇති බව පොලිසිය පවසයි.
මෙහිදී දිවි ගලවාගෙන ඇත්තේ තංගල්ල කුඩාවැල්ලේ පදිංචිකරුවන් දෙදෙනකු වන 27 හැවිරිදි ලොකුයක්දෙහිගේ නිරෝෂන් සහ 30 හැවිරිදි සුරංග අනිල් ගලප්පත්ති යන අයයි.
මුහුදට දැමීමෙන් පසුව අතුරුදන්ව ඇත්තේ කේ. එච්. සමන්, දුලාන් චතුරංග සහ රොෂාන් කුමාර යන අය බව හඳුනාගෙන ඇත.
“තේජාන්” නමැති ට්රොaලර් යාත්රාවේ නැගුණු ධීවර පිරිස ඉකුත් 14 වැනිදා රාත්රි 10.00 ට පමණ තංගල්ල කුඩාවැල්ල ධීවර වරායෙන් ගමන් ආරම්භ කර තිබේ. යාත්රාවේ රියෑදුරු ලෙස කටයුතු කර ඇත්තේ තාවකාලිකව බඳවා ගත් පුද්ගලයෙකි.
අලුතින්ම මිලදී ගෙන තිබූ මෙම ට්රොaලර් යාත්රාව සිය තුන්වැනි ධීවර ගමන ලෙස මෙසේ පිටත් වී තිබිණි.
තංගල්ල කුඩාවැල්ල ධීවර වරායේ සිට කිලෝමීටර් කීපයක් මුහුද මැදට යාත්රා කරද්දී එහි රියෑදුරු යාත්රාව එකවරම නතර කර තිබේ. යාත්රාව නතර කළේ ඇයිදැයි ධීවරයන් විමසීමේදී ඔහු පවසා ඇත්තේ තම හිතවතුන් පිරිසක් බියර් කෑන් තොගයක් රැගෙන එන බවත් එය ගෙන එනතුරු යාත්රාව නතර කළ බවත්ය.
ඒ සමඟම කුඩා යාත්රාවකින් පැමිණි පුද්ගලයන් දසදෙනකු එකවරම ට්රොaලර් යාත්රාවට ඇතුළු වී එහි සිටි ධීවරයන් පස්දෙනාට අමානුෂික ලෙස පහර දී ඔවුන් කපා කොටා තුවාල කර පසුව දෑත් දෙපා ගැටගසා ඇත.
ට්රොaලර් යාත්රාවේ සිටි රියෑදුරු ද මෙම කල්ලිය සමඟ එක්ව සිටි අතර ඔවුන් ගල්කටස් තුවක්කු, කඩු හා පිහිවලින් සන්නද්ධව සිටි බව හෙළි විය.
මෙම ධීවරයන් අතර සිටි වයෝවෘද්ධ පුද්ගලයාට ද සන්නද්ධ පිරිස අමානුෂික ලෙස පහර දුන් අතර ඔහු එම පිරිසට වැඳ වැටෙමින් පහර නොදෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා ඇත.
යාත්රාවේ සිටි අවුරුදු 21 සහ 19 වයස්වල පසු වූ තරුණයන් දෙදෙනාට ද සන්නද්ධ පිරිස ඉතාම කෲර අන්දමින් පහර දී කපා කොටා තුවාල කර තිබේ.
යාත්රාවේ සිටි සුරංග අනිල් ගලප්පත්ති සන්නද්ධ පිරිස විසින් මුහුදට ඇද දැමූ අතර එය බලා සිටි නිරෝෂන් ද එක්වරම මුහුදට පැන ඇත.
ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා බැඳ තිබූ ලණු ලිහාගෙන පැය අටකට ආසන්න කාලයක් මුහුදේ පිහිනමින් සිට ඇත.
ඒ අවස්ථාවේ භාණ්ඩ ප්රවාහන නෞකාවකින් එක් ධීවරයකු බේරාගත් අතර තවත් නෞකාවකින් අනෙක් ධීවරයා ද බේරාගෙන තිබේ.
පසුව ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා නාවික හමුදාව වෙත භාරදීමට එම නෞකාවල බලධාරීහු කටයුතු කළහ. බේරාගත් ධීවරයන් දෙදෙනා නාවික හමුදාවේ ජයසාගර නෞකාවෙන් ගාල්ල වරායට රැගෙනවිත් ඇත්තේ පෙරේදා රාත්රි කාලයේදීය.
පසුව ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා ගාල්ල කරාපිටිය රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කළ අතර එක් අයකුගේ තත්ත්වය බරපතළ බව රෝහල් ආරංචි මාර්ග පැවසීය.
මෙහිදී අතුරුදන් වූ ධීවරයන් තිදෙනා සෙවීම සඳහා නාවික හමුදා කිමිදුම් කණ්ඩායම් විශේෂ මෙහෙයුමක් ඊයේ ආරම්භ කර තිබිණි.
ගාල්ල සහ තංගල්ල පොලිසි මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරීක්ෂණ පවත්වාගෙන යයි.
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)
Intruding on the untrodden green
The ‘development projects’ and tourism promotion activities have threatened Sri Lanka’s natural resources, especially the wildlife. The officials continuous give eloquent speeches about sustainable tourism and one might wonder whether their speeches are just limited to words. As environmentalist Rukshan Jayawardene quite rightly pointed out it is not acceptable and sustainable to destroy wildlife as it is the very resource which helps to earn foreign exchange from tourists who are interested in wildlife.
With such danger looming, it is being reported that there are campsites inside national parks which have been leased out to private companies. How did these private companies get the campsites for lease and how did these activities go unnoticed by the officials that are appointed to safeguard the country’s natural resources? How did they not notice that these parties are blatantly violating the environmental laws? These questions can only be answered by the wildlife officials.
Campsites on lease
The Environmental Organizations Collective revealed that the Department of Wildlife has given the campsites in major national parks, to private parties who rent these campsites back to the tourists at a higher price. According to the environmentalists the campsites are given under long-term leases for an amount between Rs 50,000- Rs 100,000. However the private companies which provide tourists with wildlife observational visits and hospitality services at these campsites charge 300 US dollars per day from one individual.
The campsites in Yala, Wilpattu and Udawalwe national parks have been leased out to private parties and it was also revealed that an area from the Horton Plains Reserve would also be allocated for a campsite which would be leased out to a private party.
Read more : http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/172-opinion/22727-intruding-on-the-untrodden-green.html
By Sarasi Paranamanna
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Photos courtesy: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Besajja Puja (භේසජ්ඣ පූජාව) at Heathrow Viharaya
‘Besajja Puja’ will be held on Saturday, 20th October 2012 at Heathrow Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple.
