Former Army commander Sarath Fonseka speaking at his 1st press conference since his release, said he would never join the current regime.

“This is a question a lot of you wanted to ask me. I would never join this government. I will always fight for the principles that I stood for. I will topple the current corrupt regime and save this country.”

He also stated that, people are trying to spread rumours about him joining the government in order to prevent him from regaining political stability within the people of this country.

Speaking further Sarath Fonseka spelt out his political manifesto which included the abolition of the executive presidency and coming to an agreeable political solution for the people of this country and put an end to the rampant, corrupt political culture within the country.

By Hafeel Fariz and Yohan Perera
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

The embarrassment caused to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Britain when attending Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee celebrations had humiliated not only the President but also Sri Lanka, United National Party (UNP) MP Karu Jayasuriya said today.

Mr. Jayasuriya told a news conference that the President had attended this event as a head of a sovereign nation and not as the leader of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

“Therefore, if the President is subjected to humiliation, we consider it as a humiliation to the country as a whole. Although we belong to another political party and hold different views, we must state this fact without any political bias,” he said.

He said he had no intention of expressing his views about Sri Lanka’s participation at this event because it was the sole responsibility of the Government to decide who should attend and at what level.

“According to reports many countries did not send their heads of states. Some countries were represented by ministerial level delegates. Whenever foreign visits of this nature are planned, it is the External Affairs Ministry which must provide necessary advice and guidance,” Mr. Jayasuriya said.

By Kelum Bandara
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

After the successful Vicky Donor, director Shoojit Sircar is now all set to make epic drama titled Jaffna (starring John Abraham), that’s set on the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam (LTTE’s) struggle for separatism. John will be seen playing a fictional character in this film.

Talking about this film, Sircar said that it will not dilute the LTTE issue in anyway, and that there is no point in taking up a theme and not going all the way with it. He explained that this film of his will be as self-defeating as making a film on sperm donation (Vicky Donor) without any mention of sperms or sex! He also added that his film will feature look-alikes of well-known political personalities from the LTTE episodes in Indian history, including LTTE founder Prabhakaran. As far as the locations of the film are concerned, he will be shooting most of his film in South India (mostly Kerala and Tamil Nadu). He also added that he may sneak into Sri Lanka to shoot a bit in the city of Jaffna, which is in shambles as he knows that he will not be able to get the same spirit of devastation in another location. He plans to revisit the peak of the LTTE movement 1984-85 onwards.

Sailing in the same boat (read ‘subject plot’) is none other than Santosh Sivan (he made The Terroristalmost 13 years ago), who is now getting ready with his film titled Ceylon, something that had been in his mind for many years. Talking about his film, Sivan said that he wanted to look at the Sri Lankan situation from the perspective of a bunch of youngsters who get caught in the crisis. He also added that his film is more about an outsider’s response to the horrors than about the politics itself. The film will have a new cast and will be shot in Sri Lanka, but after the rains. As a parting shot, he said that he doesn’t wantCeylon to look like a tourist attraction, that’s why he wants to go beyond the obvious

Courtesy: Bollywood Hungama News Network 

The Obama administration on Monday exempted Sri Lanka and six other nations from U.S. economic sanctions after they significantly reduced their imports of Iranian oil.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also granted waivers to India, South Korea, Turkey, Taiwan, Malaysia and South Africa meaning that banks and other financial institutions based there won’t be hit with penalties under U.S. law for a renewable 180-day period.

They join 11 countries – Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Japan – that Clinton in March determined had done enough to wean themselves from Iranian petroleum. Of major importers of Iranian oil, only China now remains without a U.S. waiver. It has until June 28 to reduce its consumption of Iranian oil or face the penalties unless it receives a national security waiver.

Clinton said in a statement that the exemptions are proof that sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran to come clean about its nuclear program are working.

“Today’s announcement underscores the success of our sanctions implementation,” she said in a statement. “By reducing Iran’s oil sales, we are sending a decisive message to Iran’s leaders: until they take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community, they will continue to face increasing isolation and pressure.”

Clinton urged Iranian leaders to address the nuclear concerns quickly, and pointed to an upcoming meeting in Moscow, with negotiators from Iran and world powers, as an ideal opportunity to do so.

U.S. officials said Iran’s oil exports have declined from about 2.5 million barrels a day last year to between 1.2 and 1.8 million barrels a day, choking a key source of revenue for the regime which remains defiant of international demands to prove that its nuclear program is peaceful.

The U.S. sanctions target foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran’s central bank by barring them from opening or maintaining correspondent operations in the United States. They would apply to foreign central banks only for transactions that involve the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products and then only if the administration determined that there is enough non-Iranian oil available to make up the difference without disrupting oil markets.

There have been concerns that the squeeze on Iranian customers could send oil prices sharply higher as countries reduce Iranian exports and make up for it by buying from other suppliers.

However, shortly before Clinton’s announcement, the White House said it had determined that not to be a problem.

“There currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce their imports of Iranian oil, taking into account current estimates of demand, increased production by countries other than Iran, inventories of crude oil and petroleum products, and available strategic petroleum reserves,” it said in a statement.

“In this context, it is notable that many purchasers of Iranian crude oil have already significantly reduced their purchases or announced they are in productive discussions with alternative suppliers,” it said, Huffington post reports.

Source: Adaderana (Sri Lanka)

The British government yesterday announced a major overhaul of family migration policy which will help stop foreign criminals hiding behind human rights laws to avoid deportation and ensure that only migrants who can support themselves financially may establish their family life in the UK.

Issuing a statement, the British High Commission stated that the changes are intended to increase integration, tackle abuse of family migration and reduce pressure on public services. They are part of the government’s programme of reforming UK migration policy and follow wide consultation and expert advice. Most of these changes will come into force from 9 July 2012.

New UK immigration rules will mean deportation should become the normal consequence for anyone receiving a custodial sentence of at least 12 months. For criminals jailed for more than four years, the public interest in removal will outweigh the right to private and family life in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

The key changes announced also include:

• a minimum income of £18,600 for those who wish to sponsor the settlement of a non-EU spouse or partner in the UK. This level is based on advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), and is calculated as the level at which a couple generally ceases to be able to access income-related benefits. Higher income requirements will apply to dependent children: £22,400 for one child and an additional £2,400 for each further child;

• increasing the minimum probationary period from two years to five years before non-EU spouses and partners can apply for settlement, in order to better determine the genuineness of the relationship and to deter sham marriages;

• requiring a couple that has been living together overseas for at least four years to complete a five-year probationary period before settlement is granted. This alters the existing arrangement whereby a migrant partner in these circumstances has been able to obtain immediate settlement in the UK;

• allowing non-EU adult and elderly dependent relatives to settle in the UK only where they can demonstrate that, as a result of age, illness or disability, they require long-term personal care that can only be provided in the UK by their relative and without recourse to public funds, and requiring them to apply from overseas;

• from October 2013, requiring applicants for settlement to pass the Life in the UK test and present an English language speaking and listening qualification at intermediate level (B1 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) or above, unless they are exempt.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

කන්තලේ පොළ භූමියේ තිබෙන කඩ ටික හෙට අනිද්දාට කඩනවා. එදා වේල හොයා ගන්න මේ පවුල්ටික මහ පාරට වැටෙනවා. මේවා කඩා බිඳ දාන්න කලින් තමුන්නාන්සේලාට ඊට විකල්පයක්‌ මෙතෙක්‌ ඉදිරිපත් කරලා නෑ. ඒ විතරක්‌ නොවෙයි හෙට අනිද්දා වන විට මේ කන්තලේ තමුන්නාන්සේලා කුසගිනි නිවාගන්නා වැවටත් සී ප්ලේන් බස්‌සනවා. මේ ආණ්‌ඩුවේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ පවතින්නේ ඒ වගේ ආශ්චර්ය තත්ත්වයකැයි ජනතා විමුක්‌ති පෙරමුණේ නායක සෝමවංශ අමරසිංහ මහතා පැවැසීය.

පෙරේදා (10 දා) කන්තලේ සති පොළේ වෙළෙඳුන් හා පැමිණ සිටි ජනතාවට අත් පත්‍රිකා බෙදමින් ඒ මහතා එසේ ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. මෙහිදී ඒ මහතා පොදු වෙළෙඳ පොළේ වෙළෙඳ ප්‍රජාවගෙන් හා පොළට පැමිණ සිටි බොහෝ දෙනකුගෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ ප්‍රශ්න පිළිබඳවද විමසා සිටින ලදී.

මෙහිදී තමන්ගේ ගැටලු විශේෂයෙන්ම පවතින බඩු මිල ඉදිරියෙහි තමන් පත්ව සිටින අසරණ භාවය ගැන බොහෝ දෙනකු ඒ මහතාට තම දුක්‌ ගැනවිලි ඉදිරිපත් කළ අතර තමන්ට කියා ඉඩමක්‌ නොමැතිව බොහෝ පිරිස්‌ දුක්‌ විඳින බවද ඔවුහු පවසා සිටියහ.

ආණ්‌ඩුව තමුන්නාන්සේලාට සලකන්නේ නැති වුණාට ඔවුන්ගේ අතළොස්‌සක්‌ වූ හිත මිතුරු පන්තියට බොහෝම අගේට සලකනවා. අද මුළු ලෝකයම විශේෂයෙන් ඇමරිකාව, එංගලන්තය වගේ බටහිර රටවල ජනතාව පවා මේ පවතින ධනේෂ්වර ක්‍රමයට විරුද්ධව පෙළ ගැහිලා. ටික දෙනකු අතේ පවතින ධන සම්භාරය රටේ කොයි කා අතරත් බෙදී යා යුතු බවයි ඒ රටවලත් ජනතාව කියන්නේ. අපි කියන්නෙත් ඒ ටික තමයි. මේ ක්‍රමය නැති කරමු. හැමෝටම එක වගේ මුදල් ඉඩ කඩම් බෙදී යන සමාජවාදී පාලන ක්‍රමයක්‌ අපි ඇති කරමු.

කන්තලේ -ඩබ්. ඇම්. වික්‍රමසිංහ
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanaka)

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said today, that the Interpol database services were integrated with the Sri Lanka Immigration Border Control System.

He thanked the Canadian Government for funding the project, which was done for the first time in South Asia.

The system is capable of storing stolen or lost travel documents and nominal information which contains the records of known international criminals with photographs and fingerprints and can even be used either online or offline.

The system which was initiated in 2004 presently holds thirty two million records on file and by November last year there had been six hundred million searches on the database. Nearly 187 countries world over are connected to the Interpol system.

The development and integration of the project was carried out by EPIC Lanka and Informatics International Limited with technical consultancy provided by Moratuwa University Senior Lecturer Chathura De Silva.

By Supun Dias
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema
Over 100 containers carrying transformers imported from Iran under an Iranian loan for the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB’s) rural electrification programme are stuck at the Colombo Port due to the sanctions imposed by the US on Iran.
The CEB had imported 1,000 transformers from Iran since last December but succeeded in clearing only 250 of them.
The last shipment of transformers from Iran arrived at the Colombo Port in April this year. However, the CEB had not been able to clear any transformers for the past few months.
Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka said that there are still 750 transformers remaining in the Port to be cleared.
Each transformer costs US$ 4,200. Therefore, the 750 transformers stagnating in the Colombo Port for over two months costs US$ 3.15 million.
According to the Minister, the CEB has placed an international order for 4,500 transformers and 1,000 had been ordered from Iran.
A senior Power and Energy Ministry official explained that the transformers have been imported on a loan from the Export Development Bank from Iran.
“The government of Sri Lanka has allocated 25 percent of the funds to import the transformers while the Iranian government is providing a loan to cover the remaining 75 percent,” the official said. The entire project to import transformers is to cost US$ 106 million.
The Power and Energy Ministry states that the reason for the delay in clearing the Iranian transformers is due to a problem faced by the supplier of the transformers, Messers Sunir Company of Iran, to get the required fund transfer as a result of the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US.
When asked about the loss incurred by the CEB due to the delay in clearing the transformers, the Ministry official said the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has agreed to waive demurrage charges on the 150 containers.
“The delay in clearing the transformers has caused a delay in the completion of the rural electrification programme launched by the CEB,” he observed.
The government meanwhile is now trying to look at other sources of funding to get the transformers cleared from the Port.

Source:The Sunday Leader (Sri Lanka)

Normally, it should have been termed ‘suicidal’ or hara-kiri tendency. Something is rotten. In contemporary Sri Lanka, the attempts by whoever it is to embarrass the Government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa overseas time and again, and with unfailing periodicity, can be termed only as ‘kola-veri’, taking off from the all-time popular Tamil film song of recent times – and translating as ‘murderous rage’. There is no other way to describe the fiasco that the Commonwealth Economic Forum became for the President, his leadership and the Government, this past week in distant London.

London was the venue for the first of what is now becoming a series of diplomatic fiascos. Around the time when President Rajapaksa could visit the US even when a human rights case was purportedly pending before a local court, he could not deliver a scheduled talk at Oxford Union in the UK, December 2010. The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in that country made sure that the Head of the Sri Lankan State got snubbed after having arrived with the main intention of delivering that address – a second time by a visitor of President Rajapaksa’s stature.

Today, that treatment has been repeated at the more formal Commonwealth Economic Forum. The Commonwealth Business Council, the hosts, cancelled thefull half-day’s programme so as not to embarrass President Rajapaksa and the Sri Lankan State beyond a point. Now, as then, the Scotland Yard, tasked to provide security to the VVIP visitor from a Commonwealth country, had no issues. The saving grace this time was that Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee celebrations, and not President Rajapaksa’s talk was at the centre of his visit. That his key-note address at the Economic Forum was also a part of the celebrations could not be wished away, however.

Nothing much would have been gained for Sri Lanka as a nation or for President Rajapaksa as a leader by his addressing the Oxford Union, then, and the Commonwealth Economic Forum, now. It was not about diplomacy, not even about attracting investments in the post-war period. There are other forums and methods where the President and his Government have said enough and have also received approving nods, depending on issues, moods and methods. Here, the Government’s method failed once again, and the mood of its adversaries took over.

In contrast, the failure for the Government time and again, whether in the UK or elsewhere, is a victory for the adversaries, the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora groups, still bent on destroying Colombo’s credibility in the eyes of the international community. No cost-benefit analysis seemed to have been done in Colombo before someone thought about canvassing for the President to address the Economic Forum, not long after the Geneva vote in particular. Nor had anyone seemed to have worked out the worst-case scenario this time either, particularly in the context of the Oxford Union fiasco, a full year and a half earlier.

It was a similar strategy that cost Sri Lanka dearly at Geneva. Scape-goats have since been found nearer home and afar. The fact that the unbending approach adopted since the commencement of the Geneva campaign meant that there was no room for diplomacy at any level. What friendly nations thus offered too was unilateral – but not asked for, through tact and diplomacy. Then again, the Government did not seem to have worked out a worst-case scenario. It then became too late for Colombo to reverse the trend and the mood of those who had committed to vote with Sri Lanka almost from the word, ‘Go’.

Post-Geneva, External Affairs Minister G L Peiris seemed to have done a decent job with his American interlocutors in Washington on issues emanating from the ethnic question, LLRC Report, et al. They included the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senators and other politicians, policy-makers and the American strategic community at large. Some of the sheen from that low-profile, limited success on the diplomatic front, might have been lost now, thanks to the high-profile event across the Atlantic that was not to be. Diplomacy is all about the former, albeit through proxy, even where the Head of State is involved. Politics is about publicity. Diplomacy produces results, publicity, only symbols, not even signals at times.

There was no debating-point for President Rajapaksa to score either on the domestic front or overseas by delivering what essentially would have been an insipid talk in context. It would not have gone down with the celebratory mood of the Queen’s fete. It is another matter why and how the Diaspora Tamils and their political backers in the UK were allowed to walk away with a sense of self-righteousness that they could spoil the host nation’s party at will – and could have spoiled it even more if President Rajapaksa had delivered his address at the Economic Forum!

For a long time to come, the rest of the world would remember London, June 2012, for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the flotilla on the Thames and a nation in partying mode over a long week-end. Sri Lanka will remember it for very wrong reasons. So would it remember the word Oxford and Geneva – and, all for equally wrong reasons! If nothing else, there is something here also for the critics and adversaries of President Rajapaksa to gloat over, nearer home, too – possibly, reading the stars and predicting the future (as they have done over these past years, too!).

Sri Lanka’s problems are internal. It suits the Diaspora to externalise it in every which way, to expand the scope so that it ended up without a solution, to one or the many facets that appear at inevitable intervals. For the Government to play the game has proved that it’s only playing somebody else’s game, and not its own. In cricket, it is hit-out, in football, same-side goal. So much so even a positive action of the Government in having reduced the armed forces personnel in the northern Jaffna Peninsula from a high 50,000 to less than a third, at 15,000, has gone mostly unnoticed. So has the land in military occupation in the North shrunk by 40 per cent, we are told.
Why the Government had shied away from publicising these figures earlier is anybody’s guess. It is here that the Government’s efforts, not excluding propaganda efforts, should be, and should have been concentrated. It is another matter how the number adds up for the rest of the Northern Province, and possibly for the East, too, is unclear as yet.
President Rajapaksa is not tired of saying that for what essentially is a domestic problem, Sri Lanka needed a home-grown solution. There is thus no meaning in the Government going around, wanting to convince the world outside when it should be talking and convincing the Tamil community and the larger Sinhala polity, instead. There is a lot of dithering on that score, in turn sending out confusing signals at best from Colombo to the rest of the world capitals.

In recent days, TNA’s Sivajilingam sort of exposed the Diaspora, saying that they offered only words, not development funds, or investments. Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan has since replaced his combative mood of the previous weeks, as reflected in his ITAK convention speech at Batticaloa with a compromising posture – expressing willingness still, for going back to the negotiations table.

The Government has to seize this opportunity and move forward. The rest of the world can wait. With a solution in sight, the world would also then wait on Sri Lanka – the Oxford Union and the Commonwealth Forum included!

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

A researcher from Sri Lanka has claimed that the planet’s movement across the face of the sun last week will have blown billions of bacteria and viruses by strong solar winds from sunspots on its surface.

Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, 73, asserts that the Earth is “right in the firing line” of tiny microbes speeding from Venus that are likely to lead to the epidemic.

“We know that there are micro-organisms in the clouds of Venus, similar to the ones on Earth,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

“Billions of bacteria and viruses will have been blown here by strong solar winds from sunspots on the sun’s surface.

“We are right in the firing line.

“There is the strong likelihood of a flu epidemic here in the coming months,” he added.

Source : ANI News (London)

Former Sri Lankan cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya, who is gearing up for a special innings in the fifth season of ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’, says, he was in two minds about taking up the dance reality show.

“I haven’t seen the show much. This is something different. This is totally different thing to my life that is why when I came here. I thought a lot about it…whether to come or not. But later I thought I must take this challenge,” Jayasuriya said.

The international cricket star is discovering his ability to learn dance.

“I enjoy dancing but I am not a dancer so that is the problem. I have never danced before the audience. So just giving it a try and let’s see how it goes. Cricket is much easy. But we are praticising a lot,” he said.

He said the Indian audience is very supportive.

“Like in case of cricket, I have got a huge fan following here, I hope everybody will see this show and support me,” he said.

His choreographer Suchitra is full of praise for the 42-year-old batsman.

“He is a good listener. He never says he will not do it; he does not give up he keeps on doing. He is very hard working,” she said.

During the press conference of the show, Jayasuriya took to the dance floor with Suchitra and grooved to popular track ‘Tama Tama Loge’.

“We did 15 minutes rehearsal. It was tough but very nice. My choreographer is very good and she is really working hard. She has got big responsibility than others, as I am a non-dancer,” he said.

The show will have 12 celebrity contestants from different walks of life, teaming with choreographers and showing various dance forms.

The forthcoming season of JDJ will be judged by filmmaker Karan Johar, actress Madhuri Dixit and ace choreographer Remo D’Souza. The show will go on air from June 16 on Colors channel.

“They are the best judges we have got. I am happy to be part of this show. I have heard about Madhuri and she is one of the greatest actresses here in India. It feels nice to perform in front of these judges,” Jayasuriya said.

Source: Indian Express

Three heads of a Lion, Jaguar and a Cheetah were reported missing from a deep freezer at the national zoological gardens in Dehiwala, the Police said.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror Director of the National Zoological Gardens Bashwara Gunaratna confirmed that three skulls were reported missing from the Animal Hospital in the Zoo. “ I received a tip about this incident from an employee of the zoo, we acted on it immediately and took all necessary action. The Ministry also set up a different unit to look into the matter together with all other stake holders” he said.

Gunarathna further went onto state that due to the swift action taken by authorities’ one suspect has been arrested in this regard. “ One employee of the zoo was arrested today, we want to investigate into the matter further to ascertain for how long this has been taking place and to recover all stolen items” he said.

By Hafeel Farisz
Source : Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday announced Lasith Malinga as the official event ambassador for the upcoming ICC World T20 to be held in Sri Lanka in September.

The official twitter account of ICC confirmed the decision this decision.

Lasith Malinga has been a key bowler in the Sri Lankan side especially in the shortest format of the game, known for his toe-crushing yorkers. Malinga represents Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Sri Lanka will be hosting the ICC World T20 for the first time this September.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

The nominee to be the next US ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison says human rights will be at the top of her agenda.

Sison said on Wednesday that serious allegations of violation of international human rights law committed during the island nation’s civil war have yet to be investigated and have slowed reconciliation.

“One cannot have true reconciliation, general reconciliation, without that accountability,” Sison told her Senate confirmation hearing.

A UN report found that thousands died and that Sri Lankan troops deliberately targeted civilians. It said Tamil rebels used civilians as human shields.

Democrat Senator Robert Casey urged an independent investigation into alleged war crimes, saying the issue would not go away “until the world sees results”.

He said Sri Lanka has yet to implement recommendations made six months ago by its own reconciliation commission, and cited figures from the Switzerland-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, that nearly 100,000 Tamils are still displaced. He said the military presence in the island’s north and east was obstructing their resettlement.

Sison said the US was looking for “near term progress” by Sri Lanka, particularly in setting a date for provincial elections in the country’s north and demilitarisation of former conflict zones.

Human rights issues, including protection of civil society and a free media, “will be on the top of my agenda”, she said.

Sison also said that if confirmed, she would be a vigorous advocate for US commercial interests in Sri Lanka. (PTI)

කුරිරු ත්‍රස්තවාදයෙන් මුදා ගත් මවුබිම යළි උදුරා ගැනීමට කිසිදු බලවේගයකට ඉඩ නොතබන බව ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අවධාරණය කරයි.

අපේ රට අනාගත දරු පරපුර වෙනුවෙන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට ඕනෑම කැපකිරීමක් කරන්නට තමා සූදානම් බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා පෙන්වා දෙයි.

සිය ලන්ඩන් සංචාරයට සහාය හා සුභාශිංසන එක් කරමින් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් විශාල පිරිසක් ලන්ඩනයේ පාර්ක් ලේන්හි පැවැත්වූ උද්ඝෝෂණ ව්‍යාපාරය හමුවට පැමිණි ජනාධිපතිතුමා මේ බව පැවසීය. දෙවෙනි එළිසෙබෙත් මහ රැජනගේ පදවි ප්‍රාප්තියේ වජ්‍ර ජයන්ති උලෙළට සහභාගී වීම සඳහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය මහ රැජනගෙන් ලැබූ ඇරියුමකට අනුව ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මේ දිනවල ලන්ඩන් නුවර සංචාරයක නිරතව සිටී.

ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ පසුගිය ලන්ඩන් සංචාරයේදී කළාක් මෙන් මෙවර ද සංචාරය අසාර්ථක එකක් බව ඒත්තු ගැන්වීමට ලන්ඩන් නුවර සිටින එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. කොටි සාමාජිකයෝ අසාර්ථක ප්‍රයත්නයක නිරත වූහ.

ඔවුන් ජනාධිපතිතුමන් නැවතී සිටින හෝටලය ඉදිරිපිටට පැමිණ අසත්‍ය ප්‍රචාරයන් සහිත ප්‍රර්ශන පුවරු පෙන්වමින් උද්ඝෝෂණයක නිරත වූ අතර ඊට ප්‍රතිචාර වශයෙන් එංගලන්තයේ වෙසෙන ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින් පිරිසක් ද ප්‍රතිවිරුද්ධ දිශාවේ සිට ජනාධිපතිතුමාට සහාය හා ශක්තිය පළ කරමින් දැවැන්ත උද්ඝෝෂණයක් දියත් කළහ.

හෝටලයෙන් පිටතට නොපැමිණෙන ලෙස මේ අවස්ථාවේදී බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ ස්කොට්ලන්ඩ් යාඩ් පොලීසිය ජනාධිපතිතුමාට ලබාදුන් උපදෙස් නොතකා හරිමින් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින් ඉදිරිපිටට පැමිණි ජනාධිපතිතුමා, මේ දිනවල ලන්ඩන් නුවරට පවතින දැඩි සීතල ද නොතකා තම රට වෙනුවෙන් පෙළ ගැසී සිටින මව්බිමට ආදරය කරන මේ පිරිසට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සමස්ත ජනතාවගේම ස්තූතිය සහ ප්‍රශංසාව පුද කළේ ය.

මාතෘ භූමිය වෙනුවෙන් වූ මේ උද්ඝෝෂණය තමන්ට මහත් ශක්තියක් වූ බව මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළ ජනාධිපතිතුමා මුහුදෙන් එතෙර සිට රට වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින් සහ සියලු ජනවර්ගයා වෙනුවෙන් ගොඩනගමින් තිබෙන රට අනාගත පරපුර වෙනුවෙන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට තමා ඕනෑම කැපකිරීමක් සිදු කරන බව ද ජනාධිපතිතුමා මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළේ ය.

මෙවැනි උද්ඝෝෂණ දෙකක් මැදට නොබියව ජනාධිපතිතුමන් පැමිණීම පිළිබඳ මවිතයට පත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකික උද්ඝෝෂකයෝමෙය තමන් රට වෙනුවෙන් ගෙන යන සැබෑ හඬට දැවැන්ත ශක්තියක් බව පැවසුහ.

මෙහිදී ඉතා අසරණ තත්ත්වයට පත් කොටි හිතවාදී උද්ඝෝෂකයන් පසුබෑමට ලක් වූ ආකාරයක් දක්නට ලැබුණි.

මේ අතර පොදු රාජ්‍ය මණ්ඩලයේ මහ ලේකම් කමලේෂ් ෂර්මා මහතා පෙරේදා(05) පස්වරුවේ ජනාධිපතිතුමන් බැහැදැකීමට පැමිණයේය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වත්මන් තත්ත්වය සහ සංවර්ධන ක්‍රියාදාමය පිළිබඳ ජනාධිපතිතුමා මෙහිදී මහ ලේකම්වරයා දැනුවත් කරන ලදී. පොදුරාජ්‍ය මණ්ඩලයේ සියලු රටවල් වෙනුවෙන් ජනාධිපතිතුමා ගෙන යන ක්‍රියාදාමයට පූර්ණ සහාය ලබාදෙන බව කමලේෂ් ෂර්මා මහතා මෙහිදී කියා සිටියේ ය. ජනාධිපතිතුමා සහ බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සාමිවරුන් පිරිසක් අතර විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවක් ද පෙරේදා (05) පැවැත්විණි. පැය තුනකට අධික කාලයක් පැවති මේ සාකච්ඡාවේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සැබෑ තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳ පූර්ණ වැටහීමක් සාමිවරුන්ට ලබාදීමට ජනාධිපතිතුමාට හැකි විය.

මෙහිදී සිය අදහස් දැක්වූ සාමිවරු ලංකාවේ ත්‍රස්තවාදය පරාජය කර සාමය ස්ථාපිත කිරීම පිළිබඳ ජනාධිපතිතුමා වෙත සිය සතුට පළ කළහ. එමෙන්ම රට තුළ දියත් කර ඇති රජයේ ශක්තිමක් සංවර්ධන වැඩපිළිවෙළ ද ඉතා ප්‍රශංසනීය බව සඳහන් කළ සාමිවරුන් බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සහාය ඊට ලබාදෙන බව එහිදී පැවසූහ.

විදේශ ඇමැති මහාචාර්ය ජී.එල්. පීරිස්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී සජින් වාස් ගුණවර්ධන, ජනාධිපති ලේකම් ලලිත් වීරතුංග, මහ බැංකු අධිපති අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල් සහ බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ කොමසාරිස් ක්‍රිස් නෝනිස් යන මහත්වරු ද මේ සාකච්ඡාව සඳහා එක් වූහ.

Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

The president of Sri Lanka was forced to cancel a keynote speech in London today as more than 3,000 Tamil protesters staged a flash demonstration at a Jubilee event attended by the Queen.

Police estimated that more than 1,500 pro-Tamil demonstrators turned out on the streets but eye witnesses at Pall Mall said there were closer to 3,000.

The Queen attended a lunch today with leaders of the Commonwealth as protesters massed outside.

She attended the event alone as the Duke of Edinburgh remained in hospital with a bladder infection.

She was joined by more than 70 guests, including Prime Minister David Cameron and leaders from across the association of nations, as they arrived to angry scenes.

A large group gathered outside Marlborough House in central London in opposition to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s presence at the meal.

Their chants echoed around the forecourt as guests arrived.

Mr Rajapakse was jeered as he swept through the main gate in a Range Rover. His car did not carry a flag because of security concerns.

The Queen spent a brief moment with Mr Rajapakse and appeared to fleetingly shake hands with him as she met guests at a reception in the Blenheim Saloon inside Marlborough House.

He was seated on the table directly to the Queen’s left with Babli Sharma, wife of the Commonwealth Secretary- General, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba and his wife, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and his wife.

The 11 tables were named after flowers, with the Queen seated on the Golden Wattle table.

Mr Sharma welcomed the guests, saying: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all on this very special day in the history of the Commonwealth.”

The guests were served a Brie and avocado terrine followed by wild sea bass then an apple crumble souffle, apple pie ice cream and caramelised apple.

The meal was accompanied by South African wines.

Heads of state and representatives from Australia, Canada and the African nations were welcomed by Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.

The Queen wore a floral print silk dress in shades of blue and grey by Stuart Parvin and a blue wool crepe hat to the formal lunch.

She seemed relaxed as she was handed a bouquet of flowers by nine-year-old Aduke Badale, the daughter of a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat staff.

Sri Lankan president Mr Rajapaksa, who has been accused of presiding over human rights abuses after allegations of war crimes by Sri Lankan armed forces, earlier cancelled an address in the City of London amid concerns about the protest.

Today’s protest was the first major Tamil demonstration in London since a series of massive demos across London three years ago.

Then tens of thousands of Tamil protesters caused huge disruption on central London and made several attempts to storm Parliament, costing Scotland Yard more than £12 million in overtime costs.

Police said today they were monitoring the gathering at the corner of St James Street and Pall Mall, close to where the Queen was attending the lunch.

Channel Four’s foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller tweeted: “Tamil protesters are wielding effigies of Rajapakse hanging from a gallows.”

Veno Siba, 22, a student from Ilford, said her parents left Sri Lanka to seek asylum 20 years ago.

She said the president should not be “eating with the Queen” when he is accused of committing war crimes.

She said: “We came here to stand and protest that he’s coming to London. How can the Queen not have seen what he’s done?

“It’s affected many people in many ways because they’ve lost family members or had people go there on holiday and not return.”

Mr Rajapaksa was due to give a keynote speech at a special Diamond Jubilee meeting of the Commonwealth Economic Forum on Wednesday morning, but the event’s organisers, the Commonwealth Business Council, stated on its website: “After careful consideration, the morning sessions of the Forum … will not take place.”

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said it had agreed to guarantee the president’s security but the CBC had “decided it was not in their interest to stage the event” because of the extent of the policing required and the likely disruption to the City of London.

Fred Carver, campaign director of the Sri Lanka Campaign, welcomed the news, calling it a “testament” to the campaign.

The protest was also aimed at the Hilton hotel on Park Lane where the president is staying.

There were huge protests in 2009 when the 26-year war in Sri Lanka, which claimed an estimated 70,000 lives, ended with government forces defeating the Tamil resistance.

The protests come after a Sri Lankan man, who was left scarred and suicidal after two weeks of torture, accused the British government of forcibly deporting asylum seekers who are then tortured in Sri Lanka.

The victim told the Guardian newspaper he was tortured over the space of 17 days after being deported from the UK last year.

His torturers accused him of passing on to British officials information about previous beatings at the hands of state officials and other human rights abuses to ruin diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Source: London Evening Standard

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has taken oath as an MP in India’s upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha.

With this, he has become the first cricketer to take a seat in the upper house of India’s parliament.

There have been several film personalities in the upper house in the past and poet and scriptwriter Javed Akhtar and Bollywood actress Rekha are currently MPs.

Tendulkar is the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries.

The 39 year-old cricket star is revered by millions of Indian cricket fans.

The cricketer was sworn in by the Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Friday morning. He was accompanied by his wife Anjali.

‘New avenue’

“I am here because of my cricketing career, I won’t leave playing cricket,” Tendulkar said after taking the oath.

“I want to raise issues related to sports in parliament,” he said.

On Sunday, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was confident Tendulkar would be as successful in parliament as he had been in the field.

Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989 and has played 188 tests and 463 one-day internationals.

Tendulkar’s nomination last month surprised many in India and some criticised the “apolitical” cricketer for accepting the offer from the ruling Congress party.

Of 250 Rajya Sabha members, 12 are nominated by the president for “special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service”, according to the constitution.

India’s home ministry finalises the nomination list only after getting the consent of the people they recommend.

Source: BBC News India

Venus will pass across the face of the Sun at dawn today, Wednesday, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.

According to Professor Chandana Jayaratna of the Department of Physics of the University of Colombo, transits of Venus are very rare, coming in pairs separated by more than a hundred years.

It is stated that this transit of 2004-2012, won’t be repeated until 2117.

Optometrist at the Gampaha Hospital, Dr.Kithsiri Bandara noted that those who wish to witness this phenomenon should not directly look at the Sun.

Dr.Bandara also said that as the Sun’s rays are harmful to the human eye, this spectacle should be witness via X-ray sheets, specialised sunglasses or some type of projection device.

Sri Lanka would be able to witness the greatest of the transits at 07.03 a.m tomorrow morning until 10.22 a.m.

Source: Newsfirst.lk(Sri Lanka)

‘I am deeply humbled’ , Her Majesty offers heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace

Robbie Williams opens the Diamond Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace (in tribute to Queen Elizabeth 2nd) with his hit single “Let Me Entertain You”

Highlights:

Shirani Sabaratnam, who works at the London-based Channel-4 TV Station as an editor and a presenter, arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday. On arrival she was detained at the airport by Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities and later deported to Britain, informed sources said.

The sources alleged that Ms. Sabaratnam, a former LTTE member, had arrived with her British husband from Britain via Dubai on Sunday. Her detention and subsequent deportation was the result of her being blacklisted.

On being questioned by detectives, Ms. Sabaratnam admitted she had used different passports to travel to Sri Lanka’s North both during the war and after the war ended.
Authorities believe that the husband and wife were visiting Sri Lanka to do another documentary critical of the Government.
Ms. Sabaratnam was born at Vaddukoddai in Jaffna and is married to Stuart Cosgrove a director of Channel 4. They are reportedly playing a major role in Diaspora activities against Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Police are looking for the husband of Sabaratnam, Stuart Cosgrove, who is reportedly staying in a luxury hotel in Colombo.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa arrived in London to attend the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth 11.

President Rajapaksa and the First Lady will attend a reception and a concert at Buckingham Palace, service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, a reception at Guildhall and a lunch hosted by Commonwealth Secretary General Kamlesh Sharma in honour of the Queen.

President Rajapaksa will make a special address at the Commonwealth Economic Forum organised by the Commonwealth Business Council and the City of London.

Source : Daily News (Sri Lanka)

අභිමානය ගෙනා සදහම් මඟ පෙරට ම ගෙන යා යුතුයි
ජාතිය අභිමානවත් කළ මිහිඳු හිමියන් දෙසූ සදහම් මඟ අඛණ්ඩවත් අවිච්ඡින්නවත් පෙරට ගෙන යෑම අප සතු වගකීම බව ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පොසොන් පෝ දිනය වෙනුවෙන් පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියයි.

එම පණිවිඩය මෙසේය.

ශ්‍රී සම්බුද්ධ පරිනිර්වාණයෙන් 236 වර්ෂයේ දී මිහිඳු හිමි ලක්දිවට වැඩි අසිරිමත් දවස උදා විය. මිහින්තල අම්බස්තලයේ දී දෙවන පෑතිස් නරනිඳුන්ට මිහිඳු මා හිමියන් හමුවීම ශ්‍රී ලංකාද්වීපයේ සිදුවූ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ සිදුවීමක් බව අවිවාදිත ය. ඒ වූ උතුම් පොසොන් දිනය අප මෙවර සමරන්නේ දෙදහස් තුන්සිය විසිවැනි පොසොන් මහෝත්සවය ලෙසය. මිහිඳු මහා රහතන්වහන්සේගේ ලංකාගමනය නිසා අවිහිංසාවාදී වූද ප්‍රඥා සම්පන්න වූද ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ ධර්මයක් අපට දායාද විය.

මිහිඳු මහ රහතන්වහන්සේ දෙසූ ශ්‍රී සම්බුද්ධ ධර්මය අප රට තුළ පන්සිල් රකින සමාජයක පදනම වෙමින් සුචරිතවත් ජාතියක් හැටියට දිවි සරු කර ගැනීමට ඉවහල් විය. ඒ සුචරිතවත් දහම් මාවත රාජ්‍ය පාලනයට ද එක් කළේ වටිනා ආදර්ශයකි. සතර අගතියෙන් තොර වූ රාජ්‍ය පිළිවෙත ආර්ථික, සමාජ හා සංස්කෘතික ආදී වූ සියලු තැන්හි අන්‍ය ජාතීන් අතර අප සුවිශේෂී ජාතියක් බවට පත් කළේ ය. ජාතිය අභිමානවත් කළ ඒ සදහම් මඟ අඛණ්ඩවත්, අවිච්ඡින්නවත් පෙර ගෙන යෑම අප වෙත පැවරී ඇති වගකීමක් වේ.

සැමට සුවසේ ජීවත් විය හැකි දැහැමි සමාජයක් වෙනුවෙන් බොහෝ දෑ අප ක්‍රියාත්මක කර තිබේ.

දැහැමි පිළිවෙතින් සරු සමාජයකින් රටත්, ජනතාවත් ආරක්ෂා වන බව මම දැඩිව විශ්වාස කරමි.

අනුබුදු මිහිඳු හිමියන් දෙසූ මඟ යමින් අධිෂ්ඨානයෙන්, වීර්යයෙන් හා ඥානයෙන් පරිපූර්ණව මිහිඳු හිමියන්ට ගරු බුහුමන් පිදීම බෞද්ධ අපගේ යුතුකමය. මහින්දාගමනය සමරන සකල ලක්වාසී ජනතාවට මම තෙරුවන් සරණ පතමි.

The Indian Government on Friday extended the ban on LTTE by another two years following intelligence reports that remnants of the Sri Lankan Tamil terror outfit were trying to re-group in Tamil Nadu.

According to a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry, even though LTTE has been “decimated in Sri Lanka, recent reports reveal that remnant LTTE cadres and leaders are regrouping in Tamil Nadu”. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been banned since 1992 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The outfit which was espousing the cause of a separate Tamil Eelam was vanquished by the Sri Lankan military in May last year. The notification said the possibility of its remnant cadres using India and especially Tamil Nadu as a rear base for their re-grouping activities cannot be ruled out.

It also said the possibility of their entering in the guise of Tamil refugees also cannot be ruled out. Sources said LTTE sympathisers were posing a security threat by continuing to spread anti-India propaganda on the Internet accusing the Indian leadership and its officialdom of being responsible for their defeat.

They said activities of certain remnant cadres have been noticed in Tamil Nadu and a extension of ban on LTTE was required. As per the procedure, the notification will now reach a Tribunal, which has to ratify it.

The group-led by V Prabhakaran had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several countries including the United States. The LTTE was involved in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 following which it was banned in India in 1992.

Source: The Times of India

THE teenager found dead in a Caerleon river has been named as Vithuran Sathiyaseelan.

The 17-year-old student from Sri Lanka was studying at Newport’s university in Caerleon.

A spokesman for the university described him as a “bright and talented student.”

The Reverend William Ritchie, Chaplain of the University of Wales, Newport said: “The University, its staff and students are extremely sad to hear of the untimely death of Vithuran Sathiyaseelan.

“The death of such a bright and talented member of our community is devastating and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”

Source: southwalesargus.co.uk