Sorry Sri Lanka, but it’s definitely ours – Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle, whose powerful batting laid the foundation for a West Indies semi-final win against Australia yesterday, is predicting his side will emerge victorious when they meet Sri Lanka in the finals of the ICC World Twenty20 on Sunday.

Gayle batted throughout the innings to be unbeaten on 75 before the West Indian bowlers ripped the heart out of the Aussie batting as the Caribbean side prevailed by 74 runs.

“I am very happy with the team win and I think this world cup is going to be ours. Sorry Sri Lanka, but it’s definitely ours,” Gayle said in a post match interview. “The support is going to be more West Indian support. Definitely we love Sri Lanka but sorry Sri Lanka it’s West Indies all the way.”

Hosts Sri Lanka, who beat West Indies earlier in the tournament, defeated Pakistan by 16 runs on Thursday to reach the finals of the competition.

“We know what to expect,” said Gayle.

“We had a chance to play against them in the preliminary game. I think the final will be a good final, but West Indies (will come out) on top, definitely.”

Gayle, starved of the strike at one stage in the semi-final, fostered a trio of partnerships with big-hitting all-rounders Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo that eventually created a one-sided contest. Samuels helped set up the innings with 26, Bravo scored an aggressive 37 and Pollard hit 38, which included three sixes.

“It was a good performance from the team. We needed this victory so badly. Australia was actually playing good cricket, so to come here and turn the tablec is very pleasing.” said Gayle.

“I didn’t get much strike, but I told myself once I am here to the end I am sure the guys will bat around me, and get a good total on the board”.

Source: Trinidad Express

කැන්ගරු – කොදෙව් තරගය වොට්සන් සහ ගේල් අතර සටනක්

ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාව සහ බටහිර ඉන්දියා කොදෙව් පිල අද (5) ආර්.ප්‍රේමදාස ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේ දී විස්සයි20 ලෝක කුසලාන ත‍රගාවලියේ දෙවැනි අවසන් පූර්ව තරගයට පිවිසෙති.

‍අද තරගය විශිෂ්ට තුන්ඉරියව් ක්‍රීඩක ෂේන් වොට්සන් සහ ප්‍රහාරාත්මක පිතිකරු ක්‍රිස් ගේල් අතර ද්වන්ධ සටනක් බවට පත්වෙනු ඇතැයි විචාරකයෝ දැනටමත් අනාවැකි පළකර තිබේ.

ෂේන් වොට්සන් මෙවර තරගාවලියේ මේ වනවිට වැඩිම ලකුණු ලැබූ පිතිකරුවන්ගේ ලැයිස්තුවේ සහ වැඩිම කඩුලු ලැබූ පන්දු යවන්නන්ගේ ලැයිස්තුවේ පෙරමුණේ පසුවන අතර ගේල් පිතිකරුවන්ගේ ලැයිස්තුවේ 7වැනි ස්ථානයේ පසුවෙයි.

මෙවර තරගාවලියේ ‍වැඩිම අවධානයකට ලක්වූ ක්‍රීඩකයන් දෙදෙනකු වන වොට්සන් සහ ගේල්ගේ සුපිරි ක්‍රීඩා විලාශය අනුව අද තරගයේ ජයග්‍රාහකයා තීරණය කෙරෙනු ඇත.

දෙපිල අතර මේ වනවිට විස්සයි20 තරග 8ක් පවත්වා ඇති අතර ඉන් තරග 5ක ජය හිමිකර ගැනීමට ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාව සමත්විය. තරග 3ක ජය බටහිර ඉන්දියා කොදෙව් පිලට අත්විය.

Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

UNHCR to phase down its ops in SL

The UN (United Nations) said that the operational role of the UNHCR in Sri Lanka will be phase down for many of the reasons.

Responding to a statement by Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres also stated that “the operational role of the UNHCR in Sri Lanka will be phased down for many of the reasons that were elaborated upon in the Ambassador’s statement”.

He said the “UNHCR will continue to be committed to supporting voluntary repatriation of some of the refugees of Sri Lanka from India, as well as with the resettlement of the remainder of the internally displaced in their places of origin”.

Meanwhile, addressing the 63rd Session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Mr. Aryasinha said that “in contrast to the considerable difficulty and gloom in the humanitarian crises that continue to engulf many parts of the world today, Sri Lanka’s recent achievements provides confidence and hope”.

In his address he detailed the considerable progress made over a little over three years – in IDP resettlement, de-mining, re-integration of ex-LTTE combatants, the shrinking of the high security zones, increase of economic growth in the northern province and operationalization of LLRC recommendations.

He said “it lends credence to the position that even the most severe and insurmountable of challenges could be overcome with the political commitment and dedication of the concerned country, and the requisite support provided by the international community. He said Sri Lanka remains ready to share its experience and best practices in post-conflict resettlement and rehabilitation with the international community, and looked forward to strengthening the ongoing cooperation between the UNHCR and member states”.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

England Women qualify for final

England women scored an easy seven wickets win against New Zealand women in the first semi-final of the World T20 played at the R. Premadasa Stadium, on Thursday, to qualify for the final.The final will be played on Saturday, at the same venue, against the winners of the second semi-final between Australia and West Indies.

Opener, Charlotte Edwards, scored 33 runs to set the platform for an easy chase. Edwards hit five boundaries to get on top of the New Zealand bowlers and the England middle order made no mistake to reach home with 16 balls to spare. Edwards was named as player of the match.

Sarah Taylor hit unbeaten 21 in 32 balls, including a six and Lydia Greenway making 22 in 19 balls with two hits to the rope. The favourites of the semi-final, England, had a tight grip from the first over of the match as New Zealand’s best hope and skipper, Suzie Bates was run out for nought, without a single run on the board.

Thanks to an enterprising 30 from Amy Satterthwaite, New Zealand scored 93 for 8, which was below par by a team who became runner up in the two previous occasions.

The two spinners, Danielle Wyatt and Holly Colvin kept a tidy line and length as runs were hard to come by. The spin duo shared four wickets for 30 runs in seven overs.

The right handed New Zealand opener, Satterthwaite kept her cool for nearly an hour, before deciding to open out since she was losing partners at the other end. She faced 39 balls and hit three boundaries before being brilliantly taken on the boundary off Holly Colvin.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Jayawardene inspires Sri Lanka to second WT20 final

On a crumbling, turning, brute of a pitch by Twenty20 standards, Mahela Jayawardene responded with a T20-size classic. His 42 off 36, as delightful as it was delicate, proved to be the difference between the two sides in a tight semi-final. It was a bitterly disappointing night for his opposite number: Mohammad Hafeez outmanoeuvred a rampant Kumar Sangakkara in a crucial moment in the first innings, he came back from a horribly slow start to his own innings, but fell on 42 with some way to go for Pakistan.

It was Sangakkara who returned the favour with a superb stumping off a grubber to send Hafeez back with 48 to defend in 35 balls. Hafeez, who had just opened up with an extra-cover drive, a reverse-swept four and a punch through covers, was this close to making this his own night, but it was to be Sri Lanka’s, who won their first Twenty20 international at R Premadasa Stadium, in the process successfully adjusting to a third venue in this tournament, the most for any team.

The powdery surface began to explode upon impact by the third over of the first innings. This was no place for average batsmen who stand there and swing from the hip. This would need a quality batsman. On turning tracks, they don’t come better than Jayawardene. With the ball turning square at times, he stayed low, swept and reverse-swept often to play with the spinners’ rhythm. Tillakaratne Dilshan, his opening partner, seemed to be batting on a different pitch.

It was not just that Jayawardene was sweeping and reversing, it was the range of that shot, able to beat the two square fielders on either side. He connected with four reverse-sweeps, scoring 12. Then there was the regulation sweep and the lap shot. Jayawardene’s effort here was reminiscent of his hundred in the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup of 2007. Just when he was running away with this thing, he failed to connect well with a lap off Afridi, giving Pakistan their first wicket.

That didn’t bring them any relief, though. Sangakkara began with a four to midwicket first ball, and later displayed a lovely chip over extra cover. Hafeez was about to get into the game now. Watching Sangakkara move too much around the crease, Hafeez pulled out before a delivery. When he did bowl, he bowled it wide and out of reach of the moving Sangakkara, and prised out a catch in the deep.

Now, with Dilshan looking to break free, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal bowled three big overs. Gul got the better of Dilshan, who was looking to break free after having been nine off 18 at one point. Ajmal, who conceded 20 off his first two overs, came back with a six-run 19th over. Gul missed his yorkers by the slightest of margins in the last over, Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews took toll of it, and Sri Lanka came out confident of defending 139.

Pakistan never managed any flow to their reply. Imran Nazir swung from the hip. He hit some and missed some before playing on a quick delivery from Ajantha Mendis, making it 31 for 1 after six. Hafeez, having a horror time with the bat, had just begun to recover in company with Nasir Jamshed when an umpiring error turned the game around.

It was a slower offcutter from Mathews from over the stumps, hitting the middle stump of the left-handed Jamshed, but he was given out by Rod Tucker, despite the ball pitching outside the leg stump. In the same over, another offcutter sent Kamran Akmal back. The game had turned. Hafeez now began to swim against the tide. In what was now becoming a contest of the captains, Jayawardene prevailed.

He had brought in Rangana Herath, who is slower in the field than most, but Herath it was who bowled the decisive over. He needed help from Sangakkara, who reacted exceptionally to a shooter, and stumped Hafeez in a flash. Shahid Afridi fell for another golden duck, and those waiting for the Umars, Akmal and Gul, to do something special were willing the lightning to strike twice. It didn’t.

Source: ESPN Cricinfo

25,000 Muslim rioters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh

Tens of thousands of rioters left a trail of destruction in southeastern Bangladesh as they torched Buddhist temples and homes near the town of Ramu. The violence was sparked by a photo posted on Facebook that allegedly insulted Islam.

A 25,000-strong mob set fire to at least five temples and dozens of homes throughout the town and surrounding villages after seeing the picture, which they claimed was posted by Uttam Barua, a local Buddhist man, AFP reported.

The group chanted “God is Great” while setting fire to the centuries-old temples.

“I have seen 11 wooden temples, two of them 300 years old, torched by the mob. They looted precious items and Buddha statues from the temples. Shops owned by Buddhists were also looted,” local journalist Sunil Barua said.

Security forces were deployed to contain the uprising: “At least 100 houses were damaged. We called in army and border guards to quell the violence,” district administrator Joinul Bari said.

No casualties were reported, and authorities did not confirm whether police arrested any of the rioters.

Buddhist monks protested against the attacks on Sunday, forming a human chain in the country’s capital of Dhaka.

Bangladeshi Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir said the attacks were preplanned, and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The attack was conducted in a coordinated manner. Temples and houses were set on fire using patrol and gun powder. It would have been impossible if the attacks were not planned,” he told Bangladesh’s Bdnews24.

The government will provide financial assistance for reconstruction of the damaged houses and temple, Alamgir said.

Before launching their attacks, Muslims publicly rallied against the picture and called for Barua’s arrest. However, several Facebook users said that Barua did not post the photo, and that he was linked to the photo after group called ‘Insult Allah’ tagged his name on the image.

Religious tensions on the rise

Buddhists make up less than one percent of Bangladesh’s population, and sectarian clashes between they and the country’s Muslim majority are rare. Tensions between the communities have risen since June, when deadly clashes erupted between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya in nearby Myanmar.

Thousands of Muslims also took to the streets across Bangladesh over the past few weeks in protest against a US-made video and French cartoons that mock the Prophet Muhammad.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of activists from the Islamist group Jamiyat-e-Hizbullah protested the video and cartoons near the national mosque in Dhaka.

Source: http://rt.com
Photo Curtacy : RT

“ Nawa Arahdi Budu Guna Pooja ” – Heathrow Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple

Athula Dassana International Buddhist Temple is currently taking part in a Vassa (rainy season). The season lasts for three month, at the end of this season there is a Katina festival. The rainy season is a time of giving and for devotees to express gratitude to monks. The festival originated 2500 years ago, and are the largest alms giving ceremony for Buddhists.

Every Saturday during the rainy season, a special Dhamma Discussion and a Bodhi Pooja programme is held at the Athula Dassana International Buddhist temple. The temple held its “Nawa Arahadi Budu Guna Pooja “programme on the 29th of September 2012 at 7 p.m. in the temple. It was done based on the Binara full moon poya day.

The day was a great success. Devotees and other members of the community organised the event under the guidance of the head of the temple Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa Thero. More devotees participated in the event with great devotion.

The main sponsors were Thissa Jayasinghe, Sisira Chandra, Nilanthi Wijesooriya, Sithira Dilaka, Damayanthi Karunarathne, Dimuth Jayaweera, Lahiru Samaradivakara, Loinel Gunathilaka and Asela Nalaka Perera.

Devotees of the temple whose were had a chance to donate the nine statues of Lord Buddha’s and it was kept beautiful small pavilions at the temple which were specially made for Nawa Arahadi Pooja.

More than 80 devotees participated in the event with great devotion. The head of the temple Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa Thero is extremely pleased with the crowd that came but also the day it-self.

තොරතුරු සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණය වෛරය වපුරන්න යොදා ගන්න එපා – මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ

වෛරය වැපිරවීම හෝ පටු පරමාර්ථ මුදුන් පත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා තොරතුරු සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණය යොදා නොගත යුතු බව ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අවධාරණය කරයි.

තාක්ෂණයේ වර්ධනයත් සමඟ සිදුවන අකටයුතුකම් වළක්වා ගැනීමට මෙන්ම ප්‍රචණ්ඩත්වය,අන්තවාදීත්වය හා සංස්කෘතිය විනාශ කිරීම යනාදියට තාක්ෂනය යොදා ගැනීමේ ඉඩ ඇහිරීමට මේ ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සම්පාදකයන් කටයුතු කළ යුතු බවත් ජනාධීපතිවරයා පෙන්වා දෙයි.

අධිවේගී අන්තර්ජාල සබඳතාවන් පාලනය කිරීම සඳහා ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් මේ වසර අවසන් වීමට පෙර හඳුන්වාදීමට කටයුතු කරන බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා පවසයි. මනුෂ්‍යත්වය හා සාරධර්ම විනාශ කරන ආයුධයක් බවට තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණය යොදා ගැනීමට ඉඩ නොතැබිය යුතු බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා ‍කියයි.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙසේ ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ජාත්‍යන්තර විදුලි සංදේශ සංගමයේ විදුලි සංදේශ නියාමකයන් පිළිබඳ ගෝලීය සමුළුවේ (2012) සමාරම්භක සැසියට කොළඹ හිල්ටන් හෝට‍ලයේදී ඊයේ (02) එක්වෙමිනි. තොරතුරු සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්‍රය නියෝජනය කරමින් රටවල් 120 ක නියෝජිතයෝ 500 දෙනකු පමණ එක්ව සිටින මේ සමුළුව අදාළ තොරතුරු හා සන්නිවේදන නියාමකයන් හා ප්‍රතිපත්ති සම්පාදකයන් එකට එකතු වන විශිෂ්ටතම සමුළුව වේ.

සංස්කෘතික හා සදාචාරාත්මක බැඳීම්වලින් දරුවන් ඈත් කිරීමට නොව දරුවන්ගේ සිතීමේ හා දක්ෂතාවන්ගේ දියුණුවට තොරතුරු සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණය යොදා ගැනීමේ වැදගත්කමත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

තොරතුරු සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංවර්ධනයට දායක වී ඇති ආකාරය පැහැදිලි කර දුන් ජනාධිපතිවරයා ජාතීන්, ආගම් හා භූගෝලීය බාධක ඉක්මවාලීමට එය උපකාරී වන බව කියා සිටියේය. ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ ඇමැති ආචාර්ය සරත් අමුණුගම, ඇමැතිවරුන් වන කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල, රංජිත් සියඹලාපිටිය, අන්තර්ජාතික විදුලි සංදේශන සංගමයේ මහලේකම් ආචාර්ය හමාඩෝන් අයි‍ ටෝරේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදුලි සංදේශ නියාමන කොමිසමේ සභාපති, ජනාධිපති ලේකම් ලලිත් වීරතුංග, අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් අනූෂ පැල්පිට මහත්වරු ඇතුළු පිරිසක් ද මේ අවස්ථාවට එක් වූහ.

Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

Berty-loyalist elected NCP Chairman

UPFA North-Central provincial councillor R.M. Siripala who was nominated by the UNP for the post of NCP Chairman was elected by a majority of 11 votes at the sessions today.

Mr. Siripalaha a loyalist of former Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake obtained 21 votes while his rival Amarakeerthi Athukorala who is also a UPFA member received 10 votes.

It is speculated that Mr. Dissanayake and his loyalists had voted for Mr. Siripala but Opposition Leader of the North Central Provincial Council K. Nelson commenting on the matter said he was not aware whether the former Chief Minister voted for the UNP nominee or not.

However the UPFA Member Jayantha Marasinghe was unanimously elected for the post of Deputy Chairman.

(Yohan Perera, Athula Bandar & Rohana Chandradasa)

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka wins top rank in Twenty20 cricket

Sri Lanka has won the number one ranking in T20 cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC), release stated on Wednesday, October 4.

The host nation of the World T20 tournament, 2012, has only lost one of its five matches in the tournament so far. Mahela Jayawardena’s team won all three matches in the Super Eight stage to become the Group 1 leaders as they meet Group II runner up, Pakistan, on Thursday, in the WT20 semi-finals.

Their successful run in the WT20, has provided it a jump of three places.

This means Thursday’s semi-final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be a match between the number-one ranked and number-three ranked sides in the world, after Mohammad Hafeez’s team moved up two places as a result of its two wins in the Super Eight stage.

Reliance ICC T20I Championship

(as on 3 October, after the Super Eight stage of ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012)

Rank    (+/-)          Team                          Rating

1           (+3)         Sri Lanka                        129

2            (+1)         India                              120

3            (+2)        Pakistan                          118

4            (-2)         England                          118

5            (-4)        South Africa                    117

6            (+1)         Australia                        111

7            (+1)        West Indies                     111

8            (-2)         New Zealand                   97

9            (-)         Bangladesh                       85

10           (-)           Ireland                             82

11           (-)          Zimbabwe                        44

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka switch captains to avoid ban

Hosts Sri Lanka have used a bagful of tricks to outwit rivals on their way to the World Twenty20 semi-finals — even changing captains for a match to further their cause

Eyebrows were raised when Kumar Sangakkara, and not regular captain Mahela Jayawardene, walked out to toss in Monday’s last Super Eights match against England in Pallekele.

Both Jayawardene and designated vice-captain Angelo Mathews were part of the playing eleven, but the team sheet had senior pro Sangakkara as skipper in an extraordinary turn of events.

Jayawardene explained later the change was made to prevent him and Mathews from missing out on the semi-finals since both of them were already serving a one-match notice for slow over-rates.

“The intention was not wrong,” Jayawardene said after the 19-run win over England that knocked the defending champions out of the tournament and lifted the hosts and the West Indies into the semi-finals from group one.

“I had a warning for an over-rate issue, and if it happened again I could have missed the next match. It’s a tough system and it’s tough to bowl 20 overs in one hour and 20 minutes in a tournament like this.

“We try our best, but the penalties are harsh. We don’t want to miss the big games, so we did it with the right intentions.

“Angelo Mathews was on the same offence, so if he got nailed he would have missed the game as well. We had to find someone who didn’t have a rap sheet and Kumar fitted the bill.”

Jayawardene revealed team manager Charith Senanayake had verified the rules and consulted the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct before making the change.

“I am sure they will change the rules after this, but hopefully not in this tournament,” he said.

Source: AFP

රුවන්වැල්ලේ සෝභිත වසර 20 ක්‌ සිරගෙට

රැකියාවක්‌ දෙන බවට රවටා රැගෙන ගොස්‌ බුලත්කොහුපිටිය ලිහිනියාගල වත්තේ බංගලාවේදී කාන්තාවකට අතවර කළ රුවන්වැල්ල ප්‍රදේශයේ යන්ත්‍ර – මන්ත්‍ර ගුරුකම් හා ජ්‍යෙdතිෂ කටයුතුවල නිරත වූ ඒ. සෝභිත හෙවත් සුනිල් ශාන්ත නමැත්තාට කෑගල්ල මහාධිකරණ විනිසුරු මේනකා විඡේසුන්දර මහත්මිය විසින් ඊයේ (02 වැනිදා) විසි වසරක සිර දඬුවමක්‌ හා රුපියල් විසිදහසක දඩයක්‌ නියම කරන ලදී.

මෙම කාන්තාව අතවරයට ලක්‌කිරීමට අනුබල දුන් එම කාන්තාවගේ නැන්දා වන එස්.බී. අනෝමා නමැත්තියට සහ මාමා වන ඊ. එම්. හේමචන්ද්‍ර නමැත්තාට වසර විස්‌සක සිර දඬුවම් සහ රුපියල් විසිදහස බැගින් වූ දඩුවම් නියමකරමින් සම දඬුවම් ලබාදීමට ද විනිසුරුවරිය නියෝග කළාය.

මීට අමතරව අගතියට පත් කාන්තාවට රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ දෙක බැගින් වන්දි ගෙවන ලෙස ද විනිසුරුවරිය විසින් විත්තිකරුවන්ට නියෝග කරන ලදී.

විත්තිකරුවන් තිදෙනාම දඩ මුදල් නොගෙවන්නේ නම් තවත් වසර 1 1/2 ක සිර දඬුවමක්‌ද වන්දි මුදල රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ දෙක බැගින් වූ මුදල නොගෙවන්නේ නම් සිර දඬුවම තවත් වසර දෙකකින් දීර්ඝ කරන බව ද මහාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරිය වැඩිදුරටත් නියෝග කළාය.

පළමුවැනි විත්තිකරු වූ ඒ. සෝභිත වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි නීතිඥවරු – විත්තිකරු වයස 50 ඉක්‌මවා ජීවිතයේ සැඳෑ සමය ගෙවන්නෙක්‌ ලෙස සිටින බවත් ඔහු මීට පෙර මෙවැනි වරදකට අසු වී නොමැති බවත් ඉදිරියට පවතින නඩුත් නොමැති බවත් ඔහු යටතේ සේවකයන් 30 ක්‌ පමණ සිටින නිසා යම් විදිහකින් ඔහු දඬුවමකට ලක්‌වීමෙන් ඔහුගෙන් යෑපෙන්නන්ගේ ජීවන වෘත්තීන්ට හා පවුල්වලට බරපතළ පාඩුවක්‌ වන බවත් ඒ නිසා පළමු විත්තිකරුට ලිහිල් දඬුවමක්‌ ලබාදෙන ලෙසත් ඉල්ලා සිටියහ.

දෙවැනි හා තුන්වැනි විත්තිකාර යුවළ දරුවන් සිව්දෙනකුගේ දෙමාපියන් බවත් එම විත්තිකරුවන් වයස්‌ගත බැවින් ඔවුන්ට ද සහනයක්‌ සලසා දෙන ලෙසත් දඬුවම් නියම කිරීමට පෙර ඉල්ලීම් කළහ.

නීතිපතිවරයා වෙනුවෙන් නඩුව මෙහෙය වූ රජයේ අධිනීතිඥ චමින්ද අතුකෝරල මහතා පැවසුවේ විත්තිකරුවන් තිදෙනාට එරෙහි නඩුව නිසි ලෙස ඔප්පු කර ඇති නිසා අගතියට පත් කාන්තාවට සාධාරණ වන්දියක්‌ ලබාදීමට ද වරදකරුවන්ට උපරිම දඬුවමක්‌ ලබාදීමට ද අධිකරණයේ අවධානය ලබාදෙන ලෙසයි.

2005/7/16 දා හෝ ඊට ආසන්න දිනකදී පැමිණිලිකාරියට රැකියාවක්‌ ලබාදීම සඳහා ඇගේ ඥති නැන්දා සහ මාමා විසින් ඇය රුවන්වැල්ලේ ඒ.සෝභිත වෙද මැදුර නම් ස්‌ථානයේදී පළමු විත්තිකරු මුණගස්‌වා ඇති අතර එහිදී මෙම නඩුවේ පළමුවැනි විත්තිකරු වූ ඒ. සෝභිත නමැත්තා පිරිස ඔහුගේ බුලත්කොහුපිටිය ලිහිනියාගල වත්තට යවා එදින රාත්‍රියේ එහි නතරවීමට සලස්‌වා කාන්තාව අතවරයට පත්කළ බව ද කෑගල්ල මහාධිකරණයේ විමසීමට ගත් නඩුවේදී හෙළි විය.

මෙම නඩුවේ පැමිණිල්ල රජයේ අධිනීතිඥ චමින්ද අතුකෝරල මහතා විසින් මෙහෙය වූ අතර විත්තිය වෙනුවෙන් අධිනීතිඥ නලින් ඉන්ද්‍රතිස්‌ස, සේනක ඉලංගසිංහ, අජිත් සිරිවර්ධන සහ නීතිඥ ආනන්ද කුමාරසිංහ යන මහත්වරු පෙනී සිටියහ.

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

Arbitrary intervention dilutes confidence in UN system – SL

While claiming that in the settlement of international disputes, action must be based on the fundamental principle of sovereign equality of states, Sri Lanka on Monday said that the ‘recent tendency to selectively and arbitrarily intervene in the internal affairs of states flies dilutes the confidence nurtured in the UN system.’

Addressing the General Debate of the 67th Session of the  United Nations General Assembly  in New York, Sri Lanka External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peries said that “The noticeable recent tendency to selectively and arbitrarily intervene in the internal affairs of states flies in the face of this principle and dilutes the confidence so carefully nurtured in the UN system.”

“In the conduct of international relations, Sri Lanka, a founding member of the NAM, firmly upholds the tenets of peaceful co-existence, mutual respect for each’ others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, and equality and mutual benefit. Sri Lanka believes that in the settlement of international disputes, action must be based on the fundamental principle of sovereign equality of states, a principle firmly enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.”

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)


Address to the General Debate of the 67th Session of the
United Nations General Assembly
Prof. G. L. Peiris
Minister of External Affairs, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Mr. President
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,On behalf of the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, I congratulate Your Excellency, on your election as the President of the 67m Session of the UN General Assembly. Your proven skills and charming personality leave no room for doubt, that under your able leadership we will achieve our goals for this session.

Sri Lanka is also pleased to endorse the theme proposed by you for this year’s high-level debate “Adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means in the multilateral global governance system” – a most appropriate theme in these trying times.

The United Nations has provided the premier forum for 67 years for the resolution of international disputes and the negotiation of landmark global goals. In fact, many conflicting aspirations of Member States have been reconciled through the intervention of the United Nations or through the auspices of this august body and its agencies.

Some disputes, unfortunately, have taken time to resolve, or remain unresolved, but overall, the results have contributed to longevity of this institution. The United Nations provides an extensive range of options for resolving international disputes and achieving common goals. It is a forum for negotiations, it provides mediation options and good offices, and it is where principled solutions are found. The International Court of Justice provides the major judicial mechanism for the resolution of inter-state disputes.

Mr. President,

In the conduct of international relations, Sri Lanka, a founding member of the NAM, firmly upholds the tenets of peaceful co-existence, mutual respect for each’ others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, and equality and mutual benefit. Sri Lanka believes that in the settlement of international disputes, action must be based on the fundamental principle of sovereign equality of states, a principle firmly enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. The noticeable recent tendency to selectively and arbitrarily intervene in the internal affairs of states flies in the face of this principle and dilutes the confidence so carefully nurtured in the UN system.

Mr. President,

The global financial crisis has posed a major challenge to the entire international community. It originated in the financial hubs of the world and created serious existential challenges worldwide, in particular, to developing countries. The cavalier attitudes of the financial markets in developed countries, operating without proper regulation, have resulted in the disruption of millions of lives and the social fabric of many societies. The number enduring extreme poverty has been augmented by millions.

Full recovery from this crisis remains an uncertainty, as unemployment and debt remain at unsustainably high levels, complicated further by the devaluation of reserve currencies. The cumulative impact of this financial meltdown in developed countries has deeply impacted on the efforts of these countries to achieve transformational socioeconomic change and has also impeded progress in realising the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In this context, it is of the greatest importance to ensure that any strategies employed to achieve recovery, do not impose unjustifiable burdens on developing countries, as they strive to achieve better living conditions for their people. A recovery without uplifting the developing countries simultaneously will be  unsustainable. It is paradoxical that it is the same countries where the financial crisis originated, which now seek to provide policy prescriptions to others. While the end result is still in the realm of uncertainty, global discussions continue and the voices of developing countries are an important element in this. Concerns expressed at these negotiations and consultations must be reflected in any new policy guidelines adopted. There cannot be a “one size fits all” approach. The views of all and the experiences of the successful, especially the newly emerging economies, must be taken into account.

It is noted that many countries of the South have weathered the financial storm successfully. The lessons learnt from the previous crises have served them well and precautionary measures to minimize the negative impacts of the current crisis have been taken. These experiences must also be an important element in the eventual solutions developed. Sri Lanka’s economy, which has been carefully managed during this period, is one of the Asian economies which has recorded impressive gains. A growth rate of 8.2% was achieved in 2011. Since the end of the conflict in 2009, the areas formerly controlled by the terrorists, the Northern Province, recorded a 27% GDP growth in 2011. The exponential boom in agriculture and fisheries has contributed substantially to this result.

A significant aspect of the process of addressing the financial crises, must be a restructuring of the global financial architecture. It is important to note that global financial power has shifted over recent times from the industrialized North to the power houses of the South. It is imperative that the global financial institutions reflect these tectonic changes in the international arena. They must now be reflected in the global structures, including the UN, its agencies and other multilateral institutions. The UN can play an important role towards achieving this end.

Mr. President,

We are at a significant juncture in human history when climate change looms as the greatest challenge to the very existence of humanity. The future of our children is at stake. Carbon Dioxide emission levels, historically caused largely by a small number of industrialized countries, have impacted adversely on the climate and have given rise to global warming and climate change. It may be too late already. Recurrent droughts, uneven rain, glacier melt, receding polar ice, sea level rise, unusual weather patterns, all seem to suggest a global environment in crisis. A substantial majority of scientists agree. Many developing countries, including my own, are still struggling to regain lost opportunities and improve the livelihood of their people while staring global warming in the face. Our carbon footprint also remains negligible. It is imperative that the developed world deliver on its solemn undertakings to assist developing countries, as we seek the common goal of arresting climate change caused by human induced causes.

The North – South divide, ideological differences and resource gaps remain a hindrance to global equity and the advancement of humankind. There are vulnerable countries which are struggling to develop their national infrastructures despite being handicapped by inadequate natural resources, limited access to technology and a lack of opportunities to engage in international markets. Our common challenge, and, here the UN must play a central role, is to identify how we can formulate practical common policies to achieve our social goals, reduce poverty and maintain gender equity while protecting the environment for future generations. The countries of the North have a major role to play here.

Mr. President,

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development- Rio+20, held in June this year demonstrated the efficacy of the UN processes. It resulted in a global compromise, including the acknowledgement of the “common but differentiated” principle, and inspired hopes of securing policy approaches to address the multifaceted and, sometimes conflicting, developmental concerns in the context of environmental sustainability. While the end result may not satisfy the lofty expectations of all countries, including my own, it has provided a solid foundation for us to persevere to achieve higher goals through a global negotiation process. The advancement of these policies and approaches is expected to further contribute to creating a sustainable world for both present and future generations.

The potential of the green economy will be less attractive if we do not clearly understand its long-term consequences at a national level on sustainable economic strategyies. The transition to a green economy must not generate negative externalities that would retard economic growth, perpetuate societal inequity and poverty. Assistance to developing countries under North-South Development co-operation mechanisms must take into account global initiatives to mitigate the adverse consequences of too rigid an application of green economic principles. The efforts of developing countries themselves in this regard must be recognized and further facilitated. My own country has successfully conserved a significant percentage of its forest cover, almost 22% of the land area, with the goal of increasing it to 35% by 2020. The use of CFCs has been eliminated. We have also successfully ensured that a herd of over 7,000 elephants still remain in the wild despite the hunger for land by an expanding population. Our carbon foot print is a meagre 0.6 tons per head. Simultaneously, we will achieve the goal of energy for all in 2012 while realizing a 20% saving through efficiency measures.

Sustainable Development Goals should not only have clear links to the MDGs, but must also reflect emerging global development challenges. Mutually agreed elevated SDG benchmarks would further stimulate development partnerships especially in the form of South-South co-operation. However, such partnerships must complement rather than be an alternative, to North-South development co-operation.

As Member States of the UN, we must respect the principles patiently negotiated by the international community: the equality of rights, the equal sovereignty of all States, and the right to development, as underlined in the Rio+20 outcome document.

The interests of the developing world must be protected. Hence, no constraining conditions should be applied to development models or approaches adopted by Member States which could prevent the achievement of sustainable development while eradicating poverty.

Mr. President,

The middle-income countries are the main driving force for strengthening our global economy. Sri Lanka’s balanced socio-economic policy strategies propelled us to middle-income status a few years ago. As we have repeatedly emphasized, the entry of countries to middle-income status does not by itself provide a resolution to the issue of poverty and other developmental challenges.

The success in achieving sustainable development worldwide depends on the sustainable development measures of individual countries. Some specific challenges require close attention and appropriate assistance within the framework of international cooperation. In this regard, the responsibility of middle-income countries to receive effective international assistance should be re-enforced by the UN system and other development cooperation mechanisms.

Mr. President,

I wish to mention that Sri Lanka employs a unique development strategy that empowers citizens, with special attention to social development needs. It has continued to achieve transformational change in the lives of its people by effectively mobilizing available resources and through the delivery of sustainable and citizen-centered programmes. Sri Lanka has emphasized synergistic interactions between healthcare and education, public infrastructure development, including improved water and sanitation, and transport and communication, especially under an integrated regional development approach. We enjoy a 98% literacy rate with the score for girls being higher. Our ICT literacy rate is following a path of exponential growth. Cellular phone penetration is over 100%. 85% of the population has access to potable water. We believe that the investments, which brought these results, are essential if states are to build a healthy, literate, productive and entrepreneurial human resource base. The success of this strategy is reflected in Sri Lanka’s high-ranking in the human development index.

Sri Lanka has achieved many of the MDGs and is on track to realise all of them by 2015, including the eradication of poverty. Eradicating poverty and improving the quality of life of our people has been the cornerstone of social development policies in Sri Lanka over many decades. Sri Lanka’s key policy document, “Mahinda Chintana – Vision for the Future’, has set specific targets to combat poverty within the MDG framework. A range of projects has been designed for the eradication of poverty by 2016. Through “Gama Naguma” and “Divi Naguma” programmes we have been addressing rural poverty eradication and ensuring food security. These programmes continue to promote the concept of self-employment, directing financial and technical assistance to youth and women in rural areas, including those who suffered from the terrorist conflict. The absolute poverty level in Sri Lanka declined to 7.6% in 2011 from 15.2% in 2005. The per capita income increased from US$1,062 in 2004 to US$ 2,836 in 2011. To improve basic living standards, 4% of the GDP has been distributed to qualifying households for providing education, health services, food subsidies, food stamps and subsidized credit. Even during the height of the conflict, the Government of Sri Lanka maintained schools and hospitals in the conflict affected areas and food and medical supplies were sent to these areas despite crashing artillery shells and whizzing bullets.

The contribution of women in Sri Lanka’s successful realization of most of the MDGs is significant. Women, being literate, also encourage their children to focus on education and aspire to higher goals. The traditional knowledge of mothers on maternal health, coupled with their educational background, has contributed significantly to reducing the child mortality rate to 8.9 per thousand and the maternal mortalityrate to 39 per 100,000 live births. It is through the participation of women, that Sri Lankaÿ has been recognized for its achievements in the WHO breastfeeding promotion and immunization programmes. I note with pride that Sri Lanka produced the first elected woman Prime Minister in the world in 1960.

Though it was a challenging task for Sri Lanka to balance resource mobilization while fighting a war against terrorism, our government has launched many progressive programmes, especially on poverty reduction and citizen empowerment. We have made genuine efforts to ensure that the fruits of economic development are equally distributed and are accessible, especially to the most vulnerable sectors of society. We have ensured that social mobility is not confined to the privileged in the towns and cities of the country, but penetrates deep into the rural sector.

Three years ago, our Government ended the terrorist challenge largely through its own efforts. Sri Lanka is firmly committed to redressing the grievances of all parties affected by the internal conflict.

After the release of the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), an action plan to give effect to its recommendations expeditiously has been adopted. A comprehensive National Action Plan for Human Rights with specific time lines has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The Government has also proposed a transparent and democratic process under a Parliamentary Select Committee to address post-conflict reconciliation issues. This initiative has been regrettably delayed by some opposition parties failing to nominate their representatives.

Sri Lanka exemplifies the challenges faced by a society emerging from the shadow of a sustained conflict which spanned three decades, and entering upon an era of peace and stability. The gradual diminution of these challenges and the brevity of the period which has elapsed since the end of the conflict, leave no room for doubt as to the degree of success achieved by the Government of Sri Lanka in respect of a wide range of issues relating to development and reconciliation. It is only about three years since the conflict ended.

Prioritization was a central feature of the government’s plan of action. The progress on the ground during the last three years with regard to the resettlement of internally displaced persons, (all internally displaced persons have been resettled), the re-integration into society of thousands of ex-combatants after exposure to programmes of livelihood skills training which equipped them to earn their living with dignity and independence, the rapid completion of the demining process, and the unprecedented focus on infrastructure development leading to very visible invigoration of the economy of the Island as a whole, and the Northern Province in particular, is quite apparent.

The experience of Sri Lanka demonstrates that, given the quality of dynamic leadership and unwavering commitment which His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa provided, an effective political and military strategy and strong rapport with all sections of the public, it is possible to prevail against the most ruthless forces of terror. No one has greater commitment to reconciliation in an all-inclusive spirit than the government. Unhelpful external pressures that support narrow partisan interests could easily derail the initiatives which have produced substantial results and peace on the ground, as we begin a new and exciting chapter in our country’s history.

Our accomplishments are quite remarkable, considering that many developing countries continue to struggle for equitable social development, together with economic advancement. We are always ready to share our experiences with other countries. What we have achieved is not only for us but for all of humanity.
In the international community’s quest to bring some semblance of equity in economic development across the continents, we must maintain increased focus on Africa, especially through South- South cooperation. Sri Lanka is expanding its engagement vigorously with the region, especially in matters relating to trade, investment, tourism and technical assistance.

Mr. President,

All our current endeavours should seek a stronger focus on children and youth who are the custodians of our future. Therefore, empowering them with marketable skills, including knowledge of new technologies and vocational training, would enable them to be independent contributors to our economy. Thus, a strong link between education and vocational training policies has created a conducive environment where our younger generation will drive the global development strategies.

We have continuously supported UNGA resolution 66/6 and the need to end the unjust economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. Unilateral sanctions of this nature, which harm ordinary people, should have no place in modern international intercourse.

Terrorism remains a scourge in the contemporary world, threatens our societies and impedes the socio-economic progress of our people. As a country which has emerged from ruthless and brutal terrorism, Sri Lanka continues to resolutely support all multilateral efforts to enhance peace and security, and eliminate all forms of terrorism.

In our collective quest to eradicate terrorism, the selective application of principles and double standards must be avoided. Terrorism from wherever it emerges, must be resolutely counteracted.

It is established that terrorism has developed close links with transnational organized crime in the form of cybercrime and identity theft, environment related crime, maritime piracy, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons and drugs. Maritime piracy has emerged as a major threat to international sea-lanes and has added an additional economic burden to global trade. Sri Lanka, as a trading nation for centuries, supports all multinational efforts to counter this threat. But it is to be remembered that piracy originates on land and any solution to piracy must also address its causes on land.

The illicit transportation of migrants to greener pastures overseas by criminal networks requires our collective attention. The pull factors as well as the push factors of this criminal enterprise must be examined. Sri Lanka has now implemented a National Action Plan to counteract human smuggling and trafficking. Sri Lanka also continues to cooperate closely in this regard with our bilateral and multilateral partners. As a member of the Bali process, we are committed to cooperation in capacity building, the exchange of best practices and law enforcement cooperation. At the same time we believe the necessity to share information in good faith, acknowledging that a variety of national interests of member countries is essential to counter the sophisticated human smuggling rings.

One long-standing issue that weighs on the conscience of the international community and which needs our sustained collective attention, is the restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Sri Lanka fully supports the implementation of all relevant UN Resolutions on Palestine that would pave the way for the achievement of Statehood for the Palestinian people and bring lasting peace to the region. Sri Lanka fully supports Palestine in its efforts to achieve full membership in the United Nations.

Sri Lanka unreservedly condemns the defamation of all religions and religious leaders. While the right to free speech is fundamental to our value system, that right should not be abused to hurt the feelings of the faithful whether they are Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews or followers of other faiths. All available mechanisms must be employed to prevent the defamation of all religions and the exploitation of religious symbols for commercial purposes.

In conclusion Mr. President, Sri Lanka is currently in the process of making arrangements to host the World Youth Conference in 2014. The primary objective will be the strengthening of youth inclusion in national decision making processes in relation to the development and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. I extend an open invitation to all fellow member States to join hands with us to make this global event a success.

I thank you.

US Green Card lottery opens

The US Embassy in Colombo announced that the 2014 Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Program, popularly known as the Green Card Lottery, will be accepting on-line applications starting on October 2, 2012.

Issuing a statement, the embassy said that the Diversity Visa Lottery allows 50,000 randomly selected applicants an opportunity to legally live and work or study in the United States each year, so long as they are selected and are born in a qualifying country (Sri Lanka and the Maldives both qualify) and that they meet either an educational or work experience qualification. In order to apply for the Diversity Visa Lottery, please visit www.dvlottery.state.gov.

For more information about the program, as well as detailed instructions in English, Sinhala and Tamil, please see the U.S. Embassy Colombo’s website at: srilanka.usembassy.gov/visas/diversity-visa-lottery-program.html.
The online application for the Diversity Visa Lottery is completely free. The lottery application period will be open from October 2, 2012 to November 3, 2012.  Individuals wishing to participate in the visa lottery are strongly urged to apply early to avoid any possible delays.  An applicant may only apply once; more than one entry will result in automatic disqualification.

Beginning approximately May 1, 2013, applicants may go online to www.dvlottery.state.gov to check the status of their application with their confirmation numbers.  Winners will not be notified by either postal mail, e-mail, or telephone calls.  The results of the applicants’ entry and the instructions on how to obtain an appointment will only be available through the website www.dvlottery.state.gov.  Applicants who qualify will then have a one-year window in which they may immigrate to the United States.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Highlights of London Elle Festival (ලන්ඩන් එල්ලේ සැණකෙළිය)

The first ever Elle tournament outside Sri Lanka was organised by  Athula Dassana multi Cultural Buddhist community centre on 22/09/2012 at Little Harlington grounds Heathrow. The Chief organiser of the event was Venerable Wanduraba Kassapa thero who is the chief incumbent of the Athula Dassana International Buddhist temple. The event concluded with huge success with support of all Sri Lankan residents in and around London.

The chief guest of the event was Dr Chris Nonis the high commissioner of Sri Lanka. In addition Deputy High Commissioner Mr M.R.K Lenagala and Head of Education and Cultural Ministry to the High Commission Mr H.M.K Herath were guests at the festival. The High commissioner specifically commented on the importance of events of this nature which promoted a national game which is peculiar to Sri Lanka and also promoted peace and unity amongst Sri Lankan people who live outside the country. He also mentioned that it is equally important that we portray Sri Lankan people as a civilised, respected community to the world.  The special feature of the event was that it was open to all religious communities without prejudice.

Elle bats and balls were specially made and provided by the Chairman of Sri Lanka Youth Mr Piyum Perera and Secretary of Elle Federation Sri Lanka Mr Siripala who went out of their way to assist the organisers to make this event a success. Mr Bandara Wekadapola who is a former Sri Lankan police rugby player and rugby referee of London society organised and managed the tournament on the day.  10 teams participated. “Edgware Kids” became champions; the runners-up were “Sri Lanka Eksath” they no doubt would make history as first winners of and participants of London Elle festival

The main sponsors of the event were ‘VMD Solicitors’, ‘Thilina’ Sri Lanka Money exchange and ‘Atlas’ Shipping. Media coverage for the event was provided by News Lanka, Sesatha, Ceylon radio Desawan radio. The support provided by all organisations, members of the committee and devotees of the temple which consisted of more than 300 Sri Lankans were very much appreciated by Ven Wanduramba Kasspa thero. We hope that the support given for this event will continue in promoting Sri Lankan traditional events in London in future.

නව විදුහල්පතිට සිසු : දෙමාපිය විරෝධය ගාල්ලේ විද්‍යාලෝකය ඊයේ යුද පිටියක්‌ වේ

ගාල්ල විද්‍යාලෝක විද්‍යාලයේ නව විදුහල්පති බන්දුල ජයසිංහ මහතා වැඩ භාර ගැනීමත් සමග ඊට විරෝධය පළ කරමින් දෙමාපියන් හා සිසුන් පිරිසක්‌ උද්ඝෝෂණය කිරීම හේතුවෙන් ඊයේ ගාල්ල විද්‍යාලෝක විද්‍යාලය ආශ්‍රිත පෙදෙස එකම යුද පිටියක්‌ බවට පත්විය. ඊයේ (1 දා) පෙරවරුවේ මෙම විද්‍යාලයේ නව විදුහල්පති වැඩ භාර ගත් අවස්‌ථාවේ ඊට විරෝධය පළකරමින් දෙමාපියන් දෙසීයක්‌ පමණ විද්‍යාලයේ දොරටුව ඉදිරිපිටට රැස්‌ව ඔහුට විරෝධය පළ කරමින් උද්ඝෝෂණයක යෙදෙමින් නොසන්සුන් ලෙස හැසිරෙන්නට වූහ. ගාල්ල ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස්‌ අධිකාරි ඒ. පී. ජී. වාස්‌ ගුණවර්ධන, ගාල්ල පොලිස්‌ අධිකාරි යූ. එස්‌. බණ්‌ඩාරනායක මහත්වරුන් ඇතුළු නිලධාරීන් විශාල පිරිසක්‌ මෙම ස්‌ථානයට පැමිණ තත්ත්වය පාලනය කිරීමට උත්සාහ කළද එය ව්‍යර්ථ විය.

ගේට්‌ටුව කඩාගත් දෙමාපියන් පිරිසක්‌ විද්‍යාලය තුළට දිවගිය අතර තත්ත්වය පාලනය කිරීමට පොලිස්‌ කැරලි මර්දන ඒකකයද කැඳවනු ලැබිණි.

විද්‍යාලෝක විද්‍යාලය ඉදිරිපිට රැකවල්ලා සිටි පොලිස්‌ නිලධාරීන්ට විදුහල තුළ සිටි සිසුන් විසින් ගල්මුල් ජලය පිරවූ බෑග් කොහු ඉදල් ආදියෙන් පහරදෙනු දක්‌නට ලැබුණි. එමෙන්ම නවවිදුහල්පතිවරයාගේ වාහනයටද පහරදී දැඩි අලාභ හානිකර ඇත.

මෙම සිද්ධියෙන් විද්‍යාලයේ නව විදුහල්පති සහ තවත් ගුරුවරයකු තුවාල ලබා ඇති අතර සිසුන් සිව් දෙනෙකුද තුවාල ලබා ගාල්ල කරාපිටිය රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කර ඇත.

මෙම සිද්ධියත් සමග අදාළ ස්‌ථානය වෙත පැමිණි දකුණු පළාත් අධ්‍යාපන අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ කිත්සිරි ලියනගම මහතා විදුහල්පති සහ පොලිසිය සමග සාකච්ඡා කර විද්‍යාලය තාවකාලිකව වසා දැමීමට කටයුතු කළේය.

ගාල්ල ජාතික රූපවාහිනි මාධ්‍යවේදී යූ. එම්. තිලකරත්න මහතා සහ තවත් මාධ්‍යවේදියකුද සිසුන්ගේ ගල් පහරයන්ට ලක්‌වීමෙන් සුළු තුවාල ලබා ඇත.

මෙම විරෝධතා අවස්‌ථාවට පැමිණි දකුණු පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රී බද්දේගම සමිත හිමියන් සහ පොලිස්‌ නිලධාරීන් අතර උණුසුම් බහින් බස්‌ වීමක්‌ද ඇතිවිය.

හාමුදුරුවනේ හාමුදුරුවෝ මට කී වාරයක්‌ එක එක දේවල්වලට කතා කරපු හැටි මතක නේදැයි පොලිස්‌ ස්‌ථානාධිපතිවරයකු පවසනු අපට අසන්නට ලැබුණි.

ලෝක ළමා දිනයේ විද්‍යාලෝක සිසුන් කටයුතු කළ ආකාරය පිළිබඳව මහජනතාව මෙහිදී දැඩි විවේචන එල්ල කළහ.

මේ සිද්ධියෙන් ගාල්ල විද්‍යාලෝක විද්‍යාලයේ ගොඩනැඟිලි කීපයකටද සුළු හානි සිදුව තිsබිණි.

ගාල්ල විද්‍යාලෝක විද්‍යාලයේ හිටපු විදුහල්පති එµa. ලියනගේ මහතා මාරුකර බන්දුල ජයසිංහ මහතා එම ධුරයට පත් කිරීමත් සමග ඊට විරෝධය පළ කරමින් විද්‍යාලයේ ආදි සිසුන් දෙමාපියන් පිරිසක්‌ මාස කීපයක සිට නව විදුහල්පතිවරයාට වැඩ භාර ගැනීමට ඉඩ ලබා නොදෙමින් විරෝධය පළකරන්නට වූහ. එම විරෝධතා මධ්‍යයේ නව විදුහල්පතිවරයා ඊයේ වැඩ භාර ගත් අතර ඒ සමගම මෙම නොසන්සුන්තාව හට ගැනුණි.

මෙම සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරීක්‍ෂණ පැවැත්වීමට විශේෂ පොලිස්‌ කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ යොදවනු ලැබ ඇතැයි ගාල්ල ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස්‌ අධිකාරි ඒ. පී. ජී. වාස්‌ ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පැවසීය.

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

Govt agreeable to five FUTA demands in university lecturers’ issue

The Higher Education Ministry yesterday issued a special announcement under the signature of its Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayarathna over issues arising from the university lecturers’ protest campaign.

According to the Higher Education Ministry’s announcement, a joint Cabinet proposal was forwarded under the title “ The Government’s policy and Standpoint on Education and Higher Education” on August 29 under the signatures of Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

This Cabinet proposal has agreed with five demands made by the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) except the demand for a salary increase.

The details of the Cabinet proposal include the following:

1.A large percentage of the GDP to be spent for education on par with international standards.

The government intends to invest a higher percentage of the GDP methodically on Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Elders,’ Technological and Vocational Training and Scientific Research.

To increase the quantity and quality of education to meet with the local and international demands.

2.The University lecturers will be considered a special vocational category and a special committee will be appointed representing all parties to education.

The government has planned to offer due recognition for university Dons and to adopt a proper methodology to enroll the best quality university lecturers and to stabilize the service of experts and veteran lecturers inside universities and to bring down all overseas Sri Lankan intellectuals.

3 A special Presidential Committee is to be established to make the proposals and suggestions to be introduced in the Higher Education sector.

The government’s prime objective is to make Sri Lanka the hub of knowledge in Asia based on knowledge economy. Therefore, to make that dream true a Presidential committee would be established to make the recommendations in this regard.

4 . A separate university will be set up for post graduate degrees. While maintaining the state run universities by developing their quality and productivity, a separate university is to be set up within four years with a profound knowledgeable panel of professional lecturers . The service of both local and foreign experts will also be provided in this university to share local knowledge with a broad international dimension.

5 Safeguarding proper maintenance and independence of unversity. The government as per with the University Act (amended) 1978 will safeguard the independence of universities and will ensure the proper maintenance of the universities.

6 The contribution of university communities will also be taken into consideration when introducing educational reforms in universities.

7. All higher education institutions will be standardized. The government accepts that all universities, vocational and technical universities should be maintained with an international recognized manner and the infrastructure facilities to be increased for research facilities.

8. The service of university Dons will be sought for national development. Cabinet proposal was drafted with the representation of FUTA members and a copy of it was handed over to them on August 30 under the Education Ministry Secretary’s signature. Accordingly, approval for the Cabinet paper was granted on August 29 and the Cabinet decision was sent to Secretary to the President, Economic Development Ministry Secretary and Higher Education Ministry Secretary. The government has already implemented some of the proposals of the Cabinet paper.

They include:

1.The Higher Education Ministry has already handed over responsibility to the University Grants Commission to appoint a special committee with power vested in them to implement agreements of the university staff and authorities and to engage in a productive dialogue with the university lecturers. The nominations for the university communities and other parties are also being received these days.

2. The agreement framework of the Presidential Commission to make the recommendations to make Sri Lanka a hub of education. This Presidential Commission is to be appointed in a few weeks. Nominations in this regard are also called for.

3. In addition, to accepting university staff as a special professional caegory, the recommendation will be forwarded by the above mentioned committee very soon.

Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

Free education will be taken forward – President

The government is committed and dedicated to take forward the free education system in the country to make its beneficiaries the leaders in various fields in the international sphere, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday.

He made this observation at Temple Trees to hand over scholarships to 2,500 children of migrant workers in recognition of the contribution of the latter to the country’s economic well – being.

President Rajapaksa said students and youths should not remain like frogs in a well.

The government is ready to create an environment to impart knowledge to youths to play leading roles in various professional fields around the world, the President said.

Government has testified to this by taking measures to uplift the education of children of migrant workers who bring a massive amount of foreign exchange to the country by increasing the number of the eligible scholarship recipients to 2,500 this year.

The President said when he mooted the concept of awarding scholarships to migrant workers’ children in 1996 as the Labour Minister, there were hardly any eligible recipients above 100.

He said all are aware that migrant workers’ children today are in the highest position in society.

President Rajapaksa said the education of migrant workers’ children was in a state of neglect when he initiated this scheme and the success of these children is also a success of the country.

He said when he was appointed Labour Minister in 1994 only 3,000 migrant workers had been registered in the Foreign Employment Bureau out of the hundreds of thousands who left for foreign employment. He said there was no mechanism to find out where those people were employed.

The President said the situation has changed today.

He said when he took initiatives at the time to make changes, most people in the field protested.

“Those who could not protest against me protested against its chairman.

“I still can remember people who came in Pajero jeeps holding placards,” President Rajapaksa said. “But we could guarantee the Rights of the migrant workers” .President Rajapaksa said measures have been taken to further strengthen the laws to guarantee the Rights, well – being and the protection of migrant workers.

Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera, UPFA Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, a scholarship recipient and Moratuwa University second year student SGA Biyanga Subasinghe also spoke.

Sri Lanka into semis

Lasith Malinga took five wickets to help Sri Lanka knock Twenty20 World Cup holders England out of the tournament with a 19-run Super Eights victory on Monday that put the hosts safely into the semi-finals.

Sri Lanka piled up a score of 169 for six, the experienced Mahela Jayawardene top-scoring with 42 at the top of the order and Thisara Perera chipping in with a quick-fire unbeaten 26.

Malinga, who completed figures of five for 31, removed Luke Wright, Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow in his first over and the chase was never really on despite late resistance from Samit Patel (67) and Graeme Swann (34).

The holders slumped to 93 for seven before Patel and Swann lifted them to 150 for nine.

Sri Lanka topped Group One after the Super Eight phase with the West Indies also reaching the semi-finals where they will be joined by two from Australia, India, Pakistan and South Africa.

The semi-finals are on Thursday and Friday in Colombo.

Source: Reuters

Britisher arrested for theft of T20 tickets

The police arrested a British national who stole 103 ICC T20 world cup tickets worth over Rs.75000 from a ticketing counter in Colombo.

The 54-year-old man identified as Caesar Antonio Buller from Manchester was taken into custody at a ticket booth in the capital after sales staff alerted the police, an official said.

The incident was reported to have occurred at around 1.30 pm yesterday at the T20 World Cup ticketing centre on Stanley Wijesundere Mawatha in the Cinnamon Gardens police area.

The suspect had attempted to flee the area but the policemen on duty had surrounded him and taken him into custody. It was the first such incident reported during the tournament which is currently being held at three locations in Sri Lanka.

Police said they had only found 84 tickets in his possession at the time of arrest. He had then been taken to the Cinnamon Gardens police station and subjected to a full body search.

During the search police had found another 19 tickets hidden in his underwear. The man had been wandering about in the area for at least two hours before trying to get away with the T20 tickets. He had taken five ticket books from the table at which they were sold — at the Thurstan College Sports Complex Grounds. He had accidentally torn some of the tickets as he attempted to hide them in his underwear.

According to the investigators the tickets were to be issued for the rest of the super eight matches, the semifinals and the final.

By: Supun Dias
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Measured state intervention for economic development needed

There is a need for measured intervention by a government to ensure that benefits are not restricted to urban areas but also reach the rural hinterland for a country to enjoy the fruits of economic development to the fullest, External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris said in New York yesterday.

The minister was addressing the World Leadership Forum of the US Foreign Policy Association, a think tank established in 1918.

Referring to Sri Lanka’s economic achievements during the last three years after emerging from a protracted terrorist conflict, Prof Pieris said it is clear that the country is now on the path to accelerated economic and social development, demonstrated by the significant growth of the economy, increase in per capita income and GDP, maternal health and infant mortality indicators. He observed that Sri Lanka’s economic growth of 8%, is an impressive figure, particularly in view of the challenging global economy.

The minister explained that in order to achieve such a level of economic development, the government placed much emphasis on the development of infrastructure as it is a prime requisite to enhance connectivity, enable investment in remote areas and facilitate the transportation of produce.

Minister Peiris stressed that fiscal benefits need to be complemented by the construction of highways, ports and harbours in order to energize the economy. He pointed out that Sri Lanka is now in an era of economic renaissance.

Further, Minister Peiris pointed out that vibrant representative institutions and public opinion assume a vital role in reviving the economy and bringing about economic development and underscored the importance of the vigour and vitality of representation at the grass roots level.

Elaborating further, the Minister noted that the beneficiaries of public projects should be the managers as when the funds are given to those who will benefit from the institution, there is direct interest and less wastage. The minister emphasized that the singular success of moving the Sri Lankan economy forward within a limited time frame was due to this policy.

Elaborating further, Minister Peiris emphasized the need to inculcate a rights oriented culture, utilizing an equitable system of affirmative action which has empowered the people and enhanced their dignity.

The minister also stated that since no nation could work in isolation, there was also a role for the international community to contribute to the wellbeing of a country.

He stressed however, that one prescription could not be used in overcoming challenges as each society is different, and therefore the culture and value systems of the country need to be taken into account with respect for its specific identity. Such an approach would create a spirit of cooperation, he said.

Other speakers at this event included Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

We will fight to the end – SF

Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who participated at the rally organised by University lecturers vowed to continue the struggle for the benefit of the future generations in Sri Lanka.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mirror during the rally, Fonseka said the education sector was now facing a severe crisis.

“All of us have gathered here under one banner to ensure that the government allocates 6% GDP on education. The politicians of this country have continued to think only about the future of their children often neglecting the needs of the rest of the children of this country. The politicans have only ensured that the education of this country moves from one crisis to another and have not taken any measures to help build it. We are ready to make any sacrifice for the future generations of our country,’ he said.

The rally and the protest march were used as gathering points for several civil and political movements while UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Karu Jayasuriya, UNP Deputy leader Sajith Premadasa, Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, Vijitha Herath and Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne were seen voicing their support for the demands of university lecturers.

Student groups such as the IUSF joined hands with other university student movements in support of the demands of the lecturers.

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

Sri Lanka crush West Indies

Mahela Jayawardene on Saturday struck a record-equalling sixth half century in ICC World Twenty20 as Sri Lanka brightened their semifinal prospects with a crushing nine-wicket win over West Indies in their Super Eights match.

Chasing a modest target of 130, Jayawardene struck 65 off 49 balls to guide the the hosts to victory with 28 deliveries to spare, after the bowlers set it up with a disciplined effort.

This was Sri Lanka’s biggest win in terms of balls left. Aiding skipper Jayawardene in the chase was Kumar Sangakkara (39 off 34), and the two were involved in an unbeaten 108-run partnership for the second wicket, the highest for this wicket in the tournament.

In the process, Jayawardene equalled Chris Gayle’s record of six fifties.

It was always going to be a difficult task for the West Indians after they failed to make use of the first strike.

And though Ravi Rampaul had Tillakaratne Dilshan caught behind with a delivery that kicked up on landing, Sri Lanka were always on the driver’s seat as long as two of world cricket’s most experienced players — skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara — were in the middle.

The small target gave both the Lankan veterans a perfect opportunity to play their naturally game, and they did not lag behind when it came to milking the bowlers.

Anything pitched on the pads were promptly flicked over the midwicket and the squareleg fence, the wayward ones outside off were slashed over point while the short balls were pulled behind square.

And there was also a premeditated reverse sweep four by Jayawardene off Sunil Narine.

The two experienced campaigners took centrestage after Dilshan got the hosts off to a rollicking start, smacking three consecutive fours off Fidel Edwards.

The right-handed opener’s onslaught not only disturbed Edwrads’s rhythm, it also pushed the West Windies back straightaway.

While Jayawardene struck 10 fours and a six, Sangakkara had five hits to the fence.

Earlier, Sri Lanka’s bowlers produced a disciplined performance, which laid the West Indies low.

Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis led the way with measly figures of two for 12, in the process reaching the 100-wicket mark in T20 cricket.

There was a wicket apiece for Nuwan Kulasekara, Jeevan Mendis and Angelo Mathews.

Marlon Samuels was the West Indies’ top scorer with a 35-ball 50, while Dwayne Bravo contributed 40 off 34 deliveries.

The West Indies’ decision to bat first backfired as the Sri Lankans kept them on leash throughout the 20 overs at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

The hosts had their first breakthrough when Ajantha had Charles Johnson stumped by Kumar Sangakkara with the final delivery of the fifth over.

But the bigger for the Windies was losing dangerman Chris Gayle, who, after a frustrating stay at the crease, slashed at a wide delivery by Kulasekara only to offer a diving catch to Sangakkara.

Bravo and Samuels tried to revive West Indies’ innings with a 65-run third-wicket stand — the highest for this wicket between the two teams.

But as the duo sought to settle down, the visitors lost two more wickets in the form of Bravo and Kieron Pollard.

While Bravo was done in by legspinner Jeevan Mendis, Ajantha sent back Pollard with a quicker one to reach his 100th wicket in this form of the game, including domestic competitions.

At this stage, West Indies badly needed big hitters to prop them up, and they found their men in Samuels and Andre Russell (19 off 14 balls), who produced a few effective blows towards the end.

Source: Times of India

Test cricket constantly undermined

The news that Sri Lanka will not play any Test Matches next year other than some games against Bangladesh was shocking indeed. Sri Lanka’s proposed Test tour of West Indies has been done away with and instead the teams will be involved in a tri-nation competition also involving India, we are told.

Test cricket in Sri Lanka has been severely affected due to mushrooming T-20 leagues. A period of almost three months have been allocated to various T-20 leagues such as IPL, SLPL and Champions League and other emerging T-20 tournaments such as the Big Bash League in Australia and the one planned in USA will only make things worse. Players of course will get richer, but the game largely will get poorer. In years to come, cricket following the footsteps of games like football becoming a club oriented competition and not country versus country is a possibility that cannot be ruled out.

Already country’s Test cricket has paid a heavy price to IPL due to the greed of a minority and mismanagement. To put the record straight, Sri Lanka’s Test tour to England in 2009 was scrapped due to IPL while this year’s Test series against them was cut to two from three Tests due to the same reason. Sri Lanka’s next visit to England in 2014 will only have two Tests instead of three.

This year Sri Lanka and India were supposed to play a three match Test series. But it was converted into a five match ODI series and a T-20 International to generate more income to the board.

Another question that comes to the equation is whether the Future Tour Programme (FTP) makes any sense. Initially it was a case of all countries playing a Test series against each of the nine opponents at least once in a cycle of five years. That was tinkered with sometime back.

In 2012, Sri Lanka played nine Test Matches while in 2011 the national team played 11 Test Matches. That’s some consolation. But the problem is, the World Test Championship is coming up in 2015 in England and only the top four ranked teams qualify to play.

Currently Sri Lanka are ranked number six in Test cricket. Only by playing stronger teams and not the likes of New Zealand and Bangladesh, the team can improve on its current ranking. So the scrapped home Test series against India would have helped. The additional home Test against England that was done away with due to IPL could have helped too.

Leading up the World Test Championship, Sri Lanka has some tough assignments such as Australia, Pakistan, England and South Africa, teams that are ranked above them and a good showing in these contests will help them improve on their current ranking and be in good shape for 2015.

But both players and administrators need to do more to safeguard Test cricket. A genuine effort needs to be made if the future of Test cricket needs to be nurtured and that form of the game to remain a hit among fans. A slot for Sri Lanka in the World Test Championship will help fans to get more attracted to Test cricket. That’s one way of saving the longer version of the game.

By Rex Clementine
Source: Island (Sri Lanka)

Finn, Wright guide England home

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Luke Wright hit a belligerent half-century and Steven Finn grabbed 3-16 to keep defending champion England’s hopes alive at the World Twenty20 with a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the Super Eights on Saturday.

Wright smashed 76 off 43 balls to guide England to 149-4 in 18.5 overs after New Zealand was restricted to 148-6.

Fast bowler Finn never allowed New Zealand to build momentum by claiming 3-16 and the Kiwis owed their total largely to James Franklin’s 33-ball 50.

England’s top order had crumbled in the previous two games, but Wright and Eoin Morgan (30) batted with plenty of aggression in an 89-run match-winning third-wicket stand.

It was the second successive loss for New Zealand after losing its opening match in a one-over eliminator against Sri Lanka. West Indies defeated England by 15 runs in its first match.

Brief Scores:

England 149-4 (Luke Wright 76, Eoin Morgan 30; Doug Bracewell 1-8, Daniel Vettori 1-20) def.
New Zealand 148-6 (James Franklin 50, Ross Taylor 22; Steven Finn 3-16).

by Rizwan Ali
Source: Island (Sri Lanka)

‘More SL asylum seekers want to go home’

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia, Thisara Samarasinghe, told the Australian ‘National Times’ that more Sri Lankans, who arrived in Australia seeking asylum, had applied to go home.

Last week a group of 18 Sri Lankan men detained on Christmas Island chose to return home rather than be sent to Nauru for processing.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that a heavily laden boat of asylum seekers has been intercepted near Christmas Island as vessels continue to arrive despite Labor’s embrace of the Pacific solution.

The boat carrying 195 passengers – one of the largest to arrive in recent years – had to be assisted early this morning.Three crew were also on board.
This is the biggest number asylum seekers to arrive on a single boat since the government announced on August 13 it would restore offshore processing.

The size of the venture suggests smugglers and asylum seekers alike have not so far been deterred by government warnings about the risk of a lengthy stay in the Pacific.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority called in HMAS Broome to help the vessel north west of Christmas Island.

Well over 3200 asylum seekers have arrived since August 13, far outstripping the projected capacity of camps on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island to accommodate.

Earlier this week three boats were intercepted inside 24 hours at the remote Cocos Island territory.

Labor has claimed smugglers are running a ‘‘closing down sale’’ and it will take time for the new arrangements in the Pacific to have effect.

Source:  Daily Mirror(Sri Lanka)

සරසවියට මැදිහත් වන්න මහා නාහිමිවරු සූදානම්

විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුන්ගේ වැඩ වර්ජනයෙන් අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍ෂේත්‍රයේ විවිධ අංශවලට බාධා පැමිණෙන බැවින් අදාළ ගැටලු දෙපාර්ශ්වය මැදිහත්ව සාකච්ඡා මගින් විසඳා ගැනීමට වහා පියවර ගන්නැයි මල්වතු, අස්‌ගිරි මහානායක ස්‌වාමීන්ද්‍රයන් වහන්සේලා සිය අත්සනින් ඊයේ (28 දා) නිවේදනයක්‌ නිකුත් කර තිබේ.

මල්වතු පාර්ශ්වයේ මහානායක තිබ්බටුවාවේ ශ්‍රී සිද්ධාර්ථ සුමංගල ස්‌වාමීන්ද්‍රයන් වහන්සේ සහ අස්‌ගිරි පාර්ශ්වයේ මහානායක උඩුගම ශ්‍රී බුද්ධරක්‌ඛිත ස්‌වාමීන්ද්‍රයන් වහන්සේ නිකුත් කළ නිවේදනය මෙසේය. මෑත කාලයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයන්හි සේව්‍ය – සේවක දෙපක්‍ෂය තුළ ඇති වී තිබූ විවිධ අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වයන් හා ඒවාට දෙපක්‍ෂය විසින්ම යම් යම් විසඳුම් සොයා එම ගැටලු නිරාකරණය කරගත් ආකාරය අපි දුටුවෙමු.

එහෙත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය සංගමය හා උසස්‌ අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශය අතර ඇති වී තිබෙන මෙම අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වයට මේ වන විට මාස තුනකට අධික කාලයක්‌ ගතවී ඇතත් මෙතෙක්‌ විසඳුමක්‌ ලැබී නැත. මේ නිසාවෙන් අදවන විට බලවත් අසීරුතාවකට පත්ව සිටිනුයේ මහත් දුෂ්කරතා මැද සිය පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය නිමවා උසස්‌ අධ්‍යාපනය සඳහා වරම් ලැබූ මේ රටේ අනාගත සංවර්ධනයට සුවිශාල ආයෝජනයක්‌ වන බුද්ධිමත් දරු පිරිසකි. තවද මෑතක අවසන් වූ උසස්‌ පෙළ විභාගයට පෙනී සිටි සිසුන්ගේ පිළිතුරු පත් මේ දක්‌වා ඇගයීමට ලක්‌ නොකිරීම හේතුවෙන් එම සිසුහු ද බලවත් අසීරුතාවකට පත්ව සිටිති. මේ හේතුවෙන් අධ්‍යාපනය සඳහා යෙදවිය යුතු තම වටිනා කාලය නිකරුණේ විනාශ වී අසහනයට පත්වෙන ඒ සිසු පිරිස විවිධාකාර නොමනා ක්‍රියාමාර්ගවලට ද පෙළඹීමට අවකාශ ඇත.

මෙම අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වය නොවිසඳීමෙන් උසස්‌ අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ වගකිවයුත්තන් සහ ආචාර්ය සංගමය විසින් ද සිදුකරනු ලබන්නේ එවැනි අභාග්‍යසම්පන්න තත්ත්වයකට මේ රටේ බුද්ධිමත් දරු පිරිස ඇද දැමීමට වක්‍රාකාරයෙන් අනුබල දීමකි.

දෙපාර්ශ්වයක්‌ අතර ඇති වන යම් ගැටලුවක්‌ නිරාකරණය කරගැනීම සඳහා අන්තගාමීත්වයෙන් තොරව මැදහත් බවින් කටයුතු කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වෙයි. ඒ නිසා මාස තුනකටත් වැඩි කාලයක්‌ නොවිසඳී ඇති මෙම ගැටලුව දැයේ දූ දරුවන්ගේ අනාගතය ගැන හෝ සිතා බලා ඉක්‌මනින් විසදා ගන්නා ලෙස අදාළ දෙපාර්ශ්වය වෙතම කරුණාධ්‍යාශයෙන් දැනුම් දෙනු කැමැත්තෙමු. අදාළ දෙපාර්ශ්වයම කැඳවා යම් සම්මුතියකට එළැඹීමට අපේක්‍ෂා කරන්නේ නම් මැදහත් පාර්ශ්වකරුවන් ලෙස අපගේ ද සහාය ඊට ලබාදීමට හැකි බව වැඩිදුරටත් සිහිපත් කරම්හ.

සිරිල් විමලසුරේන්ද්‍ර
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

Luxury vehicles galore on permits

A shipment of 525 vehicles that was unloaded at the Hambantota Port last week had 312 super luxury vehicles which were mainly imported on duty free concession permits, customs sources said yesterday.

Most of the super luxury vehicles imported were Montero Sport, KIA/Hyundai SUV, BMW X 1, X 3, 520D and Audi A 4 and A6.

Recently the government had increased the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value of permits from the earlier 25,000 US dollars to 30,000 US dollars. Therefore super luxury vehicles such as the Audi A 6 and BMW X 5 now comes under this category with the increase of the CIF value by US 5000 dollars.

Most of the super luxury vehicle permits had been sold by parliamentarians. Stakeholders in the industry urged that the government should limit the permit values to enable public servants to legitimately afford standard cars, vans and double cabs.
According to them the loss incurred by the government was Rs.8.5 million on a Montero Sport, Rs.6 million on a KIA SUV, Rs.13 million on a BMW X1/X3 and Rs.20 million on a BMW 520D.

The reduced duty prices for these vehicles were between Rs.6.5 million and Rs.9.5 million respectively. They also noted that details should be obtained from third parties who had brought the permits and also from vehicle dealers, insurance companies and leasing companies.

Another regulation that they are urging the government to enforce is to cancel the power of attorney and sales agreements serving as legal loopholes allowing such transactions.

Therefore the government is facing a multi million duty loss as the number of luxury vehicles imported to the country on permits has risen rapidly during the last three months.

According to sources at the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) more than 10,000 tax free vehicles imported by public servants who had illegally sold them by violating the three year term were running on the roads at the moment.

Once the government issues the permit, then the permit is the agreement between the vehicle manufacturer and the permit holder. According to Customs the manufacturer is obliged to deliver the vehicle straight to the house of the owner of the permit on time through the local agent of the parent company.

According to RMV sources there are local dealers who manipulate the system by bringing down vehicles on permits for third parties where the dealer clears the vehicle by allegedly keeping Rs.1.5-2 million for them, for facilitating the transaction.

By Supun Dias
Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

First Dhamma School in Jaffna to foster harmony

The first Dhamma School in Jaffna will be opened on September 30 to revive Buddhism in the North which suffered neglect under three decades of LTTE terrorism.

The Tamil Buddhist Association will conduct the Dhamma School programme in Jaffna. It is hoped the move will lay the foundation to promote religious harmony between all ethnic groups in the Northern Province, Tamil Buddhist Association president A Ravi Kumar said.

Jaffna Mayor Logeshwari Pathgunaraja and Divisional Secretary Sundaram Arumageinayagam will open the school. Ven Meegahajandure Siri Wimala Thera of the Jaffna Naga Vihara said due to the LTTE’s dominance during the past 30 years, around 15,000 Tamil Buddhists who had membership of the Tamil Buddhist Association, had given up participating in social activities since the terrorists banned events conducted under a Buddhist theme.

“Tamil Buddhists in the North were threatened by the LTTE and all their activities came to a standstill,” the Thera said.

“The LTTE inculcated the belief in the minds of the Tamils that the Buddha belongs solely to the Sinhalese. Even today, many Tamils in the North hold on to this misconception and they need to be corrected,” the Thera said.

He said the Tamil Buddhist Association works with the World Hindu-Buddhist Association to enhance the living standards of people suffering under many problems.

“Starting a Dhamma School in Jaffna will create the proper path to reawaken Buddhism in the North,” the Thera said.

By Priyanka KURUGALA
Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

A superb show by Sri Lankans in super over

super over saw Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by five runs in the first super eight match played at Pallekele International Stadium, on Thursday.

Sri Lanka scored 174 for six in reply to New Zealand’s 174 for seven in 20 overs and the super over was implemented. Sri Lanka made 13 for one wicket in the single over bowled by Tim Southee before Lasith Malinga restricting New Zealanders for 8 runs. T. M. Dilshan took a well-judged catch at long off in the fifth ball to make things easy for Malinga in the last ball, where only two leg byes were give.

Chasing 175, Sri Lanka got off to a brilliant start as Mahela Jayawardene and T. M. Dilshan added 80 runs for the first wicket in 44 balls and Sri Lanka posted 100 runs in 60 balls.

Dashing Dilshan, who became the second Sri Lankan to reach 1000 runs in T20 international cricket on Thursday, hit a stylish 76 in 53 balls with five boundaries and three towering sixes.

Sri Lanka was cruising along towards the victory by 15th over with 133 for 3 on the board and Dilshan was unbeaten on 56. However, Dilshan’s run out in the penultimate over put Sri Lanka under pressure.

In the last over, Sri Lanka needed 8 runs and Tim Southee was bowling to a plan before Thirimanne hit a Dil’s scoop to dispatch the ball to square leg boundary.

The match was tied and Sri Lanka needed a single off the last ball to win the match. Thirimanne took the ball in his body and ran for a single. The throw came from short extra cover and Ross Taylor fumbled but the ball had somehow found the stumps and a bail was off before Thirimanne reach home and the scores were leveled.

Rob Nicol blasted 58 off 43 balls to guide New Zealand to a comfortable 174 for 7.

Nicol, who was playing second fiddle to Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum when they were in the middle, hit three fours and four massive sixes. He hit 20 runs of Ajantha Mendis with three sixes that cost Sri Lanka’s number one spinner 24 in the over. He went for 48 runs in his four overs.

Sri Lanka gave away too many runs in the first 10 overs as New Zealanders were sitting in a box seat with 80 for one wicket at the half way mark.

Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews gave the best possible start to Sri Lanka attack by restricting New Zealand openers to four runs in the first two overs. Yet, Nicol and Guptill smashed 13 runs in the next over to inject momentum to the New Zealand innings. Teenager, Akila Dhananjaya made a dream debut by claiming his maiden international wicket in his third ball.  Guptill hit him over mid-off but Thisara Perera gobbled the catch on boundary line.

Lasith Malinga was a sorry sight giving away 16 runs in his first two overs and was also sloppy on the field. Sri Lanka decided to go ahead with Ajantha Mendis, who played with pain killing injection alongside Dhananjaya. New Zealanders packed the team with experience as 10 of their 11 players have playing experience against Sri Lanka.

By Daminda Wijesuriya
Source: Daily Mirror(Sri Lanka)

කහවත්තේ කාන්තා ඝාතන හයම එක කල්ලියේ වැඩ

කහවත්ත ප්‍රදේශය භීතියට පත්කරමින් ඉකුත් මැයි සහ ජුලි මාසවලදී සිදුවූ කාන්තා ද්විත්ව ඝාතන සිද්ධීන් දෙකම සිදුකර ඇත්තේ මිනීමැරුම් චෝදනා මත දැනට බන්ධනාගාරගතව සිටින රත්නපුර ප්‍රදේශයේ ප්‍රාදේශීය දේශපාලනඥයකු ඇතුළු සංවිධානාත්මක පිරිසක්‌ විසින් ලබාදුන් කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුවක්‌ මත බවට තොරතුරු අනාවරණය වී ඇත.

මෙම ඝාතන කල්ලිය සඳහා පුද්ගලයන් පස්‌දෙනකු සම්බන්ධ වී සිටි බවටද තොරතුරු මේ වනවිට ලැබී තිබේ.

මෙම ප්‍රාදේශීය දේශපාලනඥයා ඇතුළු සංවිධානාත්මක පිරිස විසින් සිදුකළ බව කියන ද්විත්ව ඝාතනය තමන් විසින් නොකළ බවට ඒත්තු ගැන්වීමට සඳහා මොවුන් සන්නද්ධ පිරිසක්‌ යොදවා මෙම මිනීමැරුම් සිදුකර ඇති බවද හෙළි වී ඇත.

ඉකුත් මැයි මස 31 වැනිදා කොටකෙතන ප්‍රදේශයේදී එක කුස උපන් සොහොයුරියන් වූ සේතුංගේ දයාවතී (61) සහ සේතුංගේ තිලකාවතී (52) සහ ජුලි මස 18 වැනිදා කොටකෙතන පදිංචිව සිටි යූ. ඩී. ප්‍රේමාවතී (මව) සහ එම්. පී. පුෂ්පා කුමාරි (දියණිය) ඝාතනය කර ඇත්තේ එකම කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ විසින් බව අනාවරණය වී තිබේ.

කහවත්ත කොටකෙතන පදිංචිව සිටි සොහොයුරියන් දෙදෙනා ඝාතනයට ලක්‌වීමට පෙර ඝාතකයන් අතින් දූෂණයට ලක්‌ වී ඇති අතර මව සහ දියණිය මරාදැමීමෙන් පසු දූෂණයට ලක්‌කර ඇති බව ද හෙළිදරව් වී ඇත.

සොහොයුරියන් දෙදෙනා සහ මවත් දියණියත් ඝාතනය කිරීම සඳහා ප්‍රාදේශීය දේශපාලනඥයා ඇතුළු සංවිධානාත්මක පිරිස්‌ විසින් ඝාතනයට කොපමණ මුදලක්‌ ලබාදී තිබුණේද යන්න මෙතෙක්‌ හෙළි වී නැත.

ද්විත්ව ඝාතන සිද්ධියක්‌ සම්බන්ධයෙන් චෝදනා ලැබ තමන් බන්ධනාගාරගතව සිටියදී පවා කහවත්ත කොටකෙතන ප්‍රදේශයේ අබිරහස්‌ මිනීමැරුම් සිදුවන බවට ඒත්තු ගැන්වීම සඳහා මොවුන් මෙම සැලසුම් සකස්‌කර තිබී ඇත. එවැනි අබිරහස්‌ ඝාතන සිදුකර තමන් නිර්දොaෂී පුද්ගලයන් බවට පෙන්වීමට මොවුන් උත්සාහ කර ඇති බවද හෙළි වී ඇත.

එහෙත් මෙම අබිරහස්‌ මිනීමැරුම් සියල්ලේම තොරතුරු මේ වනවිට හෙළිදරව් වී ඇති අතර ඊට සම්බන්ධ සැකකරුවන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට පොලිස්‌ කණ්‌ඩායම් කීපයක්‌ පරීක්‍ෂණ පවත්වමින් සිටී.

පසුගිය පෙබරවාරි මස 03 වැනි දා කහවත්ත කොටකෙතන ප්‍රදේශයේ දී මවක සහ දියණියක කෲර අන්දමින් කපා කොටා ඝාතනය කර තිබිණ. මත්කුඩු ජාවාරම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් පොලිසියට තොරතුරු ලබාදුන් බව කියන සිද්ධියකට පළිගැනීම සඳහා මෙම ද්විත්ව ඝාතනය සිදුකළ බව පසුව හෙළි විය.

මෙම ද්විත්ව ඝාතන සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් එම පළාතේ ප්‍රබල දේශපාලනඥයකුගේ සම්බන්ධීකරණ ලේකම්වරයකු වූ ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා මන්ත්‍රීවරයකු සහ ඔහුගේ සෙහොයුරු ඇතුළු කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ අත්අඩංගුවට පත්වූ අතර ඔවුහු මේ වනවිටත් රක්‍ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගතව සිටිති.

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka Cricket shines in the European Parliament

By Janaka Alahapperuma from London.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) – Europe together with Syed Kamall, member of the European Parliament representing UK, Chairman of European Parliamentary Cricket Inter Group and the International Cricket Council hosted a two day event from 25 to 26 September at the European Parliament promoting the game of cricket within the European parliament and in Europe main land.

A two day exhibition ‘Cricket-take Part’, a panel discussions and the launch of ‘Friends of Cricket in the European Parliament’ group, were the highlights of this event. There were ranges of other activities organised to promote the game in Europe.

In the view of the ongoing T-20 Cricket World Cup tournament hosted by Sri Lanka, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels was invited to take part in this event including in the panel discussions.  Several MEPs, Cricket enthusiasts in the European Parliament graced the occasion. Large number of special guests was also present to take part in the work shop and panel discussions. Key European figureheads including Nick Pink- ICC Regional Development Manager; Warren Deutrom- Chief Executive, Cricket Ireland; Ole Roland- Chief Executive, Dansk Cricket Forbund (Denmark); Marike Dickmann- Cricket Development Manager, KNCB (The Netherlands); Andy Sellins and Andy Dalby-Welsh, Cricket 4 Change; Jacqueline Morel, USEP- French Primary Schools representative; Ambassador P.M.Amza and Madhuka Wickramarachchi, Sri Lanka Embassy representatives and Syed Kamall were among them. The discussions aim to provide an opportunity to promote cricket in Europe to a range of MEPs, advisors and other European representatives.

The Embassy of Sri Lanka to Belgium, Luxemburg and the European Union played a significant role in the Cricket Promoting event in the Europe. Ambassador Amza said, in line with the ICC World T-20 currently being contested in Sri Lanka, he had a unique opportunity to promote Sri Lanka Cricket as well as the country as a whole in the EU parliament. There were plenty of opportunities to discuss all aspects of the cricket especially in Sri Lanka and Asia, he further added.

According to the recent research figures released by the ICC European Development Program, the numbers of people participating in formal cricket competitions across 27 European countries has increased by 100 per cent in the last decade. The huge increase in the popularity of the game is also reflected in the increase in the number of people involved at a coaching, officiating and administrative level.

Picture is seen here Ambassador P.M.Amza handing over an official cap of Sri Lanka Cricket to Parliamentarian Syed Kamall. Also in the picture is the ICC Europe Regional Development Manager Mr Nick Pink.

Source: The Embassy of Sri Lanka to the European Union

Berty tells 120 councillors to withdraw affidavits

Former North-Central Province Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake said he had instructed the 120 provincial councillors who were prepared to support him for the post of chief minister to withdraw their affidavits.

“They are all quite young and have a long way to go in the field of politics. I do not wish to abandon them by encouraging them to resign over this issue which I consider is a grave injustice done upon them,” Mr.Dissanayake told Daily Mirror.

He said he would not accept any Cabinet or non-Cabinet portfolio in the provincial council and would remain an ordinary provincial councillor.

By Lakna Paranamanna
Source:  Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)