මම රෝද පුටුවෙන් එන නිසා පංති භාර මිස්‌ බනිනවා – නිලූෂාගේ සංවේදී කතාව

“අනේ මාමේ මට ඉස්‌කෝලේ යන්න හරිම ආසයි. ඒත් මගේ කකුල් දෙක නැතිව ආබාධිත වී රෝද පුටුවෙන් යන නිසා පංතිය භාර මිස්‌ මට නිතරම බනිනවා. මට උදව් කරන ළමයින්ටත් බනිනවා. ඒ නිසා මට ඉස්‌කෝලෙ ගමන එපා වුණා. අනේ මාමේ මගේ කකුල් දෙක හොඳ කිරීමට උදව් කරලා නැවතත් මට පාසල් යන්න අවස්‌ථාව ලබා දෙන්න” යෑයි වැඳ වැටෙමින් පුංචි ළමා ලෝකයේ අසරණ තත්ත්වයට පත්ව සිටි 13 හැවිරිදි නිලුෂා ආනන්දි හේවාමානගේ දියණියගේ මුවින් නැඟුණු අඳෝනාවෙන් අපගේ හදවත සසල විය.

අසරණ වූ මෙම දැරියගේ තොරතුරු සොයා අල්පිටිය. තණබද්දේගම, කොකරකන්ද ජන උදාන ගම්මානය බලා ගිය අපට දැරියගේ මව වන දිනුෂා උදේනි වීරසිංහ මහත්මිය පැවසූ කඳුළු කතාවයි මේ.

මහත්තයො වීරකෝන් ඇමැතිතුමා 1997 වසරේදී ලබාදුන් මේ ඉඩමේ පුංචි කටුමැටි නිවසක්‌ තනාගෙන මමත්, මහත්තයත් පදිංචියට ආවා. ඒ එන විටත් මගේ මහත්තයට හරිහමන් රැකියාවක්‌ තිබුණේ නෑ. එයාගේ අයියා සමඟ ගෙවල් වයරින් කරන වැඩවලට ගොස්‌ ලැබෙන සොච්චම් මුදලින් අපි සතුටින් ජීවත් වුණා.

1999 වසරේදී නිලූෂා දුව ඉපදෙන විට ගැබට මාස 6 ක්‌ සම්පූර්ණ වූවා පමණයි. අඩු මාසයෙන් ඉපදුණු ඇය ඉතා පරෙස්‌සමින් රැකබලා ගත්තත් ඇයගේ දෙපා පණ නැති වුණා. ගාල්ල කරාපිටිය රෝහලේ විශේෂඥ ශෛල්‍ය වෛද්‍ය වී. ස්‌වර්ණකුමාර මහතාට දරුවා පෙන්වූ විට ඒ මහතා පැවසුවේ දරුවාගේ දෙපාවලට සම්බන්ධ බල නහර ඇදී ඇති නිසා කොළඹ ජාතික රෝහලේදී සැත්කම් 4 ක්‌ සිදුකළ යුතු බවයි.

ඒ සඳහා ලොකු මුදලක්‌ වැය කිරිමට සිදුවන බවත් දොස්‌තර මහතා පැවසුවා. මගේ මහත්තයට හරිහමන් රැකියාවක්‌ නැති නිසා මමත් කුලී වැඩට යනවා. පාසල් යන වයසේ තව දරුවො දෙන්නෙක්‌ නඩත්තු කරන්න ඕනෑ. ලොකු මුදලක්‌ සොයා ගන්නවා කියන්නේ අපට ලොකු ප්‍රශ්නයක්‌. අපේ දුක ගැන වැලිවිටිය දිවිතුරු ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්තුමාට කිව්වාම එතුමා දුවට පාසල් යන්න රෝද පුටුවක්‌ ලබා දුන්නා. අපේ ගෙදරට යන පාර කැඩී වළවල් හෑරී ඇති නිසා රෝද පුටුවෙන් යන්න බැරි නිසා රෝද පුටුව පාසල අසල ගෙදරක තබා ඒ ගෙදර ළඟට දුව වඩාගෙන ගොස්‌ එතැන සිට පාසලට රෝද පුටුවෙන් තබා අරගෙන ගියා.

රෝද පුටුවෙන් පාසලට ගිය මගේ දුවට පංති භාර ගුරුතුමිය නොයෙක්‌ කෙනෙහිලිකම් කළ නිසා දුව පාසල් යන්න බෑ කියා දිනපතා අඬනවා. මේ පිළිබඳව සොයන්න පාසලට ගිය මට පාසලේ විදුහල්පති සහ පංතිය භාර ගුරුතුමිය බැන වැදී දුව පාසලට එවන්න එපා කිව්වා. ඉන් පසු දුවගේ පාසල් ගමන අතරමඟ නතර වුණා. ඒ පාසලට ගිය අනිත් දුවල දෙන්නටත් ගුරුවරුන්ගෙන් විවිධ කෙනෙහිලිකම් සිදුවුණ නිසා ඒ දෙන්නත් ඒ පාසලෙන් අයින් කරල වෙනත් පාසලකට යවන්න සිදුවුණා. මේ නිසා අපට තවත් අමතර වියදමක්‌ දරන්න සිදුවුණා.

දැන් අපි අන්ත අසරණ වෙලා. දුව නිතරම අඬ අඬා කියන්නේ කකුල් දෙක හදලා පාසල් යන්න අවස්‌ථාව ලබා දෙන්න කියලයි. මගේ අසරණ දුවට දෙපයින් යන්න සලස්‌වල දෙනව නම් ඒ අයට බුදුබව අත්වෙනවා

මේ අසරණ දරුවාගේ දෙපා යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය සැත්කම සඳහා දායක වීමට කැමැති පින්වතුන්ට ඇයගේ මව වන දිනුෂා උදේනි වීරසිංහ නමින් ඇල්පිටිය මහජන බැංකුවේ පවත්වා ගෙන යන 07320010003399 අංක දරන ඉතිරි කිරීමේ ගිණුමට මුදල් බැර කළ හැකිය. 072 8479578 දුරකථනයෙන් අවශ්‍ය තොරතුරු ලබා ගත හැකිය. දැරියගේ පියාගේ ලිපිනය හේවාමානගේ අජිත් කුමාර, කොකරකන්ද ජන උදාන ගම්මානය, තණබද්දේගම. ඇත්කඳුර වේ.

සටහන හා සේයාරූ – ඇල්පිටිය – කේ. සී. විදානආරච්චි

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

විදෙස්‌ පුහුණුව ලැබූ විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍යවරුන්ගෙන් බහුතරය රට හැර යැමේ ප්‍රවණතාවක්‌

විදෙස්‌ගතවී විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය පුහුණුව ලබා නැවත මෙරට පැමිණෙනුයේ වෛද්‍යවරුන් 150 දෙනෙකු පමණක්‌ බවත් ඒ පිරිසෙන් ද බහුතරය ඔවුනට ලැබෙන අඩු වැටුප් තල හා පහසුකම් හේතුවෙන් නැවත විදෙස්‌ ගතවන බව රජයේ වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ගේ සංගමය පවසයි.

වාර්ෂිකව මෙරට වෛද්‍යවරුන් 200 දෙනකු පමණ විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය පුහුණුව සඳහා විදේශගත වන අතර එම පුහුණුව අවසානයේ නැවත මෙරට පැමිණෙනුයේ වෛද්‍යවරුන් 150 දෙනකු පමණ බව වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති වෛද්‍ය අනුරුද්ධ පාදෙනිය මහතා පවසයි. මේ අනුව වෛද්‍යවරුන් 50 දෙනකු පමණ විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය පුහුණුවෙන් පසු විදේශීය රටවල රැඳී සිටින බව අනාවරණය වී තිබේ.

මෙසේ විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය පුහුණුව ලැබූ වෛද්‍යවරුන් විශාල වශයෙන් රට හැර යැම නිසා ළමා රෝග, මානසික හා ස්‌නායු වැනි අංශ ගණනාවක විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍යවරුන්ගේ උග්‍ර හිඟයක්‌ පවතින බව වෛද්‍ය පාදෙනිය කීවේය.

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

Sangakkara nominated to top four categories in ICC awards

Former Sri Lanka captain, Kumar Sangakkara has been nominated to the top three ICC Awards 2012 in addition to that he is being one of the top contenders of the LG people’s award, which is chosen by cricket fans around the world. The ICC announced a long list on Monday, August 13, with the annual awards ceremony set for 15 September in Colombo.

Out of the short listed five cricketers for LG People’s award, Kumar Sangakkara has been the only cricketer to be nominated for the top three awards as well. Sachin Tendulkar, Vernon Philander, Jacques Kallis and James Anderson are the other four cricketers who will compete with Sangakkara for LG People’s award.

Cricketers are chosen by an independent selection panel of experts based on their performances in the period between 4 August 2011 and 6 August 2012. For the LG People’s Choice Award, the player will be chosen by cricket fans around the world, who get a chance to vote for their favorite player online from a short-list of five cricketers.

These cricketers were initially selected by the ICC selection panel and released to the public for voting earlier this month. They were chosen on the basis of some innovative parameters, in line with the values that embody the LG brand, such as innovation, dynamism, strength in decision-making, performing well under pressure and executing a plan to distinction.

Cricket fans around the world, will have the opportunity to vote for the cricketer of their choice online until 31 August at www.facebook.com/cricketicc. The most prestigious of all awards remains as the ICC Cricketer of the Year award for Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

This year’s LG ICC Awards includes 11 individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year. The individual player awards will be selected by an academy of 32 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world. The academy includes a host of former players and respected members of the media, representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.

Sri Lanka’s young sensation, Dinesh Chandimal, has been nominated to ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award this year. To qualify for that award, a player must be under the age of 26 and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs and five T20Is at the start of the voting period.

The ninth annual LG ICC Awards will be held on 15 September in Colombo ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.  Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004 and 2011), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008) and Bengaluru (2010).

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Read more : http://sports.dailymirror.lk/2012/08/13/sangakkara-nominated-to-top-four-categories-in-icc-awards/

ICC probes alleged corruption in SL

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is investigating alleged corruption in Sri Lanka, which centres around a taped conversation, a Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) press release has said.

A recording of the conversation had been given to a Sri Lankan media organisation, and SLC on Thursday, August 9. SLC then passed the tape on to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), currently in the country for the SLPL. No local media outlets have as yet reported on any corruption allegations.

“The tape was handed over to an official of the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit [ACSU] currently in the country covering [the Sri Lanka Premier League]. Investigations are underway in coordination with the ICC,” the statement said.

“We are unable to give any additional information other than what has been released to the media,” SLC CEO Ajit Jayasekara said. “We are cooperating with the ICC as ACSU conducts the investigation.”

Source: ESPNcricinfo

Pietersen ‘fully committed’ to England (inc. video)

Kevin Pietersen may have pulled off a career-saving performance as outrageous as anything he has achieved on the pitch by unconditionally committing himself to play for England in all formats of the game and apologising for the behaviour that led to speculation about dressing room rifts and his premature retirement.

In another development late on Saturday, the ECB announced that the squad for the third Test against South Africa would be delayed until 2.30pm on Sunday having originally been set for 9.30am, inviting the belief that England’s selectors, having picked the squad for the final Test at Lord’s, had been forced back into an emergency session.

Pietersen, who was facing the prospect of being dropped by England following a series of incidents that appeared to have driven a wedge between him and the rest of the England team, has retracted his request to play a full IPL season, reversed his retirement from international limited-overs cricket and withdrawn many of the comments he made in an emotional press conference following the second Test at Leeds. In a personally arranged video interview, Pietersen expressed his unconditional return for England in all forms of the game.

Read more : http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/current/story/576997.html

Source: ESPN cricinfo

London 2012 Olympics close with spectacular ceremony

The London 2012 Olympics have ended with a spectacular musical closing ceremony and the official handover to the next host city, Rio de Janeiro.

 

The three-hour show featured some of the biggest names of British pop from decades past, including the Spice Girls, George Michael and Elbow.

Games chief Lord Coe said: “When our time came – Britain, we did it right.”

The official Games flag was handed to the mayor of Rio before the flame at the Olympic Stadium was extinguished.

President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, who declared the Games of the 30th Olympiad closed just before midnight, said: “We will never forget the smiles, the kindness and the support of the wonderful volunteers, the much-needed heroes of these Games.

“You, the spectators and the public, provided the soundtrack for these Games.

“Your enthusiastic cheers energised its competitors and brought a festive spirit to every Olympic venue.”

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19236754

Source: BBC

 

Usain Bolt wins third gold in Jamaica 4x100m relay victory

Usain Bolt won his third gold medal of the 2012 Olympics as he anchored Jamaica’s sprint relay team to a sensational world record.

Jamaica’s quartet clocked 36.84 seconds to smash the old mark by two-tenths of a second and leave the USA team with silver.

Nesta Carter and Michael Frater produced excellent first and second legs but it was 100m and 200m silver medallist Yohan Blake’s blistering third leg that set the platform.

Bolt provided the perfect finale – exploding away to leave Ryan Bailey trailing as the capacity crowd stood to acclaim him.

Canada were initially given bronze before being disqualified when third-leg runner Jared Connaughton was seen to have stepped inside his lane, meaning Trinidad and Tobago were promoted to third place.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18913023

Source: BBC

Victory over the LTTE should be honoured-Dr Swamy (inc. Video)

India’s Janatha Party Leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy said that the victory over the LTTE in Sri Lanka is fit for being honoured by India’s highest award in the future

Speaking at the Defence Seminar in Colombo today, Dr. Swamy said “the credit for this victory over terrorism naturally must belong to the political leadership of the President Mr. Rajapakshe and his ability to inspire the armed forces to fight on and die for the cause.”

“The people of India recognize this as a contribution to our national security and fit for being honoured by India’s highest award in the future,” he said.
He also said that the overwhelming proportion of the people of Tamil Nadu had rejected the LTTE whenever they were made to make a call.

“The LTTE in fact had wanted that polarization, and Tamil leadership fell into the quicksand created by it. They were egged on across the Palk Strait by selfish leaders in Tamil Nadu, many of whom were being financed by the LTTE.”

“As an Indian and a Tamil, let me say at this point that the overwhelming proportion of the people of Tamil Nadu had rejected the LTTE whenever they were made to make a call. When the dismissal by the Union Government of India of the DMK led state government in January 1991 took place– for colluding with the LTTE– and which dismissal I had supervised as a senior most Union Cabinet Minister holding the Law & Justice portfolio, there was overwhelming support from the people of Tamil Nadu.

In June 1991 General Elections, the DMK was reduced to a tally of 2 in a House of 234 MLAs, and to zero MPs elected from the state to Parliament.
Not a single incident of violence took place when the dismissal was carried out. It became apparent then that the Tamils of the state think of themselves as Indians first and Tamils afterwards.
“Therefore, let me assure you that for us patriotic Indians, national interests come first, and if state, sectarian or regional interests clash with it, then it is the latter provincial interests that will be sacrificed,” he added.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Usain Bolt wins 200m to make Olympic athletics history

Usain Bolt became the first man to retain both Olympic sprint titles as he led home a gold and green Jamaica clean sweep in the 200m.

Bolt matched Michael Johnson’s then world-record time from the Atlanta Games of 19.32 seconds as he held off training partner Yohan Blake in silver and Warren Weir in bronze.

Blake had beaten Bolt at the Jamaican trials, his last race over the distance before London, but the double 100m championran a brilliant bend from lane seven to lead by a metre coming into the straight.

Glancing to his left he was aware of Blake closing in a fraction at 150m, but held his form to cross the line with a finger to his lips.

“This is what I wanted and I got it. I’m very proud of myself,” the 25-year-old told BBC Sport.

“After a rough season I came out here and did it. I thought the world record was possible. I guess I was fast but not fit enough.

“I could feel my back strain a little bit, so all I did was to keep my form. I’m very dedicated to my work and London meant so much to me.”

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18914449

By Tom Fordyce
Source: BBC

Jade Jones wins Olympic taekwondo gold for Great Britain

Jade Jones claimed Britain’s first Olympic taekwondo gold medal and the hosts’ 25th of the London Games.

The 19-year-old beat Yuzhuo Hou 6-4 to take the women’s -57kg title and avenge the Chinese fighter’s sudden-death win at the 2011 World Championships.

After a nervous opening with few scoring opportunities, Jones took control of the final in the second round and powered to victory.

Jones told BBC Sport: “I still doesn’t feel real, it feels crazy. I’ve dreamt about this for ages and the crowd have just been amazing. This can’t be beaten.

“My coach is a legend and without him a I wouldn’t have been anywhere near where I was today. When I came out, I just wanted to go on and win.

“To be the first ever British taekwondo athlete to win Olympic gold is amazing. To win Olympic gold is special, but to perform in front of all my friends and family is just amazing.”

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18914952

By Tom Fordyce
Source: BBC

වසර 3ක් වැනි කෙටි කාලයක දී බිම් බෝම්බ ලක්‍ෂ 9ක් – ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ

කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදීන් විසින් වළ දමා තිබූ ලක්‍ෂ 9 කට ආසන්න බිම් බෝම්බ ප්‍රමාණයක් මේ වන විට ආරක්‍ෂක අංශ ඉවත් කර ඇත. ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා මේ බව අනාවරණය කළේ කොළඹ ගලදාරි හෝටලයේ පැවැති අන්තර් ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂක සමුළුවේදීය.

යුද ටැංකි නාශක බෝම්බ, පුද්ගල නාශක බෝම්බ ඇතුළු බිම්බෝම්බ මෙලෙස ඉවත් කිරීමට රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධානවල සහාය ද ආරක්‍ෂක අංශ වෙත ලැබුණු බවත්, ඉකුත් වසර තුනක කාලයේ මේවා ඉවත් කිරීමට හැකි වූ බවත්, ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම්වරයා කීය.

උතුරේ ප්‍රදේශ කිහිපයක මෙන්ම අවසන් ගැටුම් පැවැති ප්‍රදේශවල පුද්ගලයන් යළි පදිංචි කිරීමේදී මේ බිම්බෝම්බ විශාල ගැටලුවක්ව තිබූ බවත්, අදාළ බිම්බෝම්බ කඩිනමින් ඉවත් කිරීමට හැකි වීමෙන් පුද්ගලයන් යළි පදිංචි කිරීම ඉතා ඉක්මනින් සිදු කිරීමට හැකි වූ බවත් හෙතෙම පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

බිම්බෝම්බ උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර ප්‍රදේශවලින් ඉවත් කර ඇති අතර මුලතිව් දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් වැඩිම බෝම්බ ප්‍රමාණයක් ඉවත් කර ඇත.

බිම්බෝම්බ ඉවත් කිරීමේ යන්ත්‍ර, බිම්බෝම්බ ඉවත් කිරීම සඳහා විශේෂ පුහුණුවක් ලද සුනඛයන්, යුද හමුදා සෙබළුන් බිම්බෝම්බ ඉවත් කිරීමේ කාර්යයට යොදා ගැනිණි.

දැනට බිම්බෝම්බ වළලා ඇති ප්‍රදේශ සියල්ල හඳුනාගෙන ඇති අතර ඉතා කෙටි කාලයක දී මේවා ගලවා ඉවත් කිරීමට ආරක්‍ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය කටයුතු කර තිබේ.

භක්ති ධර්මප්‍රිය මෙන්ඩිස්
Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

ලෝකයේ අඩුම වැටුප් ලබන විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුන් සිටින්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේයි

ලෝකයේ අඩුම වැටුප් ලබන විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය මණ්‌ඩල සිටින්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යෑයි විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුන්ගේ විරෝධතා ව්‍යාපාරයට සහභාගි වෙමින් ආචාර්යවරුන්ගේ සංගමයේ උප සභාපති දඹර අමිල හිමියෝ පැවැසූහ.

කොළඹ හා ඒ අවට විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුන් 300 කගේ පමණ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් මෙම විරෝධතා ව්‍යාපාරය ඊයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ආසන්නයේ එහි පිවිසුම් මාර්ගයේදී පවත්වනු ලැබීය.

මෙම විරෝධතා ව්‍යාපාරය පැය 13 කට පමණ පෙර කෙටි කාලයක්‌ තුළ සංවිධානය කිරීමට සිදුවූ නිසාවෙන් සමස්‌ත විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය මණ්‌ඩලය මෙහි කැඳවීමට නොහැකි වූ බවත්, ඉදිරි දිනයේ රජය මෙම ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳා ගැනීමට සහය ලබා නුදුනහොත් මෙයට වඩා දැඩි පියවරක්‌ ගැනීමට සංගමයක්‌ වශයෙන් අපට සිදුවන බවත් පැවසූහ.

විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය දරුවන්හට මෙම වෘත්තීය ක්‍රියාමාර්ගය සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිදුවන කෙටිකාලීන අපහසුතාව පිළිබඳව සංගමයේ සංවේගය පළකරන බවත් මෙම ක්‍රියාමාර්ගය තුළින් සිසුන්ට දිගුකාලීනව සිදුවන යහපත එයටත් වඩා ප්‍රයෝජන වන බවත් උන්වහන්සේ මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දෙන ලදී.

ලොව අඩුම වැටුප් ලබන විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය මණ්‌ඩලය සිටින්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ බවත් පෙන්වා දුන් උන්වහන්සේ රජය අධ්‍යාපනයට යොමු කළ ප්‍රතිපාදන ක්‍රමයෙන් කප්පාදු කරමින් සිටින බවත් පැවැසූහ.

මෙම තත්ත්වය යටතේ උගත් පරපුර දිවයිනෙන් බැහැරව විදේශගත වීමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විද්වතුන්ගේ හිඟයක්‌ ඇතිවනු ඇතැයි ද උන්වහන්සේ වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසූහ.

ඇන්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

SRI LANKA AMONG 12 IN APPLE’S ASIA ITUNES MUSIC, MOVIES ROLLOUT

Apple has announced that it is launching the iTunes Store in 12 additional countries in Asia today. These countries include Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The iTunes Store is Apple’s media outlet, which distributes music and movies to Mac, Windows and iOS users. Apple says that it is bringing both local and international content to the store for these regions. The App Store was previously launched in these areas.

The countries announced today are also getting Apple’s iTunes in the Cloud feature, which allows them to download previously purchased music and movies to any device from supported studios, as well as the iTunes Match service. iTunes Match, which lets users take their entire music library with them on iOS devices and Macs, requires an additional purchase.

Earlier today Apple launched its new standalone Podcasts app that allows people to download and enjoy video and audio podcasts.

Source: Adaderana (Sri Lanka)

Sir Chris Hoy wins sixth Olympic gold medal with keirin victory

Sir Chris Hoy claimed a sixth Olympic gold medal to become the most successful British Olympian of all time.

 

Having won gold on the first night of the track cycling in the men’s team sprint, Hoy’s triumph in the keirin was the perfect finale for Team GB.

Hoy’s six golds take him past rowing great Sir Steve Redgrave’s five.

And with a silver from Sydney 2000 as well, he equals Bradley Wiggins’s record total of seven medals.

The 36-year-old Scot is sure he will not carry on for a fifth Games in 2016, but he is already assured of his status as track cycling’s greatest ever sprinter.

Hoy, the defending Olympic and four-time world champion, hit the front with a lap to go and while he was momentarily overtaken by Germany’s Maximilian Levy on the back straight, he came roaring back to win by a bike length.

Read More : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18903411

Source: BBC

More success for Team GB makes London 2012 most golden Games ever

Team GB have had another sparkling day at London 2012 with victories in triathlon, dressage and cycling meaning they now have more gold medals than at any other Olympics since 1908.

That meant the previous record haul of 19 golds claimed at Beijing in 2008 was surpassed and this Games was officially the most successful in terms of the top medals since London 1908.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/907700-more-success-for-team-gb-makes-london-2012-most-golden-games-ever#ixzz22uVd2roE

Source: Metro (London)

India defeat SL in T20 match

Sri Lanka came within winning distance of the only T20 game in the series with India, but did not have a single decent partnership to close it out. India won by 39 runs.

Set to score 156, India’s lowest total in a game in this format against Sri Lanka, the opening pair was separated in the first over, with Pathan’s swinging the ball through the defence of T.M.Dilshan (0). Pathan, in fact, set the stage for the Indian comeback, trapping Mahela Jayawardene (26) in front, and inducing Upul Thranga (5) to nick off a nothing-ball: he claimed three top order wickets in his first, three-over spell. There was no real recovery from there. Ashwin made matters worse for Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (20) missed a reverse sweep, and was bowled first ball of Ashwin’s spell.

Earlier, India’s in-form batsman Virat Kohli (68), and Ajinkya Rahane (21) put together 74, the highest second wicket partnership against Sri Lanka in a T20 game, to steer the total to respectable155 for 3.

On his way to guiding India, Kohli, who scored his first T20 fifty, surpassed the highest score made by an Indian against Sri Lanka in T20 – 64 that Sehwag got in Mohali in 2009.

India got to a rather indifferent start, losing Gambhir (6) early to the newly-capped Shaminda Eranga. Gambhir would have gone earlier, in the first over itself, if Eranga had caught Gambhir off Mathews in the fourth ball of the innings. Gambhir wanted to lift Mathews over mid-wicket, and ended up hitting the balls miles into the night sky.

Kohli and Rahane brought up the 50 for second wicket in 34 deliveries. Rahane perished in his anxiety to up the scoring – Mendis had tossed one up, and Rahane ended up hitting it back to the bowler. Kohli, who was middling the ball, picked a slower one of Eranga to hoist over mid-wicket. If Eranga had bowled at his normal pace, the delivery might have cleared the ropes, but the slower one ended up in the hands of Thirimanne at mid-wicket.

Earlier, having won the toss, Sri Lanka put India into bat, as a full house watched from the stands. I have never seen Pallekele stadium – built for the ICC ODI world cup this full during the world cup or later.

SCOREBOARD:

India: G.Ghambir b Eranga 6 (8b, 1×4), A.Rahane c & b Mendis 21 (25b, 1×6), V.Kohli c Thirimanne b Eranga 68 (48 b, 11×4, 1×6), S.Raina (not out) 34 (25 b, 3×4, 1×6), M.S.Dhoni (not out) 16 (14b, 2×4). Extras (lb 7, w 3) 10. Total (for 3 wickets in 20 overs) 155.

Sri Lanka bowling: Mathews 3-0-23-0, Eranga 4-0-30-2, Malinga 4-0-31-0, Perera 4-0-34-0, Herath 3-0-17-0, Mendis 2-0-13-1.

Sri Lanka batting: M.Jayawardene lbw Pathan 26 (19b, 5×4), T.M.Dilshan b Pathan 0 (1b), U.Tharanga c Raina b Pathan 5 (4b), L.Thirimanne b Ashwin 20 (15b), A.Mathews c Dhoni b Dinda 31 (29b, 3×4), J.Mendis c Rahane b Yadav 11 (15b), D.Chandimal c Kohli b Dinda 7 (11b), T.Perera (run out) 1 (5b), S.Eranga c Ashwin b Dinda 6 (7b), L.Malinga c Dhoni b Dinda 0 (2b), R.Herath (not out) 0 . Extras (lb 2, w 7) 9: Total: (all out in 18 overs) 116.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

ආරක්‍ෂක සමුළුව හෙට ඇරැඹෙයි – රටවල් 43 ක දෙස්‌ විදෙස්‌ නියෝජිතයන් 250 දෙනකු

“ස්‌ථිරසාර සාමයක්‌ හා සමාජයක්‌ සඳහා” වන තේමාව යටතේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පශ්චාත් යුද සමය පිළිබඳව ජාත්‍යන්තර ප්‍රජාව දැනුවත් කිරීමේ ආරක්‍ෂක සමුළුව හෙට (08 දා) සිට 10 වැනිදා දක්‌වා කොළඹ ගලධාරි හෝටලයේදී පැවැත්වේ.

පශ්චාත් යුද සමයේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන “ෆයිව් ආර්” සංකල්පය යටතේ නැවත ඉදිකිරීම්, නැවත පදිංචි කිරීම්, පුනරුත්ථාපනය කිරීම, ප්‍රති සමාජගත කිරීම හා සංහිඳියාව පිළිබඳව පවත්වන මෙම සමුළුව හෙට (08 දා) පෙ.ව. 8.00 ට ආරක්‌ෂක හා නාගරික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‌ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් ආරම්භ වේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, ඇමරිකාව, එංගලන්තය, පාකිස්‌තානය, ඉන්දියාව, චීනය ඇතුළු රටවල් 43 ක දෙස්‌ විදෙස්‌ නියෝජිතයන් 250 දෙනකු පමණ සහභාගිවන මෙම සමුළුව අමතා දෙස්‌ විදෙස්‌ දේශකයෝ 22 ක්‌ දේශන පවත්වති.

විශ්‍රාමික හමුදා ජනරාල්වරයකු වන පාකිස්‌තානයේ ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම්වරයා මෙවර සමුළුව නියෝජනය කිරීම විශේෂත්වයක්‌ වන අතර, උගන්ඩාවේ ආරක්‌ෂක මාණ්‌ඩලික ප්‍රධානි සහ බෲනායි, මාලදිවයින යන රටවල හමුදාපතිවරු දෙදෙනාද සහභාගි වෙති. සෙසු රටවල ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ හමුදා නිලධාරීහු සහ රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රිකයෝ 100 ක්‌ පමණ මෙම සමුළුව නියෝජනය කරති.

චීනය නියෝජනය කරමින් නියෝජිතයන් 06 දෙනකු සහභාගි වන අතර, එය එක්‌ රටකින් සහභාගි වන වැඩිම නියෝජිත පිරිසවේ. ඉන්දියාවෙන් සහභාගි වනුයේ එක්‌ නියෝජිතයෙකි.

ආරක්‍ෂක හා නාගරික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‌ෂ මහතාගේ උපදෙස්‌ මත යුද හමුදාපති ලුතිනන් ජෙනරාල් ජගත් ජයසූරියගේ මෙහෙයවීමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද හමුදාව මෙම සමුළුව සංවිධානය කර ඇත.

සිරිමෙවන් කස්‌තුරිආරච්චි

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

Jason Kenny wins men’s sprint gold

Jason Kenny holds off the challenge of triple world champion Gregory Bauge of France to claim gold in the men’s sprint.

Kenny, 24, becomes only the second British man to win gold in the event, after Sir Chris Hoy’s triumph in Beijing in 2008.

Kenny took silver behind Hoy in Beijing, but was preferred to him under the one-rider-per-nation rule introduced for the 2012 Games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19153424

Source: BBC

Sadaham Gee Saraniya

We all really miss Sri Lanka. This is just an attempt to bring back the best of Sri Lankan identity in a different way that everybody hopefully will like.

If you have children please accompany them as this is a very good opportunity to give some idea of our Buddhism and the Buddhist culture as we believe it is the best gift you can give them as Sri Lankans.

Please remember the date Saturday 18 August 2:30 pm. Entrance free.

Curiosity Lands on Mars! (Inc. video)

NASA’s most advanced Mars rover, Curiosity, has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars early Monday EDT to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.

 

Read more : http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Usain Bolt wins Olympics 100m final at London 2012

Usain Bolt emphatically confirmed his status as the greatest sprinter in history as he retained his Olympic 100m title in peerless fashion.

Bolt, doubted by many after a season dogged by defeat and injury, ran the second-fastest time ever to beat his training partner Yohan Blake into silver and American Justin Gatlin into bronze.

Bolt’s 9.63 seconds, just 0.05 seconds slower than his own staggering world record, was a new Olympic best and capped a race in which seven men went under 10 seconds, with only the injured Asafa Powell failing to break that mark.

Bolt, 25, said: “I was happy when I went out in the first round, I felt I could do this. I was slightly worried about my start. I didn’t want to false start again so I sat in the blocks a little bit.

“It wasn’t the best reaction in the world but I executed it and that was the key. My coach said ‘stop worrying about the start because the best part of your race is the end’. It worked.

“I said it on the track, people can talk, but when it comes to championships it is all about business for me and I brought it. It was wonderful. I knew [the crowd] would be like this, I can feel that energy and I am extremely happy.”

Read More : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18907995

Source: BBC

We made a lot of mistakes – Mathews

Sri Lankan vice captain Angelo Mathews said as a team they made a lot of mistakes throughout the series.

“We made a lot of mistakes and that was the downfall. We played badly in crucial moments and that reflects in the result,” Mathews told media after yesterday’s match.

He also said, “It was encouraging to see youngsters taking the responsibility. We gave away far too many runs and that cost us the match in the end.”
Indian captain MS Dhoni, who played a splendid innings said, “Gambhir and Tiwary gave us a nice platform to play our strokes. It was a good pitch and the ball was coming nicely.”

Dhoni however, showed concern over the bowling department, he said, “We need to improve in both departments especially bowling. It was good to see that our batsmen looked to play long innings as that provided extra cushion to the bowlers.”

Irfan Pathan became the first Indian fast bowler in five years to pick up a five-wicket haul and it was his efforts in the end which took India home. Irfan who was selected the man of the match for his performance was not too satisfied with his bowling.

“I have been bowling well in this series. In today’s match I bowled a lot of bad deliveries and was a bit lucky to get all these wickets.

Source: Indian Sports News Network

Andy Murray wins men’s singles Olympics tennis gold

Andy Murray captured the biggest title of his career with an emphatic victory over Roger Federer in the Olympic men’s singles final at Wimbledon.

Murray beat the Swiss world number one in straight sets, 6-2 6-1 6-4, on a raucous Centre Court.

The 25-year-old is the first British man to win the Olympic singles gold medal since Josiah Ritchie in 1908.

He had never beaten Federer in a best-of-five-sets match and lost to him in this year’s Wimbledon final.

Murray’s triumph came four weeks to the day since that 6-4 5-7 3-6 4-6 loss to Federer at the All England Club.

“It’s number one for me – the biggest win of my life,” said Murray.

“I have had a lot of tough losses in my career and this is the best way to come back from the Wimbledon final.”

Read More : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18907001

Source: BBC

ඔහිය-පට්‌ටිපොළ දුම්රිය ස්‌ථාන අතර අධිරක්‍ෂිත වනය ගිනි ගනී

ඔහිය ඉදල්ගස්‌හින්න දුම්රිය ස්‌ථාන හා ඔහිය පට්‌ටිපොළ දුම්රිය ස්‌ථාන අතර අධිරක්‍ෂිත වනය තුළ පසුගිය 3 වැනිදා සිට ගින්නක්‌ හටගෙන තිබේ.

මෙම අධිරක්‍ෂිත වනය පිහිටියේ හෝටන්තැන්න ජාතික උද්‍යානයට යාබදවයි. එදින අ ලුයම සිට ඇතිවූ මෙම ගින්න නිවා දැමීම සඳහා යුද හමුදාව, පොලිසිය, බදුල්ල දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌ ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්‌ථානය සහ වන සංරක්‍ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව යුහුසුළුව කටයුතු කරන ලදී. ගින්න මැඬ පැවැත්වීම සඳහා ගිනි පටි යෙදවීමටද යුද හමුදා සෙබළුන් විසින් සිදුකරන ලදී.

නමුත් නැවතත් 3 වැනිදා රාත්‍රියේ සිට ඇවිළුණු ගින්න සුළඟත් සමග දැඩි ලෙස විහිදී යන ලදී. දුම්රිය මග දෙපසද දැඩි ලෙස ගින්න වර්ධනය වී තිබූ අතර උඩරට මාර්ගයේ දුම්රිය ධාවනයටද මේ නිසා බාධා ඇතිවිය. දුම්රිය ධාවනය අතරමග නවතා ගින්නෙන් දුම්රිය මගට ඇද වැටී තිබූ ගස්‌ කපා ඉවත් කර දුම්රිය ධාවනයට සේවකයෝ කටයුතු කළහ.

එසේම දුම්රිය මග දෙපස කලකට පෙර සුළඟට වැටී තිබූ දැව කඳන්වලට ගිනි ඇවිලී බුර බුරා නැගෙන ගිනි දැල් නිසා ඉන්ධන ප්‍රවාහන දුම්රියන් ධාවනය කිරීමේදී ඉතා ප්‍රවේශම්කාරීව කටයුතු කිරීමට බලධාරීහු කටයුතු කළහ.

ඔහිය, හෝර්ටන්තැන්න හා පට්‌ටිපොල යන ස්‌ථාන අධිරක්‍ෂිත කලාප වේ. තෙරක්‌ නොපණෙන මේ වනය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වටිනාම පාරිසරික පද්ධතියන් වුවත් මේ අධිරක්‍ෂිත වනය ආරක්‍ෂා කිරීමට වැලිමඩ වන සංරක්‍ෂණ කාර්යාලයේ සිටින්නේ සීමිත නිලධාරීන් පිරිසකි. දිනපතා මේ වනාන්තර පරීක්‍ෂා කොට මීට වඩා නිලධාරීන් යොදවා ක්‍ෂේත්‍ර පරීක්‍ෂාවන් සිදුකිරීමට කටයුතු කරන්නේ නම් මෙවැනි ගිනි ගැනීම් ව්‍යාප්ත වීමට ප්‍රථම නිවා දැමීමේ හැකියාව තිබේ. පෙරේදා (4 දා) දවස පුරාම දියතලාව හා නුවරඑළිය යුද හමුදා සෙබළුන් හා නිලධාරීන් ගින්න පැතිරීම වැළැක්‌වීමට ගිනි පටි යොදවනු ලැබුවත් ඊයේ (5 දා) දිනයේද මෙම ගින්න ව්‍යාප්ත වී තිබෙන අයුරු දක්‌නට ලැබිණි.

ඔහිය, පට්‌ටිපොළ, හෝර්ටන්තැන්න ප්‍රදේශවල කිසිදු ජංගම දුරකථනයක්‌ සඳහා සංඥ නොමැති වීමද හදිසි ආපදා අවස්‌ථාවලදී දැඩි අසීරුවක්‌ වී තිබේ.

සටහන හපුතලේ – බුවනෙක
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

UK MPs commend rehabilitation and resettlement process

A nine member UK Parliamentary delegation which is on a six day visit to Sri Lanka yesterday commended the rehabilitation and resettlement process in the post conflict areas.

The delegation head Conservative MP James Wharton addressing a media briefing in Colombo yesterday said they were highly impressed with the ongoing rehabilitation process and the development activities in the North and the East.

“We have witnessed the large scale development process taking place in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, during our visit,” he said.

“The government is more focused on reconstructing the North and the East making the region economically and socially vibrant.

“The delegation also received first-hand information on the rehabilitation and resettlement process currently under way in the North and East “he said.

“We have been able to travel to all corners of these two regions and got an opportunity to talk with ministers, officials, opposition members, resettled people, fisherman and farmers in the North and East. But, I can say that Sri Lanka’s progress after the end of the conflict is tremendous,” he said.

“The government has given priority to infrastructure development to facilitate the development of the production and services sectors,” he said..

“Livelihoods of the people of the North and East who suffered immensely from the 30-year conflict have been improved. New job opportunities have been created together with opportunities in the economic and social and cultural sectors,” he said.

“ We can describe these developments as the positive signs of the reconciliation process,” he said. “We have stronger historical and cultural ties between our two countries. We hope to strengthen economic and trade relations with Sri Lanka. Sri lanka offers many trade and investment opportunities for the British business community. The time has come for Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom to build a strong economic relationship. We hope to have members of the British business community meeting in Sri Lanka shortly,”Wharton said.

Conservative MP Bob Blackman said rapid development taking place in the North and East after the war is remarkable. Business opportunities are on the increase. The people can greatly benefit from the huge potential which has been created in many sectors,” he added.

The delegation also included Conservative MPs Mark Menzies, Andrew Stephenson, Aiden Burley, Connor Burns, Mathew Offord, David Morris, Bob Blackman and Ian Paisley, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

‘Deport all illegal migrants’ – External Affairs Ministry

In the wake of rising numbers of illegal migrants who try to enter foreign countries as asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, the External Affairs Ministry called on foreign governments to “deport” illegal Sri Lankan asylum seekers.

Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Thursday said they have asked governments faced with the challenge of an inflow of illegal migrants from Sri Lanka who try to settle in their countries as asylum seekers, to effect ‘deportation” as a solution to their problem.

Rambukwella said the number of Sri Lankan Tamils trying to migrate to Australia as asylum seekers increased drastically this year.

The government understands that these human smuggling activities are being carried out with the support of some political elements.

These elements belong to pro – LTTE diaspora that have close political connections with some political groups based in Sri Lanka.

“There are two such persons already in the custody of the police. They were arrested while trying smuggle hundreds of Tamil people to Australia via sea,” he said. “They are doing this with the financial support of the well placed pro LTTE elements in other countries,to paint a picture to say that the country is not safe for Tamil people,” he explained.

“They have increased the number of Tamils being taken by them to Australia illegally as part of their human smuggling campaign to discredit the government in the background of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review sessions, which the government will participate in November,” he explained. Key organizations of diaspora have come up to defend those involved in these illegal activities, to pressurize the foreign government’s over not retaining those who come to their countries as asylum seekers from Sri Lanka.

He further stated, “the continuous outflow of boats carrying Sri Lankans as asylum seekers is no longer to be considered as an activity that has been carried out by human smugglers as a lucrative trade for mere financial gains by smugglers.” “Its perpetrators have a sinister political agenda, which is unfolding as with the recent arrests made by Sri Lanka Navy with steps being taken by the government to intensify border security of the sea,” he added.

By Chamikara WEERASINGHE
Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

UN praises resettlement

A top UN official yesterday praised the progress made by the Sri Lankan Government in resettling over 440,000 people since the end of the civil war three years ago, and called for continued donor support for the country, where many people still lack basic services.

“The scale of what Sri Lanka has accomplished over the past three years – the pace of resettlement and the development of infrastructure – is remarkable and very clearly visible,” the UN News Center said quoting the Director of Operations of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, who just finished a three-day visit to the country.

Mr. Ging expressed his support for continued partnership with the authorities to jointly agree on and meet remaining humanitarian needs. He also welcomed the commitment of the Government to address peace and development issues through the country’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

During his visit, Mr. Ging met various Government officials and travelled to the Jaffna district in the north, where he met people who remain displaced after more than two decades. He also visited the town of Thellipalai, where he spoke to people returning to the land and houses they had fled 20 years ago and are now struggling to rebuild their lives as the homes they are returning to are uninhabitable.

In both places, OCHA reported that people asked for the same basic assistance – toilets, clean water, shelter, electricity and livelihoods support.
“In 2012, it is absolutely unacceptable that tens of thousands of people are living in such appalling conditions without access to the most basic services,” Mr. Ging said.

Despite these urgent needs, OCHA stated that humanitarian partners are downsizing due to funding shortfalls. Only 18.4 per cent of the funds required under the Joint Plan of Assistance to the Northern Province for this year have been received to date.

“This is a critical moment for Sri Lanka,” Mr. Ging said. “I appeal to all donors, including those who have already been so generous with their bilateral and development aid, to increase their humanitarian contributions. We need their help to restore dignity and hope for those who have endured and lost so much and now urgently need support in rebuilding their lives.”

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Great Britain enjoyed their most successful day at an Olympics in 104 years

Great Britain enjoyed their most successful day at an Olympics in 104 years by winning six gold medals on day eight of the London Games.

The rowers started the celebrations with gold in the men’s four and the women’s lightweight double sculls.

The women’s team pursuiters added track cycling gold in the London Velodrome.

Then Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah capped a historic day by winning the heptathlon, long jump and 10,000m at a jubilant Olympic Stadium.

Saturday’s stunning series of successes keep the host nation third in the medals table with 14 golds, behind the United States and China.

Britain has now won 29 medals overall, having also taken seven silvers and eight bronzes at these Games.

Ennis had dominated the heptathlon from the start, leading her rivals after the four events on day one.

She then effectively clinched gold with strong performances in the long jump and javelin on day two, before rounding off victory in the 800m.

 

Source: BBC

SANGAKKARA RECEIVES SECOND-TIME NOMINATION FOR PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

Veteran batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar, both past winners of the LG People’s Choice Award, have been nominated for the honour a second time, along with three other candidates. Tendulkar won the award in 2010, while Sangakkara was granted the honour in 2011.

“This is the third year of the LG People’s Choice Award and it is proving to be hugely popular among fans across the globe and continues to highlight how much voting for their cricketing heroes means,” said David Richardson, ICC Chief Executive.

“This year sees the two past winners nominated again alongside three other extremely deserving candidates, I’m sure the public will choose wisely as to who will be the 2012 winner of this prestigious award at the LG ICC Awards 2012,” he added.

The LG People’s Choice Awards form part of the ICC’s annual awards. This particular category sees fans choosing the winner, by voting for their favourite sportsman out of a short list nominated by an expert elite panel.

In addition to Tendulkar and Sangakkara, this year’s nominees include England pacer James Anderson, and South Africans Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander.

Among Tendulkar’s many credentials is his recently acquired record of a 100 international centuries, which fits in with his other achievements, including his record for most Test and ODI runs of all time.

Wicketkeeper batsman Sangakkara, meanwhile, tops the ICC’s list of top Test batsmen, and all-rounder Kallis, pacer Philander, and English quick Anderson are also sure to have received a spike in popularity with the ongoing, much-hyped 3-match Test series between England and South Africa.

Fans will be able to vote for their preferred international star through an application which has been made available on the ICC’s Facebook page. The nominees have been selected by a panel of cricket experts headed by Clive Lloyd (former West Indies skipper), and comprising Tom Moody (Australia), Clare Connor (England), Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka), and Carl Hooper (West Indies).

Voting is expected to be open till August 31, and the ceremony is due to take place at the LG ICC Awards in Colombo on September 15.

Source: Adaderana (Sri Lanka)

Chandrika Kumaratunga denies

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has denied categorically that UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, met her during the Presidential Election Campaign of 1994 and provided her with confidential information regarding the campaign strategies of the late Gamini Dissanayake – the UNP Presidential Candidate.

Issuing a statement her office said, “Madam Chandrika Kumaratunga has noted with surprise, reports of statements made by several Senior Members of the present Cabinet to the effect that Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the UNP, met her during the Presidential Election Campaign of 1994 and provided her with confidential information regarding the campaign strategies of the late Mr Gamini Dissanayake – the UNP Presidential Candidate.”

The statement also said that Madam Kumaratunga categorically denies this assertion. Mr Wickremasinghe did not at any time, give her any information about Mr. Dissanayake’s or the UNP’s campaign.

The office of the former President Sri Lanka further revealed that Mr. Wickremasinghe did pay a courtesy call on her after she assumed duties as Prime Minister, in his capacity as the outgoing Prime Minister. He also called on her at the time she left office as Executive President. Likewise Madam Kumaratunga called on President D B Wijetunga, at the time he retired from office to bid him farewell. This is a customary practice of cultured persons.

In conclusion the statement pointed out , Madam Kumaratunga wishes to add that she is not in any way surprised that senior members of her party failed to understand this, as very few of them took the trouble to indulge in this little courtesy at the time she left office as President.

Source : Asian Tribune

‘Ananthayata’ Kasun & Indrachapa Live in Concert 2012 London

A musical concert featuring Kasun & Indrachapa  ‘Ananthayata‘  scheduled to take place on Sunday, 23 September 2012 at 3.30pm in Camden Town Centre, London.

 

All proceeds from the concert will be donated to UK and Sri Lanka registered charity HELPLANKA ( no 1110306) who are raising funds to equip and run a Mother and child centre at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at The Maharagama Cancer Hospital Sri Lanka. For more information visit  www.ananthayata.com .

තඹුත්තේගම ඊයේ “පුංචි යුද පිටියක්‌” (inc. Video)

එක්‌ දරු මවකට මරු කැඳවූ රිය අනතුරකට සම්බන්ධ රියෑදුරුට එරෙහිව නීතිය හරිහැටි ක්‍රියාත්මක නොකළ බව කියමින් කෝපයට පත් වූ දහසකට අධික පිරිසක්‌ තඹුත්තේගම පොලිසිය වට කරගෙන ඊට ගල්මුල් ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරමින් නොසන්සුන් ලෙස හැසිරීම නිසා ඊයේ (02 වැනිදා) පෙරවරුවේ තඹුත්තේගම නගරය පුංචි යුදපිටියක්‌ බවට පත් විය.

ගල්මුල් ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරමින් කලහකාරී ලෙස හැසිරුණු පිරිස්‌ විසුරුවා හැරීමට පොලිසිය කඳුළු ගෑස්‌ ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කළහ. එහෙත් ඊයේ දහවල් වනතුරුම කලහකාරී පිරිස්‌ තඹුත්තේගම පොලිසිය වටකරගෙන ගල්මුල් ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරමින් සිය විරෝධය ප්‍රකාශ කළහ. කලහකාරී පිරිස්‌ මෙම විරෝධතාව පැවැත්වූයේ අනතුරින් මියගිය එක්‌දරු මවගේ සිරුර තඹුත්තේගම පොලිසිය ඉදිරිපිට මාර්ගයේ තබාගෙනය. මෙම සිද්ධිය නිසා කුරුණෑගල අනුරාධපුරය මාර්ගයේ වාහන ධාවනයට දැඩි බාධා සිදු විය.

ඉකුත් 30 වැනිදා තඹුත්තේගම පහළගම ප්‍රදේශයේ සිදුවූ අනතුරකින් 23 හැවිරිදි චන්ද්‍රිකා කුමාරි චන්ද්‍රසිරි නමැති එක්‌දරු මව මිය ගියාය. මෙම එක්‌දරු මව ඇතුළු පිරිසක්‌ ගමන් ගත් අත්ට්‍රැක්‌ටරය බීමත් රියෑදුරකු පැද වූ වෑන් රථයක ගැටීමෙන් මෙම අනතුර සිදුවී තිබිණි.

අනතුරුට සම්බන්ධ රියෑදුරු තඹුත්තේගම පොලිසිය මගින් පෙරේදා (31 වැනිදා) අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් අතර පසුව ඔහු අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලදී. සැකකරුට ඇප ලබා නොදෙන ලෙසත් ඔහු දින 14 ක්‌ රක්‍ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගත කරන ලෙසත් තඹුත්තේගම පොලිසිය අධිකරණයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.

එහෙත් තඹුත්තේගම අධිකරණය රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂය බැගින් ශරීර ඇප දෙකක්‌ මත රියෑදුරු මුදාහරිනු ලැබූ අතර මියගිය මව වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් පනස්‌දහසක මුදල් වන්දියක්‌ සහ තුවාල ලැබූ සිව්දෙනකුට රුපියල් දස දහස බැගින් මුදල් ගෙවන ලෙසත් රියෑදුරුට නියෝග කරන ලදී.

මෙම සිද්ධියෙන් පසු කෝපයට පත් වූ තඹුත්තේගම පහලබිලිබෑව ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාව විශාල පෙරහැරකින් ඊයේ පෙරවරුවේ තඹුත්තේගම නගරයට පැමිණියේ මියගිය එක්‌දරු මවගේ දේහයද රැගෙනය.

තඹුත්තේගම අධිකරණය ඉදිරිපිටින් ද විරෝධතා දක්‌වමින් පැමිණි පිරිස පොලිස්‌ ස්‌ථානය ඉදිරිපිට රැස්‌ වී සටන්පාඨ කියමින් කෑකෝ ගසන්නට පටන් ගත්හ.

එම ස්‌ථානයෙන් පිටවී යන ලෙස පොලිසිය ඔවුන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලීමක්‌ කළද එය නොතැකූ විරෝධතාකරුවෝ පොලිසියට ගල්මුල් ප්‍රහාර එල්ලකරමින් කලහකාරී ලෙස හැසිරෙන්නට පටන් ගත්හ.

කලහකාරීන් එල්ල කළ ගල්මුල් ප්‍රහාරවලින් පොලිස්‌ ස්‌ථානයේ ජනෙල් වීදුරු කීපයකටද අලාභහානි සිදු විය. ඇති වී තිබූ තත්ත්වය පාලනය කිරීමට පොලිසිය උද්ඝෝෂකයන්ට කඳුළු ගෑස්‌ ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරන ලදී.

පසුව කැරලි මර්දන ඒකකයේ නිලධාරීන්ද කැඳවා විරෝධතාකරුවන් විසිරුවා හැරීමට පොලිසිය පියවර ගත්තේය.

මෙහිදී තඹුත්තේගම පොලිසියේ ස්‌ථානාධිපති සෙනෙවිරත්න මහතා කියා සිටියේ මෙම බීමත් රියෑදුරුට එරෙහිව නීතිය අකුරටම ක්‍රියාත්මක කරද්දී මේ ආකාරයට පොලිසියට එරෙහිව විරෝධතා දැක්‌වීම සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම වැරැදි ක්‍රියාවක්‌ බවයි.

හේමන්ත රන්දුණු, සී. එම්. ආරියපාල සහ කේ. නන්දන
Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)