Mahanayake expresses dissatisfaction with situation in country

The Ven Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera, the Mahanayake of the Malwatta Chapter, yesterday, expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation in the country

‘We are not satisfied with the current situation in the country, we have informed the President of this on several occasions but to no avail,” the Mahanayake Thera said during a meeting with a group of young SLFP parliamentarians led by MP Namal Rajapaksa yesterday at the Malwatta temple in Kandy.

“Deterrent punishment should be given to persons found guilty of child abuse. The law of the country should be enforced. Some Buddhist monks are in the habit of seeking positions. The government should not entertain their requests unless they are eligible. A Buddhist monk should not hold any post in the government excepting that of a school teacher. It is not advisable to appoint Buddhist monks to government posts. Requests from Buddhist monks for driving licences should not be entertained. I have made a request in this regard to the Commissioner of Motor Traffic as well,” the Mahanayake Thera said.

The Mahanayake Thera further said, “Public funds allocated for development programmes should be spent gainfully and purposefully without wasteful expenditure. The government must implement an effective programme to help Dhamma schools. Dhamma schools in remotes areas are facing many hardships. They need state patronage. Senior Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, when he was Prime Minister, promised to appoint Dhamma school teachers who had passed the Dharmachariya examination, as government teachers, but his proposal has not yet seen the light of the day”

Mr. Namal Rajapaksa promised to convey the Ven.Thera’s sentiments to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He said a programme was underway, in consultation with the prime minister, to boost social values. He pointed out that the government had focused special attention on the incidents at Tangalle and Akuressa.

Meanwhile the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatta Chapter in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that although in bygone days the government always gave the first place to Buddhism, the current situation was completely different.“…but today that policy has been changed and although it is mentioned in Sri Lanka’s Constitution we have to check whether the position acquired by the other religions has been received by the Buddhism. Lacking that type of background we can see that this Buddhist Island is heading towards a deteriorated condition. The country’s condition was adversely affected by the invasions of the imperialists and the administrative lapses that occurred after independence and after the recent war. The revolutionary changes that took place due to these occerrences were immense,” the letter said.

The Mahanayake also said that Buddhist values and gentle good qualities had deteriorated due to imperialist activities and present day political strategies and that they should be revived by the government, the educated elite, the venerable monks and laymen in a concerted effort. He wanted the President to organise a social recreation programme immediately.

“The Government should come forward to start a religious renaissance and a massive programme without the feelings mixed with political targets and with a righteous feeling. This should be done not tomorrow, but today. If the government took action according to the instructions given by us on national, religious and social issues the present day religious and social problems would have been solved easily,” he had said.

(J.A.L.Jayasinghe and Shane Seneviratne)
Source:  Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Scientists baptise new fish genus

Sri Lankan scientists have identified a new genus of fresh water fish and named it after the evolutionary biologist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins. Lead researcher Rohan Pethiyagoda said the new genus, named Dawkinsia,

comprises nine species found only in South Asia and are characterised by long filaments that trail from the dorsal fins of males.

The fish has previously been classified under the genus Puntius, comprising around 120 species of small tropical fish known as barbs.

Pethiyagoda, an ichthyologist and internationally acclaimed conservationist, said extensive studies in India and Sri Lanka showed that the level of diversity among such fish was “much greater than previously suspected”.

This was partly the reason that the study group had chosen to name the new genus after the 71-year-old Dawkins, the British author of The God Delusion.

“Richard Dawkins has through his writings helped us understand that the universe is far more beautiful and awe-inspiring than any religion has imagined,” Pethiyagoda told AFP yesterday.

“We hope that Dawkinsia will serve as a reminder of the elegance and simplicity of evolution, the only rational explanation there is for the unimaginable diversity of life on Earth,” he said. Male Dawkinsia barbs advertise their fitness by growing long fin filaments that make them more attractive to females but also dangerously conspicuous to predators.

“The filaments are rather like the peacock’s tail, expensive ornaments that place their owner at greater risk while offering him the reward of being the preferred choice of females,” Pethiyagoda said.

The genus re-classification followed an eight-year study of the DNA, bone structures and overall anatomy of Puntius species.

AFP

කොළඹ හොල්ලන මාමාඅස්මී ගැන ඔත්තුවට ලක්ෂ දහයයි

කාලයක් තිස්සේ කොළඹ මාලිගාවත්ත ප්‍රදේශය පුරා සිදු කෙරෙන මහා පරිමාණ අපරාධ පිටුපස සිටින පාතාල නායකයා කාදර් මොහොමඩ් අස්මින් නොහොත් මාමා අස්මී නොහොත් මාමස්මී බව ආරක්ෂක අංශ මගින් හඳුනාගෙන තිබේ.

මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය ජාවාරම ප්‍රධාන ආදායම් මාර්ගය කොට ගත් මෙම පාතාල නායකයා මහා පරිමාණ කප්පම් ගැනීම්, පැහැරගෙන යාම්, ස්ත්‍රී දූෂණ, ගිනි අවි භාවිතය, කොල්ල කෑම්, මිනී මැරුම් ඇතුළු අපරාධ රාශියකට සම්බන්ධව ඒවා මෙහෙයවන පාතාල නායකයා වෙයි.

මොහු අපරාධ කල්ලි මෙහෙයවන නායකයා වුවද ඔහු ඒවාට සම්බන්ධ බව මහජනතාව දැනගත්තද ඔහුට එරෙහිව කිසිදු පැමිණිල්ලක් එළිපිට කිරීමට බිය වී සිටිති. එහෙත් දුරකතන ඇමතුම්වලින් ඔහු පිළිබඳ ඔත්තු ලැබේ.

එබැවින් මේතාක් කාලයක් ඔහුට විරුද්ධව කිසිදු පැමිණිල්ලක් පොලිසියක සටහන් වී නොමැත. කොළඹ ජනතාව බිය කරගෙන සිටින මෙම අපරාධ නායකයා හිටපු පාතාල කල්ලි නායක ෆාරිගේ ගෝලයෙකි.

පොලිස් කණ්ඩායම් මොහු අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට නිරතුරුවම වැටලීම් කරති. එහෙත් මොහු තම පෙනුම සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වෙනස් කරගෙන ජීවත් වෙයි.

මුස්ලිම් ජාතික කාන්තාවක් සේ හිසේ සිට දෙපතුල දක්වා වු කළු දිග ලෝගුවකින් මොහු වරෙක සැරසී සිටියි.

තවත් වරෙක හිස වසාගෙන සාරිය හැඳ සිටියි. කාන්තාවක් ලෙස මිස කිසිදු අවස්ථාවක මොහු පිරිමියකු ලෙස පෙනී නොසිටියි.

මොහොමඩ් අස්මීර් 1978 ජුනි 19 වැනිදා කාසල් වීදිය කාන්තා රෝහලේදී උපත ලබා තිබේ. ඔහුගේ හැඳුනුම්පත් අංකය 781711004V 1998 2001 සහ 2008 යන වසරවල අවස්ථා තුනකදී මොහුගේ හැඳුනුම්පත වෙනස් කර තිබේ.

මාමාස් මී කාලයක් යකඩ ව්‍යාපාරයකද යෙදී ඇත. පසුව මත් කුඩු ජාවාරම හරහා විවිධ වූ දේශපාලඥයන්ටද සම්බන්ධ වී කුලියට අපරාධ සිදු සිදුකිරීමට යොමුවී ඇත.

මේ වන විටත් මොහුට සැඟවී සිටීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයකු ගේ සහ තවත් නාගරික මන්ත්‍රීවරු දෙදෙනකුගේ සහාය ලැබී තිබෙන අතර ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා මොහුගෙන් මුදල් සහ වෙනත් ලාභ ප්‍රයෝජන ලබන බවට පොලිස් බුද්ධි අංශ මගින් තොරතුරු අනාවරණය කර ගෙන තිබේ. පොලිසියට කොටු නොවී සිටීමට මොහුට ඔවුන්ගේ සහාය ලැබී ඇත. මොහු විවාහකය. දරු දෙදෙනකුගේ පියෙකි. ඔවුන් මාලිගාවත්ත තට්ටු නිවාසවල පදිංචිව සිටිති. පාතාලයට සම්බන්ධ මාමාස්ගේ සොහොයුරා මීට මාස ගණනාවකට පෙර පොලිසියට කොටු විය. පසුව ඇප ලබා යද්දී එල්ල වූ වෙඩි ප්‍රහාරයකින් ඔහු මිය ගියේය.

මාමස්මී අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම සඳහා පොලිසිය මීට පෙර අවස්ථා ගණනාවකදීම මහජනතාවගේ සහාය ඉල්ලා සිටියේය. ඒ සඳහා රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 10 ක මුදලක් ලබාදීමටද සූදානම්ව සිටියි.

ඇපල්වත්ත, මාලිගාවත්ත ඇතුළු කොළඹ හා ඒ අවට ප්‍රදේශවල ජනතාව අතර සැඟවී සිට පොලිස් ඇසට වැලිගසා තවදුරටත් අපරාධ මෙහෙයවන මෙම පාතාල නායකයා කොටුකරගෙන පාතාලයට තිත තැබීමටත් පොලිසිය මහජනතාවගේද සහාය පතයි.

Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

Inquiry into disappearances-UK

The British government called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate disappearances and resolve land issues in the Northern Province.

Issuing a statement after visiting the northern province, British High Commissioner in Colombo John Rankin said on Friday, ““I have seen some of the continuing challenges faced by people after so many years of conflict and displacement. Land issues built up over decades remain complex; some people do not know what happened to lost loved ones; and many women heads of household face difficulties playing the dual roles of bread winner and care provider.”

“I hope post-conflict issues can be further resolved in the context of continuing reconciliation and development processes. The British government will continue to assist in such efforts, in support of peace, security and prosperity for the Sri Lankan people,” the statement added.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

Ban on LTTE extended

The Indian Government has extended the ban on LTTE declaring that it continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture and pose a grave threat to the security of its citizens.

In a notification, the Home Ministry said the activities of LTTE are detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and there is a continuing strong need to control all such separatist activities by all possible means.

“LTTE continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals, it is necessary to declare LTTE as an ‘unlawful association’ with immediate effect,” the Home Ministry notification issued by joint secretary Dharmendra Sharma said.

LTTE was banned in India in the aftermath of the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The organisation was also defeated and virtually decimated by the Sri Lankan forces in 2009 when its supremo V. Prabhakaran was also eliminated.

The Home Ministry said separatist Tamil chauvinist and pro-LTTE groups continue to foster a separatist tendency among the masses and trying to enhance the support base for LTTE in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, which will ultimately have a strong disintegrating influence over the territorial integrity of India.

“The diaspora continue to spread through articles in the Internet portals, anti-India feeling amongst the Sri Lankan Tamils by holding the top Indian political leaders and bureaucrats responsible for the defeat of the LTTE,” it said.

“Such propaganda through Internet, which remains continued, is likely to impact VVIP security adversely in India,” the notification said.

The Home Ministry said the activities of the LTTE remnant cadres, dropouts, sympathisers, supporters who have been traced out recently in Tamil Nadu suggest that the cadres sent to Tamil Nadu would ultimately be utilised by the LTTE for unlawful activities.

The activities of pro-LTTE organisations and individuals have come to notice of the government that despite of the ban in force, attempts have been made by these forces to extend their support to the LTTE.

“The LTTE leaders, operatives and supporters have been inimically opposed to India’s policy on their organisation and action of the state machinery in curbing their activities,” it said.

The Home Ministry also said the LTTE’s objective for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for all Tamils threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and amounts to cession from the Union and thus falls the ambit of an unlawful activities.

The LTTE, even after its military defeat in May 2009 in Sri Lanka, has not abandoned the concept of ‘Eelam’ and has been clandestinely working towards the ‘Eelam’ cause by undertaking fund raising and propaganda activities in Europe.

The remnant LTTE leaders or cadres have also initiated efforts to regroup the scattered activities and resurrect the outfit locally and internationally, it said.

Source : PTI

Dilshan Senanayake carried the Olympic Flame through Huntingdon – 8th July 2012

Former Trinity Rugby Lion Dilshan Senanayake carried the Olympic Flame on Sunday the 8th of July 2012 through Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire) amidst hundreds of people who had lined up the streets to see the flame go by. Dilshan was nominated by his employers John Lewis where he is a Finance and Audit administrator.

 

He was nominated for his role as a Coaching Champion and Mentor for John Lewis’s Partners in Sport program (in association with Sports Coach UK). Through this program over 500 individuals have gone onto achieve coaching qualifications in a sport of their choice funded by John Lewis. Most of these individuals are presently engaged in volunteer coaching children in their communities.

Dilshan himself is a level 1 rugby coach and a level 2, referee coaching age group rugby in the UK. Further in association with national sports store ‘Up and Running’ Dilshan is working on an initiative to source old surplus running clothing to be shipped and distributed to junior athletes in rural schools in Sri Lanka. This initiative is in its infancy and the first consignment will be sent to Sri Lanka this summer.

Dilshan is presently attached to the London Olympic and Paralympics Organizing Committee (on a 6 month secondment from John Lewis). He is attached to Village Management’s Support Operations team at the main games village in Stratford. This team is responsible for all operational phases that involve general village sites and facility management, provision of logistical support for village stake holders etc.

A member of Tyrell Rajapakse’s legendary Trinity team of 1987, he played briefly for both Kandy and Havelocks before leaving for the USA where he played and coached University rugby in the USA and subsequently local club rugby in the UK.  In 2002 he initiated and helped found the TCK/STC Washington DC rugby 7s tournament for old boys of Sri Lankan schools which is now the most popular and best organized rugby tourney in North America.

Picture by Rohan Herath

Airports, expressways and sports complexes

Being a tiny island of 25000 square miles, driving on the existing roads, you can get from one end to the other in just a few hours. So, do we really need those environmentally destructive and expensive super expressways? Why not simply improve the existing excellent road network that we already have, with proper widening, carpeting, center overtaking lane, sidewalks, cycle lanes, parking lanes, bus stops and bus-bays, proper road signs, pedestrian crossings, rail gates with good warning lights etc. We can also do up all rural roads and paths, culverts and bridges etc. All this would be much cheaper and more effective and environment friendly than those monstrous expressways.

Do we really need more domestic airports, especially in the hill-country (i.e. Kandy and Nuwara Eliya) where the Kundasale Farm School, the Sita Eliya Research Farm and Potato Station and parts of forest reserves may have to be acquired? Has a feasibility study being done on how many tourists will use these facilities? How many foreign investors or businessmen will use these airports? Or, is it only for the politicos to do their electioneering at public expense?

Instead of the government building airports, why not encourage the private sector to invest in helicopters (There are small ones and larger twin rotor models which can ferry over 30 passengers in comfort) which can reach any tour destination, golf course or investment site direct from the hotel itself. The government need not get involved in this exercise at all and tax the tax payer or destroy the environment, except to provide the necessary incentives, tax rebates, duty concessions etc. we already have aqua planes and a series of air fields around the country which are hardly used.

A sports complex in, of all places Nawalapitiya! What a joke! It will last only as long as the incumbent minister. Yes, we do need to select and train rural athletes for the future. But why on earth can’t we bring them to the existing main sports complexes which should be fully upgraded to international standards along with top coaches and trainers. These trainee children should be awarded full scholarships, provided school and hostel accommodation and given an allowance plus all facilities, food, clothes, equipment etc by government.

What on earth happened to the Dambulla Cricket Stadium? I bet Nawalapitiya and Sooriyawewa will go the same way in time to come.

People can barely survive the horrendous cost of living while politicos and senior officials jet around the world at tax payers expense on foreign jaunts which bring no tangible benefits to the nation. Pensioners can barely purchase their medicines while pharmaceutical importers make billions. Village folk walk miles to fetch a pot of water and their children walk bear-foot to school, unable to afford a pair of rubber slippers.

With all this suffering, politicos plan to spend billions more on unproductive hair-brained projects. And worse, there is no opposition to tell our woes to.

By Cecil Dharmasena (Kandy)
Source: Island(Si Lanka)

Murali signs for Australian Big Bash team

Leading Test wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan has signed for the Melbourne Renegades for next season’s Australian Twenty20 Big Bash League, the team said on Friday.

The 40-year-old Sri Lankan spin maestro, who retired from international cricket after Sri Lanka lost the World Cup final to India last year, will be playing in the domestic Big Bash tournament for the first time.

“I wanted to play one season in Australia and the opportunity from the Melbourne Renegades was there so I took it with both hands,” Muralitharan said in a team statement.

He said he looked forward to lining up against his old Australian “foe” Shane Warne who plays for the Melbourne Stars.

“I think Shane is a great bowler and I’ve always admired him. I’ll try to do well and he’ll try to do well for his team,” he said.

Muralitharan finished his Test career with a record 800 wickets, 92 ahead of Warne, who retired from Tests in 2007.

Muralitharan confirmed the “doosra” — the difficult-to-bowl leg-spinner delivered with an off-spinning action — would be on show this southern summer on a specially-prepared drop-in pitch at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

“Sometimes the drop-in pitches can assist the spinners so that might help me,” he said.

“There’s a big Sri Lankan community (in Melbourne) so hopefully they can come and watch.”

The eight-team Big Bash League gets under way on December 7 with the final on January 19.

Source: Times of India

LTTE tortured and killed: Ex-cadre’s book

The LTTE tortured and killed alleged spies and “traitors” and also looted Tamil shops and homes while fighting the Indian peacekeepers in Sri Lanka, a book by a former woman fighter says.

Niromi de Soyaza, who joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in early 1987 at age 17 and now lives in Australia, says she quit the group after realising that violence cannot lead to a Tamil Eelam state.

One afternoon, in Sudhumali in Jaffna, Niromi and her Tiger friends saw some of their male colleagues kick and punch a teenage LTTE member, Vellai, even as he kept muttering “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it.”

Accusing him of being an Indian spy, Vellai was buried up to his shoulder, forced to “swallow cyanide, to see what it did to him”, says the 308-page book, “Tamil Tigress” (Mehta Publishing House).

Finally, an LTTE guerrilla, Justin, dealt a blow on the victim’s skull with an axe.

Niromi says of the killers: “The boys burst out laughing… For them, killing Vellai was no different to killing a cockroach.”

Later, in a jungle camp in the Vanni region in Sri Lanka’s north, the LTTE’s then number two, Mahattaya, shot dead an 18-year-old guerrilla, Shanthan, for falling in love with a woman colleague.

“The two young men who had led Shanthan into the tent now dragged his body behind them, by his arms.

“A thin stream of blood was running down from the centre of Shanthan’s forehead, down his blue-and-white checked shirt.

“One of the men opened the back door of the jeep, and they threw Shanthan’s body in. Then they drove off.”

Nobody in the camp spoke after the killing, and no one comforted the dead man’s love, Nora, who kept sobbing.

Niromi says: “I could not comprehend the senseless murder of this young man. I felt sickened, confused and outraged all at once.”

After seeing similar harshness in the group, Niromi began to question the ethics under which LTTE commanders operated.

“From top to bottom in our organization, everyone did whatever they pleased so long as they could justify it as being for the good of the (LTTE). I had not been prepared for this.”

The book says that in 1986, even before Niromi joined the LTTE, the Tigers brutally killed members of rival groups in Jaffna.

This included hanging members of the TELO outfit from trees and setting them on fire while they were alive.

The LTTE also massacred members of another Tamil group, the EPRLF, whom it had earlier taken captive in Jaffna.

While fleeing from Indian troops, who were deployed in Sri Lanka’s northeast under a 1987 bilateral pact, Niromi saw LTTE guerrillas break into shops and loot chicken, clothing, food and more.

When she protested, one LTTE member said: “If we don’t loot the shops, someone else will.

“With that kind of reasoning, I too helped myself to a shirt, sachets of shampoo, packets of fruit-and-nut chocolate and a few children’s books….

“Although (our commander) had banned the use of cosmetics, some (LTTE) girls were not deterred from grabbing tubes of skin-whitening Fair & Lovely face creams and also nail varnish.”

On another occasion, LTTE guerrillas looted footwear, sanitary napkins and underwear from a shop.

Indian soldiers took the blame for such looting.

The book says that people of Jaffna repeatedly pleaded with the LTTE to give up fighting the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).

One of Niromi’s close associates in the LTTE was Akila, who was one of the three people declared proclaimed offenders after the 1991 killing of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The other two were Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief, Pottu Amman.

After Niromi quit the LTTE in 1988, Akila rose to become the deputy head of the women’s intelligence wing. The Sri Lankan military killed her at Neerveli in Jaffna in 1995.

Source: India Today

Politicians should use assets for development with proper plan – President

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said politicians should utilise assets for development according to a proper plan designed in consultation with the authorities, without squandering public money by implementing them arbitrarily.

President Rajapaksa was speaking at a Kalutara District Special Development Committee meeting at the Eden Grand Hotel in Aluthgama.

The progress and the flaws of the development projects implemented in the Kalutara district and the complaints sent by the public were discussed at the meeting. The President said the final benefits of all these projects should pass on to the public and the money and lands utilised in a manner that brings maximum benefits to the country.

He said District Development Committee meetings are not political meetings and he had come to the district to solve the issues of the public, so that all government and Opposition politicians, irrespective of their party politics, have to take part.

The President stating that he had instructed members to attend the meeting, said the people have elected members to solve their problems and members have a responsibility to attend such meetings.

He said it was noteworthy the Opposition members get the best benefits at the Consultative Committee meetings in Parliament.

Senior Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Ministers Basil Rajapaksa, Kumara Welgama, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Reginold Coorey, Deputy Minister Nirmala Kothalawala, Parliamentarian Vidura Wickremanayake, Provincials Council, Pradeshiya Sabha members, Secretary to the President Lalith Weerathunga and government officials attended the meeting.

By Sandasen MARASINGHE
Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

No one can challenge the right of the army-SL

Sri Lanka Army today said that no one can challenge or dispute the right of the Sri Lanka army to be serving anywhere in the country.

“No one can challenge or dispute the right of the Army to be serving anywhere in the country. It is their prerogative and area of responsibility. The public in Jaffna overwhelmingly support the Army presence and they know very well it is the Army who will come to their help in the event of any emergency. I don’t think the Jaffna public would ever dare to allow the Army to move out in any case,” Army Chief Jagath Jayasuriya told media this evening in Colombo.

The Commander made this comment responding to a question, that troops in the Jaffna peninsula remain confined to their military formations, performing their routine legitimate duties, similar to the roles and tasks of any other Army.

“Like any other Army in the world, we, in the Army as directed by the government have thrown our full weight behind the country’s post-conflict recovery machine and infrastructure development tasks and roles. It has been amply proved that our commitment for any development project could perform comparatively much faster and more effective than any other civil organization could do. Everywhere in the world, the armies play a vital role in post-conflict situations and Sri Lanka remains no exception”, the Commander said.

The commander was addressing a press conference on the forthcoming international defence seminar to be held in Colombo next month said that more than 63 countries in the world have been invited to attend the three-day ‘Defence Seminar – 2012’ in Colombo with a view to sharing and discussing post-conflict experiences on the road to recovery and reconciliatory moves, designed for long-lasting peace and stability.

“Final arrangements are now in progress to hold the Army-initiated international ‘Defence Seminar – 2012’, titled ‘Towards Lasting Peace and Stability’ from August 08-10, 2012 at Colombo Galadari Hotel and it is focused on the thematic 5Rs (Reconstruction, Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Reintegration, Reconciliation) in post-conflict Sri Lanka,” he said.

By yesterday, a total of 24 representatives from 14 countries have already confirmed their participation in the deliberations. In addition, a few more dozens of other foreign destinations are in close contact with the Army for onward arrangements, the commander.(SD)

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

රෝයල් පාක්‌ නඩුවේ චූදිතට මරණ දඬුවම

රෝයල් පාක්‌ මිනීමැරුම් නඩුවේ විත්තිකරුට බරපතළ වැඩ සහිත වසර 12 ක සිර දඬුවමක්‌ සහ රුපියල් 50,000 ක දඩයක්‌ නියම කරමින් කොළඹ මහාධිකරණය 2006 ජුලි 20 දා දුන් නඩු තීන්දුව ඊයේ ඉවත් කළ අභියාචනාධිකරණය චූදිතයා සාවද්‍ය මිනිස්‌ ඝාතන චෝදනාවට වරදකරු වන බවට තීරණය කරමින් ඔහු එල්ලා මරා දැමීමට නියෝග කළේය.

මෙම නඩු තීන්දුව ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව උසාවියේ සිටි ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නීතිඥවරුන් කීප දෙනකුම පැවසුවේ තමන්ට මතක ඇති ලෙස මෙවැනි නඩු තීන්දුවක්‌ මීට පෙර අභියාචනාධිකරණය ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කර නැති බවයි.
මිනීමැරුම් නඩුවක විත්තිකරුවකුට මහාධිකරණය නියම කළ සිර දඬුවමක්‌ අහෝසි කර ඒ වෙනුවට මරණ දඬුවමක්‌ නියම කළ ශ්‍රී ලංකා අධිකරණ ඉතිහාසයේ පළමු වතාව මෙය විය හැකි බවද නීතිඥවරු කීහ.

විත්තිකරු අනියම් මිනී මැරීමේ චෝදනාවට වැරදිකරු කොට එකී සිර දඬුවම හා දඩය නියම කරමින් දී තිබූ නඩු තීන්දුවට එරෙහිව නීතිපති වෙනම අභියාචනා පෙත්සමක්‌ ගොනුකර තිබිණි. අභියාචනාධිකරණය විත්තිකරුට මරණ දඬුවම නියම කළේ එම ඇපැල් පෙත්සමෙන් කර තිබූ ඉල්ලීමකට අනුවයි.
මහාධිකරණ නඩු තීන්දුවට එරෙහිව විත්තිකරුද වෙනම ඇපෑලක්‌ ගොනු කරමින් තමා නඩුවෙන් මුළුමනින්ම නිදහස්‌ කරන්නැයි කර තිබූ ඉල්ලීම අභියාචනාධිකරණය විසින් ප්‍රතික්‌ෂේප කරන ලදී.

විත්තිකරු හා නීතිපති වෙන වෙනම ගොනු කර තිබූ ඇපැල් පෙත්සම් දෙකම ඩබ්ලිව්. රංජිත් සිල්වා හා නලින් පෙරේරා යන අභියාචනාධිකරණ විනිසුරු මඬුල්ල හමුවේ එකවිට විභාගයට ගන්නා ලදි. විත්තිකරුට මරණ දඬුවම නියම කරමින් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ අභියාචනාධිකරණ නඩු තීන්දුව විනිසුරු නලින් පෙරේරා මහතාගේ එකඟත්වය ඇතිව රංජිත් සිල්වා විනිසුරුවරයා විසින් ලියා තිබිණි. මෙහි විත්තිකරු සමන්ත ජූඩ් ඇන්තනි ජයමහ නමැති තරුණයෙකි. ඉවොන් ජොන්සන් මියගිය තැනැත්තියයි.

2005 ජුලි 01 දා රාජගිරිය රෝයල් පාක්‌ නිවාස සංකීර්ණයේදී මේ මිනීමැරුම සිදුවී ඇත.
අභියාචනාධිකරණ විනිසුරු මඬුල්ල ඊයේ තීන්දුව ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කරමින් සඳහන් කළේ මෙය ඉතාමත් සාහසික ලෙස සිදුකළ මිනීමැරුමක්‌ බවයි. මිනී මැරීමේ ෙච්තනාවකින් යුතුව එම තරුණියගේ මරණය සිදුකර ඇති බව සනාථ කරන සාක්‍ෂි මහාධිකරණය හමුවේ පැවැති නඩු විභාගයේදී ඉදිරිපත් වී ඇත. එම නිසා විත්තිකරු අනියම් මිනීමැරුමකට නොව සාවද්‍ය මිනීමැරීමේ චෝදනාවකට වරදකරු කොට මරණ දඬුවම නියම කළ යුතුව තිබුණ බවද තීන්දුවේ සඳහන් කර ඇත.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා නියම කරන දිනයක හා වේලාවක විත්තිකරු ගෙල වැල දමා මරා දමන තුරු සිර භාරයේ රඳවා තබා ගන්නා ලෙස බන්ධනාගාර අධිකාරිවරයාට විනිසුරු මඬුල්ල නියෝග කළේය.
මරණ දඬුවම නියම කිරීමට පෙර කිසිවක්‌ කීමට තිබේදැයි විනිසුරු මඬුල්ල විත්තිකරුගෙන් විමසූ නමුත් ඔහු ඊට කිසිදු ප්‍රතිචාරයක්‌ නොදක්‌වා නිහඬව සිටියේය.

අතිරේක සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල් ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය මහතා නීතිපති වෙනුවෙන් පැමිණිල්ලට පෙනී සිටි අතර අධිනීතිඥ අනිල් සිල්වා මහතා විත්තිකරු වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටියේය.

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

SL’s National Blood Transfusion Service best among developing countries

The National Blood Transfusion Service of Sri Lanka won first place among National Blood Transfusion Services in all developing countries. It won the ISBT Award for transfusion services among developing countries for 2012.

ISBT is the premier international professional society in blood transfusion and transplantation sciences and medicine, a Health Ministry spokesman said. An open announcement was made proclaiming the selection of the best transfusion service among developing countries at the ISBT Congress 2011 at Taipei, Taiwan, the spokesman said.

Applications were called through the official website of the ISBT and NBTS.

Sri Lanka also took part in the competition. Each competitor had to answer a structured essay type common questionnaire providing supportive evidence for all the answers given. In this competition, performance of 2009, 2010 and 2011 were evaluated covering all aspects that accounted for the improvements of the relevant transfusion service. NBTS, Sri Lanka being able to successfully prove its ability defeated all the other competitors and won the award.

The ISBT website has published the winner (Sri Lanka).

The award presentation ceremony was held on July 8 at the 23 rd International ISBT Congress in Cancun, Mexico, he said.

By Nadira GUNATILLEKE
Source: Daily News ( Sri Lanka)

Athula Dassana Int. Buddhist Temple Celebrates its 1st Anniversary (Heathrow Viharaya)

Athula Dassana International Buddhist temple held its one year anniversary celebrations successfully at the temple premises on Saturday 7th July 2012. This day was special as devotees and other members of the community could remember the past events of the year organised by this temple under the guidance of the head of the temple Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa Thero.

On that day Mr. H. M. K. Herath who was the Head of the Educational and Cultural Division in Sri Lankan High Commission carrying the honor of reliquary (Dhathu Karaduwa) in to the temple. A pirith chanting was held in the afternoon in a beautiful pavilion (mandapa) at the temple. Eight Venerable monks attended the chanting ceremony, Venerable Naranvita Soratha Nayaka Thero, the chief incumbent of the Gampola Naranvita Purana Viharaya, venerable Abagasduwe Gnanavimala Thero, the chief incumbent of Valimada abagasduwa Sri Visudharamaya and venerable Kalatuwawe Pangnasara Nayaka Thero the chief incumbent of Dhathukanda Purana Viharaya, Venarable Dediyawala Vimala Thero head of Letchworth Buddhist Vihara, Venarable Teldeniye Amitha Thero head of Leicester Buddhist Vihara, Venarable Bambarakotuwe Ananda Mangala Thero and Venerable Suriyawawa Kusala Thero also participated in this ceremony. More than 250 devotees participated in the event with great devotion and took part in the ceremony until it finished.

The temple opened on the 7th July 2011 and the temple has held a number of various religious, cultural and social services within this first year. The temple held its first Katina Ceremony in October 2011 after the event full Vassana retreat. Athula Dassana Buddhist temple celebrates every full moon poya day, devotees get together to observe the eight precepts and participate in other religious activities.

On the 1st of January 2012, people came to the temple carrying milk rice (kiri ahara) early in the morning and offered the Buddha Puja and the alms to the Mahasanga. On that day the temple organised a Nawa Arahadi Buduguna Puja and on January 2012, a pirith chanting was organised to invoke blessing to the devotees in the New Year.

On the 4th of February the temple celebrated Sri Lankan Independence Day; Dr Sunil Kariyawasam gave a speech. The temple were organised celebrate the New Year Rituals for specially introduce the Sri Lankan culture to the children who were living in the London. A Dhamma school for children began on the March 2012, currently there are more than 20 children studying both Buddhism and Sinhala. The Sri Lankan New Year celebrations for children were held on the 22nd of April 2012, where the rituals and traditional games were undertaken giving priority to the children who had little knowledge of our traditions.

The temple celebrated Vesak day on the May where they undertook many religious activities. In preparation for this day, devotees made a large Vesak Lantern which was surrounded by 60 small lanterns. A month of June a Poson poya sil programme was held; people observed the eight precepts and spent the day in the temple dedicating their lives to the triple gems. Free foods (Dansela) were given on the same day, where we also gave blessings to her majesty the queen on her Diamond Jubilee. In preparation for this special day a 15ft high replica of the Mihintala in Sri Lanka was built.

The Athula Dassana Buddhist temple has part taken in various religious activities in the past year; this has enabled the temple to become established. Ven. Wanduramba Kassapa Thero is very grateful and gives his blessings to all the devotees who have supported him to make the temple successful.

GOVT. TO INTRODUCE SEVERE PUNISHMENTS AGAINST CHILD ABUSE

With increasing child abuses cases reported in Sri Lanka, the government is planning to impose tough punishments against the offenders, an official said on Monday.

Discussions are underway with the Ministry of Justice and other law enforcement officials to introduce severe punishments on culprits, said Asoka Alawatta, acting Secretary of the Child Development and Women’s Affairs Ministry.

Meanwhile the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has demanded to introduce capital punishment on those convicted of child abuses.

The chairman of the NCPA, Anoma Dissanayake has suggested that the only way to control the current trend of child abuses is to impose stringent punishment.

The NCPA has received more than 20,000 complaints of child abuses so far in 2012.

The Cabinet Spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella also said the government is considering changing laws relating to child abuses, “Punishment has to be introduced at least to create fear psychosis among the perpetrators.”

The police said with 975 cases in the first six months of 2012 there is a considerable rise in the child abuses and the increase in access to computers, Internet and mobile phones has assisted in the rise of child abuses in Sri Lanka.

Xinhua-ANI

එ.ජා. සාම සාධක වැඩවලින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව‍ට රු. කෝටි 1800ක්

එ.ජා. සංවිධානයේ සාම සාධක කටයුතුවල නිරතවීමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව උපයා ඇති ආදායම අමෙරිකා ඩොලර් මිලියන 142ක් (රුපියල් කෝටි 1800ක්) බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද හමුදාව පවසයි.

මේ මුදලින් ඇමෙරිකා ඩොලර් මිලියන 96 ක මුදලක් (රුපියල් කෝටි 1200ක්) නිලධාරීන්ගේ හා භට පිරිස්වල දීමනා වන අතර ඉතිරි මුදල වන ඇමෙරිකා ඩොලර් මිලියන 46 ක ප්‍රමාණය (රුපියල් කෝටි 600) යුද උපකරණ, වාහන සහ අවි ආයුධ ආදිය සැපයීම වෙනුවෙන් සිදුකළ ගෙවීම් බව යුද හමුදා මාධ්‍ය ප‍්‍රකාශක බි‍්‍රගේඩියර් රුවන් වනිගසූරිය මහතා දිනමිණට පැවසීය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සාම සාධක කටයුතුවල නිරතවීම පසුගිය 2004 වසරේ සිට අඛණ්ඩව සිදුකෙරුණු අතර එම වර්ෂයේ සිට මේ දක්වා කාලය තුළ මේ මුදල හිමිකරගෙන තිබෙන බව ද යුද හමුදා මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශකවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සාම සාධක කාර්යය සඳහා 1960 වසරේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුද හමුදාවෙන් භට පිරිසක් කොංගෝ රාජ්‍යය බලා පිටත්ව ගොස් තිබෙන අතර එයින් පසුව පසුගිය 2004 වසරේ සිට මේ දක්වා අඛණ්ඩව ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආරක්ෂක අංශ නිලධාරීන් සහ භට පිරිස් සාම සාධක කාර්යය සඳහා ලෝකයේ විවිධ රටවලට පිටත්ව ගොස් තිබෙන බව ද බ්‍රිගේඩියර් රුවන් වනිගසූරිය මහතා සිහිපත් කළේය.

මේ දක්වා කාලය තුළ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සාම සාධක කාර්යයේ නිරත වී තිබෙන ශ්‍රී ලංකා භට පිරිස් ප්‍රමාණය 13,000 කට අධික බව සඳහන් කළ යුද හමුදා මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශකවරයා යුද හමුදාව, නාවික හමුදාව, ගුවන් හමුදාව සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලීසිය යන සියලු අංශයන්ගෙන් ඊට අයත්වන බවද ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ඊට අමතරව හෙතෙම සඳහන් කළේ මේ වනවිට හයිටි රාජ්‍යයේ 750 ක්, ලෙබනනයේ 150 ක් ආදී වශයෙන් සාම සාධක කාර්යයේ නිරතවන බවත් ඊට අමතරව සාම සාධක භටයන් සහ නිරීක්ෂකයන් ලෙස කොංගෝ රාජ්‍යය, සූඩානය, බටහිර සහරා වැනි රටවල මෙන්ම එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධනයේ මූලස්ථානය පිහිටි නිව්යෝර්ක්හි ද ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආරක්ෂක අංශ සාමාජිකයන් සේවය කරන බවයි. සෑම මාස 6 කට වරක්ම මෙම භට පිරිස් මාරු කෙරෙන බව සඳහන් කළ බ්‍රිගේඩියර්වරයා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් තවත් භටයින් 75 දෙනකු ලෙබනනය බලා ඊයේ (09) පිටත්ව ගිය බවද කීවේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආරක්ෂක අංශ සාමාජිකයන් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සාම සාධක කටයුතුවල නිරතවීම හේතුවෙන් ඔවුනට මූල්‍ය ප්‍රතිලාභයක් මෙන්ම රටේ ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීම සඳහා විශාල ශක්තියක් සැපයෙන බවද ඊට අමතරව ඔවුන්ට විදේශීය රටවල හමුදාවන් සමඟ එක්ව කටයුතු කිරීමෙන් අන්තර්ජාතික වශයෙන් පුහුණුවක් ලැබෙන බවද කී බි‍්‍රගේඩියර් රුවන් වනිගසූරිය ශ්‍රී ලංකා හමුදා සාමාජිකයන් සඳහා විදේශී රටවලින් විශාල ඉල්ලුමක් පවතින බවද ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

ලංකාව සංචාරක පිමිමකට සැරැසේ

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය හා සංචාරක ප‍්‍රවර්ධන පහසුකම් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයක් වන ‘‘කටාන නගර සංවර්ධන ආයතනය’’ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පළමු වරට මහා පරිමාණ සංචාරක කලාපයක් ඇති කිරීම සඳහා වන ගිවිසුමකට පසුගියදා අත්සන් තැබීය
සංචාරක කලාපය කටානේ අක්කර 200 ක භූමියක ඉදිකිරීමට නියමිත අතර මේ සඳහා යෙදවීමට අපේක්‍ෂිත මුදල ඩොලර් කෝටි 3 ක් පමණ වේ. ව්‍යාපෘතියට විදෙස් ආයෝජකයන්ගේ ඍජු දායකත්වය ලබා ගැනීමට නියමිතය. කටුනායක බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන් තොටුපොළ ආසන්නයේම ඉදිකෙරෙන මේ සංචාරක කලාපයේ හෝටල හා වෙළඳ සංකීර්ණ, විනෝදාස්වාදය සඳහා වන පහසුකම් හා උද්‍යාන ඇති කිරීමට යෝජිතය. ව්‍යාපෘතියෙන් රැකියා අවස්ථා 10,000 ක් පමණ උත්පාදනය කර ගත හැකි වනු ඇතැයි ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය අපේක්‍ෂා කරයි.

Source: :Lankadeepa

Media Announcement of Kind Hearts Charity Raffle Draw 2012

Kind Hearts charity based in UK organised a raffle draw in aid of building a community hall in Northern Sri Lanka for the refugees displaced from 30 years of terrorism. The draw took place on Sunday 25th March at 5.30pm at the popular Sri Lankan Cafe, SL Bite in Feltham West.

Random customers and the owner of SL Bite were asked to draw the raffle tickets and the following winners were duly announced.

Draw Winners

1st Prize One Return Air Ticket to Sri Lanka
Winner: Mr. Bathiya Jayawardena – Ticket No: 1321
2nd Prize £100 of Gift Vouchers (donated 50% back to Kind Hearts by Mr K Amarasinghe)
Winner: Mr. Keerthi Amarasinghe – Ticket No: 1543
3rd Prize Luxury Food Hamper
Winner: Ms. Mithra Gajraj – Ticket No: 0975
4th Prize Consolation Prize, Bottle of Champagne
Winner: Mr. Muditha De Silva –Ticket No: 0752
5th Prize Consolation Prize, Bottle of Perfume
Winner: Dr. Ramyani Gunawardana – Ticket No: 0336
6th Prize Consolation Prize, Cosmetic Set
Winner: Dr. Padma Samarawickrama – Ticket No: 0919

The executive committee members of Kind Hearts UK would like to take this opportunity to convey their sincere thanks to all their friends,members and well wishers for the generous support and encouragement given to make this draw a very successful fund raising event. They would also like to thank the owner of SL Bite, Mr Ranjan Jayasekera for allowing Kind Hearts UK to hold this event at this popular venue amongst the Sri Lankans as well as the wider community.

 

The colossal farce of PC polls – Editorial ST

Elections are not the be-all and end-all of democracy. Even more so, elections that are tainted. The Government’s decision to dissolve three Provincial Councils (PCs) before their mandate expired is firstly, robbing the people of their franchise. A Council, like Parliament or an elected President, is elected for a specific period. Extending or restricting this term on the decision of one person negates the franchise of hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of voters and is essentially undemocratic. Many argue in favour of a US style election on fixed dates with fixed terms of office.

This week, Parliament approved Rs. 500 million for payments to be made to newly recruited graduates by way of a Supplementary Estimate (i.e. monies outside what the Budget envisaged). The Elections Commissioner says that at least Rs. 650 million will be required for the holding of these three PC polls. Since these elections were not due this year, monies for it have not been budgeted for, and will have to be passed by Parliament by way of supplementary estimates. The Media Minister in trying to contradict the Elections Commissioner says that the expenses have not yet been computed, an inference that the Government has not considered the cost of holding these elections.

At a time when the cost of living is soaring and subsidies on imports are being squeezed with the public asked to pocket out more and more, the wisdom of spending Rs. 650 million on elections to three PCs needs serious questioning. More so, when nobody asked for these elections. At least in the case of the graduates, it is jobs for them. In the case of the PCs, it is jobs for a few, some of who already hold those jobs.

The Government has not given any cogent reason for the calling of early elections to these councils. From the political grapevine comes the story that the Government merely wants to prove a point and that is that, come what may, be it the cost of living, the international pressure from Geneva on human rights, be it Indian pressure on the 13th Amendment, the people of this country are solidly behind this Government.
The estimated cost of Rs. 650 million will only be expenses incurred by the Elections Commissioner in conducting the poll. This does not include the petrol pumped into fuel-guzzling limos of electioneering politicos and the Pajeros and jeeps of their apparatchiks and hangers-on and the posse of security personnel. It does not include the monies spent on thousands of posters, stages, food and drink. Conservative estimates put the total figure at more than a billion rupees.

This is for three councils. There are five others, and the one for which the PCs were introduced in 1987 in the first place, viz., the Northern PC elections have never ever been held.If the colossal waste of public funds – without any consideration for the costs – in what is a futile exercise is one aspect, the larger issue has always been the very continuation of the PC system of government.

Force-fed to Sri Lanka by India to appease a demand for greater autonomy in the island-nation’s North and East, it is the rest of the country that has seen the PCs function, or malfunction for 25 years. Only last week, the Governor of the Uva Province wrote to the President saying members don’t attend even the four meetings scheduled for a month and the cancellation of meetings due to a lack of quorum is a frequent occurrence. One of the main priorities of these councillors is to check on what ‘study tours’ they can go abroad sponsored by some Government or other, usually India or China.

What earthly purpose these PCs serve the people is hard to comprehend. They have only duplicated and complicated governance and the life of the people in the provinces. Education is a classic example with National schools under the central government Ministry and other schools under the provincial minister.

The choice of persons to fill these seats is another vexed issue. So much of corruption in the provinces has been placed at the doorstep of these councillors, usually from the ruling party. From sand-mining mafias, to timber felling mudalalis, to peddlers of drugs to gun-toting thugs; from ‘kappan’ gangs to liquor barons – all have their patronage if not the connivance of this new breed of ruling elite in the provinces.
The same example, or malaise, has trickled to many local government councils right down to the Pradeshiya Sabhas whose chairmen are repeatedly getting arrested for rape, shootings and the like.

The Government seems to have got trapped in a comment the President made to India that he would implement the 13th Amendment and even go further (13 plus). He said this initially to get Indian support to defeat the LTTE on the battlefield. Now, the Indians, like the dog with the bone, will not let go.

It is clear that India would like to have an elected Northern PC with its proxy, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in control. That would be an ideal satellite province on Sri Lankan soil – ‘an unsinkable aircraft carrier’ on India’s southern border.
The Government need not wait for the TNA any longer to proceed with a Parliamentary Select Committee on the question of devolution, and it must not be restricted to the 13th Amendment for a solution. If it is speaking of a ‘home grown’ solution, then, it must escape from the grip of the 13th Amendment. The solution cannot be constricted to autonomy around the controversial provisions of the 13th Amendment merely because India is pressing for it.

There must be freedom to look elsewhere for a solution.Costly elections to these PCs (which the ruling party condemned in 1987) to prove a point that the people remain steadfast with this Government are of no avail. Especially so, when elections are tainted by an Election Commission that has lost its credibility in recent years; whose recommendations for electoral reforms have been ignored by Parliament; whose former head admitted to being under intense pressure during the counting stage of the last Presidential election and that he no longer had the stomach to conduct elections; and last but not least, where the Election Commission has no power to stop the abuse of state machinery and other tricks and treats to win elections.

Source : Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Dr. Chris Nonis called on Britain to visit Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK, Dr. Chris Nonis called on Britain to visit Sri Lanka and make an impartial and objective analysis of contemporary Sri Lanka and the Country’s progress in the past 2 years.


  
He was the guest speaker invited to address the Council of the Royal Over-Seas League, London on Sri Lanka in the post-conflict era. The Royal Over-Seas League, London was founded in 1910 and is committed to supporting international understanding and friendship through its own social, music, arts and welfare activities. Its President is the Rt. Hon. Lord Luce, Chairman Sir Anthony Figgis, and Vice-Chairman Sir Roger Carrick, and has over 20,000 members worldwide.

Dr. Chris Nonis highlighted the comprehensive rehabilitation, reconciliation and reconstruction programmes in the conflict affected areas of the North and East, as well as key developments in the South, which aim to achieve an equitable and inclusive growth, so all communities may reap the dividends of peace.

Sri Lanka High Commission
London, UK

4th July 2012

Lanka moves up from 137 to 81

Making noteworthy progress in Sri Lanka’s logistics sector and its international ranking, Sri Lanka has moved up from 137 to 81 in World Bank Logistics Performance Index 2012.

The ratings are based on 6,000 individual country assessments by nearly 1,000 international freight forwarders, who rated the eight foreign countries their company serves most frequently.

The LPI’s six components include the efficiency of the clearance process (speed, simplicity and predictability of formalities) by border control agencies, including customs, the quality of trade- and transport-related infrastructure (ports, railroads, roads, information technology), the ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, the competence and quality of logistics services (transport operators, customs brokers), the ability to track and trace consignments, the frequency with which shipments reach the consignee within the scheduled or expected delivery time.

Commenting on this improvement in rankings, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Secretary General/CEO Harin Malwatte said the CCC is happy to note the improvements made in the ranking of logistics index.

The Chamber congratulates and appreciates the contributions of those responsible for this improvement. Sri Lanka has moved 56 places up from 2010 in the ranking. This is a result of the considerable investments made in improving the country’s logistics and infrastructure. However, being ranked 81 also means there is definitely room for improvement. It also means that, if Sri Lanka could climb 56 spots in two years, the country has the potential to reach the top if concrete steps are taken towards achieving this aim, Malwatte said

Sri Lanka was ranked 81 out of 155 countries. The rankings have improved in customs, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics quality and competence, tracking and tracing and timeliness. It is noteworthy to mention the significant improvements made in customs, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics quality and competence and tracking and tracing while more needs to be done with regard to improving timeliness.

Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

SRI LANKAN AIRMEN SHOULD NOT BE TRAINED ANYWHERE IN INDIA – JAYALALITHAA

Under attack from all political parties, including ruling UPA key ally DMK, the Centre today decided to “send off” the Sri Lankan airmen from the IAF station at Tambaram where they were undergoing training.

“All Sri Lankan trainees are being sent off today from this station as per instruction of the Ministry of Defence,” a brief Defence Ministry statement said, a day after all political parties strongly protested training being given to nine Sri Lankan airmen here.

The training of the Lankan personnel by India came in the line of fire from political parties with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa describing it as an “insult to Tamil people” and others including her bitter rival, DMK, also joining in the chorus.

“At a time when there are voices demanding equal status for Tamils in Sri Lanka, reports about Sri Lankan Air Force personnel receiving training at the Tambaram Air force station near here has come as a shock to the Tamil people. I strongly condemn this,” Jayalalithaa had said in a strongly-worded statement yesterday.

DMK president M Karunanidhi and MDMK founder Vaiko said it was “condemnable” and demanded that they be sent back.

Source: The Indian Express

වසරේ මුල් මාස හයේ දී මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය කිලෝග්‍රෑම් 54,471ක් සමඟ ජාවාරම්කරුවන් 20,000 ක් අත්අඩංගුවට

මේ වසරේ මුල් මාස හයේදී හෙරොයින් සහ ගංජා මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය කිලෝග්‍රෑම් 54,471 ක් සමඟ ජාවාරම්කරුවන් 20,000ක් පමණ අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇතැයි ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලීසිය පවසයි.

පොලිස් මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශක පොලිස් අධිකාරි අජිත් රෝහණ මහතා පවසන අයුරු; මෙසේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබෙන මත්ද්‍රව්‍යවලින් කිලෝ 11 ක් හෙරොයින් වන අතර ඉතිරි ප්‍රමාණය ගංජා නම් මත්ද්‍රව්‍යයයි. අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් ජාවාරම්කරුවන් ගෙන් සියයට පනහකට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් අධිකරණය මඟින් දඬුවම් ලබා දැනට බන්ධනාගාරගත ව සිටින බවත් හෙතෙම පැවැසීය.

ඉතිරි මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය ජාවාරම්කරුවන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මේ වන විට අධිකරණමය ක්‍රියාපටිපාටිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වන අතර පොලිස් මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය නාශක අංශය මූලිකත්වයෙන් දිගින් දිගටම මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය වැටලීම් සිදු කරන බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලීසිය සඳහන් කරයි.

Source: Silumina (Sri Lanka)

සංගක්‌කාර යළි අංක එකට

පාකිස්‌තානයට එරෙහිව පිට පිටම ලකුණු 199 ක්‌ සහ ලකුණු 192 ක්‌ ලබා ගත් කුමාර් සංගක්‌කාර ලොව ටෙස්‌ට්‌ පිතිකරුවන් ශ්‍රේණිග කිරීම්හි අංක එකට දිනා ගැනීමට යළිත් සමත්ව තිබේ.

එස්‌.එස්‌.සී. හී පැවැති දෙවැනි ටෙස්‌ට්‌ තරගය ආරම්භ වන විට ටෙස්‌ට්‌ පිතිකරුවන් අතර සිව්වැනි ස්‌ථානයේ සංගක්‌කාර මේ වන විට ප්‍රසාද ලකුණු 892 ක්‌ ලබා ඇති අතර එහි දෙවැනි ස්‌ථානයේ පසුවන බටහිර ඉන්දීය කොදෙව් ක්‍රීඩක ෂිවනරියන් චන්ද්‍රපෝල් ලකුණු 856 ක්‌ ලබා ඇත.

නවත ටෙස්‌ට්‌ ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්

නම ලකුණු

1. කුමාර් සංගක්‌කාර892
2. ෂිවනරියන් චන්ද්‍රපෝල් 856
3. ඒබී ඩිවිලියර්ස්‌ 821
4. ජැක්‌ කලීස්‌ 819
5. යුනිස්‌ ඛාන් 796
6. මයිකල් ක්‌ලාක්‌ 771
7. හසීම් අම්ලා 763
8. රෝස්‌ ටේලර් 761
9. ඇලිස්‌ටයාර් කුක්‌ 756
10. ග්‍රැහැම් ස්‌මිත් 753

Source: Divaina (Sri Lanka)

‘A SRI LANKAN IN SPACE – NOT THE STUFF OF DREAMS’

There is a possibility of Sri Lanka sending an astronaut into space in less than four years.

This historic task has been undertaken by the Sri Lankan company SupremeSAT and China’s state- owned biggest satellite manufacturing institution, Great Wall Corporation (CGWIC).

The agreement will be signed in Beijing where the Chinese company is based.

SupremeSAT Managing Director R M Manivannan said SupremeSAT has already written a new chapter in Sri Lankan history by becoming the first institution in Sri Lanka to own a satellite.

Only 44 countries own a satellite outright or in partnerships of three or fewer.“We have a co-branded satellite with the Chinese company in orbit from last month.

Our next step is the building of our own company satellite at the Great Wall Corporation facility. This would be ready in two years and then it would be the first Sri Lankan owned satellite,” he said.

The total investment for this would be around US $ 300 million.

The first satellite Sputnik was built and launched by the Russians in 1957. There are over 900 satellites in operation today, of which 381 satellites are in Geostationary Orbit.

Satellites have a typical life time of 15 years. Manivannan said their next aim is to train Sri Lankan youths with space technology and this would be initially done in China. “We will soon call for applications for ‘would be astronauts’. After going through their records , we will send them for training to China,” he said. “After three to four years, they will be able to undertake missions in space and sending a Sri Lankan to space would no longer be a dream,” he said.

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE
Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

Safety jackets essential to climb Sigiriya

The Sigiriya Central Cultural Fund Manager Vajira Ferdinand said from today it was compulsory for foreign tourists to wear special protective jackets if they wished to go beyond the ‘Lion’s Paw’ when climbing the Sigiriya Rock Fortress.

Twenty Sri Lankans including two children and two foreign tourists were injured in another wasp attack yesterday. They had to be rushed to the Sigiriya Divisional Hospital.

After this wasp attack only foreign tourists were allowed to proceed beyond the ‘Lion’s Paw’.

A security officer at the site said this was being done because foreign tourists had to be given priority but it was mandatory to wear protective jackets if they wished to they proceed further.

He said some of the jackets had been sent to the cleaners and there was a shortage of jackets to cater to all those who climb the Rock.
A Central Cultural Fund official said this month alone there had been three wasp attacks.

 By Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa
Source: www.dailymirror.lk

මඩ ගහන වෙබ් අඩවි සියල්ලම තහනම් කරනවා

මඩ ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරන වෙබ් අඩවි සියල්ලම ඉදිරි දින කීපය ඇතුළත මුළුමනින්ම තහනම් කිරීමට පියවර ගෙන ඇතැයි ජනමාධ්‍ය ඇමැති කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්‌වැල්ල මහතා ඊයේ (03 වැනිදා) “දිවයින” ට පැවසීය.

ලියාපදිංචි කිරීමෙන් තොරව ඉතාමත් සූක්‍ෂම අන්දමින් ප්‍රචාරය කරනු ලබන මෙම වෙබ් අඩවි ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ පිටරටවල සිට බව ද ඇමැතිවරයා කීය. මේවා ක්‍රියාත්මක වන නියම ස්‌ථාන තවම හෙළි වී නැතත් ඒවා පවත්වාගෙන යැමට නොහැකි අන්දමට බාධා කිරීමට පියවර ගෙන ඇති බව ද හෙතෙම කීවේය.

මේ අනිසි වෙබ් අඩවි දේශපාලනඥයන්ට මෙන්ම විවිධ තරාතිරමේ පුද්ගලයන්ට දැඩි ලෙස මඩ ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරමින් අපහාස කිරීම පිළිබඳව ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයට පැමිණිලි බොහෝ ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ ලැබී තිබෙන බව ද ඇමැතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය.

නෝමන් පලිහවඩන

Source: www.divaina.com

Houses for needy SL migrant workers

Foreign employment authorities are planning to provide houses to needy Sri Lankan migrant workers at concessionary rates.

Authorities will undertake the responsibility of constructing houses in accordance with the plans and locations of the recipients.

The migrant workers will have to bear only two thirds of the cost while one third will be borne by the authorities. It will be carried out as a project under the newly formed ‘Rataviruwo'(heroes of our economy) organization.

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Samurdhi Authority will join hands to carry out the task. An agreement will be signed with the Samurdhi authority to expedite the programme, the SLBFE chairman Amal Senalankadikara said.

The migrant workers willing to purchase houses under the programme will be required to open an account with Samurdhi Banks and remit a monthly instalment. It will be held as an investment fund to expedite the construction of houses.

The relatives of the workers back home will be required to monitor the construction of the houses implemented by the ‘Rata Viruwo’ organization of the area. The ‘Rataviruwo’ organization is a concept of the Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister, Dilan Perera.

At present the SLBFE and the Ministry is carrying out the task of establishing the organization in every district secretariat division in the country.

It is to be developed as a people’s movement involving state authorities, migrant workers and their families, among others.

The aim is to bring in positive changes in the economic and social levels of migrant workers and their families.

According to SLBFE Chairman Senalankadikara the organization will be developed as a grassroots movement which will help migrant workers and their families at rediscovering their ability to influence their own destinies.

The organization will promote community health, education, livelihood programmes, cottage industries etc. among migrant worker families.

It is estimated that over 1.7 million Sri Lankans work outside the country. They have remitted more than US $ 5 Billion in 2011. The contribution made by Sri Lankan Migrant Labour Force has exceeded the income received from traditional export income generating sectors such as tea, coconut, rubber, gem and garments.

Source: Daily News (Sri Lanka)

EU concern over media harassment

The Heads of Mission of the European Union have noted with concern the action taken against the Sri Lanka Mirror and the Lanka news websites. Issuing a statement the European Union said Freedom of the media is a vital element in democratic societies and journalists must be able to carry out their legitimate work without fear of harassment or intimidation.

Any action intended to intimidate independent journalism and or limit freedom of expression is in contradiction to UN human rights standards.

Source: Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

වවුනියා රැඳවියන් අත ජංගම දුරකතන 55ක්-මුදල් රැසක්

වවුනියාවේ රිමාන්ඩ් බන්ධනාගාරයේ සිටි රැඳවියන් සතුව ජංගම දුරකතන සහ මුදල් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් තිබුණේ කෙසේ ද යන්න පිළිබඳ විශේෂ පරීක්‍ෂණයක් අරඹන ලෙස පුනරුත්ථාපන හා බන්ධනාගාර ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ ඇමති චන්ද්‍රසිරි ගජධීර මහතා බන්ධනාගාර නිලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් ලබා දී තිබේ.

මේ මුදල් නෝට්ටු හා ජංගම දුරකතන තබාගෙන ඇත්තේ කිසියම් සංවිධානාත්මක ජාවාරමකට ද යන්න පිළිබඳ බන්ධනාගාර බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරීන් මේ වන විට පරීක්‍ෂණ අරඹා තිබේ.

බන්ධනාගාරය තුළ ඇතිව තිබූ අර්බූදකාරී තත්ත්වය නිමා කිරීමෙන් පසු පෙරේදා (30) පෙරවරුවේ වවුනියාව මූලස්ථාන පොලිසිය මගින් බන්ධනාගාර සිර මැදිරි ඇතුළු භූමිය පරීක්‍ෂා කිරීමේ මෙහෙයුමක් ආරම්භ කරන ලදී. මේ පරීක්ෂණවලට පොලිස් විශේෂ කාර්ය බළකාය සහ බන්ධනාගාර නිලධාරීහු ද සහභාගි වූහ.

පැය 04 ක් පුරා සිදු කළ සෝදිසි කිරීමේ දී බන්ධනාගාර රැඳවියන් සිරමැදිරි තුළ, ඒ ආශි‍්‍රතව තැනින් තැන සඟවා තිබූ විවිධ මාදිලියේ ජංගම දුරකථන 55 ක්, හෙරොයින් බහාලු සුර 03 ක්, (ආරක්‍ෂාව හෝ අපල උපද්‍රව සඳහා පලඳීන), ගංජා පැකට් 06, දුරකථන චාජර්, මුදල් රුපියල් 23,000/= ක්, සතියකට පමණ ප්‍රමාණවත් වියලි ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය සහ යකඩ පොළු මුගුරු විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් මෙහි දී සොයාගෙන ඇත.

අත්අඩංගුවට පත්වූ ජංගම දුරකථන පිළිබඳ පොලිසියේ විශේෂ අවධානය යොමුවී ඇති අතර රැඳවියන් මේ දුරකථන භාවිතා කර සම්බන්ධතා පැවැත්වූ කතා බහ කළ බාහිර පුද්ගලයන් පිළිබඳ අවධානය යොමු කරන බව ද මූලස්ථාන පොලිස් පරීක්‍ෂක එරික් පෙරේරා මහතා පවසයි.

ඊට අමතරව සිර මැදිරියක නොතිබිය යුතු මේ සියලු භාණ්ඩ සිරකරුවන් වෙතට පත්වූ ආකාරය පිළිබඳ පරීක්‍ෂණ වලදී විශේෂ අවධානය යොමු කරන බව පවසන වවුනියාව ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස් අධිකාරී හේමන්ත අධිකාරී මහතා රැඳවියන් ප්‍රචණ්ඩකාරී ලෙස හැසිරීමට මෙන්ම අනිසි ක්‍රියා මාර්ග වලට පෙළඹවීමට සිර මැදිරි තුළට නීති විරෝධී දේ ඇතුළුවීම හේතුවී ඇතැයි ද පවසයි.

වවුනියාව ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස් අධිකාරිවරයාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි මූලස්ථාන පොලිස් පරීක්‍ෂක එරික් පෙරේරා මහතාගේ මෙහෙයවීම යටතේ සෝදිසි කිරීම් කටයුතු පෙරේදා (30) පෙ. ව. 9.30 සිට ප. ව. 1.30 පමණ දක්වා සිදු විය.

බුද්ධිකා ඉඹුලාන සහ සුභාෂිනි සේනානායක වවුනියාව උතුර බන්දුල සෙනෙවිරත්න
Source: Dinamina (Sri Lanka)

Festival of Cricket – 08 July 2012

The 24th Annual Festival of Cricket 2012 in London will be held on Sunday 8th July 2012 at Winchmore Hill Cricket Club, The Paulin Ground, Ford’s Grove, Winchmore Hill, London N21 3ER.

This event is organised by the Sri Lankan Old Boys’ Associations. The association is made up of representatives of prominent and leading schools in Sri Lanka resident in UK, 26 school OBAs will once again participate in the Festival. The Committee is elected annually and work entirely on a voluntary basis to make the event a great success.

The main attraction of the day is a knock out cricket competition between the participating school OBAs, culminating in a final match late afternoon. The cricket underpins a number of other activities held around the grounds to keep the captive audience/visitors entertained and occupied. These activities include music, children’s fun fare, a Sri Lankan Bazaar, excellent quality international hot food stalls, beer tent and trade stalls (Airlines, Freight Companies, Insurance etc). In addition, a hospitality marquee is also run to cater exclusively to those entrepreneurs who can entertain clients or friends on the day, watching some exiting cricket and relaxing by sampling the culture and the cuisine of Sri Lanka.

All proceeds are divided amongst the participating schools. We also make a substantial donation to the National Cancer Institute of Sri Lanka.

DIRECTIONS to the Venue: 

By Tube:

Piccadilly line to southgate tube station, then take the route 125 bus from stop b going towards winchmore hill, to the green dragon lane bus stop. Turn left and walk along firs lane then right into elm park road. You will see the cricket club on your left hand side.

For any further travel enquiries please contact travel information team on 0208 222 1234.

By Train:

Winchmore Hill rail station on Sunday, 08th July 2012 – from: King’s Cross station (connections to Circle-Metropolitan-Northern- Piccadilly-Jubilee-Thameslink lines) trains every 26 and 56 minutes past the hour.

From Winchmore Hill Rail station exit left into station road walk straight towards Green Lanes (A105), then straight across roundabout keeping left into Fords Grove, over mini bridge – keep left – pass car park to pedestrian entrance gate.

National Rail – further enquiries, Telephone: 08457 484950.


For more information visit http://www.festivalofcricket.org