By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. former Government Agent, Matara District
The current Government of President Rajapaksa is blamed for increases in prices of essential commodities. It is true that prices are exorbitant today. I am told that a kilo of beans at Narahenpita Wholesale Market was as high as Rs. 90. I was in Sri Lanka in February and did travel to Kataragama and also to Mahiyangana via Randenigala.The prices in the remote rural areas are very low while in the cities the prices are very high. On the way to Mahiyangana I spotted a lorry being loaded with crates... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
orpheus perera
Happiness and peace. Those are really the prime issues in human existence. That is what all of us are seeking. This often is a bit hard to see because we cover up those basic goals with layers of surface objectives. We want food, we want money, we want sex, possessions and respect. We even say to ourselves that the idea of 'happiness' is too abstract: "Look, I am practical. Just give me enough money and I will buy all the happiness I need". Unfortunately, this is an attitude that does not work. Examine each of these... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
Sri Lanka News
Ranil Wickremasinghe, addressing a UNP election campaign meeting held in Jaffna Veerasingham Hall Friday, said that all the military camps in Nothern peninsula will be scrapped except Palaali Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp, which will be converted into an international airport. “High Security Zones are no longer necessary in the peninsula and the people evacuated from these places will be immediately resettled in their own properties if UNP becomes the ruling party in the general election,” he further said. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has also pledged to set up an effective resettlement program in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
Ranjit Wickremeratne
My Motherland is just a tear drop in the vast ocean of ours with around 20 million inhabitants. We Sinhalese were living with other races for many many years. This is our country. A Sinhala nation with 75% Sinhalese and 25% other races living side by side as citizens of Motherland Sri Lanka. We were invaded by Potuguese in 1505 then by dutch in 1602 and then by one of the evil empires English in 1803. Before and after we sinhalese battled with all our enemies in the battle field and won and the last one was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
By Dr.Levins T.C.Rajaratnem
PATRIOT It is a fallacy to think that only a selected few can be Patriots. We have had great many patriots from the UNP. The first in independent Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) was Rt.Hon.D.S.Senanayake. Then, Dudley Senanayake and the others who defected and formed the SLFP. The then UNP did not accuse the defectors as Traitors and unpatriotic elements. A careful study into the political career of Ranil Wickremasinghe (RW) would reveal the rare combination of experience, expertise and knowledge of the Leader of the opposition. RW is a Patriot by his own... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
By Janaka Alahapperuma
The construction work on the Norochcholaya Coal Power Plant Phase II in the Puttalama District was inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 18th March. The contract was awarded to the China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corporation (CMEC), a Chinese Government owned company. The total capacity of the power plant (Phase I, II & III) will be 900 Mega Watts and each phase will generate 300 MW of electricity. Phase I of the project is scheduled to be completed by November this year and it will add 300MW to the national grid and also... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
Sri Lanka News
Sri Lanka’s first commercial wind energy plant owned by Senok Wind Power is scheduled to start operating this month. The 10 Mega Watt plant is located in the North Western coast of the isalnd in the Kalpitiya area of the Puttalam district. The plant which is run by a private enterprise is located on a five kilometre long strip of land. Its width is one kilometre. The company has installed eight wind turbine generators bought from India. Officials say the plant is estimated to generate 28 million Kilo Watt hours of energy annually. This particular... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/03/10)
Express News Service
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview said that post-LTTE defeat, Army Commander Sarath Fonseka had asked army strength to be increased by three lakh on plea that the island nation faced military threat from India. “Do you know he (Fonseka) wanted to increase the size of the army to 450,000?” the President said in an interview to the Straight Times of Singapore on Thursday. “He said there are external threats. So I asked, who he was talking about? And he said, ‘India’. So what can 450,000 do against 2.5 million (India’s armed forces strength)?... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 20/03/10)
Colombo, Mar 19, PTI
It was celebration time at the country’s maximum security prison here, as 28-year-old Madvan Ranjani tied the nuptial knot with her former LTTE cadre heart-throb who is serving a 15-year sentence there. Apparently a determined Ranjani decided to wait long enough to marry her schooldays’ boyfriend. The 38-year-old former Tiger combatant, Ramiah Ravindran, who married Ranjani on Thursday at the Welikada Prison near Colombo, had been sentenced to life imprisonment 10 years ago for his activities. However, the sentence was subsequently reduced to 15 years. The long-haired Ravindran in a white attire and Ranjani in blue... -Full Story- (Deccan Herald - 20/03/10)
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s entire political career is comparable to that of a man who takes a strong dose of laxative after dinner and then takes a sleeping pill before going to bed. Needless to say, the mixture of the two ill-conceived and contradictory prescriptions invariably ends in total disaster. For instance, he agrees to take a dose of peace by swallowing the Norwegian laxative packaged in the CFA and then he takes the worst kind of sleeping pill of lulling himself and the nation into a false sense security before going to bed with the sworn... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/03/10)
A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA.
The anarchist JVP failing twice to capture power through despicable revolts staged against the elected governments of Sri Lanka, and prematurely entombing thousands of our youth, made another frantic effort through the last Presidential Election by bringing forth a power hungry egoist as a candidate, indisputably with a hidden agenda of achieving their fundamental objective of what they call "establishing a Marxist Socialist Regime" in Sri Lanka, which they stupidly claim would be the panacea to all problems in Sri Lanka. The greedy UNP leadership swallowed their bait and the political desperados nourished by the International... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/03/10)
Sri Lanka News
Sri Lanka has received another nod as a top travel destination. National Geographic has listed Sri Lanka 2nd in its “25 Best New Trips for 2010.” Ranked 20 in the list, Sri Lanka was one of only three other South Asian nations to make the list. Bhutan clinched the number one spot while Nepal was ranked 15. In January, The New York Times chose Sri Lanka as its top pick in its list of “31 Places to Go in 2010.” The article itself attracted a lot of attention, both positive and negative. Topping the list of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/03/10)
Ben Silva
Introduction The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navaneetham Pillay has been infiltrated and influenced by the LTTE operating under the guise of Tamil human rights activists. To sustain its anti-Sri Lanka government campaign globally, the LTTE has also obtained the services of Mr Bruce Fein, a US lawyer, Bruce Haigh, a former Australian diplomat, and other foreign nationals. Although terrorists are the worst human rights violators, Ms. Pillay, an ethnic Tamil, has whitewashed the LTTE of its brutal atrocities. Brief outline of LTTE and its activities When Prabhakaran started off as the head of a small group in the 1970s, no one could... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/03/10)
Vajeera Warnakulasuriya
Hon.Mr.Stephen Smith, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Federal Government of Australia Canberra Dear Sir, Ministerial Statement on the 17th March in Federal Parliament It was encouraging to see that the foreign minister of Australia reading a balanced report on Sri Lanka at the recent Parliamentary sitting. All over the Globe we hear, read, biased reports “prepared by anti Sri Lankan agents” being articulated or printed by the influential leaders of Governments. Sri Lanka is a developing country that needs every encouragement, guidance and financial support. The country after recovering from three decades of destruction both materially and economically... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/03/10)
Press Release Media Secretary- 18/03/2010
Kharithathu Ththareeq, a Road Map to address issues affecting the Muslim community in Sri Lanka was presented to the President of the All Ceylon Jammayathul Ulama, AlHaj M.I.M. Rizwe Mufthi, by Minister Milinda Moragoda, Leader of the Sri Lanka National Congress (SLNC) amidst a large gathering of Muslim community leaders at Marine Grand hotel, Marine Drive, Wellawatte. This roadmap was developed by the Muslim Affairs Circle of the SLNC. Alhaj Rizwe Mufthi speaking on the occasion, praised Mr. Moragoda for the support he has extended to the Muslim community in strengthening social and educational institutions.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/03/10)
Express News Service
COLOMBO: The second court martial to try former Sri Lankan Army Commander Sarath Fonseka for alleged violation of procurement procedures, held its first hearing here on Wednesday. But the court adjourned indefinitely, after unanimously deciding to refer the composition of the tribunal to the convening authorities. “The tribunal, considering submissions, maintained that although the provisions in the Army Act empower same members of one court martial to sit for another tribunal for the same accused, provided alleged prosecuting charges are of different nature, it prefers to be reconvened for the sake of maintaining high degree of transparency... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 19/03/10)
Keen to forge all-weather ties with India, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has lauded the developmental work undertaken by the country in the war-ravaged northern region and vowed not to allow his nation's soil to be used against it. "India is our neighbour. We must have good relations whether in war or in peace," Rajapaksa said in an interview to Singapore's New Straits Times. Referring to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India, he said the businessmen should decide on it and also find out how it would benefit them. "If you try to introduce it the way that... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 19/03/10)
KUALA LUMPUR: Dubbing ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka as a "fool", Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ruled out an early pardon for the General, who is being court-martialled on charges of engaging in politics while in uniform and defence procurement irregularities. "He is a fool. On 16th November (2009) he was sitting right here (President's office in Colombo) and I asked him if he was interested in contesting (the presidential election) and he said, No, sir... I haven't made up my mind. Even on the day of his last visit he didn't tell me," Rajapaksa said in an interview to... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 19/03/10)
COLOMBO, March 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka issued $92 million in dollar-denominated development bonds, the central bank said on Thursday, to finance its interim budget over the first four months of 2009. The bank had hoped to raise $100 million. Its public debt department accepted $37 million worth of bids for two-year bonds with a yield of six-month LIBOR plus 3.80 percent and $55 million worth of bids for three-year bonds with a yield of six-month LIBOR plus 3.95 percent, the central bank said. The bank received total bids of $134 million, having expected to raise $50 million from each... -Full Story- (in.reuters.com - 19/03/10)
Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Times
There is a saying among deminers,’’ the Indian official said. “It takes $3 to plant a mine and $300 to clear it.’’ Money is just a part of it; deminers have to have more than their share of patience. The Indians working for Sarvatra, a New Delhi-based NGO that has been carrying out demining projects in parts of Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged north, should know about it. The 100-odd Indians, mostly former army personnel, have been working here since 2003 — along with another Indian demining NGO, Horizon — and painstakingly clearing mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO)... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 19/03/10)
Lankaweb Editorial March 17th 2010
In the turn of recent events transpiring in Sri Lanka a few plain truths are becoming more and more painfully obvious about the difficulties being encountered by the Rajapaksha Administration towards motivating the best interests of the Island Nation and guiding it in the right direction towards prosperity and development as it is being constantly interfered with by individuals who take it upon themselves to be officiously judgemental over issues they seem to know little or nothing about beyond hearsay and even if they did, have no right to the privilege of summary execution withi Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/03/10)
P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Dushy Ranetunge's (DR) in an article 'Missing the wood from the trees' to an English Daily of 14th March, supports an investigation for war crimes and bring about accountability and says, "...All that the western powers and the UN are demanding is consistency on our part in investigating war crime allegations..." We have no qualms about DR's comment that, "...It was the US which first listed the LTTE as a terrrorist organisation..." But it was only on paper and that was also after immense pressure brought by Sri Lanka that the LTTE as a terrorist outfit is worse than the Al Qaeda against... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/03/10)
By Dr.Levins T.C.Rajaratnem
Almighty God , thou art great but men created by thee are in conflict War is over they say, but we are more miserable than ever before There is confusion and chaos. There is want and hunger. There is power but yet the need for more power has arisen There is hate in the home, the family and friends Foes become friends and friends become foes We pray to thee O Lord for thy mercy to liberate the truth Those who stand in judgment should be given wisdom and independence We remember your 10 commandments to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/03/10)
Insight By Sunil Kumar 16th March 2010
There appears to be curious similarities between a combined Police ~ Military Coup d' Etat in the mid 1960s and Fmr. General Sarath Fonseka's current incarceration by the Sri Lankan Authorities as the charges in both cases appear to be a misinterpretation of assigned power and the arrogant beleif that the power vested in them whether previously or subsequently relative to term of office gave them carte blanche to go against the Legal Justice System on the instigation of opposition politicians eager to topple the incumbent Administration and in both cases the end result... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/03/10)
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: United Nation's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is going ahead with his proposal for a panel of experts on Sri Lanka despite objections from Colombo that the panel would infringe on the country's sovereignty. The U.N. News Centre website quoted Mr. Ban as saying the panel was in line with a joint statement he issued with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his visit to the country in May 2009, days after the military defeat of the LTTE. “This joint statement contained a commitment related to ensuring an accountability process for addressing violations of international humanitarian and... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 18/03/10)
H. L. D. Mahindapala
Among other things the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva told the media on Monday at the Galadari Hotel that Sri Lanka is not a democracy. Coming from the ex-CJ, this should be stunning news to those who are concerned about Sri Lanka. But this also raises some relevant questions: When did he discover this? Was it when he was on the bench? Or was it after he joined the losers in the JVP-Fonseka gang hoping to be the next Prime Minster if Fonseka won, undercutting Ranil Wickremesinghe? Considering the fact that there is hardly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/03/10)
Ajit Randeniya
The death last week of David Kimche, one of Mossad’s more celebrated spies fortuitously attracts the limelight to the dirty and unethical foundation on which its largely undeserved reputation as an invincible spy organisation with a legendary record of almost super-human, and at times thrilling, achievements is built on. The botched murder of Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January and the 1997 debacle in Jordan, of the attempted murder of Khaled Mashaal by injecting a poison in to his ear, ending in the capture of its agents by a civilian, started a process of world... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/03/10)
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1
March 15, 2010 Hon. Deepak Obhrai, MP Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Government of Canada House of Commons, Ottawa Dear Deepak: This is a continuation of my letter to you of March 13, 2010, on ‘Canada asks Sri Lanka to start talks with Tamil Groups’ when you had requested Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Chitranganee Wagiswara – “Canada has asked Sri Lanka start talks and the reconciliation process with the Tamil groups, saying such a step is crucial for lasting peace in the country.” And I asked... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/03/10)
ALI SUKHANVER
It is not the gun but the gunner that hits the target. A very sophisticated weapon becomes useless when it comes to unskilled and inexperienced hands. Skill and experience joined together with wisdom can do miracles. Wisdom is the only element which is always important from beginning till the end, in all problematic matters of life. In spite of having a lot of strength and a lot of resources, the USA is still not even near the brink of success in Afghanistan; the only reason behind is the lack of wisdom. The situation is going to get... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/03/10)
Sri Lankan police said on Tuesday that a Tamil Tiger rebel wanted for the suicide bombing of a 5- star-hotel in Colombo has been arrested. The 72-year-old suspect was arrested in the eastern Batticaloa district's Eravur area for the 1997 bombing of the Hotel Galadari in the business district of Fort. The October 1997 suicide bomb attack in the hotel's car park killed 18 people and injured over 100 including foreign tourists. The suspect was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) intelligence wing, police said.... -Full Story- (english.people.com.cn - 17/03/10)
Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Times
Both sides of the A9 highway are studded with remains of war. Bombed out houses with bullet marks, scorched trees, bunkers and danger signs in red plastic straps warning 'mines: do not cross'. Along the way, there are many army posts and two checkpoints where vehicles are searched and identities confirmed. As dusk falls, army personnel with rifles slung over their shoulders begin short patrols on the highway. Outside empty towns herds of abandoned cattle aimlessly roam. These aimless cows are possibly the biggest danger to the hundreds of buses, vans and trucks that now ply... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 17/03/10)
The United Nation’s proposal to form a panel on human right violations in Sri Lanka may be delayed as the world body chief is still considering its terms of references. “He (Ban) hasn’t yet appointed a panel of experts...he is still considering such a panel’s terms of reference and he is contact with his advisers including the high commissioner of human rights (Navi Pillay),” UN spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, told journalists at UN headquarters in New York.... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 17/03/10)
LankaWeb Weekly EditorialMarch 16th, 2010
"When justice is dead can the nation survive?" asks a features item in a fairly popular news site seemingly popular with its supportive myopics rather than the more intuitive and perceptive populace of the Nation which more often than not tends to show bias against the Government of Sri Lanka perhaps by virtue of the anti government lackeys who fund it and support it in more ways than one and a very idiosyncratic trait in Sri Lanka. However for the sake of proper perspective needing to be outlined the question probably needs to be re-phrased... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/03/10)
Dilrook Kannangara
Seven years after being abducted from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by the CIA and shipped to the U.S. air base in Bagram, Afghanistan, Haji Pacha Wazir was hoping he would finally be free. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/08/afghanistan-.html) CIA- the notorious secret service - the modern day equivalent of Schutzstaffel or SS has abducted practitioners of Islam around the world in what it calls ‘war on terror’. Victims, mostly innocent family men practicing the Islam faith, are abducted and taken to torture chambers around the world onboard C-130 Hercules planes. This happened even today and there is no end in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/03/10)
By Stanley Perera
My dear Mr. Abeykone, A Sri Lankan living in Italy in the past 25 years arrived at Katunayake Air Port by UL563 on 06.03.2007 at 0500. W.M.Luxman Cyril Wickremaratne was the first passenger to arrive at the immigration counter. The immigration officer at the first glance at the passport said that there is no departure stamp and needs to be referred to the CID. Mr. Wickremaratne replied and said that the seal is there and asked for the passport back to show the departure stamp that was with the date 15-Oct-2007 with the seal number 200.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/03/10)