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News Archive for Sep 2009
UNO is an anachronism, and does not serve any more the purpose for which it was established.United Nations Organisation “had been “ a symbol of equality and Unity of Nations of the World. But to-day the UN does not symbolise either the Unity or the equality of Nations. The developed countries dominate the World Forum and the Chief Executive the Secretary General  of the UNO is only a “ puppet “ of the rich Nations, who are determined to use the UNO for their political strategy to dominate the world.  The United Nations representing  the  Nations of the World is nominally , the  Forum to settle conflicts, encouraging dialogue between Nations avoiding armed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/09)
A Requirements Based University Admissions Policy Needed
Sri Lanka’s university admission policy has always been mired in one controversy after another. On top of that the university system is in total disarray as the Minister of Higher Education stated in parliament. Thirdly, it is a well known fact that there is a dangerous subculture in universities. These suboptimal systems have their beneficiaries. Unfortunately the nation and its people are the losers although it is their money that is at play to the tune of 20 billion rupees (US$190 million). Separatist groups cleverly exploited the fear psychosis created by them that a certain ethnic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/09)
Dr D.S. Bandarage - Father of Modern Management in Sri Lanka - Died 3 months ago to this day, 1 August 2009
It was very pleasing for me to attend a function where the Institute of Personnel Management in Sri Lanka (IPM) felicitated  it’s greatest son, Dr D S Bandarage, at a special ceremony held three years ago, in the auspices of Mr N Cabral, Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation and Governor of the Central Bank. I was present at the ceremony. Being a student of Dr Bandarage, it was a very happy moment for both me and many of the other distinguished audience to see that Dr Bandarage was still living amongst us after serving... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/09)
Peace Process and 26/11
Ever since the coming down of the WTC twin towers in New York on September Eleven 2001, terrorism has acquired the status of a regulatory tap that India has compulsively employed to control the ebb and flow of Indo Pak bilateral relations. The strategy has served them well and even after passage of nine years the fervor with which the terror card is being brandished, is manifestation of the Indian faith in this modus operandi. The Mumbai incident of November last (26/11) – the run of armed terrorists in Mumbai that claimed 170 lives - has provided India... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/09)
A BAD SMELLING KISS
Obscurity generates fear; disinformation disables best of our abilities; darkness crushes the very inside of us; nights could be pleasing but for a very short chunk of time. That is why most of the people keep on waiting for a new sun every night. The first step to defeat your enemy is to make him feel you are stronger even than his imagination; you win if you keep him in dark. Successful are those whose vision is not blurred by darkness.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/09)
Justice and Law Reforms Minister meets his Dutch Counterpart
Milinda Moragoda Minister of Justice and Law Reforms of Sri Lanka met with Minister of Justice of The Netherlands, E.M.H. Hirsch Ballin at the Ministry of Justice in The Hague. This meeting was part of an initiative to establish close cooperation between the two countries in the spheres of justice and the judiciary and to develop a medium and long-term strategy in this regard. Sri Lanka and The Netherlands share a tradition of Roman Dutch Law. During this meeting the two ministers discussed the possibility of establishing a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/09/09)
Wife trapped by a blunder!
A NEWHAM housing officer's beloved Sri Lankan wife spent four years trapped in the UK - unable to marry, travel or find work - after an illegal immigrant made illicit use of her lost passport, a top judge heard. Mr Justice Walker said the Home Office had made a series of "errors" in dealing with the case of Anoma Bandara Doloswala, who the High Court heard was only finally able to wed 56-year-old Buddhist, Robert McGechan, in February.... -Full Story- (newhamrecorder.co.uk - 30/09/09)
UN wants probe into Sri Lanka camp shooting
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The U.N. called Wednesday on Sri Lanka to investigate an incident in which soldiers fired on war refugees held in a cramped displacement camp, wounding at least two people, including a child. Human rights activists have repeatedly complained about conditions in the northern camps, where nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians forced from their homes by civil war have been detained for months. The incident appeared to highlight the growing frustration of the civilians in the camps.... -Full Story- (silive.com - 30/09/09)
Extension of GSP Plus status to be decided next month
The European Commission will convene on October 15, to discuss the matter of extending the GSP Plus status to Sri Lanka. As per GSP Plus, exports from Sri Lanka do not attract any import duties in its exports to the countries of the European Union. GSP Plus gives Sri Lanka the right to export more than 7,200 products duty-free to the EU, which last year accounted for 36 percent of Sri Lanka's US $8.1 billion in total exports. Countries receiving GSP Plus must have ratified and implemented 27 international conventions on rights, labour, development and good governance.... -Full Story- (fibre2fashion.com - 30/09/09)
Sri Lanka Sept CPI at record low of 0.7 pct yr/yr
COLOMBO, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's consumer prices slowed to a record low of 0.7 percent in September from a year earlier, from its previous record low of 0.9 percent in August due to lower food prices, government data showed on Wednesday. Annual average inflation slowed to a near six-year low of 6.6 percent this month, from 8.5 percent in August. It has fallen 11 straight months after hitting a six-year high of 23.4 percent in October.... -Full Story- (in.reuters.com - 30/09/09)
All war displaced in eastern Sri Lanka resettled: gov't
COLOMBO, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday that it has completely resettled the war displaced civilians housed in the welfare camps in the Eastern Province. The Department of Government Information said in a statement that as the final stage 91 families of the Kokuvil welfare village were resettled in Trincomalee district on Tuesday. There were 112 camps for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the Eastern Province and over 35,000 families had been living in them following the escalation of conflict between the government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in 2006. The statement said that all... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 30/09/09)
All Sri Lankans are working to protect Sri Lanka from conspiracies
There are some strange limits and inexplicable exceptions to the so-called ‘Freedom of Expression’ and Media Freedom concepts globally promoted by the US and the rest of the Western world. One notable prohibition relates to the use of the word ‘conspiracy’, defined as ‘an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act’. The use of this particular word is virtually censored, and anyone who dares to suggest even the mere possibility of the existence of any such phenomenon is ridiculed, and is subjected to various forms of harassment. Some in the developing world including the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
David Miliband: Your possible visit to Sri Lanka
September 29, 2009 Hon. David Miliband, MP Minister of Foreign Affairs House of House of Parliament Westminster London, UK Dear David: I just read that you had a tripartite meeting with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ranjith Bogollagama accompanied by your Bobbsey Twin French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, wanting to return to Sri Lanka to visit the IDP welfare villages in the North. You two are meddlesome buggers, aren’t you? I almost think you are being His Master’s Voice, the master being the Tamil Tiger lobbyists... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
What is needed to be an ‘Activist’?’
Both printed and electronic media are full of news items carrying the activities, statements and articles of so-called ‘activists’, especially those who pretend to be the guardian of human rights, free media rights and peace. Apart from the lucrative jobs, these millionaire ‘activists’ are receiving free attractive titles,  wide publicity, and free foreign trips and so forth, perhaps, not second to any other job in existence.  To be an ‘activist’ today, knowledge in English is essential, because the ‘activist’ needs to communicate with the west, their employer, effectively. Knowledge on any other European language such as German,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
HINDUSTAN TIMES SAYS MAOISTS OF INDIA HAVE BORROWED THE CHILD RECRUITMENT AND THEIR INHUMAN EXPLOITATION FROM TAMIL TIGERS
The Hindustan Times newspaper said the Communist Party of India, popularly known as the Maoists of India have borrowed the idea of child conscription to their army from Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). According to an item published by the Hindustan Times they have imitated the Tamil Tigers by recruiting children as small as nine years. The Hindustan Times said, “Ajay Kumar, son of a labourer in Jharkhand’s Lohardagga district (in India), was only nine in 2004 when security forces nabbed him from a Communist Party of India (Maoist) hideout. The little boy... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
AUSTRALIA’S COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA AUTHORITY FINDS AFTER A PROBE THAT SBS PROGRAMS ON LTTE TERRORIST OUTFIT WERE BIAS
The Australian Communication and Media Authority after an investigation found certain programs broadcast by the SBS Radio were bias towards Tamil Tigers and contravened the radio station’s own code of principles. The authority said the Tamil language programs on the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were bias towards the terrorist outfit. The authority said the SBS breached its own codes of practice (2006) in broadcasts of the SBS radio program’s Tamil Language Program in October 2008 and January 2009. The authority said both programs dealt with aspects of the conflict between the Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
ALLEGED ARMS DEALER TO TAMIL TIGERS IS ARRESTED IN SINGAPORE AND BROUGHT TO COURTS OVER REQUEST FOR EXTRADITION TO US
Singapore’s former Reform Party Man who was a powerful committee member of the party Balraj Naidu has been arrested and produced in court for an extradition hearing over an alleged arms deal with Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Naidu was arrested on a warrant and produced in courts said, Singapore’s Strait Times. The man was arrested at his home last week and brought to the courts September 29 for a brief courts appearance. His lawyers and family were present in the courts. The businessman is wanted by the United States government on two... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 5A)-GLOBAL CITIZEN: DRIFTING FROM AMERICA TO MALAYSIA
In Therigatha, bhikkuni Vajira is said to have responded to Mara: It's only suffering that comes to be, Suffering that stands and falls away. Nothing but suffering comes to be, Nothing but suffering ceases. In retrospect, I find my quest for a PhD in journalism and mass communication and the subsequent travel across oceans in quest of jobs that set up competing human beings against one anotherâ€â€ÂÂall as traps set up by Mara to delay my emancipation from the grip of the wheel of becoming. Existence is indeed a reflection of ti-lakkhanaâ€â€ÂÂanicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering/unsatisfactoriness)... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 5B) -GLOBAL CITIZEN: TEACHING JOURNALISM AND GETTING MARRIED IN MALAYSIA
Vincent Lowe, Dean Sharom Ahmat’s emissary from the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, welcomed me at the Penang airport. He took me to the campus and gave me some idea of the university’s communication program. I stayed the first three nights at the colonial seaside hotel, the Eastern & Orient. Then I found lodging at the university guest house on campus until I moved to Island Park a month later to share a house with an American couple. E&O was an old colonial building with huge rooms. From my room overlooking the swimming pool... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 5C) -GLOBAL CITIZEN: FROM PENANG TO DOWN UNDER
On the last Sunday of November 1974, just after my parents had left Malaysia to return to Sri Lanka, an incident that occurred at the beachside garden of Rasa Sayang Hotel in Batu Ferrenghi devastated meâ€â€ÂÂa clear reminder that exceeding the middle path would rebound in accelerating dukkha.  Leslie Allen, an avuncular New Zealander teaching on USM campus, and I used to frequent the northern coastal strip of Pulau Pinang (Penang Island) to relax and enjoy sumptuous food at the Lone Pine Hotel or the Rasa Sayang on Sundays. I was relaxing on an easy... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
SRI LANKA AT THE CROSSROADS!
Sally is director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels and is on the faculty of the London School of Economics. July 2009 To most outsiders Sri Lanka is a far-away tourist destination, a tropical paradise that has fallen into a vicious cycle of ethnic conflict. To me it is closer to home. It is where I grew up; and Colombo, the capital city, is my hometown. I think of Sri Lanka as a heaven-and-hell country, consumed by its own extremes and contradictions. These play out... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY
Sri Lanka’s economy continued to expand in the four months since government forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending 25 years of terrorism and conflict. Many sectors have shown signs of quick recovery, especially tourism. Country visits leapt forward in July, and plans to expand hotels and resort facilities, especially in areas once controlled by the LTTE, promise to draw more tourists to the island nation. Despite the worldwide recession, investor confidence in Sri Lanka has remained strong in a number of sectors:  Sri Lanka’s Gross Official... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Peace Corps veterans look back 40 yearsGroup gathers to share memories of their lives 1967-69
By John Darling For the Tidings September 28, 2009 Dining on a dozen tasty dishes in Ashland this weekend, some two dozen former Peace Corps volunteers remembered the days, 40 years ago, when they worked together, trying to change Sri Lanka, but found it was they who got changed. "The Sri Lanka people were very gracious accepting advice from us," said Joyce Stanley, who, with her husband Richard hosted the gathering. "Every Peace Corps volunteer got more out of it than we gave. We learned the value of other cultures." Still able to speak phrases in Sinhalese, the main language... -Full Story- (dailytidings.com - 29/09/09)
CAIRNS ADVERTISES FOR OIL RIGS TO BE HIRED FOR SRI LANKA DRILLING
Cairn Energy Plc, the UK listed Indian oil giant is expected to drill for offshore oil in Sri Lanka in January 2011. The company’s advertisements asking for offshore oil rigs have appeared in the Economic Times newspaper in New Delhi. The advertisement said Cairns wants to hire a drill ship or a semi-submersible rig in Sri Lanka. According to the advertisement the oil explorer wants to drill three wells and two more in a deepwater block in the Gulf of Mannar for Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
INDIA HAILS SRI LANKA’S NEW BEGINING AT THE UNITED NATIONS
India’s External Minister S.M. Krishna told the United NationS that there is a new beginning in Sri Lanka today. He said , “ peace, security, stability and the welfare of India’s neighbourhood is vital for India.†This was an obvious reference to the end of the war by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)and the beginning of the development in the Northern and Eastern Provinces today. “There is a new beginning in Sri Lanka; in Nepal strengthening the peace process is in our collective interest; and in Afghanistan, the international community must remain intensively engaged and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
The History and Mystery of Gods
Many theories Theistic, Scientific or otherwise have been advanced about the origin of the solar system. But one fact is certain and this has been firmly authenticated by meticulous scientific research. The Solar system is one connected system and the sun had to appear first to hold the planetary system in place. Modern scientific experiments have also established that there are thousands of similar solar systems strewn all over the universe, many being even older than ours. This is patently at variance with the Theistic Creation Theory. Researchers have also revealed that all the planets were... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Sri Lanka obtains Five Million US Dollars for de-mining
Monday, 28 September 2009 On a request made by Hon Basil Rajapakse, MP, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, and subsequent discussions that Hon Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister for Disaster Management & Human Rights had with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Antonio Guterres, Hon Minister was able to secure US Dollars 5 million from the UNHCR to enable the government to purchase 10 flailing machines in order to further accelerate the de-mining programme in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, M.P, addresses the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in Geneva
Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, M.P, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights addressed the 60th Session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva today. Hon. Samarasinghe is among a large number of dignitaries, including Ministers, to address this forum which began its 5-day session today in Geneva. Prior to his address, Hon. Minister also met with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Antonio Guterres. The full text of Hon. Minister’s statement is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Ragging in Sri Lankan Universities - 'Chinese Perspective'
In a letter to an English Daily on 26th Sept., titled 'Ragging in universities', a subscriber observes, "...Ragging in universities must stop. The perverts must be punished severely...Get the military to give protection to the new comers. Our forces defeated the ruthless LTTE... Tackle these poisonous snakes..."  A few weeks ago it was reported that 2 university students were on remand custody because of ragging while the victim had to undergo surgery. A couple of years ago another student's life ended on a wheel-chair. The writer's comments and these incidents show the seriousness of ragging in universities... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Norway, Solheim helped establish LTTE-Eritrea links for arms deals
Investigations into Tigers’ weapons procurement reveal The Norwegian government helped the LTTE to establish relations with Eritrea, which allowed the group to purchase arms, ammunition and equipment from China on Eritrean end-user certificates and other documents needed to legally buy weapons, according to well informed sources. Sources said the tripartite understanding had been reached in Norway as far back as 2002-2003, when it facilitated negotiations purportedly aimed at ending Sri Lanka’s war. Sources said the on-going investigations had revealed that Norway facilitated the meeting between Eritrean representatives and the LTTE. Responding to The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Homosexuality, cabaret and GSP
As the day on which the EU is expected to make a final decision on Sri Lanka's GSP Plus draws nearer, the government has stepped up efforts to retain it, though it is not as desperate as it was a few months ago because Sri Lanka's economy has improved to a considerable extent. The resilience of Sri Lanka's export sector has been remarkable. Time was when the prime lending rate went up to 20 per cent; inflation shot up to 28 per cent; foreign reserves dwindled, quota system was abolished and the world... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
Hosting Troubles – Anticipating Peace
During the last couple of weeks, the political weather of the subcontinent fluctuated but its decisive shift is still at the mercy of intentions. History of 62 years has taught its South Asian neighbors’ New Delhi’s regional governance. It was not any surprise when India claims about Pakistan training its terrorists to launch another strike like Mumbai, In addition, New Delhi’s rhetoric of acting on her dictates and fulmination over Hafiz Saeed’s release from Police custody are moot point which it uses to pave the way for unleashing blame game. On the other hand Pakistan has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/09/09)
A farcical attempt to paint Israel black The UN Human Rights Council’s report into the Gaza conflict is a shamefully biased document
In the history of international organisations it is hard to conceive of an institution less fit for purpose than the absurdly titled UN Human Rights Council. Since its inception in 2006, the UNHRC has included such champions of liberal values as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Cuba. There is no doubting the comic value of such membership. Analogies spring to mind of Jack the Ripper leading a disciplinary inquiry at Scotland Yard, or Dr Harold Shipman chairing a panel discussion on medical care for the elderly. Yet for Israel, on the receiving end of this surreal hypocrisy, it is no laughing... -Full Story- (timesonline.co.uk - 28/09/09)
Do not interfere, Colombo tells U.N.
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has requested the United Nations not to interfere with the internal affairs of the island nation. Addressing the 64th U.N. General Assembly in New York in Sinhala on Monday Mr. Wickremanayake said according to the U.N. charter 2(7) clause, no country or a force should interfere with the internal affairs of each and every country. “The Prime Minister noted that Sri Lanka managed to defeat terrorism and the benefits of the victory would be shared with other countries in the world. He said the international community should extend support to the Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 28/09/09)
Sri Lanka recruits Tamil policemen in former war zone
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is recruiting Tamil police officers from the northern city of Jaffna for the first time since it became the epicentre of a three-decade ethnic separatist insurgency defeated in May, police said yesterday. More than 6,500 people, including 400 women, applied for 500 police constable jobs in Jaffna, the Defence Ministry said. The government has not recruited Tamils from Jaffna since 1978, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began killing and threatening Tamils who worked for the government they wanted to supplant in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (thepeninsulaqatar.com - 28/09/09)
UN chief urges Sri Lanka to resettle hundreds of thousands displaced by war
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Failure to rapidly resettle nearly 300,000 Sri Lankans displaced by the government's final onslaught against Tamil separatists and further suffering under harsh conditions in the camps could result in growing bitterness, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Monday. When meeting with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Ban said in particular the need to resolve the problem in view of the approaching monsoon season, while acknowledging the government's efforts to address post-conflict challenges in Sri Lanka. In May the government declared an end to its military... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 28/09/09)
Lankan expats’ music video pays tribute to war heroes
Sri Lankan expatriate forum Lanka Lions has produced a music video in Qatar paying tribute to the Sri Lankan war heroes who dedicated their lives to end the decades’ long internal conflict in Sri Lanka. “All the artistes involved in the project are Sri Lankan expatriates based in Doha,†vocalist, lyricist and composer Manjula Ranaweera told Gulf Times yesterday... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 28/09/09)
Reaching out to the refugees
THE Xim Phou Moon Welfare Society Malaysia fulfilled its promise of presenting aid to 999 refugee families at Sri Lanka. Some 26 society members, led by the founder and president Datuk Tan Leong Hoo, visited the Vavuniya Camp in the country’s northern region and gave goodie bags to the poor. The bags, valued at US$21 (about RM70) each, consisted of medicines, milk powder, rice and other food items. Rev Lakshapana Chandawimala and Rev Kahalle Gnaninda Thero were also present to witness the handover... -Full Story- (thestar.com.my - 28/09/09)
CIVILIZATION ONE - To Perform In Sri Lanka Again
European metal band CIVILIZATION ONE, fronted by ex-FIREWIND singer Chitral “Chity†Somapala, is returning to Chity' s birth town of Colombo, Sri Lanka for a second time. Civilization One are coming again at the invitation of TNL (the biggest TV/radio station for rock music in the country), and will perform as the main act at the TNL Onstage Finals show. TNL Onstage is a band contest for young talent, which has established itself as a prestigious talent pool of the country since its premiere 10 years ago. It can be compared approximately to the Western TV formats like American Idol... -Full Story- (bravewords.com - 28/09/09)
An Independent Asian UNO to replace the Western dictated UNO?
Going by how things are been currently manipulated at the UNO by the West and its allies and how shabbily and discriminately Asian countries like ours are treated, I fully endorse L. Jayasooriya’s proposition (Asian Tribune) that we must look for an alternative Asian (or Afro-Asian) UNO in place of the present West dominated (“United Neo-colonial Outfitâ€ÂÂÂ) neocolonial exploiter gang dancing to the tune of USA in order to destabilize and pauperize the small countries who are trying to rise from the abysmal depths in to which these very colonial powers have driven us... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
PRIME MINISTER WICKRAMANAYAKA TELLS THE UNITED NATIONS THAT IT CANNOT INTERFERE IN THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF MEMBER STATES
Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York said the Charter of the United Nations does not allow the UN to interfere in the internal affairs of member nations. He said , “It is imperative that the prohibition reflected in Article 2(7)of the charter that the UN should not interfere in the internal affairs be our guiding norm..It is the charter that keeps us together.Non interference in the internal affairs of states must be respected at all times.†Wickramanayaka further said multilaterism is not about the responding only to the demands... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
Robert O. Blake, a vestige of the Bush Administration contradicts President Obama’s statement to the UN General Assembly, and promotes ethnic segregation in Sri Lanka.
 Robert O’Blake US Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Central Asian Affairs, is not promoting the USA President Barrack Obama’s foreign policies. In the 38 minutes long speech to the UN General Assembly the USA President made significant statements. But O’Blake is making a mockery of President Obama’s speech to the UN General Assembly in his all out effort to discredit Sri Lanka for eliminate the whole lot of his terrorists friends.  President Obama said, “I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
US BASHING
US bashing is a common thing to many who write on the on line forums. It is rarely that one sees bashing of other powerful nations like Britain, Germany France, Canada or Australia. Bashing is usually done by expatriate Lankans who live outside Lanka in relative security and prosperity of the West. As a Sri Lankan who lived in many continents, I can honestly say USA has been subjected to great many unfair criticism as against the enormous greatness of this country to all humanity. Take for example the election of President Barak Obama who is a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
“NO WAY OF REVERTING BACK TO THE INGLORIOUS PAST OF TAMIL TIGERS WHO TRAMPLED RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE WITH IMPUNITYâ€ÂÂÂ
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said there is no possible way of reverting back to the inglorious past of letting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once again run the Eastern and Northern Province as allowed according to a document produced by the United National Party, trampling the human rights of all people with impunity. He said the IDP camps have hundreds of Tamil children who have now started going to school with their school bags across the shoulders in place of the rifles from the child soldier camps of the LTTE, formerly, where they were detained... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
Lawrence Cannon: Speech at the UN
September 27, 2009 Hon. Lawrence Cannon, MP, PC Minister of Foreign Affairs House of Commons Ottawa Dear Lawrence: What you said in your speech at the UN last night (Sept.26), “It is part of our responsibility as Canadians – and the responsibility of the United Nations – to eradicate terrorism in all its formsâ€ÂÂÂ, certainly told this card carrying Conservative, that our Canadian Government is brilliant in “double-speakâ€ÂÂÂ. That statement had a tinge of dishonesty and a plane load of 'double-speak'. Why? Because you were the very person... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
PRIME MINISTER RATNASIRI WICKRAMANAYAKA VOWS ANEW UNITED NATIONS THAT COLOMBO WILL RE-SETTLE TAMIL CIVILIANS QUICKLY
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka promised anew that his government would quickly re-settle all the civilians in the country’s IDP welfare camps but he said the country cannot risk its hard won security from terrorism by being negligent of terrorist combatants hiding among the civilians. He was addressing the United Nations general assembly sessions in New York on September 26. Wickramanayaka told the UN the top priority of his government was to meet the humanitarian needs of the nearly 290,000 Tamil civilians who were freed from decades long hold of the separatist terrorists, the Liberation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/09/09)
Two Sri Lanka refugees wounded by military fire
COLOMBO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - At least two Sri Lankan war refugees were wounded when soldiers fired as they tried to flee a state-run camp, the military said on Sunday. "On Saturday evening a group of people were trying to escape and a man tried to lob a grenade. Our people (soldiers) fired towards that area for self defence and to prevent escape," said Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. The two wounded Tamils were admitted to hospital and 19 people were arrested, he added.... -Full Story- (in.reuters.com - 28/09/09)
S. Asian Leaders Highlight Issues at UN General Assembly
Several South Asian leaders took the podium at the U.N. General Assembly Saturday, as the annual debate entered its fourth day. The Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as the foreign minister of India, highlighted issues concerning their region from terrorism to climate change.Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake said his country has now entered the post-conflict phase, in the aftermath of the military's defeat of separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters last May... -Full Story- (voanews.com - 28/09/09)
British, French FMs may tour Sri Lanka
British and French foreign ministers may make a joint visit to Sri Lanka, officials from the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said here Sunday. The officials said that British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in a tripartite meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in New York had expressed their wish for a return visit to Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (english.people.com.cn - 28/09/09)
PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA SAYS WITH OR WITHOUT THE GSP+ CONCESSION HIS GOVERNMENT WILL PROTECT THE LOCAL INDUSTRIES
Whether Sri Lanka receive the GSP+ concession or not, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he would see the local industries are protected. The President further said, “I cannot betray a whole country for the sake of US $ 150 million.†The President’s statement is an obvious reference to a boast by the opposition United National Party spokesmen that hundreds of apparel factories will be closed down and thousands will be unemployed when the tariff concession by the EU will be stopped over conditions to be attached. A day before, the United National Party leader Ranil Wickramasinghe said... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/09)
BASIL RAJAPAKSA TELLS THAT ARMY LIKE THEY SAVED TAMIL PEOPLE FROM TERRORISM WILL ALSO HELP BUILD THEIR RESETTLEMENTS
Like our army saved the Tamil people from terrorism they will also rebuild their settlements with irrigation tanks , irrigation ducts and roads in a better standard than they ever existed before said Uthuru Wasanthaya Project chairman parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa at a ceremony handing over 101 heavy construction equipment to the army to rebuild the Northern Province infrastructure easing the rapid development and resettlement of the Internally Displaced People in government welfare camps. The equipment imported from the People’s Republic of China on the previous day under the sponsorship of the Ambassador for the People’s Republic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/09/09)
Tiger tamed, lion roars
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Homeland In Tatters sam rajappa President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka could justly take credit for vanquishing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its brand of terrorism which held sway for a little over a quarter century, without yielding an iota of their demands. Sri Lanka perhaps is the only democracy to have eliminated militancy and terrorism by sheer military might with scant regard for civilian casualties. According to Sri Lankan government sources, armed forces of several countries have approached Colombo for special training in counter-terrorism techniques it adopted to tame and eventually eliminate the dreaded... -Full Story- (thestatesman.net - 26/09/09)
How police tracked down LTTE killers
Bengaluru, Sept. 26: On May 21, 1991, a human bomb detonated herself to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. The explosion sent shock waves throughout the world. While everyone within a radius of three feet including the suicide bomber Dhanu was blown to bits, among the debris was a camera that provided the key links to the murder investigation. Among other things, the pictures from the camera pointed to two prime suspects, One-eyed Jack, Sivaresan, the mastermind and Shubha, part of the dreaded Black Tiger team. Both were on the run.... -Full Story- (deccanchronicle.com - 26/09/09)
UN expert visits Sri Lanka war detention camps
Published Date: September 26, 2009 COLOMBO: A UN human rights expert on Friday visited Sri Lanka's military-run detention camps where nearly 300,000 war-displaced civilians have been held since the country's civil war ended four months ago. Walter Kaelin, the UN secretary-general's representative for the human rights of internally displaced persons, visited camps in northern Vavuniya and Mannar districts, said Sulakshani Perera, spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency.... -Full Story- (kuwaittimes.net - 26/09/09)
LTTE sniper unit head arrested in Vavuniya
Vavuniya Police arrested a youth suspected to be the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) sniper unit in the afternoon of September 24, The Island reported. Police said that after interrogating the suspect they were able to recover a sniper gun hidden in a forest in the Asikulam area of Vavuniya District. Identified as Radha, the suspect had arrived in Vavuniya from Kilinochchi in April this year, just prior to the last battle against the LTTE in Mullaitivu. He had brought an expensive technologically advanced sniper gun with him when he arrived in Vavuniya, Police investigations had... -Full Story- (satp.org - 26/09/09)
DINESH PUTS RANIL WICKRAMASINGHE INTO A TIGHT SPOT WHEN HE CHALLENGED HIM TO DENY THAT HE HAD NOT MADE FALSE STATEMENTS AGAINST SRI LANKA REGARDING GSP+
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasingha was visibly embarrassed when he was put into a tight corner by Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena who challenged him to deny whether he had not made a false statement against Sri Lanka when the legislature discussed the GSP+ yesterday. Dinesh said when such complaints are made it is against the hundreds of thousands (whose jobs become risky at the cost of such false statements)and it is extremely unfair. (What he meant was if GSP+ is denied and factories are closed thousands suffer) Replying Wickremasinghe said if he made such statements the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
US PSYCHIATRIST ELLYN SHANDER PREVENTED FROM ENTERING INDIA AND SHE SPEAKS IN NEW DELHI BY A TAPE AND ATTACKS INDIAN GOVERNMENT
United States psychiatrist and pro-LTTE propagandist Ellyn Shander has been prevented from entering India to speak about what she claims as genocide in Sri Lanka. The meeting has been organized by an organization called Delhi Tamil Students Union, allegedly having connections with leading LTTE supporters in India, like Vaiko, leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Shander was scheduled to fly to India with the possession of a valid visa to visit the country on September 11 but on September 10 the Indian government withdrew the visa visibly agitating her supporters like Vaiko to accuse India... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Iniquitous duplicity of western policy
It was in the midst of the recent Afghan polls, which have become a worry to President Obama in convincing US citizens of the needs for the US to be more involved in Afghanistan, and indeed for the same reasons for Gordon Brown too, that German Officers of the NATO Command there called for US air support to retrieve two fuel tankers hi-jacked by the Taliban. The air attacks that followed killed more than 60 civilians, which led to the US Commander there making the usual apology and promising an inquiry. Condemned... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
SRI LANKA POLICE IS SEEKING TO ARREST LEADING LTTE FIGURE GIRI ALIAS GIRIDARAN WANTED FOR A SERIES OF TERRORIST ACTIVITIES
Sri Lanka police is on the look out for a leading Tamil Tiger rebel called Giri who is believed to be roaming around the Capital city of Colombo. The police have provided a hot line phone number to report on him if anyone knows his whereabouts. The Police intelligence during the last few days have successfully traced five female suicide bombers , with explosives etc near Vavuniya. One of the first two whose houses were surrounded committed suicide by biting a vial of cyanide. The last three provided information about others. Defense authorities are also... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
US report violates Sri Lanka’s rights and sovereignty
A U.S. State Department report on the war in Sri Lanka was presented to the US Congress on Monday, without giving Sri Lanka the right of being heard on the report, prior to being presented. Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US had reportedly been kept informed of the presentation, though it appears Sri Lanka’s comments and observations if any had not been obtained by the US executive before making the report to its legislature. Content is vague The contents of the report are not clear. But what is clear is that, no US official... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Is India Secular?
 There is always a big gap between theory and practice; same is the case with Indian Constitution and governance. Indian Constitution is secular in spirit and if implemented truly, India would be an ideal country to live in especially for minorities both religious as well as linguistic. However, in reality this ideal situation is lacking in India and all the successive governments of India hardly paid any attention to minority rights and issues. This situation has led to the suppression of minorities in almost all walks of life in addition to majority violence against... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Muslims’ Rights in India
 The Indian government has finally rejected a recommendation of the Sachar Committee to create Indian Wakf Services on the lines of the Civil Services to appoint officers to boards that manage Muslim religious and community properties. Although Minority Affairs Ministry has filed an application to find out for the reasons the rejection of the recommendation but the fate of this application would not be different from those being rejected since the division of Indian subcontinent into Pakistan and India. According to presently enforced Wakf Act of 1995, only Muslim officers from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
IDP facilities in Vavuniya: UN Envoy satisfied
Meets officials in Vanni:
Bandula Seneviratne Vavuniya North Group Corr. United Nations Special Representative of IDPs and Human Rights Dr. Walter Kalin expressed full satisfaction about the facilities provided for displaced persons by the Sri Lanka Government. Dr. Kalin visited the Menikfarm Kadirgamar Welfare Centre in Chettikulam, Vavuniya on an inspection tour yesterday. Kalin who arrived in the village in an SLAF helicopter around 11 a.m. yesterday was welcomed by Vavuniya Government Agent P.S.M. Charles and Vanni Security Forces Commander Major General Kamal Gunaratne and other officials. Kalin who also inspected the vocational training centre at Kadirgamar village said he is personally satisfied with... -Full Story- (Daily News - 25/09/09)
Sri Lanka woos tourists with attractive packages
The growing popularity of Sri Lanka among Indian travellers can be gauged by the high passenger numbers on flights between India and the island nation. SriLankan Airlines, which operates three flights a day from Chennai, apart from daily services from Bangalore, Tiruchi, New Delhi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, clocks about 75 per cent load factor on all the Indian sectors. “There has been a real boom (of passengers) into Sri Lanka from May this year. Even on lean days, the average passenger occupancy on flights is about 65 per cent,†says Mr Sharuka Wickrama Adittiya, Manager (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka), SriLankan... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 25/09/09)
Residual effects remain: Wickremanayake
B. Muralidhar Reddy COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told the Asia Society on Friday that rebuilding Sri Lanka after 25 years of war would, among other things, require preventing a resurgence of the LTTE. “Sri Lanka suffered for almost three decades of destruction from terrorism by the LTTE. Residual effects and related problems remain,†Mr. Wickremenayake told the Society.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 25/09/09)
A 'patriotic' loan
After years of refusing to become tied to the strings attached to IMF monies, Sri Lanka has agreed to a massive new loan. But will it be enough to lift the economy from its current morass? Marcin Bondarowicz After several months of prevarication, on 24 July the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board approved its largest single line of credit ever offered to Sri Lanka. The staggering USD 2.6 billion loan is significantly higher than the initial request of USD 1.9 billion, and its magnitude is best appreciated through comparison with the island’s total foreign debt of USD 12.5 billion,... -Full Story- (himalmag.com - 25/09/09)
Toronto Eelam
By: Dave Besseling With the largest numbers of Sri Lankan Tamils outside the island, dreams of a separate Tamil homeland are still nurtured in Canada. In Toronto’s east end, Scarborough, what some call the ‘real capital of Eelam’, a few expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils continue to attach LTTE flags to their cars as others would a local ice-hockey team’s pennant. The LTTE was listed as a terrorist organisation in Canada in 2006, but flying its flag is not considered a criminal offence. “There is a fundamental difference between expressing freedom of speech under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and... -Full Story- (himalmag.com - 25/09/09)
Distorted history leads to unworkable solutions – Part II
 Now that Robert O’Blake is back in his home base after leaving Sri Lanka, he has fallen into what William Pfaff calls the “policy community and the newspaper editorial pages, with nothing original or questioning†the conventional wisdom recycled within it. This “policy community†consists of ex-diplomats like Teresita Schaffer, Director of the South Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)  and think-alike Tweedledums and Tweedledees from academia, armed forces etc.  From time to time, they also invite handpicked guest speakers from crisis-ridden nations like Sri Lanka and project them as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
The return of the Ugly Americans to Sri Lanka – Part I
On September 17, 2009 American Ambassadress, Patricia Butenis, appears before President Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo and presents her credentials. On the same day in Washington Robert O. Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs informs Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Washington, Jaliya Wickremasuriya, that a report prepared under his watch, criticizing the way the Sri Lankan forces waged the most successful counter-terrorist operation against the LTTE, will be presented to the US Congress on Monday (September 21). This is no accident. It is not even a coincidence. This is a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Dr.Ellyn Shander MD: India withdraws visa and refuses to let her in
September 24, 2009 Dr. Ellyn Shander MD     Psychiatrist – New Cannan Connecticut US Dear Ellyn Shander: Well…well…well, what do you know? I just read a Colombo Page News Desk Report that, “The Indian Government has issued a look Out Circular (LOC) against Dr. Ellyn Shander, an American Doctor who is a known Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam sympathizer. India’s Home Ministry on Tuesday has issued the LOC against Dr. Shander, who is a close friend of ardent LTTE supporter in Tamil Nadu, Pazha Nedumaran is to address a meeting at India Islamic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
PRESIDENT SAYS TRAITORUS ELEMENTS ARE CONSPIRING TO TAKE THE VERY PEOPLE WHO FREED THEIR MOTHERLAND FROM A TYRRANY
President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared from his ancestral home at Medamulana in Hambantota that he was prepared to go before any war crimes tribunal on behalf of his valiant soldiers who freed the motherland from a tyranny, for being the commander in chief of them. This was an obvious reference to a report submitted to the US Congress criticizing Sri Lanka’s counter terrorism operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which the FBI has identified as the most dangerous and deadly terrorist outfit in the world. Rajapaksa said a dangerous situation has arisen as plans are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
THREE LTTE FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERS HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AT VAVUNIYA
Sri Lanka’s Police Chief Jayantha Wickramaratne revealed at a police awards ceremony yesterday that detectives have nabbed three more female suicide bombers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) within the last 24 hours. This is the second time the former suicide bombers of the LTTE have been detected during a brief period. Due to information obtained in Galle police detectives surrounded a house in Settikulam but one of them committed suicide by biting a cyanide capsule. But the three suicide bombers yesterday could be arrested alive. Due to information divulged by them suicide kits,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Sri Lanka has eliminated terrorism, but other forms of terrorism assails Sri Lanka. It is time for all patriots specially those among the Tamils, to wake up to defend the motherland.
 During the period that Sri Lanka was constantly menaced by a ruthless group of terrorists causing wanton massacres, murders, and assassinations, Sri Lanka was all alone to defend herself. The International Community stood by a mere observer calling the government to negotiate a peace settlement, while the terrorists were of one track mind for the creation of a Tamil Eelam, making a sham of negotiations.  The Government could not possibly negotiate with a ruthless group of terrorists to come to a settlement to give a part of its territory for them to set up an Eelam. But... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
SOMA KUMARI TENNEKOON DEAD
Soma Kumari Tennekoon, a leading campaigner for the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party, died while campaigning for her party in the Southern Provincial Council elections. She died of a heart attack at the Hambantota Hospital after suddenly taken ill during the campaign. Soma, who is a member of the Wayamba Provincial Council and a former parliamentarian was 47 when she passed away. She is the daughter of the late Mudiyanse Tennekoon who was popularly known as the Podi putha being the youngest member of the 1956 parliament.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Letter to the Editor - Patients’ rights
It is heartening to hear that there will be a meeting of eminent personalities for the patient’s rights on Saturday the 26th. One of the rights of the patients which is totally disregarded by the doctors is the tight to seek treatment wherever they want to. Often if a patient has been treated at private nursing homes the government doctors refuse the follow up of these patients. Sometime the patients are treated free by NGO organized clinics and even then this abuse seems to be happening. For eg. We get at least 2000... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Single drops of water make the mighty economy
The 2009 Southwest monsoon has finally arrived in many parts of the countryâ€â€ÂÂwith a vengeance in several placesâ€â€ÂÂleading to flash floods and loss of lives. With images of rain and news of reservoirs getting filled up pouring down TV sets, our macro-economists are seemingly clueless about the damage the delayed and deficient monsoon will cause. Agriculture plays a marginal role in the nation’s gdp numbers and so, even if the crops fail, it will not make a dent in the growth rate, they say. Then the stock market is going up, all growth fundamentals are sound. In any case, the... -Full Story- (downtoearth.org.in - 24/09/09)
Why this insane desire to wards nakedness?
Amazing and disgusting news today (Daily Mirror 25.9.2009) that there is move to organize Hiking in the nude in Harz mountain in Germany. Why is this desire for nakedness in today’s world? We see this even in Srilanka now- the youngsters and sometime even the not so young – seem to be wearing less and less. What we wore as the lingerie seems to be the dress of choice at today’s parties! Even the saree is worn with the breasts exposed. Recently there was a spectacle of wedding dress at a bridal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/09/09)
Visionary Warnings In Hindsight Need To be Heeded As The Nation Re-Builds! Fictitous Captions About Human Rights Violations Need To Be Trashed!
Sept 24th 2009 In response to recent item captioned English, Peace and Conflict, Politics, Post-War by Dr. P. Saravanamuttu where he suggests somewhat prudently that"The war it seems is not over, the international conspiracies to save Prabhakaran and the LTTE are now said to have morphed into a conspiracy to destabilize the government, initiate regime change and charge its leading lights and war heroes with war crimes.' there seems to be almost a tone of extra sensory perception to the theme as though this is something he envisions towards the detriment of the Rajapaksha Administration... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
DON’T CRY FOR US……..IDP’S
The so called international community and a few disgruntled Sri Lankan NGO’ voices are making a mockery out of the situation of IDP’s again. Once the Channel 4 Video allegation melted into thin air along with Mr Solheim and Professor Alston the IDP issue is back on the agenda. Surely, there must be a limit to this duplicitous talk on the part of the good Samaritans who are venting their pent up animosity towards the GOSL for not heeding their call to halt the war. If you have you’re a brain where it ought to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
Ranaviru Contributions by Australians
23 September 2009 Editor Lankaweb Dear Sir, Patriotic Sri Lankans in Australia, through WASPUR in Perth have contributed over SLRs 25 lakhs for the welfare of our Ranaviruwan and their families in the last two years. Their latest contribution of SLrs 13 lakhs is presently being utilized for contributions to deserving families of fallen heroes, artificial prosthesis for disabled soldiers and Special Medical equipment for Army Hospital Colombo. The previous contributions were used to by mattresses for the front line in Mannarama,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
BEFORE THE LTTE MILITARY DEBACLE ON MAY 19 NEITHER PRABHAKARAN NOR HIS SON CHARLES ANTHONY WAS WORRIED SAYS HINDUSTAN TIMES
Days before the military debacle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)both the terrorist group leader V.Prabhakaran and his son Charles Anthony were not worried about the coming disaster as they pinned hopes about the United States coming to their rescue. The Hindustan Times said quoting an unnamed Sri Lankan military official that according to a conversation they had come across between Prabhakaran’s son Charles Anthony and Kumaran Pathmanabhan (KP) days before May 19 either Prabhakaran or Charles was not worried as they firmly believed the United States would come to their help. "Charles told... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
Right of reply exercised by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights To issues raised under Item 3 of the Agenda of the Human Rights Council: Civil, political, economic, social, cultural rights and right to development
Sri Lanka is disturbed by the intervention of a single Non-Governmental Organization that detracted from the generally high standard of debate under this Item in pursuing its relentless vendetta against the Sri Lankan state. In the present context of seeking reconciliation however it seems best not to respond in kind, but instead to discuss in this context some of the contextual issues raised by some countries. In particular Mr President we need to consider the issue of Freedom of Expression, which we all see as one of the most important Rights we... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
Statement of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights in the general debate under Item 4 of the Agenda of the Human Rights Council: Human Rights situations that require the Council’s attention
Sri Lanka appreciates the concerns about Sri Lanka expressed by countries participating in this debate and records its appreciation, with regard to our efforts to recover from the damage caused by terrorism, of the support and assistance of our neighbours and friends who stood by us in our struggle whilst affirming their concern for an inclusive solution to our problems. We note the importance in the process of recovery of respect for a) Basic principles of human rights along with the basic principles of law b) National security concerns c) National reconciliation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
Right of Reply exercised by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights to issues raised under Item 4 of the Agenda of the Human Rights Council: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention
Sri Lanka regrets the disinformation purveyed by some Non-Governmental Organizations in the course of the debate on Item 4 of the Agenda of the Human Rights Council. Sadly we seem to have abandoned traditional values, or rather Christian values and the Ten Commandments, but the Prophet Moses would surely have spanked, if only metaphorically, those organizations that persistently bear False Witness as part of their relentlessly vindictive campaign against the Sri Lankan State. To deal with just a few areas of disinformation, we are sorry that there are so many allegations of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
SRI LANKAN SENTENCED TO 2 ½ YEAR JAIL TERM FOR HUMAN SMUGGLING IN THE CARIBBEAN SEAS TO US VIRGIN ISLANDS
A Sri Lankan named Sibaskaran Sivanantham was sentence to a two and half years long jail term for being a ring leader of a human smuggling attempt in which ten people were presumed dead when the their boat capsized. Sivanantham received a long jail term with his St.Kitts colleague while the other two (one Sri Lankan) were also convicted with lesser sentences. Although Sivanantham’s lawyer tried to convince the judge that he was only trying to help his fellow Tamils to escape from Sri Lanka as they were suffering due to a war the judge refused... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
GENERALS AND POLITICS
There have been a few Generals who took up to politics in the recent past after retirement from the Sri Lanka Army. Major General Lakshman Algama, Major General Sarath Munasinghe and Major General Janaka Perera are three of them that I can recall to my memory. Major General Sarath Munasinghe after retirement from the Army contested as a People’s Alliance (PA) candidate, won the election and was appointed as the Deputy Speaker. Major General Lakshman Algama and Major General Janaka Perera on the other hand joined the United National Party (UNP) after retirement from... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara: Statesman, patriot and father of free education
The 40th death anniversary of Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara, the father of the free education scheme that brought about a social revolution in Sri Lanka falls tomorrow. A great statesman and patriot, he was one of the galaxy of leaders who led the national movement to obtain independence for our country. Christopher William Wijekone Kannangara was born on October 13, 1884 at Randombe in Ambalangoda. He had his early education at the Weslyan High school, Ambalangoda. He was 12 years, when his father, a native of Loolbedde in the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
A SPECIES IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION
Today I would have liked to speak about the extraordinary “Paz sin Fronteras†(Peace without Borders) Concert held at the José MartàRevolution Square 24 hours ago, but the stubborn reality forces me to write about a danger that threatens not just peace but the survival of our species. The United Nations Organization, whose task is to safeguard the peace, security and rights of almost 200 states that represent more than 6 thousand 500 million inhabitants on our planet, is about to begin the General Assembly debates next Wednesday, with the participation of heads of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
We need to prevent greedy Americans from destroying our biodiversity
Must watch! Indian lady ecologist/physicist talks about how American greed tried to sell the leftover chemicals from WW2 and call it the "Green Revolution" and employ dwarf varieties which meant that there was not enough leftover straw etcto feed the buffalos, which meant that they had to start using tractors from the west! - and lots of other important facts. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3833110324043445440... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/09/09)
Indian fishermen killed in 2 weeks: A blatant lie, says Lanka
by Shamindra Ferdinando Government sources said that a section of the Indian press was making a fresh attempt to discredit the Sri Lanka Navy at the behest of politicians sympathetic to the LTTE. Sources said that this could be part of a campaign against Sri Lanka, now being targeted by several countries and a section of the press over alleged war crimes, human rights violations and suppression of media freedom. An authoritative official told The Island yesterday that there was absolutely no truth in Indian press reports on Tuesday (September 22) that the SLN had killed at least 50 Indian... -Full Story- (The Island - 23/09/09)
Sri Lankan economy to grow by 3.5 per cent: IMF
WASHINGTON: The Sri Lankan economy is projected to grow at three and a half per cent in 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. This is half a per cent more than the IMF's forecast early this year. “Recent economic developments have been stronger than expected,'' the IMF said in a statement following the conclusion of its staff mission to Sri Lanka from September 8 to 22. Noting that inflation remains subdued and is expected to remain in the singl e digits in 2009, the IMF said exports have showed signs of recovery in recent months. Import growth, which... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 23/09/09)
IMF satisfied with Sri Lanka's economic performance
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday welcomed Sri Lanka's economic performance under a 2.6-billion-dollar loan program approved in July, two months after the end of a 37-year civil war. The IMF, in a statement at the conclusion of a two-week staff mission to Colombo, said that "recent economic developments have been stronger than expected." "The government's policy approach has been in line with the program, and performance based on the program's July targets has been broadly satisfactory," the Washington-based institution said.... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 23/09/09)
The ‘monkey act’ at the USIP
 The 28 August presentations by Jehan Perera and Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu at the so-called US Institute of Peace (USIP) revealed many things about these two individuals.  Perera, following a ‘gutless’ analysis about the situation in Sri Lanka, pleaded for the ‘support’ of the international community. He was careful not to mention money though.  Paikiasothy’s motive was obviously similar but was expressed more deceptively, and venomously. With the use of meaningless and hackneyed clichés such as the need to ‘move from post-war to post-conflict situation (a journey of thousand miles it seems!) and ‘empirical reference points’, whatever they could... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Threats from headless Tigers
The government is in an unenviable position. It is under international pressure to do away with anti-terror laws and extraordinary security arrangements in the post-war period. At the same time, the peace lobby claims the LTTE threat is not yet over and devolution is the only way to bring about a lasting solution. Some members of the government are also complacent about the security situation. They seem to think that the war is over and everything hunky-dory. Central Province Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa has, as we reported yesterday, called for reducing ministerial security and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
INDIA TO ASSIST SRI LANKA TO REPAIR AND RESTORE KKS HARBOUR
Sri Lanka has sought the assistance of India to rehabilitate and repair the important Northern harbor of kankesanturai (KKS). In a recent meeting held at the Indian High Commission in Colombo the Sri Lanka Ports Authority submitted a list of assistance Sri lanka is expecting from her Northern neighbor to make the harbor fully suitable for navigation for her ships. First, the KKS harbor was damaged by the Tsunami and thereafter due to the security situation the harbor could not be fully restored. The Sri Lankan Army captured the harbor from the control of the LTTE... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
RAMCO LANKA PRIVATE LTD DONATES FIVE MILLION TO ‘APIWENUWEN API’ AND ANOTHER FIVE MILLION TO THE PRESIDENT’S FUND
P.R.Subramanearajha , Chairman of Ramco Lanka (Private) Limited donated Rupees five million Rupees for the very ambitious housing project for the soldiers of Sri Lanka, Api Wenuwen Api and another five million Rupees for the President’s Fund at a brief ceremony to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Minister Kumara Welgama were present at the ceremony.  Ramco industries is an india based company and the Ramco Lanka is a wholly owned subsidiary through which the Indian Company’s overseas business operates.  Sri Ramco Lanka (Private ) ltd produces Fiber Cement sheets in Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
ONE OF TWO SUICIDE BOMBERS KILLS HERSELF BY CYANIDE
When the special investigations unit of the police acting on information provided by a LTTE female terrorist at Galle Police, arrested two suicide bombers at Vavuniya one woman committed suicide by biting a cyanide capsule. The dead woman has been identified as K. Gauri (31). Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkakra ,the military spokesman said, a special team of investigators were sent to Punthottam in Vavuniya to arrest the two suicide bombers but one suspected bomber committed suicide by cyanide while being about to be questioned. In Vavuniya they surrounded the house of the LTTE pistol gang member, Neruppu... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Letter to the Editor - Beware of tricksters
One of my patients came a little late one day and apologized saying she had to go to the police station. When inquired she said when she was getting out of the church, two men have come in a three wheeler and asked her to get in saying that she has to go to the police station.  They have also told her to remove the gold chain she was wearing and to put it into the handbag she was carrying. After driving for little distance they have said it is not necessary and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
“We in Sri Lanka, with the dawn of peace and the improving investor-friendly policies, are experiencing a surge in the economic activities in the countryâ€ÂÂÂ- Hon. H.R. Mithrapala, Minister of Consumer Services
For the first time, at the annual meetings of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member States will begin with a two-day High-Level Ministerial Segment, deliberating on the importance of intellectual property (IP) in policy-making and development spheres. The High-Level Segment, which began today and continues on September 23, brought together over forty Ministers and hundreds of high level delegates.  Addressing the Assemblies of Member States, the head of Sri Lanka delegation, Hon. H.R. Mithrapala, Minister of Consumer Services reiterated Sri Lanka’s full cooperation with the WIPO and urged all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Why do People become Politicians
Today’s editorial of Daily Mirror (22/9/2009) speaks volumes of why the people of Srilanka want to become politicians – what the writing does not tell, tells ample about the true state of our politicians. Yes, the very one that should be topping the list, that is to serve the motherland is not there in the list at all! Yes this is the truth and it is so well known and accepted that it may be superfluous to state it. But then, are we to let it be so? How long can we... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Media should spread proper information about HIV/AIDS
The media, while avoiding sensationalism in reporting on HIV/AIDS, should play a proactive role and disseminate the proper and correct information regarding different aspects of the sensitive issue, argued V.S. Bhaskar, IAS (Commissioner & Secretary to Health & F.W. Department, Government of Assam). Inaugurating a State level advocacy workshop at Guwahati Press Club on 22nd September, he however appreciated the role of media in making people aware of HIV/AIDS in Assam. The day long media workshop was organized by the Assam State AIDS Control Society (ASACS) in association with the press club, where good number of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Sri Lanka and Fiji seek wider areas for bilateral exchanges
Foreign Minister Bogollagama proposed that Sri Lanka and Fiji seek wider areas for bilateral exchanges in human resources in the fields of legal and medical services and technical cooperation, in keeping with Sri Lanka’s policy of a more Asia centric focus on international cooperation, when the Foreign Minister of Fiji, Ratu Inoke Kabuabola called on him today (21/09) in New York. The Fijian Foreign Minister was thankful for the six Sri Lankan judges who had been recruited to serve in Fiji when their Chief Justice had visited Sri Lanka. They exchanged views... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
A meeting to discuss on Justice System in Sri Lanka and China With Minister and CJ
A meeting to discuss on the common features in the administration of Justice System in Sri Lanka and China, where there could be a common approach between the two countries, was held at the Chamber of the Chief Justice in the Superior Court Complex. The meeting also centered round the Superior Court Complex which was donated by the Chinese Government as a token of friendship between the two Countries. Here Chief Justice Asoka De Silva and Minister of Justice and Law Reforms Milinda Moragoda are seen discussing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
"A conspiracy of/in Silence"
The Editor Lankaweb Congratulations to Dr D Chandraratne's  (Australia) excellent letter of 17 Sept 09. It was both concise and clear. Sections of the ruling clique of the western world will continue to shamelessly give succour to the miserable remnants of the eelam terrorists because they still can't accept and believe that despite their machinations to save the leadership of the killer gang, the magnificent soldiers, sailors and airmen of Sri Lanka's security forces backed by solid, undiluted political will, pulled off a stunning victory against enormous odds. According to these bleeding hearts, who were with their... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Sri Lanka: Prof. Philip Alston's comments on Australian radio
September 21, 2009 Prof. Philip Alston UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions c/o OHCHR-UNOG 1211 Geneva Switzerland. Dear Professor Alston: I have been following your contentious involvement on the Channel 4 video clip with immense interest, which alleges Sri Lankan soldiers shooting Tamils. There have been so many opinions on this story and I am particularly trying to understand why this good Professor is trying to profess to the Sri Lankans that he is indeed God and no Humbug when it comes to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
PRESIDENT TELLS WOMEN ORGANIZATION ACTIVISTS SOME REACTIONARY FORCES WANT TO SEND THOSE WHO SAVED THE COUNTRY TO GALLOWS
President Mahinda Rajapaksa told more than 3000 women’s organization activists and representatives of Galle District assembled at the Temple Trees premises in Colombo that the country could be saved because of mothers who gave their sons to the nation to serve as soldiers but the reactionary forces today want to send them to gallows branding them as war criminals. “A time has come before you to teach them and the international forces who back them up a good lesson and to give an appropriate replyâ€ÂÂÂ, said the President in an obvious reference to the Southern Province... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/09/09)
Doubting the morality of International relations: A healthy suspicion of the Sri Lankan mind
The drama of international relations played in the portals of Colombo has done all of us a favour. And that is the suspicion and doubt that it has created in the minds of thinking people. The aggressiveness of diplomacy in the past few months have prompted us to question the validity of theories, assumptions and conjectures propounded by academics, pundits and many others on inter state relations. It can be called an awakening from our centuries of slumber, or ignorance, gullibility, slavish mentality and many more. Sri Lankans, the intellectuals in particular, must be happy that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/09)
ARCHBISHOP MALCOM RANJITH CALLS UPON EUROPEAN UNION TO CONTINUE WITH THE GSP+ CONCESSION TO SRI LANKAN EXPORTS
Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Dr. Malcolm Ranjith in a press release yesterday called upon the EU nations to continue granting the GSP+ concessions to Sri Lanka. He said after a brutal history of 30 years conflict the concessions granted on exports to the EU is vital to return to normalcy. “We therefore, appeal to the European Community to be strongly pro-active in its approach to Sri Lanka which has a proud history of close links with them and needs to get back to normalcy soon, he said. Excerpts of the press release: “For quite sometime... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/09)
Dear Angilee Shah, research more and perhaps preach to an audience closer home
 I agree with "Ms Shah ought to research more - and perhaps preach to an audiance closer home..." Comments they sent me on your report 'Colombo's Rough Justice for Tamils' at http://www.feer.com/essays/2009/september51/colombos-rough-justice-for-tamils I hate to sound cynical but in Sri Lanka the biggest joke is one saying that they can not find a lawyer. There are qualified lawyers at every street corner ready, able and willing to represent anyone remotely defendable. What is not possible is to defend the indefensible. Terrorism is a terrible menace that the Americans only experienced for a day. On the experience... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/09)
OPEN LETTER TO INDIAN LOKH SABAH
Indian High Commissioner, Sri Lanka, Please deliver this open letter to Indian Lokh Sabah members and Tamil Nadu State parliamentarians. My dear Indian Lokh Sabah members and Tamil Nadu State Parliamentarians, Finally the cat is out of the bag. Retired Pakistani Army General reveals to the world that India’s RAW is involved with the Moombai Terrorist attack and Terrorist attack on Sri Lankan Cricketers in Lahore, Pakistan. Together with the RAW’s involvement with the Tamil Tiger Terrorists LTTE in terrorist activities in Sri Lanka India is making the region destabilise and terror ridden. INDIA’S... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/09)
Trekking 830 feet in to the Interior of the Earth: Carlsbad Mystery:
Sept.5.2009. It was the 5th day of September year 2009. It was the day on which I descended 850 feet deep down in to the interior of the earth for the first time in life. Among my companions were my wife, son-in law and Nishanthi, the six year little girl, in a group of about thirty people of different ages, ranging from year old to, late seventies, who had come from different parts of the USA, conducted by a tour guide of the Carlsbad National Park Service ranger. Incidentally this adventurous tour to the interior also... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/09)
ISLAND OF GEMS -AN EXHIBITION ON GEMS AND GEM INDUSTRY OF SRI LANKA [14TH. SUCCESSIVE YEAR]
The above exhibition is to be held for the 14th, successive year organized by D.H. Ariyaratna FGA, DGA, FGS. a British qualified gemmologist T/A Sri Lanka Gems. This year’s exhibition will be held from the 24th and 25th. October 2009 (Saturday and Sunday) at Mostyn Hotel Marble Arch, Bryanston Road London W1H 7BY nearest underground station Marble Arch (Central line).  Mr.D.H. Ariyaratna, who has written many books on the subject of gems and the gem industry of Sri Lanka,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/09/09)
US Policy, HR violations and war crimes - 'Pot calling kettle black'
Mohammed Noordin, Indonesia's militant leader and ally of Al-Qaida who masterminded a string of terrorist attacks across the Indonesian region for 7 years was killed with 3 of his aides on 18th September. He had been responsible for the Mariott Hotel bombing in 2003 which killed a number of foreign tourists and for the Australian Embassy attack. He led the 'Bali bombing' with 3 suicide bombers in 2005 killing more than 20 and seriously injuring nearly 200 who were mostly American, British and Australian tourists. In July the same year he blasted the famous 'Twin Hotels' and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/09)
See the US War crimes on Iraq
http://www.albasrah.net/warcrimes.htm... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/09)
One bn dollar Iranian credit line extended
Shamindra Ferdinando With the second tranche of USD 2.6 billion IMF facility due in several weeks, Sri Lanka has received a mega boost by Iran extending an interest free credit facility for the purchase of Iranian crude oil. The two countries finalised the agreement on September 3 in Teheran. Treasury Chief Sumith Abeysinghe yesterday told The Island that Major General (retd) Asoka Thoradeniya, Chairman of the CPC had signed the agreement on behalf of Sri Lanka with the National Iranian Oil Corporation, an Iranian government subsidiary.... -Full Story- (The Island - 20/09/09)
Language and Infrastructure issues: barriers to Sri Lanka’s progress
I am a Sri Lankan Engineer presently based in South East Asia. My daughter who is also working in a South East Asian country was interested in outsourcing some IT work to Sri Lanka. A local company was contacted and asked to send CVs of key people involved, with a view to interviewing over the phone. Some mobile phone numbers were given and on the appointed day attempts were made to call the candidates. Two of them could not be contacted due to system problems in Sri Lanka. The third was contacted, but the line was not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/09)
Journey of a Journalist (Part 4AB) -PILING HIGH AND DEEP IN JOURNALISMâ€â€ÂÂDOING THE MA AND PHD
My aim was to become a journalist-scholar although my childhood ambition was to be a “renowned statesman.†(Well, aren’t statesmen a breed of scholars?) I was determined to enrich my journalistic skills with a sound understanding of the “social science†of mass communicationâ€â€Â“the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time.†It involves, inter alia, “the study of media institutions and processes such as diffusion of information, and media effects such as persuasion or manipulation of public... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/09)
Journey of a Journalist (Part 4C) -PILING HIGH AND DEEP IN JOURNALISMâ€â€ÂÂAN EXCURSUS
I returned to Ceylon on Aug. 14, 1971â€â€ÂÂfive years after I left on the WPI fellowship. More than six months later, on Feb. 27, 1972, after collecting all the data I needed, I left Ceylon for the second time to land in America to complete my quest for the degree of doctor of philosophy in a hybrid field yet unfamiliar to many. [N.B.: The dominion of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka on May 22, 1972â€â€ÂÂless than three months after my departure.]  From my 1971-72 clippings Clippings of letters and articles I wrote to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/09/09)
Sri Lanka raises 23 mln dollars for ex-combatants
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka is seeking foreign money for an ambitious plan to rehabilitate tens of thousands of former Tamil Tiger rebels and has already collected 23 million dollars, officials said Sunday. Britain, Japan, the United States have already given money through the International Organisation for Migration, justice ministry spokesman Gamini Godakanda said. Already 3,000 ex-rebels are being trained in plumbing, masonry, carpentry and electrical work at three centres. The government wants to increase the number of training facilities to 20, officials said.... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 20/09/09)
Brows raised as Rajapaksa sends Premier to New York
B. Muralidhar Reddy COLOMBO: The decision of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to skip the 64th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York commencing on Monday has raised brows in the diplomatic and political circles here. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake is leading the delegation. Observers here feel that his absence at the Summit of heads of state in New York would be highly conspicuous as since the military defeat of the LTTE in May Colombo has assiduously worked to market the message across the globe that terrorism could be defeated. “New York would have provided the ideal platform... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 20/09/09)
Sri Lankan friends bridge ethnic divide
Monday, 21 September 2009, 10:08 am Press Release: UNICEF Sri Lankan friends bridge ethnic divide for children in need Wellington, 21 September 2009. -- A group of young friends, made up of the two main ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, have put aside historic ethnic differences to organise a street appeal in Wellington to support UNICEF's work for children in Sri Lanka. They expect up to 100 collectors to be on the streets of central Wellington on Thursday 24 September.... -Full Story- (scoop.co.nz - 20/09/09)
PRESIDENT TELLS NO SOLDIER WHO HEEDED HIS ORDERS TO LIBERATE TWO PROVINCES NEED TO WORRY AS HE TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY
President Mahinda Rajapaksa said no soldier who heeded his orders as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka to liberate the Northern and Eastern Province needs to worry as he was prepared to take the full responsibility of those orders and appear before any judiciary on their behalf. The President was addressing state bank officials and youth representatives of the Galle District in the Temple Trees premises in Colombo, yesterday. The President reminded the gathering the two provinces which were under the jack boot of the terrorists by sacrificing the precious lives... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
FINDING A SABER TOOTH AMONGST TOOTHLESS……….
Rober O’Blake’s new office has become an open ground bunker for toothless, perhaps US understands the toothless can be useful to gain their lost objectives if they can become a Saber Tooth to lead the failed wrong course. The void which left open since the closure of Subic and Clark bases in Philippines and failing to find a another Marcos in South Asia worrying US for long time although Diego Garcia is only a base not a allied regime to America. Their dream of bagging Afghanistan too getting very remote and today it has become a nightmare... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
Comments by Lynn Pascoe of UN
September 20, 2009 Bishop John Arnold  Diocese of Westminster  Vaughan House 46 Francis Street   London SW1P 1QN Dear Bishop Arnold: On September 16, I wrote you in response of your combined statement with Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield in which you called on the Government of Sri Lanka to allow the displaced Tamils to return home after visiting the camps, having gained a rare insight into life in the post-conflict camps. I reacted with amazement for your lack of patience knowing very well that the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
ASIA MUST QUIT CORRUPT UNO FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Barack Obama during his presidential election campaign expressed his opinion to shut down the UNO and replace it with NATO with the wider international participation. Obama was not happy with the UNO of its corrupt behaviour of the people in influensive positions. Obama realised that the use by date of the UNO is very close. UNO was formed after the Second World War when the USSR and the USA were the super powers. Today the world has taken a totally different outlook with USSR becoming non super power, balkanising Yugoslavia, India and China... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
INVESTMENT FIRM CHAIRMAN SAYS PROFITS FROM SRI LANKA INVESTMENTS COULD BE THREE FOLD EARNING 35 PERCENT
Roman Scot, Managing Director of Colamender, a Singapore based investment firm recently told a Singaporean TV channel that the profits through investments in Sri Lanka in certain areas he proposes would be three fold, earning about thirty five percent returns. Responding to a query as to why anybody should be investing in Sri Lanka Scot said, even during the civil war that ended in last May ,the island nation’s GDP stood at 6.6 and their fervent hope is that it would reach 9 percent due to the peaceful atmosphere that had returned to the country. Due... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
UN Under-Secretary tells Minister Bogollagama: No ‘torch carrying’ for LTTE in UN system ‘Engagement with Sri Lanka to continue:
The United Nations Under-Secretary General for political Affairs Lynn Pascoe told Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama that there was ‘no torch carrying’ for the LTTE in the UN system and the UN was keen to continue its engagement with Sri Lanka. The meeting between the UN Under Secretary and Foreign Minister Bogollagama took place at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The Foreign Minister outlined the progress made so far and in particular referred to the recently concluded elections in the North, the ongoing family reunification programs, resettlement, enabling children in the IDP welfare villages and ex-combatants to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
A big conspiracy: Channel 4 video an absolute fake - Experts
It is said that proving a baseless allegation or a lie is more difficult than creating a lie. In this hi-tech era creating a false allegation through digitally improved versions needs lots of efforts. The most controversial ‘lie’ of the UK based TV channel - the Channel 4 - may have to face the same scenario after airing the alleged video footage that tarnished the image of the Sri Lanka government and its Army which waged a professional war to defeat the deadly LTTE. With the recent announcement of the US based LTTE... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
A Victim of Friendship Charms
 Nepal is a tiny mountainous state in the lap of mighty Himalayas – a stretch of land of about 500 miles width and 100 miles long dwelled by melting pot of migrating hordes from the Indian plains and Tibetan plateau. After partition of India, its monarchy’s continued to enjoy independent status under semi-colonial domination of India. The terrorism in Nepal actually stems from threat emanating from the inner psychological conflicts lurking in the minds of Nepalese; out of their fear of falling under the control of the Indians.  India considers herself the only heir of British colonialism... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/09/09)
Lanka takes tough stand on adverse campaign
COLOMBO: Taking a tough stand against the anti-Sri Lanka campaign being carried out by western countries, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday warned that Lanka would not tolerate it but take the matter to the UN. “Whether it is the US, China, Britain or any country we are all members of the UN. When the UN says anything about us we take it seriously. Similarly if big countries, try to bully us we will come to the UN about such matters,†Rajapaksa told B Lynn Pascoe, the visiting UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs. Pascoe had handed over a lett... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 19/09/09)
Colombo Dockyard gets repair orders from Indian co
COLOMBO: Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka's largest engineering facility leading in ship repairs, heavy and offshore engineering, has bagged a contract from Indian shipping company Pratibha Shipping Co for repairing ships. The Indian company had sent two tankers for dry-docking repairs in mid-June and early July, soon after the forces defeated the LTTE in May. The work has since been completed, the company said without mentioning the size of the contract in value terms. Pratibha Shipping, which has a fleet of eight tankers, subsequently has sent a third tanker for repair at the yard in Colombo port recently, the company said.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 19/09/09)
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday told B. Lynn Pascoe, the U.N. Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, that journalist J.S Tissanayagam was given a 20-year prison sentence by a Colombo High Court last month for obtaining funds from the LTTE and being an agent of the LTTE. The Presidential Secretariat said that on concerns articulated by Mr. Pascoe about the journalist’s prison sentence, Mr. Rajapaksa told him that neither he nor the government could interfere with the judiciary. “The sentence was imposed by a court of law and the problem was with the defence, not seeking a reduced... -Full Story- ( - 19/09/09)
SRI LANKA TO BE REPRESENTED BY AN EMINENT QUEEN’S COUNSEL IN ITS CASE AGAINST CHANNEL FOUR , SAYS ATTORNEY GENERAL
Sri Lanka’s Attorney General Mohan Peiris said in London that Sri Lanka will be represented by a team of lawyers to get redress over the country’s complaint against London’s Channel 4 television. “A senior Queen’s Counsel from the Gray’s Inn will be leading the team,†he said before leaving for further consultations with them from the Sri Lanka High Commission in Hyde Park Gardens, London, yesterday. The Attorney General was in London to have consultations with the lawyers before filing an application with a statutory body seeking amends and retracts of a controversial video the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Why Western assault on Sri Lanka?
Recent article by HLD Mahindapala prompted to ponder as to why the Western assault on Heladiva (SL). It is an open book to those who can see the American led West maintaining to dominate the world at any cost. Their subjective might of only physical power of money, armies and weapons are the fore-runner in this venture. The nature of masses can be dominated by sheer physical power, who will surrender on masse to power, makes decent thinking... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
It’s Channel 4 video stupid, again!
The problem with lying is that liars begin to believe in their own lies with the passage of time. This is a pathological condition which the enemies of Sri Lanka have developed. They go on repeating their diabolical lies in the hope that they may be taken for the truth one day as Goebbels said. The Channel 4 video is a case in point. That it is a fake has been established beyond doubt. But, some members of the international community, their hired guns in international organisations and Tiger backers are still demanding that it be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka: Channel 4 video forensic report
September 17, 2009 Prof. Philip Alston  Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Execution                                                                                                                                                                                  United Nations Human Rights Council Geneva, Switzerland Dear Prof. Alston: With all due respect to you, I am not being facetious when I tell you that I had a garrulous laugh with my stomach doing somersaults when I read that you had identified Sri Lanka’s forensic report of the Channel 4 video as not being impartial because a Sri Lankan expert, even though he is well qualified and had been attached to foreign institutions,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
THE DISTANCE A FOUR-LINED ANONYMOUS DEATH THREAT WENT
Anti-government political activist Pakiyasothy Saravanamuttu has admitted in a statement to the Police that the dead threat against him was limited to a four line note mailed to him anonymously that led to a huge newspaper advertisement that conincided with the arrival of an important UN official to the country. President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing ruling party representatives of Galle District said the advertisement has been published in order to get certain strictures imposed against the country so that those could be used as a political weapon against the country by the Opposition. While the four-lined anonymous... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Intervention of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha,Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights in discussion of the Report of the Joint Inspection Unit
Sri Lanka welcomes the Report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the requested follow up to the management review of the Office of the High Commissioner. The Report makes it clear that follow up has in fact been minimal. Recalling that the Review took place in 2003, one is reminded of Yeats’ Wild Swans at Coole, sailing complacently in their shining white plumage across yet another lake. This Council needs therefore to work swiftly and purposefully if another generation is not to see the same swans twenty years later. The Report, Mr... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Alston sings on lying channel
Among the types who are known to rush in where even angels fear to tread is Prof. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the UN on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions. He made great haste to issue his original statement demanding action against Sri Lanka on the basis of the Channel 4 video of alleged “summary executions†of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan “Security Forcesâ€ÂÂÂ, concerning the contents of the video, almost before the Channel 4 presenter could say the material was unverifiable. The truth about this video is now out. It has been made by the LTTE, or those who... -Full Story- (Daily News - 18/09/09)
UN Under-Secretary General Pascoe says he is encouraged by the progress made in the north of Sri Lanka
The United Nations Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe who arrived in Sri Lanka on 16th September 2009, called on Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 17th September 2009. Welcoming Mr. Pascoe and his delegation, Minister Bogollagama explained the work that has been done by the Government of Sri Lanka in various spheres connected to the IDPs and their expeditious re-settlement and thanked the UN for joining Sri Lanka in this process. In terms of the joint statement issued by Sri Lanka and the UN in late May 2009 on... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Wayamba Upahara ceremony felicitated President and valiant forces
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and valiant Armed Forces were felicitated in a colourful ceremony at Panduwasnuwara Raja Maha Viharaya in Kurunegala District, North Central Province on Friday evening, 18th September 2009. This glittering 'Wayamba Upahara' ceremony was organised by grateful people of Wayamba Province for the President, defence Secretary and Armed Forces and their utmost dedication given to save the country from brutal Tamil Tiger terrorism. (Pix By : Sudath Silva) President was honoured by Chief prelate of Kurunegala Ethkanda Viharaya, Bishop of Kurunegala, District Chief Hindu priest (Kurukkal), and Kurunegala chief Maulavi. Defence Secretary Dr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
launch a $23 million programme for “Reintegrating ex-LTTE Cadres into Civilian Life
The Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms is working closely with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to launch a $23 million programme for “Reintegrating ex-LTTE Cadres into Civilian Life.†The governments of Japan, United Kingdom and United States of America have pledged their support for the programme. This initiative also involves a strong public/private partnership, with a number of Sri Lanka’s leading companies providing assistance both in cash and in kind. These include Aitken Spence, Brandix, Ceylon Tobacco, Dilmah, Hayleys, John Keells, MAS Holdings,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Power politics and Maldives
Maldives is a small country comprising of 1191 tiny islands in the Indian Ocean. The population of Maldives is around 300,000 excluding 100,000 workers who are not Maldivians. The Maldivian people are predominately Sunni Muslims. US interests in Maldives has brought the country in the limelight. US Ambassador to Maldives, Robert Blake who is presently doing as US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia has already submitted a report on Maldives to President Barack Hussain Obama in which a legal framework has been drafted to supply weapons and high-tech equipments in order to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka - the true pearl of the orient!
Congratulations to Dr D Chandraratne's  (Australia) excellent letter of 18 Sept 09. It was both concise and clear. Sections of the ruling clique of the western world will continue to shamelessly give succour to the miserable remnants of the eelam terrorists because they still can't accept and believe that despite their machinations to save the leadership of the killer gang, the magnificent soldiers, sailors and airmen of Sri Lanka's security forces backed by solid, undiluted political will, pulled off a stunning victory against enormous odds. According to these bleeding hearts, who were with their blinkers on for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Indian demining teams will expedite resettlement
CHENNAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, that Indian demining teams are in the process of removing mines from Northern Sri Lanka to expedite the process of resettling displaced Tamils. Replying to Karunanidhi’s letters on August 14 and 17, Manmohan said, “We are committed to working on a priority basis for the relief and rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Tamils in northern Sri Lanka.†“We fully share your concern for the welfare and well-being of the displaced Tamil population in Sri Lanka. We have conveyed these concerÂÂÂÂns in no uncertain terms to the Lankan government... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka Hires HSBC, JPMorgan, RBS to Sell Bonds
By Anusha Ondaatjie Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka, which is rebuilding its economy after the end of a 26-year civil war, hired HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Royal Bank of Scotland Plc to sell $500 million of bonds overseas, the South Asian island’s first in two years. The selection was made from among seven banks that submitted proposals to manage the sale planned for October, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said in an e-mailed statement today. The government is seeking to raise funds to build roads, schools and hospitals on the eastern and northern parts... -Full Story- (Bloomberg - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka vows to rehouse displaced Tamils within four months
Pledge comes after UN official Lynn Pascoe denounces 'cramped' welfare camps Sri Lanka's president promised today that a quarter of a million war-displaced Tamil civilians would be released from camps and resettled within four months. Mahinda Rajapaksa made the pledge to Lynn Pascoe, UN under secretary general for political affairs, in a face to face meeting this morning. Pascoe had earlier visited camps and had told local media that "people don't like to live in [these] cramped conditions". Tamil civilians were placed in the camps after the Sri Lankan army wiped out the entire leadership of the separatist Liberation Tigers... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 18/09/09)
UN warning over displaced Tamils
UN warning over displaced Tamils A senior UN envoy says the situation in Sri Lankan camps for Tamils displaced by the recent war is putting reconciliation at risk. Lynn Pascoe, the UN's political chief, was speaking at the end of a two-day visit to the island. Earlier, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he expected 265,000 refugees to be resettled by the end of January.... -Full Story- (BBC - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka’s Stock Market Value Climbs to Record as War Ends
By Pooja Thakur Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan stock market capitalization climbed to a record yesterday as the end of the 26-year civil war boosted stocks, making the island’s benchmark index the best performer in Asia this year. The South Asian country’s Colombo All-Share Index has gained 96 percent this year as the army defeated the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam in May. The Colombo All-Share Index was the region’s third-worst performer in the past two years as record spending on defense strained government finances, and the country sought an International Monetary Fund loan.... -Full Story- (Bloomberg - 18/09/09)
Understand our problems: Colombo
B. Muralidhar Reddy Rajapaksa writes to Ban Ki-moon U.N. envoy meets President, Tamil leaders COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday appealed to the U.N. to understand problems the country faced re-settlement and rehabilitation of nearly three lakh war-displaced. He was responding to a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlining concerns of the international community on the situation of the war-displaced housed in government-run relief camps. The letter was delivered to Mr. Rajapaksa by B. Lynn Pascoe, U.N. Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs. On Friday, he wound up his two-day trip for a firsthand assessment of the post-conflict... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka to resettle 80 pct of refugees by yearend-UN
By Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka still aims to release 70-80 percent of war refugees by the end of year, the U.N. top political official said on Friday, but voiced concern over the lack of freedom in camps for people displaced by fighting. Lynn Pascoe, head of the U.N. political affairs department, was visiting the Indian Ocean island to push for the government to let the refugees go home following its victory in May over separatist Tamil Tiger fighters after 25 years of war. Rights groups have charged that the people in the camps are treated... -Full Story- (in.reuters.com - 18/09/09)
The Sri Lankan government has set out a timetable for the resettlement of people displaced by the war against the Tamil Tigers, which ended in May.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said he expects 265,000 Tamil people to be resettled by the end of January. He said that arrangements are being made for the refugees to get day passes from government camps where they reside so that they can go to work. Mr Rajapaksa told a United Nations envoy he expected the resettlement to be complete by the January deadline. A statement on the government website said he was also sticking to the government's target that most of them - he gave a figure of at least 70% - should be out by late November.... -Full Story- (radionz.co.nz - 18/09/09)
LTTE TO FUNCTION UNDER A FRONT CALLED PTGTE
The US based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader has announced that the LTTE proposed Provisional Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (PTGTE) will function as an organization of the Tamil Diaspora. In the United States, UK, and Canada where there are large communities of Sri Lankan Tamils and where the LTTE is banned as a terrorist organization, the so called PTGTE will function as a front of the old LTTE still carrying on activities aimed at separatism in Sri Lanka. The LTTE leader based in New York, USA Vishuanadan Rudrakumaran has made this announcement in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
“OPPOSITION IS PUBLISHING PAID ADVERTISEMENTS TIMED AT VISIT OF UN OFFICIAL TO GET INTERNATIONAL STRICTURES AGAINST THE COUNTRY†-The President
The Opposition in Sri Lanka is organizing paid advertisements in English newspapers alleging a certain activist has received a threatening letter by mail timing the arrival of a United Nation’s official to get restrictions against Sri Lanka imposed alleged President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing a public meeting. “The ulterior motive of these advertisements is to put the country into difficulties by creating an artificial atmosphere of getting international restrictions imposed and stop credit to the country by lending institutions,†the President said addressing about 5000 ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party electoral leaders and leading party activists of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Lynn Pascoe should be treated as a US representative, not UN
 The Western propaganda machine, the BBC, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and all the ‘wire services’ Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP) in particular, have gone wild with anticipation following the announcement of Lynn Pascoe’s visit to Sri Lanka. As usual, they lied to the world by suggesting that the purpose of the visit was ‘to press the government to release Tamil refugees detained at camps since May’, deliberately withholding the fact that he was invited by President Rajapakse.  Gordon ‘the Gutter Mouth’ Weiss, posing as ‘the UN spokesman for Sri Lanka’, told Al Jazeera: "We hope that it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
A Conspiracy of/in Silence
Much has happened in Sri Lanka in the four months after the demise of the LTTE. No more blood letting, no more claymores’ and no more needless loss of lives. There is more economic activity, people movement, protests, social and cultural activities and a sense of sheer freedom and relief among the populace. The reconstruction effort is fast tracked. Electricity, roads, railways, irrigation canals and de-mining are expedited. Any impartial observer will be surprised by the expeditious manner in which these are taking place. In parts of the Northern Peninsula the electricity distribution alone has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Government of Sri Lanka Responds to Prof Philip Alston on Channel 4 Video
The Government of Sri Lanka welcomes the media statement issued today (17) by Prof. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in which he now acknowledges that the report which was shared with him by the Government leads him to the conclusion that “the views expressed do indeed raise several issues which warrant further investigation before it could reasonably be concluded that the video is authenticâ€ÂÂÂ.  The Government of Sri |Lanka also welcomes Prof. Alston acknowledgement that the government’s investigation has been prompt. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Champions of Terrorism in The World
Interesting developments are taking place around the world in western & Christian circles in the name of humanitarianism in relation post-LTTE war in Sri Lanka which reveals how much they are still licking the wounds of defeat at the hands of Sri Lankan Combined Armed Forces. Now the biggest issue that all of them are fighting for is the release of all held in the IDP camps in Sri Lanka, it is not too difficult to see the “double-tongued†slogans that are being doled out to justify their agitations.  For thirty years Sri Lanka as a country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Statement of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights responding to the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
Sri Lanka welcomes the statement of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and registers again its gratitude that Ms Coomaraswamy made crystal clear, when other branches of the UN seemed to condone this, her condemnation of the LTTE for breaching national and international law in its recruitment of child soldiers.  Now that the conflict is over, and clearer information is emerging of the appalling behaviour of the LTTE in the area they controlled, we trust the United Nations will call to account the UNICEF officials who condoned recruitment of 17... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
LSE ACQUISITION OF LANKA BASED MILLENIUMIT MEANS INDIAN SUBCONTINENT IS FLEXING MUSCLES WITH EUROPE SAYS FINANCIAL TIMES
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) acquisition of the Sri Lanka based MilleniumIT, a company founded by Tony Weerasinghe is a sign that technology groups in the Indian subcontinent are flexing muscles globally, winning business from under the noses of better-known companies in Europe said Financial Times. Writer Jeremy Grant in the financial journal said , the acquisition by the LSE “marks a major milestone for MillenniumIT, which started with 12 employees under Weeresinghe and has often struggled to convince prospective customers that it can compete with well-established rivals.†Another commentator said,†London Stock Exchange Group Plc... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
BRITISH RETAILERS SAY IN ONE VOICE : DO NOT HURT UK RETAILERS AS WELL AS THE SHOPPERS BY REMOVING TRADE CONCESSIONS TO SRILANKA
Britain’s Retailer’s Website urged the European Union not to do away with the GSP Plus concessions to Sri Lanka and hurt british retail traders and customer’s alike who are enjoying the sales of good quality but cheap Sri Lankan garments. The blog said,â€ÂÂÂUK retailers are calling on the European Commission not to penalise Sri Lankan workers or British shoppers in a human rights row.†The British Retail Consortium has warned a threat to remove special tax-free arrangements for cheap, good-quality clothes imported from Sri Lanka could hit flourishing businesses and jobs in the country and put... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Sri Lanka: Allow the IDPs return home
September 16, 2009 Bishop John Arnold Diocese of Westminster V aughan House 46 Francis Street London SW1P 1QN Dear Bishop Arnold: I have just read a Reuter’s report which said: “Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster call for Tamils displaced by civil war to be allowed to return home after visiting camps in Sri Lanka. Two English Catholic bishops have recently returned from Sri Lanka where they gained a rare insight into life in the post-conflict camps. Alongside CAFOD, they... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
Legitimate Tamil national grievances & Tamil homeland?
12 Sep. 09  Legitimate Tamil national grievances & Tamil homeland?  Within the Island Country identified as Sri Lanka the rhetoric about “Tamil grievancesâ€ÂÂÂ, “Tamil homeland struggleâ€ÂÂÂ, “Tamil aspirationsâ€ÂÂÂ, “Tamil languageâ€ÂÂÂ, “Tamil rightsâ€ÂÂÂ, “political solution for Tamilsâ€ÂÂÂ, “Tamil devolutionâ€ÂÂÂ, “Tamil national citizenshipâ€ÂÂÂ, “13th Amendment for Tamil nationalityâ€ÂÂÂ, are about total Tamilization. This heap of words are justifications of a Tamil country.  Hence, is SL the Tamil national country? Or is there a separate Tamil country within SL? Every country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE AGENCY PROMISES FURTHER ASSISTANCE TO SRI LANKA
Antonio Gutteres, head of the United Nation’s Refugee Agency promised Sri Lanka that the agency would further help the island nation in the process of caring and resettling the Internally Displaced Tamil civilians in the North. The United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees did this pledge when Sri Lanka’s Minister of Disaster Management and human Rights ,Mahinda Samarasinghe met him for discussions in Geneva, Samarasinghe said. Gutteres, who is also a former Prime Minister of Portugal was briefed by the Sri Lankan Minister on the progress about the Internally DisplaceD Persons welfare camps and the resettlement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE AGENCY PROMISES FURTHER ASSISTANCE TO SRI LANKA
Antonio Gutteres, head of the United Nation’s Refugee Agency promised Sri Lanka that the agency would further help the island nation in the process of caring and resettling the Internally Displaced Tamil civilians in the North. The United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees did this pledge when Sri Lanka’s Minister of Disaster Management and human Rights ,Mahinda Samarasinghe met him for discussions in Geneva, Samarasinghe said. Gutteres, who is also a former Prime Minister of Portugal was briefed by the Sri Lankan Minister on the progress about the Internally DisplaceD Persons welfare camps and the resettlement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/09/09)
RAHUL GANDHI AVOIDED LAND TRAVELLING DURING HIS SOUTHERN INDIA TRIP DUE TO THREAT POSED BY THE TAMIL TIGERS
One reason All India Congress Committee Secretary Rahul Gandhi conducted his Southern India trip recently by costly air trips was the threat posed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)assassins , the Indian intelligence services have indicated. The Hindu newspaper said that the heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty avoided land travelling and flew helicopters and fixed wing aircraft costing the party ten million Rupees was due to the intelligence reports which said the LTTE wanted to avenge India’s support to Sri Lanka which ended the existence of the terrorist group as a military force in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/09)
Channel 4 video:
These days you can not find any news on Sri Lanka without hearing even little bit of Channel 4 faked video. I have seen this on many news outlets and I can not understand why the West can not see the truth. I may be wrong but I want highlight few things on this clip. For me, it was sure at first glance this was fabricated one. I highlight two major points any one can see without any high-tech analysis. 1) Look at the victim who was seen in the video. His complexion is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/09/09)
Jilted by the west, Sri Lanka cozying up to new friends: Iran, Libya and China join inner circle
Disappointed with the lack of support from the west at a crucial time in its fight against terrorism, Sri Lanka has successfully bonded with new friends. Vital support from a range of countries including Iran, China and Libya has helped Sri Lanka scoff at the big stick wielded by western countries. “Many European countries started cutting back on military assistance and development assistance to Sri Lanka,†says former foreign secretary Palitha Kohona who this week will assume duties in his new... -Full Story- (srilankanewsnetwork.com - 17/09/09)
Time for Parliament to defend the nation
In alerting the Parliament to oppose moves by western nations to harass Sri Lankan VIPs the Speaker, W. J. M. Lokubandara, has given leadership to a cause that has been without a voice for too long. His voice should be a warning to the foreign interventionists that Sri Lanka is not going to roll over and fawn at the feet of the Western bullies. His clarion call, coming from the highest seat in Parliament, should make the Big Brothers in the West aware that there are limits to stand over tactics. Lokubandara’s voice indicates clearly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/09/09)
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL, SECRETARY GOTABAYA
The LTTE and the anti Sri Lanka Western powers will - at any time now - bring up another controversial issue to distract the world attention away from their now-failed desperate attempt to humiliate you and your armed forces by way of this CH-4 execution video. There is no doubt in our minds that it is not just Jonathan Miller CH-4, but also LTTE infiltrators of Western government bodies were involved in the conspiracy – including perhaps Robert Blake. We may have no way of proving the knowledge of individuals like Blake, but Blake’s close association... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
RAJAPAKSA ASSURES HE WOULD NOT GIVE IN TO THE CONSPIRATORS AND REMINDS THEY STOOD FIRM IN FRONT OF POWERFUL FOREIGN PRESSURE
President Mahinda Rajapaksa reminding the people that his government would not give in to the conspirators against the country reminded they stood firm against pressure made on the government by the powerful to give in to the enemy even moments before they fell. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday addressing Matara District electoral heads and organizers of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party that he was not prepared to betray the supreme freedom won by the sacrifice of 26,000 gallant soldiers by betraying the country to conspirators within and without the country. Referring to the final moments... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
‘Peace vendors’ and ‘sustainable peace’
As per a news item reported in The Sunday Island dated 13th September 2009, the government has reasons to believe that the US was rapidly making a case of war crimes against Sri Lanka on the basis of the conduct of her armed forces, police as well as the political leadership during the recently concluded war. According to this report, former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Robert Blake, now based at the State Department was behind the move. Two self appointed ‘analysts of Sri Lankan conflict and peace dynamics and think tanks’ from Colombo were also said... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
UNITED NATION’S HUMAN RIGHTS HEAD WELCOMED INVESTIGATIONS DONE BY SRI LANKA INTO THE CHANNEL 4 TAPES ALLEGING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Navaneetham Pillai, head of the United Nation’s Human Rights Commission told Sri Lankan Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday (Sept 15 )that she welcomed the investigations done by the Sri Lankan government regarding UK’s Channel 4 tapes alleging human rights violations against the country.  Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe met Pillai to brief her regarding the controversial tapes.  Minister Samarasinghe told the UN official that two investigations, one in Australia, and another at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka were conducted by experts and both have concluded the video... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
Online Petition to condemn the recent refusal of a visa to UK for Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona
Petition to be sent to British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Dr. Peter Hayes condemning the refusal of a visa to UK for Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona and show solidarity to Dr. Palitha Kohona . The British High Commission in Colombo yesterday refused visas to outgoing Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona and former Deputy Tourism Minister and MP Arjuna Ranatunga, government sources told Daily Mirror last night. According to well informed sources Dr. Kohona and Mr. Ranatunga had submitted their passports to the British High... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
Statement by Hon. Mohan Peiris, P.C., Attorney-General of Sri Lanka at the 12th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council during the General Debate on the update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr. President and the distinguished members of the Human Rights Council, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, may I congratulate Madam High Commissioner on your 1st anniversary of office, and thank the Council and the High Commissioner for the valuable guidance and support in the last year which has been a difficult one for Sri Lanka in which a fine and difficult balance had to be achieved between the maintenance of civil and political rights in the context of the maintenance of national security. Mr. President, I must and have to respond to some of the observations... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
Statement to the House of Representatives on Sri Lanka
 14 September 2009 I wish to update the House on the situation in Sri Lanka, in particular the situation confronting internally displaced people, the need for their resettlement, and the need for political reconciliation. Australia recognises and acknowledges the profound sufferings of the past in Sri Lanka, including the many civilian casualties caused by decades of war. In the face of the long-standing, terrible costs of war, it is often hard to look to the future. While acknowledging past suffering, today I outline how Australia will continue to assist... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
SHADOW MINISTERIAL STATEMENT – SRI LANKA
Ms JULIE BISHOP (Curtin) (4.04 pm)  The Coalition supports the announcement today of additional funding for humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. We also join with the government in raising concerns about the conditions facing civilians currently held in relief camps in northern Sri Lanka as a result of the violent confrontation earlier this year between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers. The Coalition supports the ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
Naxalism: An Underestimated Challenge
Recently, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram admitted, “For Many years we did not assess the Left Wing extremism challenge correctly. I think we underestimated the challengeâ€ÂÂÂ. This statement indicates that up till now India has not taken the Naxal problem seriously and consequently has not done anything sincerely to curb that menace. This is not the first time that such a statement regarding Naxal problem comes from the Indian government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself declared the Naxal problem graver than Kashmir and Northeast insurgency. What is new is the confession that Indian establishment... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
Politics is Politics
According to a newspaper’s report Indian former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh is visiting Pakistan in the last week of September, 2009 to participate in the series of meetings with the media men and selected gathering, he expects as mark of respect for picking up courage to speak the facts about Mr. Jinnah and axing the myth about Nehru and Patel’s being articles of their faith by translating the dream of Indian freedom into reality. By and large greater... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
Country Information Update
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS Resettlement of displaced persons continues at a good pace. The government announced recently that about 50,000 displaced people were resettled to their homes or the homes of relatives as of mid-August, and that another 50,000 people would return to their homes or the homes of relatives by Sept. 30. About 15,000 families – approximately 20,000 to 25,000 people – were set to return to Jaffna in the coming days. About 37,000 families that were separated during the conflict have been re-united. Overall, those resettlements have dropped the number of those... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/09/09)
A NEW BOOK SAYS THAT THE WEST WANTED TO SAVE PRABHAKARAN AT THE LAST MOMENT AS THEY WANTED TO USE LTTE AS LEVER ON SRI LANKA
New Delhi television’s Nitin Anant Ghokale in his latest book on LTTE’s Eelam 4 war has said the West wanted to save Prabhakaran and the other leaders of the terrorist movement at the last moment as they wanted to use the terrorist movement as a lever on Sri Lanka. The author said the war has exhibited that any small nation could stand firm against the West and defeat terrorism. Nitin Anant Gokhale, New Delhi Television’s(NDTV) Defence and strategic Affairs Editor who has been associated with the Eelam War 4 as a journalist has published a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
SRI LANKA TO ROPE IN RELIANCE FOR OIL EXPLORATION IN MANNAR
Sri Lankan Minister for Investment Promotion , Navin Dissanayaka will be meeting Mumbai’s industrial giant Reliance Idustries for exploration of oil as the  oil exploration company has shown interest in prospecting for  oil in the island nation’s possible oil fields in the North. Mukesh Ambani led Reliance company is one of the most reputed oil exploration companies after its successes in the field. Dissanayaka who is already in India has told reporters in New Delhi that Sri Lanka is offering Mannar and Southern Basin for exploration for the Reliance Company. On the size of the oil... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe addresses the Human Rights Council
Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights addressed the Twelfth Session of the UN Human Rights Council, which began its 3-week long session today. Hon. Minister was among the three high-level dignitaries who addressed the Council and his statement was followed by the statements made by H.E Ms. Esther Brimmer, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, and Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand.  The full statement of the Hon. Minister is as follows:  “Mr. President,  At the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
Re: Sri Lanka Guardian panders to LTTE
Dear Eric Bailey:  There is nothing wrong with criticizing a government. But that is not what we see on Sri Lanka Guardian. Tamil terrorists are crafty criminals. They use the media well to crucify Sri Lankans. That is not journalism. Articles driven by ethnic hatred is petty and contributes to even more friction among ethnic groups. Don't you think we have enough of that already? If Sri Lanka Guardian is truly diverse as you claim it to be, why are there almost no headline articles that discuss what is done by the GoSL to take care of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
Diaspora expressed satisfaction over the progress made by Sri Lanka government in rehabilitating internally displaced people and reconciliation with the political parties of Tamils and Muslims
Sri Lankan Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya recently expanded his outreach campaign with the Sri Lankan community in the United States with visits to both Las Vegas and Los Angeles.  Ambassador has been meeting with Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and other Sri Lankan ethnics groups throughout the U.S. to discuss reconciliation following the conclusion of the 25-year conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Recent trips by Ambassador Wickramasuriya included visits to Boston and Chicago.  During the California portion of his trip, Ambassador Wickramasuriya met... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 1) - FROM VILLAGE BOY TO GLOBAL CITIZEN
My great ambition as a 15-year-old child was to become “one of the outstanding statesmen of the world†and to go overseas to “get acquainted with foreigners and their ways of life.†These revelations appeared in a regular “What I want to be†children’s feature published in a Colombo daily on April 1, 1955.  The story, which carried a one-column photo of mine, called me an “ambitious lad†whose favorite subject in school [Ananda College] was Government, and who concentrated “on writing and caricaturing in his spare time.†The story ended with the following... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 2) - CUTTING MY JOURNALISTIC TEETH AT LAKE HOUSE
I, “Weligama Podda†from Pathegama, was on the way to becoming a global citizen. My knowledge in Buddhist philosophy tells me, however, that “I†is the wrong term to use because a characteristic of existence is anatta (no-self). “I’ implies a permanent soul. So the reference here is to the stream of consciousness that passes through the ever-changing composite of skandhas constituting my nÄÂÂÂmarÅ«pa. My first stop in this long journey was Lake House, formally known as Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., where I cut my journalistic teeth for five years almost a half-century ago... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 3A) -THE YEAR THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: THE BEGINNING
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, ... we had everything before us, we had nothing before us. These two lines from “A Tale of Two Cities†written by my favorite English novelist Charles Dickens aptly describe the contrasting conditions in Ceylon, which I left in August 1966, and the United States where I landed as a World Press Institute fellow to engage in journalistic indulgence for the next 11 months. Severe foreign exchange restrictions limited the Sri Lankans’ freedom to travel overseas. Metaphorically speaking, they were experiencing “the worst... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
The Journey of a Journalist (Part 3B) -THE YEAR THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: THE RESIGNATION
The World Press Institute made arrangements for me to work with the Eugene Register-Guard in Oregon on a 10-week internship (Feb, 6 - April 14, 1967). When the news of my internship reached Fred W. Welty, who served as the information chief at the USIS in Colombo in the mid ‘60s, he wrote me expressing his surprise that I had been assigned to work in the very paper that he worked for 22 years ago. Welty wrote: It is almost melodramatic –something for Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not’â€â€ÂÂto think that 22 years later the wheel... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
ALMEIDA LIVES TODAY MORE THAN EVER
I have been watching for hours now on television the tribute that the entire country is paying to Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque. I think that facing death was for him just another duty as so many others he discharged throughout his life. He did not know neither did we how much sadness the news of his physical absence would bring to us. I was privileged to know that young black militant worker who would successively be the leader of a revolutionary group, a combatant at the Moncada, a comrade in prison, a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
NUCLEAR SAFETY CONCERNS
Foreign media continues to express doubts about security and safety of Pakistan’s nuclear material. Fears, whether naïve or malafide, are expressed that terrorists may steal such material to fabricate a `dirty bomb’. Professor Shaun Gregory and Arnaud de Borchgrave have claimed that there have already been three attacks on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities: one on nuclear-missile-storage facility at Sargodha on November 1, 2007, the second on Pakistan’s Nuclear Air Base at Kamra on December 10, 2007, and the third on Wah... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
CLAIM FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE CUBAN FIVE
Colombo. September 12, 2009. The Cubans in Sri Lanka: workers, internationalist workers and residents in this brothering country we join our voice to that of our people in demanding to the US government to pay attention to the millions of persons from all continents that claim justice for our Five brothers imprisoned unjustly for 11 years in US prisons. Today September 12, starts a new international campaign to demand justice for Gerardo, Antonio, Ramón, Fernando and René , we share with their relatives: mothers, fathers, wives the pain of the injustice that separates them... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/09/09)
Why are the Superpowers Gunning for the Blood of Sri Lanka: Their actions do unfold their sinister motives.
When Dr Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected to the Presidency of Sri Lanka in 2005, the terrorists, the LTTE power was at its zenith, having aggrandized its position through the nefarious CFA peace agreement done by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, which was in favour of the terrorists. The armed forces were confined to barracks and it has now come to light that during Ranil’s CFA the terrorists had obtained ample replenishments for their deadly arsenal- an arsenal that could have brought the entire Indian sub-continent under its control. The terrorists entrenched themselves and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
Pics, Bias and Videos
In May this year, just after the Sri Lankan Government announced the death of the LTTE leader and released a picture of his corpse, British television stations, not to be outdone, telecast their own picture of Prabhakaran, live, kicking and smiling at his own corpse. Channel 4, as far as I can remember, used the picture as backdrop to its interview with Mr K Padmanathan, whom, the Channel introduced as a prospective leader of the terror outfit. In the interview, Mr Padmanathan assured a manifestly jubilant Jon Snow that their leader was live and safe,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
Original Channel 4 Video which was modified later by adding a different 'sound track'
Original Video which was modified later by adding a different 'sound track' and uploaded on Channel 4 TV Station of UK.WARNING CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES... -Full Story- (sri-lanka-almanac.com - 13/09/09)
Let us unite to stop the West from breaking up our country on false accusations of violation of human rights.
We can face the hypocrisy of the West , evidently led by the British and now the Assistant Secretary of State of USA Robert Blake, to undermine the development of our country and break it up territorially if possible, and come off unscathed only if all Sri Lankans are united behind the government,  It is not difficult to do if political division in our country is not made the instrument to strengthen personal ambitions.  But unfortunately each one of the opposition political parties, has its own axe to grind. And opposition to the President, and his government... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
The Sri Lanka High Commissioner’s reply to the local newspaper in Canberra, The Canberra Times.
High Commissioner H.E Senaka Walgampaya’s letter to the Editor of The  Canberra Times in response to the article titled “Terrorists or tomorrow’s allies?†written by Mr. Bruce Haigh and published on 01st September 2009. 2nd September 2009 Editor The Canberra Times I write with reference to the article which appeared yesterday in the Opinion Page of your newspaper titled “Terrorists or tomorrow’s allies?†by Mr Bruce Haigh. I wish to address you on two major concerns contained in this article i.e. the distortion of the national flag of Sri Lanka and facts presented by... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
OBLIVION EAST BLOC - Revisited
When President Reagan’s Administration led or positively involved in disintegration of mighty Soviet Union perhaps never imagined that one day United States will become a naïve state in world stage. Although USA never learnt its lessons from Viet-Cons former USSR did from Mujahideens. That is why South Ossetia and Abkhazia became only a single little gray area in modern Russia, reasons behind the conflict debatable indeed. Important fact is Russia determined not to fall into a lingering quagmire unlike in Afghanistan in early eighties even though Georgia is no match to the Red Army. As East bloc... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
Channel 4:Sri Lanka execution video clip
September 11, 2009 Chief Executive Channel 4  P.O.Box 1058                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Belfast, BT1 9DU Sir: I wrote to you on August 30, 2009 with reference to your broadcast of the video clip of the shooting deaths of unarmed people, who you described as Tamils, allegedly shot by the Sri Lankan soldiers wearing distinctive Sri Lankan army uniforms. I said, “But if this video clip is proved to be doctored, dubbed or staged, then Channel 4 deserves to be taken to task in a Court of Law for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
‘USCIRF’ SALUTES INDIA
The national flag of a country is no doubt the most sacred asset for a nation. A true patriot always considers the flag of his country more important than his own life. History is replete with the names of soldiers who sacrificed their lives just to keep their flag flattering. But there happened something just opposite to it in India on the 26th January, the Republic Day of India when a huge crowd of low-caste Indian Dalits raised the Pakistan flag in Meerut to protest against the series of atrocities they have been suffering from since long.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
Concern at slow progress to Copenhagen negotiation
The experts and journalists of Asia Pacific region have expressed deep concern at the slow progress in the current round of climate negotiations given the scale and magnitude of the adverse impacts of sea-rise because of continued green house gas emissions by industrialised and developed countries. Adopting a Dhaka Declaration, the participants of 18th Congress of Asia Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists (APFEJ) and the 5th meeting of World Water Forum of Journalists (WWFJ) in Dhaka in the first week of September, also concerned at the ‘deterioration in both the quality and quantity of water, river... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
THE SQUIRREL AND THE GRASSHOPPER
  REST OF THE WORLD VERSION: The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building And improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed. The shivering Grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. THE END THE BRITISH VERSION: The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/09/09)
Resettlement of IDPs speedily forging ahead
Source: Government of Sri Lanka
Date: 12 Sep 2009 The resettlement of the internally displaced now housed in welfare camps move much speedier, according to sources from the Northern Task Force. The Northern Task Force under the ' Northern Spring' concept of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to fulfill humanitarian needs of the once war torn areas is headed by Senior Presidential Adviser and MP, Basil Rajapaksa. The Northern Task Force has, in a short period accomplished many tasks despite the hindrance caused by mines laid by the LTTE. Yesterday ten thousand IDPs were released from Menik Farm welfare centres to reach their homes in Jaffna, Trincomalee,... -Full Story- (Relief Web - 13/09/09)
Pottu Amman monopolised access to Prabhakaran
COLOMBO: The former head of the LTTE’s intelligence wing, Shanmuganathan Sivasankaran, alias Pottu Amman, had monopolised access to Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to such an extent that the latter had no inputs on the military and political situation other than what Pottu Amman chose to give him. This system resulted in the entire LTTE structure, including its leadership, falling in a heap, says D B S Jeyaraj, an LTTE watcher. Over the years, Pottu Amman had made Prabhakaran paranoid about the Indian intelligence agency RAW. Later, the Deep Penetration Reconnaissance Unit of the Sri Lankan Army was added as a... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 13/09/09)
‘History won’t influence final’
Special Correspondent Colombo: Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara played down talk of having gained a psychological edge ahead of Mondays final after defeating India on Saturday. Neither did he think recent history  Sri Lanka hasn’t lost to India in the last seven finals the sides have played  would influence the final of the Compaq Cup tri-series. “Every victory is done and over,†said Sangakkara on Sunday. “You have just got to get ready and face the next challenge.†Asked about the importance of the toss at the Premadasa Stadium, Sangakkara said, “We cannot unfortunately control the toss. What... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 13/09/09)
India denies visa for US critic of Lanka
The Indian visa of Dr Ellyn Sue Shander, a US-based humanitarian worker and a strong critic of the Sri Lankan Government, was cancelled by the Indian mission at New York, her Indian host M. Natarajan alleged. The Stanford-based American woman activist was scheduled to tour India from yesterday and deliver talks on alleged human rights violations in the island. The India mission in New York informed Shander on Thursday about the cancellation of her visa. Natarajan said that the Chennai police had denied permission to conduct an indoor meeting with Shander as the guest on September 16.... -Full Story- (Daily News - 13/09/09)
Avoiding collective humiliation
Why the neo-colonial forces have become so rabidly anti-Sri Lankan is patently clear. They never wanted the LTTE defeated. The outfit posed no threat to them and Sri Lanka's conflict provided them with an opportunity to play an active role in this region as Co-Chairs, facilitators etc. After war broke out in 2006, they waited for the army to be wiped out in Kilinochchi. Else, they would have intervened to scuttle the war much earlier. It was the fall of Kilinochchi, which Prabhakaran promised to turn into what Stalingrad had been to the German army during WW II, that jolted... -Full Story- (The Island - 13/09/09)
DEADLIEST TERROR OUTFIT WAS ELIMINATED FROM SRI LANKA BY DISREGARDING DICTATES AND PRESSURE OF SUPER POWERS - PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA
President Mahinda Rajapaksa told his ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party electoral organizers that his government being an administration of one of the tiniest nations of the world was able to eliminate one of the deadliest terrorist outfits on earth by disregarding pressure and dictates by certain superpowers. Addressing the electoral organizers of his ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party organizers of Mulkirigala, in Southern Province the President said, the valiant soldiers of the security forces with determination emboldened by correct political leadership freed the country of terrorism going against all odds. (Photo by Nalin Hewapathirana) The President... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
‘War Crimes’ on America.
I am amazed at why the United Nations organisation not brought any charges of ‘War Crimes’ on America. These ‘War Crimes’ have been committed over a period of half a century and it continues to this very day. I am wondering if any of the Human Rights organizations (HRW would do) and specifically anyone in the UN could kindly answer why America has not been made to account war crimes it has perpetrated on the Muslim world and in Asia. Some of the war crimes US have committed are:  · War on Iraq over fraudulent claims of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
Govt. accuses US of making war crimes case against SL
Govt. accuses US of making war crimes case against SLby Shamindra FerdinandoThe government yesterday said that the US was rapidly making a case of war crimes against Sri Lanka on the basis of the conduct of her armed forces, police as well as the political leadership during the recently concluded war. Ministerial and Defence sources told The Sunday Island that former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Robert Blake, now based at the State Department was behind the move. They accused Dr. Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council and Dr. Pakyasothi Saravanamuttu of the Center for Policy Alternatives of being... -Full Story- (The Island - 12/09/09)
“Speaker Hits Out at Foreign Missionsâ€ÂÂÂ-A Few Comments
An article which appeared in the front page of the “Daily Mirror†of 12th September 2009 titled “Speaker Hits Out at Foreign Missions†in which is stated that Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara is recorded as having stated that “there is serious harassment in the form of fingerprinting. Our Prime Minister had also been put through a difficult process by a certain country. We have to rise against it. It is the duty of this Parliament. Just questioning about it is not enough,†he said.  This issue had come up for discussion in the Sri Lankan Parliament in relation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
Professor Wijesinha's interview Channel 4-video and transcript
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=39593167001 The spokesman for Sri Lanka’s ministry of disaster management responds to claims that his country was involved in human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings. A transcript of Krishnan Guru-Murthy’s interview with Professor Rajiva Wijesinha of the Sri Lankan ministry of disaster management. KGM: You’ve been urged by the international community to investigate human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings. Have you started yet? RW: Yes. Sri Lanka has had commissions of inquiry when evidence is presented before us. I think the problem with this particular video is, it’s a gross generalisation. When Philip Alston wrote to us, I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE - Reflections by Comrade Fidel
I would not have wished to utter any harsh criticism against any of the companies that manufacture medical equipment, whose profits do not derive from the production of weapons to kill, but from the combat of diseases, suffering and death. That is why I have always treated all of them with respect, and I liked to exchange with them about their scientific advances. Something quite different is thinking bitterly about those countries which do not have these equipment; sadder still is the fact that a country from the Third World realizes that all its efforts are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
OPEN LETTER TO AUSTRALIA’S FM STEPHEN SMITH WE HAVE NO FAITH WITH INGO’S
Australian High Commissioner, Colombo. Please deliver this letter to Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith. Hon. Stephen Smith, You are asking Sri Lanka government to allow International Agencies in to the IDP’s camps. First of all we wish to know if that is a request or an order. Whatever it is, I must express my balanced view about the INGO’s and the NGO’s. Almost all the INGO’s and the NGO’s based in the North and East of Sri Lanka are well known to be biased against the Sri Lanka Government. Those agents maintained a lavish life... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
Is India Gearing Up for a Nuclear Test?
Given the backdrop of the recently concluded Indo-US Nuclear Deal, the chorus of concerned voices emerging from India – and US, lamenting the purported “qualitative and quantitative†improvements in Pak nuclear arsenal is loaded with implications; worrisome not only for Pakistan but for the entire Region. Two reports originating in the US have laid down the ground work for the Indian scientific-military community to build upon and prepare a case for India to not only expand its already formidable nuclear arsenal but also pave way for further improvements in the existing state of nuclear technology including options... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
World Bank Ratings on Business and the Enemy Within
The recently published World Bank Rating on Doing Business-; http://www.doingbusiness.org/EconomyRankings/ plunges Sri Lanka to a pathetic 105 position, but better than India at 133 position, with Singapore as No:1, out of 183 listings. On the bureaucracy and corruption, Sri Lanka might rate in the Top 10. During the immediate recent past, several top cabinet Ministers have been hitting the Top Spots promoting inward investments and claiming success. Until the house is cleaned, one should not invite guests. These so claimed success stories are cobwebs and pie-in-the-sky dreams and a waste of tax-payers money. Of course, when... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
Visas... facts are..
We have been receiving many reports of the UK visa saga and the Minister's response to it-. "As to why the FM denied the media report in Parliament, We sort of understand, but would not wish to comment on the reasons". But the facts are as follows - Consistent with the usual practice, Dr. PK Passport was submitted by FM Protocol to the UK mission on Tuesday. A junior visa officer had asked for finger prints. This was a highly unusual and outrageous request relating to a senior official of the host country Then this question... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
SRI LANKA’S PACT WITH THE DEVIL
When Sri Lanka appointed J R Jayawardena to establish a Dharmishta society it made the biggest mistake in her history. The people blinded by a promise voted for a man who was described by the Historian James Rutnam thus This kind of politician self comes first, country means nothing He is dangerous, God save our country His legacy are many that will be a stone round Sri Lanka’s neck for many a year but the worst are the Predatory state ,the open economy and the pact with the devil the IMF and the World Bank and the International... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/09/09)
Interview: Prof Rajiva Wijesinha
By Krishnan Guru-Murthy The spokesman for Sri Lanka's ministry of disaster management responds to claims that his country was involved in human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings. A transcript of Krishnan Guru-Murthy’s interview with Professor Rajiva Wijesinha of the Sri Lankan ministry of disaster management. KGM: You’ve been urged by the international community to investigate human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings. Have you started yet?... -Full Story- (channel4.com - 11/09/09)
PRESIDENT APPEALS BUDDHIST MONKS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT TO FIGHT AGAINST ENEMIES OF THE MOTHERLAND WITHIN AND WITHOUT
President Mahinda Rajapaksa reminding the Buddhist monks that they were at the forefront in protecting the independence of this country during thousands of years appealed to them to be at the front to protect the country from traitorous forces within and without the island once again. (Photos by Sudath Silva) “Venerable sirs, for a long time in our history it was the Buddhist monks who protected the honour of this island nation ,â€ÂÂÂsaid the President addressing hundreds of Buddhist monks who converged on Yatagala Rajamaha Viharaya to take part in a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
BASIL TELLS SEND OFF PARTY OF 9994 IDP’S TO BE RESETTLED IN THEIR VILLAGES THAT OUR RESETTLEMENT IS BETTER THAN SOME POWERFUL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD
Sri Lanka is certainly doing better than some powerful nations in the world in resettling internally displaced persons since after seven year IDP’s are still languishing in transport containers after Milwaukee floods said Basil Rajapaksa at a sendoff reception for IDP’s at the Vavuniya Cultural Center. Basil, the President’s younger sibling, who is in charge of Uthuru Wasanthaya Task Force, that removes land mines and builds infrastructure facilities like roads, irrigation, electricity, drinking water, health and educational facilities before IDP’s are resettled was speaking before sendng off another batch of 9994 IDP’s by CTB buses to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
WORLD BANK ANNOUNCES A 75 MILLION US DOLLAR CREDIT FOR SRI LANKA TO IMPLEMENT GEMI DIRIYA IN 1000 VILLAGES TO SERVE 870,000 POOR IN SOUTHERN, UVA AND SABARAGAMUWA PROVINCES
The World Bank announced in Washington yesterday(Sept. 10) that they will be granting a concessionary IDA credit of US $ 75 million to Sri Lanka for community driven development programs for Uva, Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces for the benefit of 1000 villages to implement the government’s ambitious Gemi Diriya projects.  The 75 million Dollars will be spent for projects involving drinking water, access roads and bridges, ICT centers, access to credit, markets, skills and income generation benefitting the poorest of the poor.  The second phase of Gemi Diriya will be eventually extended to North Central and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
NO NEED OF MORE NUCLEAR TESTS
(The writer is a Pakistan based bilingual analyst on national and international strategic and defense affairs.) ‘Sophistication means the right choice of proper words at a proper place ‘says the world famous Pakistani linguist Dr.Nasir Jamal in one of his recent thesis on The Traditional Values of Languages in Cultural Hierarchy .He is presently serving at a university in Jeddah. A few years back he was awarded the degree of PhD by the Washington International University on his work regarding the teaching of English language in Third World Countries. The definition of sophistication by Dr. Nasir Jamal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
Why Justice Matters: A comparative view
The British High commission has ruled that Dr Kohona and Mr Arjuna Ranatunga are technically and legally not entitled to enter UK.  Likewise the Canadian Embassy has refused the visa for Rev Somananda Nayaka Thero on the grounds that Reverend and Thero do not appear in the passport.  We are not complaining because the rule of law relating to immigration matters in the respective countries has to be respected, if such is the case. The two gentlemen and the monk will have recourse to an appeal if in their perception there has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
QUEST FOR A HYDROGEN BOMB
Indian media is, currently, in throes of a debate about `success’ of India’s Pokhran_II nuclear tests. The controversy was sparked by scientist, K. Santhanam’s disclosure that the tests had questionable success. The whistle-blower, though a bit tardy, particularly denuded the claim that `the tests included a thermo-nuclear device that was 100 per cent successful’. He claimed that the yield from the thermonuclear device (H-bomb) was a `fizzle’ (50-60%), ‘short of 100% parameters’. His claim was supported by another scientist, P K Iyengar. Since it was he who had coordinated the Pokhran-II tests, so his statement could not... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
Bowing before intelligence blackmail
Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan has rejected an impression that Sharm el-Sheikh summit between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan had been a step forward. Although he cleverly added that it was not a step backward. It is not a hidden affair that after the Mumbai attack of November 26, 2008, Pakistan was the only country targeted by India despite the fact that a number of militants involved in Mumbai attacks were either locals of India or were holding dual western nationalities. India should not feel shy in accepting the truth that Indian Prime... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/09/09)
SINISTER INTERNATIONAL FORCES WOULD HAVE DESTABILIZED WHOLE OF SOUTH ASIA IF NOT FOR THE FACT THAT RAJAPAKSA WITHSTOOD TERROR
Anura Priyadarshana Yapa , Sri Lanka’s Minister of mass Media and Information said yesterday sinister international forces want to destabilize the whole of South Asia using terrorism and if not for a leader like President Mahinda Rajapaksa no other leader would have withstood the havoc of such wicked conspiracy. Speaking at an interview by television journalist Sudharman Radaliyagoda of the state owned ITN Yapa said, “Even an opposition leader like Rukman Senanayaka is of the opinion that any other leader would have succumbed to such forces.†He said certain journalists who have fled Sri Lanka are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Can Sri Lanka become the "Hong Kong" of SouthAsia?
The Strategic Location, for shipping, financial, logistics, overspill from Singapore & Dubai, a wealth of educated manpower and stable political climate could offer several Nations surrounding Sri Lanka an unenviable Service Hub. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the land-locked Nations in the Himalayas could turn Sri Lanka into a Post Office, a support centre. Major Courier companies such as DHL, etc could have an optional parcel sorting location for the Asian subcontinent. Unlike Singapore and UAE which suffer from a shortfall of competent labour, Sri Lanka has in abundance a wide pool of labour for most aforementioned... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
A Rapid Deployment Of Remedial Measures To Alleviate The Suffering In IDP Camps Is Imperative To Dissuade Any World Opinion To The Contrary!
September10th. 2009 While the unprecedented victory over Tamil Tiger Terrorism by the Rajapaksha Administration in conjunction with the Armed Forces and all the allies who provided logistical as well as armament support will undoubtedly go into the record books and make history, the greater liability on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka now is to prove to the world that Sri Lanka is indeed a very humane and compassionate country in keeping with the Buddhist principles of Ahimsa and confound all her international critics where some of them view the issue of the most visible... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Singapore PM Makes A Strong Case Against Aggressive Proselytising
Sept 7, 2009 In his annual National Day Rally Speech it is customary for Singapore’ Prime Minister to praise the achievements of his government in the past 12 months and raise peoples’ hopes for the coming 12 months. But, this year, to the surprise of many, he touched a subject that has been taboo for public discussion in this multi-religious nation of 4 million people for the past four decades – Religion. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of the nation’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew spent more than... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
DID SWEDEN CONTROLL BUDDHIST BIRTHS? ENEMY IN DISGUISE?
To: Miliband, Couchner and Carl Bidt. Sweden Family Planning Association with the Department of Health maintained a Training project at Mathugama in the early 1960s to train Health professionals in Family Planning (birth control) methods. The project was fully funded and sponsored by the Swedish Government. Free male sterilisations and female contraceptive pills were distributed by the Public health professionals and medical institutions. As a result to-day we see smaller families mostly restricted to two children and larger families have become the thing of the past. Buddhist Sinhalese conducted a campaign to reject the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Cannon chastises Sri Lanka
September 10, 2009 The Editor,                                                                                                                                                                                      EMBASSY                                                                                                                                                                                 Ottawa Sir: “Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon chastised the Government of Sri Lanka last week after Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam was handed a lengthy prison term for articles printed in the North Eastern Magazine in 2006 and 2007â€ÂÂÂ, you said. That statement had an insular taste of hypocrisy and I wondered whether the Minister would have chastised Sri Lanka if the journalist would have been a Sinhalese or a Muslim or a Burgher. I have my doubts. This Tamil journalist was tried in High Court for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Norway has some explaining to do, in Kisangani!
In the middle of the hullabaloo regarding the expulsion of the chaos agent James Elder, and the reprisal of the lame British hyenas by denying a visa to Dr Palitha Kohona, something far more interesting was happening in the provincial town of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Two Norwegian passport carriers traveling under the names Joshua French, 27, and Tjostolv Moland, 28, were sentenced to death after being convicted of espionage, arms smuggling and murder. They had been held after their Congolese driver was found shot dead in May in the north-east of the country.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Warning against lucrative job offers
The Hony Consul General for Sri Lanka in Madrid has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka of a fraudulent scheme that offers lucrative jobs for foreigners including Sri Lankans in Spain. Part of the fraud is collecting purported legal fees for expediting the visa. According to the Hony Consul General for Sri Lanka in Madrid, this is a racket which is operated through mobile phones making it extremely difficult for the Spanish police to nab them.  In light of these developments as reported by the Hony Consul... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Road Closures
Good morning, For the 2nd time in 3 days, the Galle Face Road has been closed for the passage of his Excellency President Rajapakse. However, today, the entire road was closed, traffic was stopped and finally... nothing happened and the road was opened again after about 10 minutes. No wonder your traffic has so many queues and jams. What disturbs me the most as a tourist, is that I am not even allowed to be on the balcony of my apartment because His Excellency needs to pass in his car (and finally he didn't!). Although... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/09/09)
Indian doctors return from refugee camps
All eyes at a plush hotel in Colombo on Wednesday afternoon were on Sachin, Dhoni and Yuvraaj as they arrived for the tri-series with Sri Lanka and New Zealand. In the same hotel, another Indian team was making a quiet exit. The team of doctors from the Indian army’s medical corps and Home Ministry’s disaster management cell were on their way back home after treating thousands of Tamil refugees and conducting hundreds of surgeries in the camps of Vavuniya in north Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 10/09/09)
S. Lanka bourse up on construction, diversified shares
By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's stock market .CSE on Thursday rose for a sixth straight session, with the construction .CSECE and diversified holdings .CSEDV sector indices hitting record highs. The market rose 1.27 percent to hit 2,815.01 points, its highest since April 30, 2007, before closing 0.42 percent or 11.65 points firmer at 2791.44, Reuters data showed. Turnover hit 1.29 billion rupees ($11.2 million), more than twice of last year's daily average of 464 million rupees. It had hit over 1 billion rupees for last three straight sessions.... -Full Story- (Reuters - 10/09/09)
US Pacific Command boosts de-mining in SL
Source: Government of Sri Lanka Date: 10 Sep 2009 The United States Pacific Command is providing training and equipment to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to assist its de-mining efforts. This training will build additional SLA capacity to clear mines in the Northern Province and expedite the safe return of displaced people to their homes and livelihoods. The training is being conducted at the Sri Lanka School of Military Engineering (SLSME) at Embilipitiya. The U.S. team is sharing its experiences and best practices in humanitarian de-mining with Sri Lanka Army Engineer instructors who will then conduct de-mining training for the... -Full Story- (Relief Web - 10/09/09)
Sri Lanka's top envoy hits out at EU as cut in £1bn trade concession looms
He said that Sri Lankan goods could find new markets in Asian economies. "We can handle [the loss]. Western countries should remember that economic power has shifted from the west to the east. New markets open up in the east. Our friends China, India, Japan, Korea, Iran … a whole range of countries [can help]." But Kohona admitted that the loss of EU trade would be a blow to the country that was "liberated" from Tamil Tiger rebels after a 26-year war ended in a short, bloody clash on a beach in northern Sri Lanka in May. "We won a... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 10/09/09)
More de-mining machines imported
Source: Government of Sri Lanka Date: 10 Sep 2009 With the objective of assisting in expediting the demining process in the North, the Government of Croatia will send five automatic demining machines worth Rs. 270 million, the Media Director of the Ministry of Nation Building, Kapila Ariyawansha said. These machines will be ceremonially handed over to the Government on the 12th of this month at the Bandaranaike International Airport. Last week, the Government of Slovakia sent five Bosena type demining machines- operated automatically.... -Full Story- (Relief Web - 10/09/09)
Report: Loss of European Union influence at UN put lives at risk
The European Union's failure to strongly defend human rights has endangered human lives in Sri Lanka as more countries oppose interfering in domestic politics, the European Council on Foreign Relations said Thursday. The body's UN experts said China and Russia this year blocked EU efforts in the UN Security Council to force the Sri Lankan government to release thousands of civilians caught in the fighting with Tamil Tigers rebels.... -Full Story- (monstersandcritics.com - 10/09/09)
Sri Lanka extends emergency
B. Muralidhar ReddyCOLOMBO: The ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was not present in Parliament on Thursday as the House passed the motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of 87 votes. The government meanwhile announced that the nearly 2.5 lakh war displaced persons living in the northern transitional relief villages can seek accommodation with their relatives residing outside these centres.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 10/09/09)
Indian agricultural team to visit Sri Lanka
NEW DELHI: A team of agricultural experts from India will visit Sri Lanka next week to help in rehabilitation of displaced people in the north of the island nation, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said here Thursday. "Recognising the importance of restoring livelihoods, we are also going to assist Sri Lanka to revive agriculture in the north," Krishna told the Editors' Guild. He said India's "immediate focus is to see that the process of resettlement and rehabilitation of more than 2.7 lakh internally displaced persons in their original homes is achieved as early as possible."... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 10/09/09)
The end of humiliation
A Frenchman’s burden  Five hundred years of West European colonialism (white man’s burden) rested on a strategy of humiliation of the natives it conquered. This took place by way of both physical (guns) and psychological (primitives, barbarians, savages, infidels, idol worshippers and widow-burners who should be saved) means. Thus, the Portuguese came to Ceylon in 1505 with the Bible and the sword in the two hands. Pope Alexander divided the non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal (Treaty of Tordesillas-1494) to facilitate this task. In 2009 they come with evangelism and lots of dollar bills. The gun... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
SRI LANKA BE FIRM WITH THE WEST -I AM A PROUD SRI LANKAN
My dear Rajapakse brothers and Sarath Fonseka, I salute you honourable people for making me a proud Sri Lankan. Your courageous efforts in wiping out the terrorism from my mother land is something that the west and the church never expected to happen. The previous governments since independence ruled my motherland with no guts to stand up against the Wild West. CBK only robbed the country with her uncle and nearly established eelam for ten years while Ranil W connived with the west and made the Terrorists more powerful organisation. Ranasinghe Premadasa armed the Terrorists to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
WORLD AUTHORITY ON DISEASES AFFECTING RED BLOOD CELLS SUNITHA WICKREMESINGHE DIES
Sunitha Wickramasingha who was an expert on red blood cell formation and the diseases connected with the process when it goes wrong and the eldest brother of Professor Chandra Wickremesinghe has died.  Dr. Wickremasinghe was the son of a famous Cambride mathematician and the brother of other top academic men, Dayal Wickremesinghe , Professor of mathematics of the Australian National University, Canberra , Kumar Wickremesinghe , Professor of nano technology at the University of California at irvine. The other brother Chandra is the chief proponent of the theory called Panspermia , that life began in space... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
The British High Commission has done it again
The British High Commission has done it again. This time it has knocked back a visa application by the Foreign Secretary on the same day that it refused Arjuna Ranatunga. All efforts by the Chief of protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact the High Commissioner or his deputy were in vain as neither could be contacted by phone. It is reported that the Sri Lankan authorities bent the rules to accommodate the visa application of the UK Deputy High Commissioner;s gay partner despite homosexuality being a criminal offense in Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
Special Drug Rehabilitation Unit at Pallekelle Prison
More than 500 drug addicts imprisoned due to crimes related to drug dependency were recently transferred to a new rehabilitation centre set up at the Pallekelle Prison Camp. There, they will receive counseling and treatment for drug addiction while they serve their sentences for the offences committed. This is part of an initiative undertaken under the directions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and implemented by Minister of Justice and Law Reforms, Milinda Moragoda, as a means of separating lesser offenders from hardcore criminals. According to the Prison Department, another two rehabilitation centres are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
INDIAN HYPE ON PAKISTANI MISSILES
The United States has again showed its trust deficit in its relationship with Pakistan when it accused the latter with doctoring of Harpoon missiles ranges recently. The petty dispute is reflective of a deeper split in US administration that still appears to be looking for a sustainable benchmark as to how far the relationship with Pakistan is to be carried. The purported claims of trust worthy and long lasting friendship though is made every time that a US official visits Pakistan. Whether the baseless accusations have enough credence to influence the awaited approval of yet to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
How Ban Ki Moon tripped on SL’s Diplomacy trap
Criticisms are being levelled from all quarters these days against UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for not taking steps to halt the Sri Lankan (SL) war concluded recently. ‘The Economist’ magazine has declared that Ban Ki Moon’s popularity is on the decline day by day , based on an opinion poll , adding that, one of the reasons for this popularity wane is because Moon did not perform his duties duly during the SL war . The US New York Times newspaper during the last few days has also come down heavily on Ban Ki Moon against his course... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 09/09/09)
Sri Lanka opens up east coast to boost tourism
Working with India to restart some industries.
Bangalore, Sept. 9 Leaving the memories of strife behind, Sri Lanka wants to move on and reinvent itself as a tourism and investment destination. As a first step, the island-country has opened up its east coast to both tourism and development. “There is considerable investor interest in the east coast, which was closed for economic activities for a long time,†said Mr S. Kalaiselvam, Director General, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. The interest is high especially among “Sri Lankans living abroad with a foreign passportâ€ÂÂÂ, he said, adding that other foreign investors too are showing considerable interest.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 09/09/09)
Court refuses to restrain cricket team from touring Sri Lanka
Mohamed Imranullah S. MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday declined to pass interim orders restraining the Centre and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from sending the Indian Cricket team to play the ongoing tri-series in Sri Lanka as a mark of protest against alleged genocide in the island nation. A Division Bench, comprising Justice P. Murgesen and Justice C.S. Karnan, dismissed a miscellaneous (sub) petition by a lawyer here on the ground that the BCCI had no statutory obligation towards the petitioner. The main writ petition seeking a similar plea to restrain the... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 09/09/09)
Prabakaran excluded
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s High Court on Wednesday excluded V. Prabakaran and Pottu Amman from the Kadirgamar assassination case after the government informed the court that they are dead and cannot be prosecuted any longer.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 09/09/09)
US to help Lankan army in demining
The US is providing training and equipment to the Sri Lanka Army to assist its efforts to demine areas in the island’s north where the Tamil Tigers were crushed in May. The training will build additional military capacity to clear mines in the Northern Province and expedite the safe return of people displaced by the war to their homes, a US embassy statement said yesterday. The training is being conducted at the Sri Lanka School of Military Engineering at Embilipitiya. The US Pacific Command also donated personal protection equipment (vest and visors) and deminer equipment. The cost of the programme... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 09/09/09)
A Government with Guts
Until May 2009, Sri Lanka was known for Tea and Terrorism. Suddenly, despite political, socio-economic interference by leading buccaneering EU, USA, Norway and many other countries, the limping Tea and Terrorism merchant has destroyed Terrorism and stands upto the Big Political Guns of USA, EU. The Proof of the Pudding is in the eating! President Mahinda Rajapaksa is holding his head high, in victory over terrorism which all the Big Guns failed to achieve. The Proof is in Sri Lanka! Thanks to China, Pakistan, maybe a bit to India, Sri Lanka received generous support to annihilate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
IN THE “DOCTORED†CHANNEL 4 VIDEO WHEN PUT THROUGH AT A SLOWER SPEED IN A LAB A LEG OF A CORPSE RAISED UP AND PUT DOWN SAYS SAMARASINGHE
Mahinda Samarasinghe , Sri Lanka’s Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights in a telephone interview from Colombo with this correspondent said when experts ran Channel 4 video shot of a supposed killing field in Sri Lanka at a 50 percent less speed in a laboratory one of the so called corpses raised a leg and put it down amazingly denoting the doctored nature of the video. “We have put through these video shots in two independent laboratory tests and two army laboratory tests and all have found the video to be blatantly doctored, colour introduced... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/09/09)
The whole of the UNICEF should be asked to pack up with Elder
There is nothing that raises the hackles of the neocolonialists than a developing country havig the leadership, the guts and the vision to stand up against their evil conspiracies. This provokes them to attempt to exercise their control through devious maneouvers including campaigns of disinformation and misinformation, threats through UN agencies they have taken control of, and financial threats. All these evil conspiracies are orchestrated and implemented through the establishment owned media instruments that fool the western world. disguised as guardians of the divine right of ‘freedom of expression’.  It is important to understand these people and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/09)
Expose the hypocrisy of the West, and find an alternative leadership- India’s leadership in Asia is hampered by Racist Politicians of Tamil Nadu.
Time has come to expose the hypocrisy of the West- America, and the European Union, and find an alternative leadership with China, Russia, Iran, Libya and Vietnam.  Unfortunately, India’s leadership in Asia  is hampered by Tamil Nadu State with its racist politicians.  The respect, high expectation of  justice and fair play,  and the awe with which the Western Nations were looked up to by the developing countries some of which were their former colonies have completely eroded. The Western Nation States, with their Human Rights watch, Amnesty International, UK Channel 4, and Western Officials of the UN... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/09)
THE SECRETARY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SRI LANKA MAKES THE RIGHT DECISION – MR. JAMES ELDER HAS TO LEAVE.
The news report by the Press Trust of India quoting APF – Colombo, Sept. 7th., of Sri Lanka’s stand in not denting to the pressure of UNICEF officials in Colombo today on the decision already made to expel Mr. James Elder’s – Communication Chief for UNICEF in Colombo (according to the UNICEF website and not the spokesperson) is a communication metaphor to the International community that Sri Lanka will stand firm on all its decisions made regarding the defence of its integrity and sovereignty.  The message is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/09)
Elephant Calves and Asian Morality
The unwarranted furore in the last few weeks over the two elephant calves handed over to the Temple of Tooth is now expectedly dying down and to the credit of the government it did not flinch. This had become such a prominent issue mainly because some part of the media and number of INGO’s and their local lackeys, had optimistically foreshadowed for this matter to have the potential to develop to a public outburst against Buddhist institutions including the Temple of Tooth. The media was looking for new headline material since the terrorism related issues... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/09)
Who will guard the ‘knights’?
The western knights who are going hell for leather to condemn Sri Lanka to the stake for 'war crimes' find themselves in an unenviable position. They are in the same predicament as the proverbial cat that defecated on a rocky surface and had no way of covering up its stinking mess. In Afghanistan, they have laid bare their true faces usually hidden behind the human rights masks, once again. On Monday, American troops stormed through a hospital in Central Afghanistan tying as they did health workers in search of wounded Taliban combatants there. That civilian... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/09/09)
Minister tells Channel 4:
Rebut or regret
Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe addressing Colombo based diplomats yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat to apprise them of the bogus Channel 4 video footage said that in the face of scientific and expert evidence proving that the video clip was a doctored one the Government expects Channel 4 to rebut the evidence or publish an apology of their unprofessional conduct that has been grossly detrimental to the image of Sri Lanka. He told the diplomats that the Government was considering taking other remedial action to safeguard the image of the country if Channel 4 failed to take... -Full Story- (Daily News - 08/09/09)
Sri Lanka court rules elections bill unconstitutional
www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-08 13:52:04 Print COLOMBO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Supreme Court here Tuesday has ruled that a proposed amendment to the island's elections Act was inconsistent with the constitution, officials said. Speaker WJM Lokubandara announced the court decision in parliament Tuesday. The ruling has said that a two thirds majority in the 225 member assembly was required to adopt the Parliamentary Elections (amendment) bill gazetted on 20 July 2009.... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 08/09/09)
Sri Lanka Tamil party hopeful of government resettlement program
www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-08 17:38:35 Print COLOMBO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's main Tamil minority political party was hopeful that the government would meet its 180day target to resettle the war displaced in the north. "We pointed out that not even 10 percent of the displaced people had been resettled up to now", R Sampanthan, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said Tuesday. The TNA met the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday evening - the first interaction since the government troops vanquished the Tamil Tiger rebels in May. "We expect at least 60 to 80 percent of... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 08/09/09)
UN strongly deplores expulsion of official by Sri Lanka - Summary
New York/Colombo - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticized on Tuesday Sri Lanka's expulsion of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesman and said he plans to take up the matter with the country's leader. The Sri Lankan government cancelled James Elder's visa without giving a reason, but it was widely believed that he was being expelled for recent remarks about the plight of refugees living in government-controlled camps in the north of the country. In Colombo, UNICEF strongly protested the expulsion, saying it was extremely "concerned and disappointed" with the Sri Lankan government's decision.... -Full Story- (earthtimes.org - 08/09/09)
Ramayana trail in Lanka
Bangalore, Sep8, dhns: With the decades-old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka having ended, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau now hopes to tap the huge Indian religious tourism sector and showcase historical sites dating back to the Ramayana period. Speaking at a B2B session here on Tuesday, Prabuddh Banerjee, country-head (India), Sri Lanka Tourism said, “With 2011 being planned as ‘Visit Lanka Year’, the country now offers an opportunity for Indians looking at a Ramayana Trail. There are more than 50 ancient sites dating back to Ramayana period in Sri Lanka.... -Full Story- (Deccan Herald - 08/09/09)
Ready to work for peace, TNA tell Rajapaksa
B. Muralidhar Reddy MALE: In their first meeting after the military defeat of the Tigers, representatives of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have told President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the alliance was ready to work with the government to achieve peace and prosperity. The government said seven members of the TNA met Mr. Rajapaksa to discuss issues facing the country, particularly matters concerning the Internally Displaced Persons in the north and national reconciliation.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 08/09/09)
Samaraweera and Malinga shine as Sri Lanka posts an easy win
S. Ram Mahesh Colombo: Thilan Samaraweera resuscitated Sri Lanka with a century uncommon in its skill, application, and intelligence to design a 97-run win over New Zealand in the first ODI of the Compaq Cup tri-series. Sri Lanka, having elected to bat at the Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday, was tottering on 69 for five in the 26th over before Samaraweera (104, 124b, 10x4) and Angelo Mathews (51) added 127 in 22.2 overs to alter the course of the contest.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 08/09/09)
PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS LAHORE ATTACK ON SRI LANKAN CRICKET TEAM LAST MARCH WAS FINANCED BY THE TAMIL TIGERS
Pakistani investigators have discovered the attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan was financed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist group. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousouf Raza Gilani told reporters that the finding by the Pakistani law enforcement authorities has been already conveyed to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa when they met recently in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. He told reporters that a Pakistani team of detectives will be coming to Sri Lanka to further investigate the involvement of the Tamil Tigers and share information with the Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/09/09)
Lanka won’t change expulsion order on UNICEF official Wants Elder out by Sep 21
The government yesterday reiterated that it would not reverse an earlier decision to expel UNICEF spokesman James Elder for being hostile towards the government of Sri Lanka, though the UN agency had disputed its claim. Authoritative sources told The Island though the government had given the Australian passport holder time till September 21 after the agency appealed against the expulsion order effective September 7 (today), the decision was not negotiable. The AFP quoted the New Delhi based UNICEF regional chief of communications Sarah Crowe as saying that they strongly felt that Elder should continue to act as an impartial advocate... -Full Story- (The Island - 07/09/09)
Government tells Channel 4:
Retract video
Scientific evidence proves it was a fake:
Ranil Wijayapala Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe yesterday said that the Government is going to ask the retraction of the controversial execution video from Channel 4, as comprehensive investigations and analysis conducted by four experts on the video have provided scientific evidence to prove that it was a fake and a heavily tampered video. Addressing the media at the Media Centre for National Security along with Defence Affairs Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and three other experts to discuss the authenticity of the controversial video, the Minister said that he will also take up the controversial video issue... -Full Story- (Daily News - 07/09/09)
Gam Sabha likely to make a comebackby
Ranil Dharmasena The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) has proposed that the Village Council (Gam Sabha) system be revived, Chairman of the APRC Science and Technology Minister Prof Tissa Vitarana told The Island yesterday. The APRC has proposed that 100 families in a village would elect a representative and a chairman would be selected from those representatives to take care of administrative affairs of the village. The chairman would represent the village in the Local Government bodies, according to Prof Vitarana. Local Government authorities would be empowered to take action in relation to the affairs of villages and the Provincial... -Full Story- (The Island - 07/09/09)
Colombo University confers President and Defence Secretary with "Honorary Degrees"
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was conferred with the honorary degree (honoris causa) "Doctor of Law" and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa with the honorary degree "Doctor of Letters" by the University of Colombo yesterday, (06 September). The Senate of the University of Colombo with the approval of the Council of the University resolved that these Degrees of Doctorates be conferred on President Rajapaksa and on Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa,... -Full Story- (defence.lk - 07/09/09)
Channel 4 canard Lanka to send top official to London
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday (06 September) said that a senior government representative would be sent shortly to the UK to investigate the so-called Channel 4 execution video. Rajapaksa expressed confidence that the country could face a threat posed by the LTTE propaganda machine, now that the LTTE had been crushed militarily. He pointed out that the international community should not be deceived by LTTE propaganda tactics.... -Full Story- (defence.lk - 07/09/09)
Sri Lanka accused of 'North Korean diplomacy'
Unicef will today hold urgent talks with the Sri Lankan authorities to determine the fate of its spokesman told to leave the country for criticising the government. James Elder, head of communications for the United Nations agency in Colombo, has been told his diplomatic status has been revoked and his visa - not due to expire until July 2010 - will be cancelled. He has reportedly been given a fortnight to leave the country after expressing concern at the plight of refugees from the country's civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.... -Full Story- (viewlondon.co.uk - 07/09/09)
Sri Lanka unlikely to revoke expulsion of UN official
Colombo - The Sri Lankan government is unlikely to revoke its decision to expel a UN official from Colombo after he made remarks about the conditions of war refugees, a senior government official said Monday. UNICEF spokesman James Elder was ordered to leave and his visa was cancelled. An official who requested anonymity said it was unlikely the decision would be overturned. UNICEF had sought a clarification about the sudden decision, but so far no clarification had been issued according to UN officials in Colombo. Elder was quoted in the media about the plight of some 270,000 refugees living in... -Full Story- (monstersandcritics.com - 07/09/09)
Sri Lanka says UK TV channel story a canard
COLOMBO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A television story carried over British channel 4 station was a canard to discredit Sri Lanka, a defense ministry statement here said Monday. The statement said that Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse had asked for a senior government official to proceed to Britain to investigate on the television report. The UK channel 4 had carried footage of an alleged execution of two Tamils believed to be Tamil Tiger rebels by government troops in the north during the military battle which ended with defeat to Tigers' 30-year-old campaign. Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 07/09/09)
UNICEF rails against Sri Lanka expulsion order
COLOMBO (AFP) – The United Nations Children's Fund reacted furiously on Monday to Sri Lanka's decision to expel its spokesman over his allegedly pro-rebel stance in the final stages of the island's ethnic war. James Elder, communications chief for UNICEF in Sri Lanka, was accused by the government of issuing "propaganda" in support of the Tamil Tiger separatists before their defeat at the hands of government forces in May. "We are extremely disappointed with the allegations and we reject them unequivocally," Sarah Crowe, UNICEF's regional communications chief, told AFP while visiting Kathmandu. Crowe said that Sri Lanka "had made blatant... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 07/09/09)
Aid worker James Elder 'supported terrorism': Sri Lanka
A FORMER Australian diplomat-turned Sri Lankan foreign secretary, Palitha Kohona, is behind the expulsion of an Australian aid worker from the country for speaking out on child war casualties and malnutrition rates, The Australian has learned. Dr Kohona, an Australian citizen who moves to New York this week as Sri Lanka's representative at the UN, said yesterday that UNICEF spokesman James Elder should be treated no differently from Australians deported or languishing in jails across the world for breaking the rules of a sovereign country. "He is supporting a terrorist organisation. When you express views that are taken from the... -Full Story- (theaustralian.news.com.au - 07/09/09)
Pak to send team to Lanka to probe attack on SL cricketers
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani today directed the Interior Ministry to send a team of experts to Sri Lanka to probe if elements based there were linked to the terrorist attack on Lankan cricketers in Lahore. Gilani issued the direction during a meeting here with Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who apprised him on the overall security situation in the country. The premier asked Malik to "send a team of experts to Sri Lanka in order to exchange information in connection with the investigation about the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team at Lahore," said a statement issued by... -Full Story- (Times of India - 07/09/09)
LankaWeb writer in World Water Forum of Journalists (WWFJ)
The LankaWeb contributor from Northeast India, Nava Thakuria has been elected as one of the Assistant General Secretaries of World Water Forum of Journalists (WWFJ), when the senior Bangladeshi environment journalist Quamrul Islam Chowdhury was re-elected as the General Secretary of the international forum for the year 2009-2012. The British environment journalist Alex Kirby was elected as the Chairman and the Pakistani journalist Zaigham Khan as the Vice Chairman of the organization, the head office of which is based in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The new committee was formed during the 5th meeting of WWFJ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/09)
Let's have an Emergency Debate on Afghanistan
September 6, 2009 Hon. Jack Layton, MP (NDP, Toronto-Danforth); Wayne Marston, MP (NDP, Hamilton East-Stoney ; Paul Dewar, MP (NDP, Ottawa Centre); Peter Julian, MP (NDP, Burnaby); Jim Karygiannis, MP (Liberal, Scarborough-Agincourt); Robert Oliphant, MP (Liberal, Don Valley West) Dan McTeague, MP (Liberal, Pickering-Scarborough East); Hon. Bob Rae, MP (Liberal, Toronto Centre); John McKay, MP (Liberal, Scarborough-Guildwood); Hon. Irwin Cotler, MP (Liberal, Mount Royal); Hon. Judy Sgro, MP (Liberal, York West); Andrew Kania, MP (Liberal, Brampton West); Hon. Maria Minna, MP Liberal, Beaches-East ; Hon. Albina Guarnieri, MP (Liberal, Mississauga East-Cooksville); John Cannis,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/09)
HOW COULD WE BELIEVE CHANEL 4 ANYMORE ASK DEMONSTRATORS WHO ACCUSED THEM AS A BOGUS NEWS STATION
Nearly one hundred and fifty UK residents of Sri Lankan origin held a very vociferous demonstration in front of London’s Channel Four television broadcasting station calling it a bogus news service. They were hoisiting placards which said “Chanel 4 now say Sorryâ€ÂÂÂ, “Miller means twisted storiesâ€ÂÂÂ, “Chanel four broadcasts shameful lies†, “How could we believe Chanel 4 anymore?†, “Chanel 4 scoops are fantasy dramas†and “Chanel 4, hands off Sri Lanka.†One said in a placard Channel 4 research before you broadcast (C 4 research B 4 U broadcast) Another placard said, “4 bogus... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/09)
‘27 Indian leaders were on LTTE’s payroll’
CHENNAI: Charging that 27 Indian politicians were on the paylist of the banned LTTE, Janata party president Subramanian Swamy on Saturday urged the Central government to appoint a multi-disciplinary monitoring unit headed by the CBI to investigate into the issue. Addressing a press conference here, Swamy alleged that the LTTE had been funding some political parties and their leaders in Tamil Nadu. Swamy said he had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard. “I have obtained a list of 27 such Indian politicians from reliable Sri Lankan official sources,†he said.... -Full Story- (ExpressBuzz - 06/09/09)
Sri Lanka expels Unicef official
Sri Lankan authorities have ordered a senior United Nations official to leave the country over comments he made during the war with Tamil Tiger rebels. James Elder's visa has been cancelled over his "propaganda in support of the Tigers", a spokesman told the BBC. Mr Elder, a spokesman for the UN children's agency, Unicef, regularly spoke to the media on the plight of children caught up in the conflict. Sri Lanka declared victory in its war against Tamil Tigers in May.... -Full Story- (BBC - 06/09/09)
Tamil Tigers finance attack on Sri Lankan team in E Pakistan: PM
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Sunday that there are indications that the Tamil Tigers had been involved in attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in March this year. Gilani told reporters that investigators have got indications to suggest that the Tamil Tigers had financed the attack on March 3 when a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers was fired upon by a dozen of 12 gunmen near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Gilani said that he had met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Libya last... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 06/09/09)
SINISTER CONCOCTED AND DELIBERATE CHANEL 4 VIDEO COULD LEAD TO ERRORNEOUS JUDGEMENTS THAT COULD SULLY RELATIONS WARNS BOGOLLAGAMA
Calling the Chanel 4 UK video footage a “concocted†“deliberate†and “sinister attempt†Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rohitha Bogollagama warned international community getting misled by such fabricated stories could result in the culmination of erroneous judgements thereby sullying relations. In a statement the Foreign Minister said, despite Chanel four’s inability to confirm the authenticity of the video “it is a matter of grave concern that it continues to repeat these allegations and that some sections of the international community seem to be giving undue credence to this doctored video thereby attempting to bring discredit... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/09/09)
ලංකාව යුද අධිකරණයට ගෙන යැමේ අරමුණින් කළ "චැනල් 4" කුමන්ත්රණයට එරික් සෝල්හයිම් හවුල්!
... -Full Story- (divaina.com - 05/09/09)
Sri Lanka, China are tested friends: Sri Lankan president
COLOMBO, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Friday that Sri Lanka and China are tested friends and his country is gratitude on China's assistance to Sri Lanka in its economic and social development. Rajapakse made the remarks when he met the visiting delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Party chief of China's Tianjin municipality Zhang Gaoli. Rajapakse said the friendly relationship between the two countries has stood long test and the two countries are tested friends, adding that Sri Lanka has always... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 05/09/09)
Sri Lanka Tamils fear UK deportation
I was a member of the Tamil Tigers, so how can I go back? But the British Home Office kept rejecting my application," Nadarajah said. I was a member of the Tamil Tigers, so how can I go back? But the British Home Office kept rejecting my application," Nadarajah said. Nadarajah, a former Tamil Tiger rebel, says the British government tried to deport him to Sri Lanka before the High Court granted him permission to apply for a judicial review against the decision to remove him.... -Full Story- (BBC - 05/09/09)
Cultural lessons to be part of Sri Lanka ex-rebel rehabilitation process
www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-05 21:10:49 Print COLOMBO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lessons on culture and traditions of the minority Tamil community are to be part of the curriculum on the rehabilitation process of the ex-Tamil Tigers. "We will make them understand the rich cultural traditions of the Tamil community during our rehabilitation program", Maj Gen Daya Ratnayake, the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, said Saturday. "Tamils are a community with a rich cultural practice but the LTTE (rebels) systematically destroyed it so the younger generation of Tamils are not aware of them", Ratnayake added. Ratnayake overlooks the operation to provide vocational training to... -Full Story- (Xinhua - 05/09/09)
HUNDREDS OF LONDONERS TO DEMONSTRATE AGAINST CHANNEL 4
Hundreds of British citizens of Sri Lankan origin will demonstrate in front of London’s Horseferry Road Channel 4 news television broadcasting station today demanding an apology or prove the authenticity of a video footage they broadcast claiming execution style killing by the Sri Lanka Army. The demonstration organizers ,British Sri Lankan Forum , says the footage the television channel broadcast was actually a dramatization of a mock killing by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)to be used as propaganda material against the Sri Lanka government, eight months before it was broadcast by channel 4.  Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
SRI LANKA’S HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER SAYS IN GENEVA THAT CHANNEL 4 VIDEO FOOTAGE IS PART OF AN ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN TO TARNISH
Sri Lanka’s Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights speaking to this correspondent from the United Nations in Geneva said the British Channel Four video broadcasting of an alleged extra judicial killing of a Sri Lankan prisoner is a part of an orchestrated campaign to tarnish the country and shift attention from a recovery back to a conflict period. “The highly suspicious Channel four said they could not be given any authenticity to a video allegedly shot back in January this year and broadcast eight months later,†Samarasinghe said in Geneva after taking part in discussions... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
BRITISH BASED TAMIL TIGERS ADVISED TO JUMP SHIP AS THE LABOUR PARTY IN WHICH THEY RECEIVED PROTECTION IS SINKING TO THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN
British based Tamil Tigers have been asked to jump ship as the British labour Party in which they have received protection is sinking very badly and look for greener pastures in other political parties. The semi-official Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organ, the Tamil Guardian, in an editorial said, “..Tamils for many years thought to have a natural sympathy with the Labour Party.†However the , the organ, said, now with changing times, â€ÂÂÂTamil activists should work with all parties …….This will ensure that whichever party wins the general election the Tamil issue can be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
SLFP & UPFA stalwart Dr.Levins T.C.Rajaratnam under threat by an Eelam Politician. Violence Revisited- Threats galore !
Dr.Levins T C Rajaratnam has been receiving threatening calls originating from an Eelam Tamil political Party led by an unpatriotic  bandit Politician from various numbers all of which was given in an official complaint to the Police. On a previous occasion a woman was apprehended by the Police early this year when the  Tamil Militant Politician from Jaffna got her released within a few hours. This Politician and his bandits attacked the election campaign office  of Dr.Rajaratnam and his mother’s residence when he contested the Western Provincial Council elections . The whole episode was telecast on Sirasa, Sakthi... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe meets UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon in Geneva
Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe met with the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon on Thursday 3 September at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the sidelines of the World Climate Conference.  Referring to the comments made by the UN Secretary-General’s Spokeswoman Ms. Marie Okabe in the UN press release dated 3 September 2009, Minister Samarasinghe stated that he took the opportunity to brief the UNSG on a wide variety of issues concerning IDPs as well as plans of the Government to resettle... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
RE: Possible Abuse of Sydney University Resources for Political Purposes
Dear Dr. Spence, I refer to my previous email.  For your information, I have not received even an acknowledgement, let alone a response, to my submission from you, your office or any one of your colleagues who would have some level of interest in safeguarding the good name of the Sydney University.  If there was a deliberate attempt to ignore my submission then this only leads to very unpalatable conclusions. Firstly, this may imply that the Sydney University Executive could care less about how the funds are being used by its staff and that they could... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Lawrence Cannon: Your Canadian Sri Lanka Policy
September 3, 2009 Hon. Lawrence Cannon Minister of Foreign Affairs House of Commons Ottawa Dear Lawrence Cannon: Your Canada policy on Sri Lanka deeply concerns me as we are acting like a bunch of circus clowns pirouetting to the tune of Western Sri Lanka Hate Arias. That’s a God damn shame. We watched how the Parliament was turned into a Tamil Tiger Blarney Gong Show on the evening of February 4th, with the gallery sardine-packed with Tamils mainly from the GTA, when you all acted like... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
UK LENDS SUPPORT TO REHABILITATION AND REINTEGRATION OF EX-COMBATANTS THROUGH IOM AND MOJ
Colombo - On Friday 4 September 2009, The British High Commissioner Dr. Peter Hayes and the Head of International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mr. Mohammed Abdiker signed an agreement for approximately Rs.17 million of UK's support towards the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Ex-combatants in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Hon. Milinda Moragoda.  The Minister of Justice welcomed the support provided by the British High Commission to the Government of Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Justice and in particular the Commissioner General for Rehabilitation... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
India’s Silent Sufferers
According to a recent report of National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), violence against women is rampant in India, with southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh having the worst record for crimes against women. For the year 2007-08, NCRB recorded 24,738 cases of crimes committed against women including 1,070 cases of rape, 1,564 cases of kidnapping and abduction, 613 cases of dowry deaths and 11,335 cases of domestic violence in Andhra Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has also witnessed a stepping of crime against women with the state recording 21,215 cases of violence including 2,066 cases of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
AMBASSADOR SAYS, “PEOPLE IN SRI LANKA ARE HAPPY TO BE LIVING WITHOUT THE FEAR OF TERRORISMâ€ÂÂÂ
Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya recently urged a mix of Sri Lanka expatriates here -- including Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims -- to support peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in the country’s war-damaged Northern Province. At a meeting organized by the Sri Lankan Diaspora, Ambassador Wickramasuriya offered a detailed explanation of the situation in Sri Lanka, including the progress in resettling the more than 287,000 civilians initially displaced when the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) concluded in May. Since then, the government has resettled about 50,000 civilians, and plans are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Award for Tissainayagam for his contribution to Terrorism!
The international community had criticized the verdict given in Tissainayagam's case by the Colombo High Court on 31 August. He had been indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. It was alleged that he caused racial disharmony by his writings, website and Magazine for which he was lavishly funded by the LTTE. Other accusations against him were, collecting and obtaining information for the purpose of terrorism, strong links with the LTTE and supporting terrorists through his actions.  Less than a day after the Judgment the US Branch of the Paris-based "Reporters Without Borders", a Media Forum, named him as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Michael Jackson 'rises from the dead' (to help Sri Lanka)
Editorial Desk The Island Publication Date: 04-09-2009 Sri Lanka's experience with 'C-4' has always been bitter. Prabhakaran blasted his way through with C-4 explosives destroying as he did many a target and after his death his followers are using C-4 (Channel 4) propaganda to further their interests. Prabhakaran pathetically failed in his endeavour in spite of all his blasts and a similar fate awaits his C-4 propaganda brigade. "There's a sucker born every minute," American showman P. T. Barnum famously said as massive crowds continued to pay to see his Cardiff Giant (a ten-foot-tall purported petrified man who had, Barnum... -Full Story- (asianewsnet.net - 04/09/09)
Global tea shortage to send prices soaring
Tea lovers will have to shell more for their favorite drink now as dry weather in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya has led to a global shortage of about 90,000 tonnes, raising wholesale prices. Production of tea has come down by as much as 15 per cent leading to a worldwide shortfall in the world tea market. "All in all we reckon we are about 80,000 to 90,000 tonnes of tea short in the world tea market now," said Bill Gorman from the UK Tea Council, the Sky News reported. And with growing demand and falling supplies, the cost of... -Full Story- (profit.ndtv.com - 04/09/09)
IDPs in Sri Lanka: The untold story
Major General Udaya Perera Insurgency has its causes and reasons but not terrorism. In the early stages of the conflict there were many insurgent groups and all of them except one chose democracy to serve its people. That one is the LTTE which transformed itself from insurgency into terrorism. According to David Rapport, an expert on terrorism, man has experienced four waves of terrorism to date. The first being the start of Terrorism in the early 19th Century by way of anarchist terrorism and thereafter followed by the second and third waves of colonial and anti colonial, new left wave... -Full Story- (Daily News - 04/09/09)
New Zealand clinch Twenty20 series win over Sri Lanka
COLOMBO (Reuters) - New Zealand won the second Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka by 22 runs to clinch a 2-0 series victory Friday. New Zealand followed their thrilling three-run victory on Wednesday night with an impressive all-round display, following the disappointment of a 2-0 test series defeat. The tourists won the toss and piled on 170 with Jess Ryder scoring a 37-ball 52 that included three huge sixes. Brendon McCullum scored 49 from 34 balls.... -Full Story- (Reuters - 04/09/09)
Sri Lanka planning $500mn bond issue
AFP/Colombo Sri Lanka hopes to raise $500mn dollars through an international bond issue on the heels of a $2.6bn bailout package from the IMF, the central bank announced yesterday. Seven financial institutions submitted proposals to manage the bond sale in October and they are being evaluated, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said in a statement. “The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, on behalf of the government, plans to issue an international sovereign bond amounting to $500m in the international markets in October 2009,†the statement said.... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 04/09/09)
Japan helped LTTE build craft?
T.V. Sriram Colombo Sept. 4: The LTTE had built submersible vessels and a long secret channel for launching underwater craft with the help of some Japanese experts who came to Sri Lanka for tsunami relief work, a media report claimed on Friday. "A group of Japanese experts, who had been given access to the LTTE-held area shortly after tsunami in December 2004, had helped the rebels to build a channel to launch underwater craft," the Island newspaper claimed citing confession of a detained Tamil Tiger. It said the Japanese team had also helped the rebels develop submersibles, though the first... -Full Story- (Asian Age - 04/09/09)
Aren’t they going too far with the Media Freedom ?
Freedom has to be exercised with caution. Just because one is allowed to use one’s freedom, it should not be utilised for the detriment, or cause harm to another. Freedom could lead to allsorts of abuses. It would be like giving a torch to a monkey. It could set a whole forest on fire. It is the same with the freedom of the media.  But the media which has set up its own Federation, makes it jump to uphold the right of the media at the mere drop of a “pinâ€ÂÂÂ. They do not take time  even... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Fundamentals of Victory against terror
In an in-depth analysis of the Sri Lankan government’s defeat of the LTTE, the ‘Indian Defence Review’ has identified Eight Fundamentals of Victory. These are listed as the ‘Rajapaksa Model of fighting terror’ and are described as: • Unwavering political will • Disregard for international opinion distracting from the goal • No negotiations with the forces of terror • Unidirectional floor of conflict information • Absence of political intervention to pull away from complete defeat of the LTTE • Complete operational freedom for the security forces -Let... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Terror gang wiped out – what now?
Suspicion, if terror sneaks out again is in the air. Recent election results in the north showed overwhelming support for tiger –tamil proximate parties and SL-Tamil racist parties demanding foreign national Tamil rights.  “Foreign national Tamil†means, SL-Tamil citizens are not a “nation†by right but a race. What message comes through this election result? A journalist visiting north found hugely satisfactory development programs on the move and trade is thriving. As the terror is swept away it all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Sri Lanka's Abuse of Press Freedom - Sept. 1,2009
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 21:25:32 -0400 The Editor National Post Toronto, Canada  Dear Sir:  Re: Sri Lanka's Abuse of Press Freedom - Sept.1,2009  J.S. Tissanayagam, a Tamil reporter has received a 20 year sentence after his trial because he was found to have violated Sri Lanka's laws, specifically the Prevention of Terrorism Act. As all your readers are aware, Sri Lanka has been suffering from Tamil Tiger (LTTE) terrorism for thirty years which is why there is such a law as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. It is no different... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
RULE THE RULES …………..Beginning of the end
 Seeing the fading light of the war brought immense hopes to all patriotic Sri Lankans regardless to their casts and creeds, but only knowing lot more miseries haunting their backyards at will. Putting off underworld out of business means no lesser significance than winning the war as it holds a firm grip on all quarters in our society. As we see some feeble light at the end of the tunnel, it will be another mile stone for the rapid recovering post-war nation and hope that we are blessed enough to see overwhelming eradication of this menace which... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
UNITED NATIONS CANNOT VOUCH FOR THE AUTHENTICITY OF CHANNEL 4 VIDEO
United Nations Deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the UN cannot vouch for the authenticity regarding the Channel 4 (Britain) video allegedly showing the extrajudicial execution of a prisoner in Sri Lanka. The statement was made after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon met Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon met Samarasinghe to discuss about Internally Displaced Persons in the government run welfare relief camps in Northern Sri Lanka for the displaced of the war. The video about the extrajudicial killing in execution style is alleged... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Technical analyst exposes 'C- 4' gutter journalism
< C-4 video created from a video camera, not from a mobile phone. < Sound dubbed: a case study for gutter journalism.  In video coding or broadcasting to create a final video for any occasion it is the practice to start with high quality video first while transcending with editing for a final product. Mpeg4 is a compressed format. If one considers the Channel- 4 video: ââ€â€Â It says it came from a mobile phone video source. There are only two formats in mobile video formats. One is an old 3GPP format and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
The Channel 4 canard
The Channel 4, a British TV channel apparently engaged in a deliberate propaganda campaign against Sri Lankan citizens, has come up with its latest canard about the island nation. A video footage of very poor quality showing two persons clad in combat uniforms shooting down two others has been given a huge publicity by the Channel 4 TV claiming it to be of Sri Lankan soldiers "summarily executing Tamils". The channel's so-called "foreign affairs correspondent", Jonathan Miller filing another twisted story of his about Sri Lanka, almost wows that it was "Sinhalaese" soldiers killing Tamils in the video.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ ACCEPTS INVITATION TO VISIT SRI LANKA
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accepted an invitation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit Sri Lanka for an official visit. Government sources said the invitation was made to Chavez during the three day visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the 40th National Day celebrations of Libya in the capital city of Tripoli. Finishing his state visit to Libya President Rajapaksa and his entourage returned to the island during early hours of Thursday September 3 at the Bandaranaike international airport at katunayaka. photos by Sudath Silva The meeting between President... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe addressing the World Climate Conference
Today, Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, M.P., Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights addressed the High Level Segment of the World Climate Conference-3 which is being held in Geneva, delivering a policy statement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka. The week-long conference, which began on 31 August, will conclude its deliberations on Friday 4 September with a High Level Declaration which was also adopted by consensus today. The High Level Segment was declared open by the Secretary-General of the UN Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and President... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Former seven LTTE cadres-given employment in Malaysia
A young group of former LTTE cadres surrender to Government who underwent rehabilitation was given employment in Malaysia. This opportunity was jointly organized by Ministry of Justice and Law reforms and Foreign Employment Bureau. Picture here are seven of the ex-L T T E youth obtaining the blessings of the clergy after they were given their passports and relevant documents in Sammankodu Sri Manikka Vinayakar Kovil at Bambalapitiya. Milinda Moragoda Minister of Justice and Law Reforms, V Puththirasigamoney Deputy Minister and Suhada Gamlath, Secretary were also present at the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
Launch of the book titled ‘The Most Admired World Leaders by Milinda Moragoda (Tamil Translation)
The launch of the book titled the ‘Most Admired World Leaders’ authored by Minister of Justice and law Reforms Hon. Milinda Moragoda will be held on 12th, September 2009 at 5.00pm at Colombo Tamil Sangam, Wellawatte, Colombo-06. Mr. T. Senthilvelavar, the Editor attached to the foreign news section of the Associated News Papers Of Ceylon Ltd has compiled this book in Tamil.  President of the Colombo Tamil Sangam Professor Saba Jayarajah will Preside the ceremony. Other distinguished speakers at function will be Professor S. Chandrasekaran,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/09/09)
U.N.'s Ban raises alleged killings with Sri Lanka aide
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon raised with Sri Lanka's human rights minister on Thursday allegations that his country's troops summarily executed Tamil rebels, the United Nations said. British television aired a video last week that, according to a Sri Lankan advocacy group, shows the troops killing unarmed, naked, bound and blindfolded Tamils during the army's final assault to smash Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year. Ban discussed the refugee crisis that followed the defeat of the Tigers during a meeting in Geneva with Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka's minister for disaster management and human rights, the United Nations... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 04/09/09)
Execution video fake: Colombo
B. Muralidhar Reddy COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday characterised the video footage aired by Channel 4 U.K. Television on August 25, showing alleged execution in January of civilians by persons in military uniform, as “fake†and expressed concern over an “increasing number of comments†from some sections of the international community on the video. In a statement here, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said his government reiterated its strong and unequivocal rejection of the contents of the video footage telecast on Channel 4 on the grounds that there was absolutely no truth in its concocted story.... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 04/09/09)
UN chief, minister discuss plight of displaced Sri Lankans
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon met with a Sri Lankan minister in Geneva Thursday to discuss the plight of civilians displaced by the government defeat of the Tamil separatist insurgency earlier this year, his press office said. UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Ban and Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka's minister for disaster management and human rights, exchanged views on conditions in the camps for displaced minority Tamils and the importance of reconciliation and accountability in the south Asian island nation. Last May, the UN secretary general toured Sri Lanka's biggest camp for displaced civilians after government troops... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 04/09/09)
EU joins criticism of jailing of Sri Lanka journalist
03 September 2009, 17:52 CET  filed under: SriLanka, unrest, media, press (BRUSSELS) - The European Union joined Thursday the international outcry over the sentencing to 20 years in jail of a journalist in Sri Lanka for his alleged links to Tamil Tiger rebels. "The European Union is troubled by the severe sentence of 20 years hard labour in prison passed by the Colombo High Court on journalist Mr J.S. Tissainayagam," the EU's Swedish presidency said in a statement. "The verdict and the disproportionate sentence against Mr Tissainayagam give rise to concern with respect to freedom of expression and freedom... -Full Story- (eubusiness.com - 04/09/09)
Pak Govt asked to review blasphemy law
Pakistan News.Net Wednesday 2nd September, 2009 (ANI) Islamabad, Sep. 2 : The Pakistan Government has been asked by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights to re-examine the blasphemy law so that incidents like Gojra's anti-Christian riot can be prevented. Human Rights Ministry Secretary Farid Khan told Committee chairman PML-Q member Riaz Fatiyana that the Gojra incident reflected "a complete failure of our system." The Daily Times quoted Punjab Human Rights Minister Kamran Michael as saying that the government should review the blasphemy law. He said the law should also be used against those who levelled baseless allegations against... -Full Story- (pakistannews.net - 03/09/09)
Are the Jaffna Tamils “congenital idiots� – Part II
A few Sundays back I stopped in my tracks and re-read Prof. Kumar David’s condemnation of the Tamils of Jaffna as “congenital idiots†(July 26, 2009, Sunday Island). He was angry that the Tamils were accusing the Marxists of betraying the Tamils when in reality it was the Tamils of Jaffna who never responded positively to the Marxists who had stuck their necks out to champion their causes. Of course, as a committed Marxist Prof. David was labeling the Tamils as “congenital idiots†for not embracing Marxism as a liberating political force. But the idiocy... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA MEETS PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ OF VENEZUELA IN THE LIBYAN CAPITAL OF TRIPOLI
President Mahinda Rajapaksa met President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and was engaged in a cordial discussion on bilateral issues, Sri Lankan government sources said. The two Presidents met after the grand celebrations to commemorate the 40th National Day held in the Libyan capital where both leaders were special invited guests of the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar El Gadaffi. Pictures by Sudath Silva A government commentator broadcasting a report immediately after the meeting said the results of the meeting will be seen in the near future. Venezuela, the world’s fifth biggest... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Infernal Triangle - AI, Westminster and LTTE
There has been widespread condemnation of the sentencing of Mr J S Tissainayagam by the High Court in Colombo. According to Amnesty International, he was found guilty of “writing and publishing articles that criticized the government's treatment of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians affected by the warâ€ÂÂÂ.   I have not followed his case. In any event, I am not in a position to judge the judgment of a High Court Judge. However, freedom of expression is a fundamental tenet of a functioning democracy which should not be suppressed or tampered with for political expediency. It... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Wind and Solar Power for Sri Lanka
I am happy that my paper: “The Wind Turbines of Spain, France and Portugal†(Lanka Web, 25/8/2009has evoked a response from Noor Nizam, of Canada, in his paper, “Wind Energy Electricity Generation is a reality in Sri Lanka†Lanka Web, 26/8/2009)  The thrust of my paper, based on my observation of wind turbines I have seen at work in Spain and Portugal is that these two countries have been building wind turbines on mountains, while we in Sri lanka have been building our wind turbines on the coast. It is only commonsense... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Demonstration and online petition against Channel-4 News UK
Demonstration Against Channel-4 News Fake Video footage  Venue: In front of Channel-4 Television Corporation           124, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2TX    Channel-4 News in the UK broadcast an unauthenticated video clip, accusing Sri Lanka Army and the government of war crimes. This particular video clip, shown on Channel-4 news on 25th August 2009 at 7.00pm, created a huge controversy throughout the world. It was later shown on BBC, CNN and many other news channels as well as web sites and led to the damage of the reputation of Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
DO SRI LANKAN ROAD RULES BROADLY OPERATE WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF KARMA ?
British Police wearing prominent luminous coats to be seen as opposed  to Sri Lankan police inferior jackets with only two faded white lines. Of late Sri Lankan Police has been able to dominate the news headlines on various issues of complaints ranging from Negligence, Assault, Abuse of Power, Prejudice , Illegal Arrests and Detention, and Bribery and Corruption, etc.  As a consequence, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to intervene and summon the Inspector General of Police Jayantha Wickremaratne with Senior DIG’s at Temple Trees on 17 August 09 to give a pep talk on police... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Glaring Memoirs of September 65
The Pakistani nation will celebrate 44th defence day of Pakistan on 6 September with great enthusiasm. The defence day marked the September 1965 war and the valiant defence put up by the armed forces against the Indian aggression. The day reminds us of the untold sacrifices rendered by armed forces while the nation showed unprecedented spirit of unity and determination to repulse the attack and safeguard the territorial integrity of the homeland.            India launched her ignominious, undeclared and blatant aggression on Pakistan on 6 September 1965. The invaders appear to have been... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Asia Pacific region in peril of Climate Change Energized debate awaits Copenhagen Summit
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The Asia Pacific region is in peril of the global warming and climate change and the western (and industrialized) countries should (must) bailout the developing countries to cope up with the devastation of sea level rise, flood & drought and salination of surface water in those populous countries-those were some highlights, which were discussed and resolved unanimously in an international environmental journalists’ conference in Bangladesh. The high voltage debates and discourses were part of the 18th Congress of Asia Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists (APFEJ) and the 5th meeting of World Water... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
“LTTE LOST THE WAR, AND NOW THE PRO-LTTE DIASPORA IS TRYING TO DEFEAT THE PEACE†-- SAYS SRI LANKAN AMBASSADOR AT THE HOMELAND SECURITY POLICY INSTITUTE OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Sri Lankan Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya told a group of scholars and Asian experts Monday how the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as well as how the government will sustain peaceful reconciliation. Speaking before the Homeland Security Policy Institute of The George Washington University, Ambassador Wickramasuriya described a number of key developments that led to the government’s successful conclusion of the 25-year-long conflict with the LTTE. Those initiatives, he said, included a clear command to the military from President Mahinda Rajapaksa to destroy the LTTE while liberating... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
US GOVERNMENT STRONGLY SUPPORTS SRI LANKA GOVERNMENT’S DESIRE TO RESETTLE THE IDP‘S QUICKLY AND SAFELY SAYS VOA EDITORIAL
The Voice of America broadcasting the reflection of opinion of the US government said the United States strongly supports the Sri Lankan government’s desire to resettle the Internally displaced persons safely and quickly The editorial quoted James R. Moore, US Charge d’affaires as saying, "We strongly support the desire of the Government of Sri Lanka to return internally displaced persons to their homes safely and quickly so they can begin to rebuild their communities,†The editorial said in the year 2009 the US government has provided approximately 57 million US Dollars directing most of that assistance... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
BAN KI MOON TELLS HIS NORWEGIAN CRITICS THAT HE HAS GOT HIS OWN STYLES OF CHARISMA AND LEADERSHIP
Responding to the Norwegian diplomatic attack on the United Nation’s Secretary General that he lacked leadership and charisma Ban Ki Moon has said since they come from different backgrounds their styles of charisma or leadership could be different. He said addressing a press conference in Oslo, “ We all have a different background, leadership styles. We must respect each others'," adding "I have my own leadership style, my own charisma."  As many predicted that the Secretary General would avoid going to Norway in the midst of the criticism did not happen. Ban did meet Norway’s Prime... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Jaffna Kilinochchi Election results and maintaining the Tamil identity.
Election results of Jaffna and Vavunia in the Northern Provincial Council were regrettable.  It showed a complete disregard for the Government’s effort, at a terrible cost of human lives and loss of material, to relieve the Tamil people of the North from the 30 years of terrorism and bring peace and prosperity to them.  The government continues to develop the North in all fronts to provide the Tamil people of the North a better living condition hitherto deprived, because of the virulence of terrorism. No one of the Sinhala Community has questioned the government’s continued effort to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
HEROIC SRI LANKAN TROOPS WHO DEFEATED TERRORISM WERE SCHEDULED TO MARCH IN THE TRIPOLI NATIONAL DAY PARADE IN LIBYA
A team of heroic Sri Lankan forces who disproved to the world the popular Western notion that terrorism cannot be defeated were scheduled to join in the 40th National Day parade in Tripoli, Libya exhibiting the strong Libyan-Sri Lankan friendship, government sources said. The Sri Lankan troops flown to Tripoli, were met by Libyan leader Muammar Al Gaddaffi, last night, to show Libya’s gratitude and personally thank them for their participation in the 40th National Day parade which was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Libyan time. The charismatic Libyan leader also presented the Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Faith is imperfect without morality - Ramadan Message
Faith is such a power that it keeps men away from low attributes and mean acts, and encourages him to achieve high attributes and clean morals. That is why whenever Allah called his slaves towards virtue or whenever He wanted them to hate evil, He declared it as an essential requirement of the Faith in their hearts. For example when He, in Surah Tauba, commands men to adopt righteousness and to speak truth, He addresses them as ''0 you who have faith" (or "O you who believe"): "0 you, who have faith ! Fear Allah and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
TRIBUTE TO A FALLEN POLICE COMMANDO; late DIG: UPUL SENAVIRATHNA
We have to always remember the debt we owe to the men and women who defend us. They must be remembered without  petty opportunisms and also there is a noble duty of enforcing the victories which gained by them with continue dedication. In such context ; the memory of  our loved officer ,late DIG Upul senavirathna still revives within our hearts.  Mr Upul senaviratna was born in 1962 and he was a brilliant old boy of the Dhramaraja college at Kandy . He has Joined to SL Police department as a sub inspector on 26th... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Sri Lanka’s enemies will keep on trying to revive the Tigers
The international cabal who used to meddle in Sri Lankan affairs as a means diverting world attention away from the hotter issues of murder and mayhem they were carrying out in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan are at it again!  The continuing apartment building in the Palestinian owned land in the so-called Samaria, eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the civilian massacres in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions through drone attacks are beginning to attract world attention. They find that there are no more war in Sri Lanka which provided all the diversions over the last... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Journalist hailed by Obama gets 20 years hard labour in Sri Lanka
September 1, 2009  The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN  Sir: Just because Tamil reporter J.S. Tissainayagam who got 20 years hard labour for violating Sri Lanka's strict Prevention of Terrorism Act was hailed by Barak Obama as an "emblematic example" of a persecuted journalist, he certainly is not above the law. Far from it.  The reporter was intelligent enough to understand that according to the PTA publishing treasonous material will get him into trouble, but he went ahead anyway with writing and publishing bold and excessively exaggerated articles... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
Might should not be international law
US is continuously experimenting on the developing countries, trying to bring the fruits of democracy and capitalism at the grass root level. For doing this, no matter the US may have to slaughter the whole population of that country, it will go ahead to accomplish its set objectives. So far we have not witnessed even a single word for guilt and shame in committing international crimes against humanity. No one can have even the slightest idea that the country which had been projecting itself as the champion of human rights would not hesitate to carryout genocide of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/09/09)
This Old Coyote Got Some Guts ………….!
A news item published in BBC world news (August 30th) says “The most prominent Tamil parliamentary group in Sri Lanka says the party is prepared to help Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa to resolve the national issueâ€ÂÂÂ. Read on “R Sampanthan, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), stressed the importance of resettling nearly 300,000 displaced people as soon as possibleâ€ÂÂÂ. Visiting British parliamentarian Liam Fox and the TNA agreed on the importance of the issue, he told BBC Sandeshaya. “There should be a solution based upon which all communities in Sri Lanka can live... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/09)
THE NEED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL COURT FOR JOURNALISTIC CRIMES IS WANTED IMMEDIATELY.
SRI LANKA SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW AGAINST BRITISH CHANNEL4TV STATION FOR FALSE NEWS REPORTING.
The hypocrisy of the British media to use doctored video coverage to bolster its image as a nation free of war crimes and to penalize a sovereign nation just come out of fighting the most ruthless terror organization in the world, to the dock of the international community as killers of innocent persons in custody, by it's security forces needs attention... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/09)
CRICKET AND PATRIOTISM
This was in response to an editorial in the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror Your DM editorial ‘Cricket, Nation and Religion’ of August 11, 2009 insinuates certain sections of Muslims as being unpatriotic because of their support for Pakistan . You even go to the extent of blaming the Islamic faith for this aberration. Let me remind you that the Pakistani’s turned up in their numbers to support Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Lahore where Sri Lanka beat Australia . If faith was a motivating factor, then the Pakistani’s should have supported Australia because... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/09)
OPEN LETTER TO ERICK S -AN IDOT OF A SPECIAL KIND
Norwegian Ambassador, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Please deliver this open letter to Erick S. My dear boy Erick, I am calling you boy as I am old enough to be your father. I have been following your behaviour over a long period of time. Several years back I was on board to Palali air port with my mate Eddie Gray in which you and the German Ambassador were also on board. As I saw you, I was so furious to kick you in your back side but I controlled myself as it was not appropriate... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/09)
Breaching Protocols Governing Press Freedoms To Pander To Terrorists Is Illegal Regardless Of Who Gets Sanctimonious About it!
August 31st 2009 In Colombo, Sri Lanka yesterday a Sri Lankan reporter was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of violating the country's strict anti-terror laws. There can be no leniencies towards indicting and incarcerating through the Nation's Justice System, anyone who violates this to the extent of publishing treasonous material which the journalist in question J.S. Tissainayagam has been found guilty of. Harsh thought the judgement may be in the eyes of some it seems a necessary one!  His bold and excessively exaggerated articles in the now-defunct Northeastern Monthly magazine in 2006 and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/09)
PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA ARRIVES IN TRIPOLI TO TAKE PART IN THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBYAN REVOLUTION
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was given a rousing welcome by the Libyan government when he arrived at Matiga Airport in Tripoli  as a special invited guest to participate in the 40th anniversary of the Libyan revolution. Planning Minister Abdul Hafeed Al-Zlatny received the President on behalf of the Libyan government. PPICTURES BY SUDATH SILVA Sri Lanka is one of three nations from Asia who will be participating in the grand celebrations of the Libyan revolution. The Philippines and Pakistan are the other two Asian nations taking part in the celebrations. The Sri Lankan President before taking... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/09/09)
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