News Archive for Nov 2010

War crimes lawyers seek arrest of Sri Lankan president in Oxford
Owen Bowcott and Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
Lawyers working for Tamil activists are attempting to obtain a war crimes arrest warrant against Sri Lanka's president and senior member of his entourage who have arrived in Britain. Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose government defeated the separatist Tamil Tigers last year amid humanitarian protests about the treatment of civilians trapped in the war zone, is due to speak at the Oxford Union on Thursday. The visit comes as Tamil supporters claim to have acquired a video showing a former Tamil Tiger colonel being interrogated by Sri Lankan forces. His family allege he was killed after... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 30/11/10)

ජී.බී. සේනානායක සහ විශාදය|වෛද්‍ය රුවන් ජයතුංගගේ ලිපියට ප්‍රතිචාරයක්
මැක්සිමස් ජයන්ත ආනන්දප්පා
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් ජයතුංග මහතා "මහා ගත්කරු ජී.බී. සේනානායක විශාදයෙන් (depression) පෙලුණේද?" යන හිසින් රචනා කළ ලිපිය දැක මේ සටහන ලියා එවීමට සිත්විණි. 1965 හා 1972 පමණ වකවානුව තුල කඳාන අප නිවසට නුදුරින් වාසය කළ ජී.බී. එවක මම නිතර නිතර සියැසින් දැක ඇත්තෙමි. එසේම 1971 දී කීපවාරයක්ම පෞද්ගලිකව හමු වී මම ජී.බී. සමඟ සාහිත්‍ය හා අදාල මාතෘකා පිළිබඳව කථා බස් ද කර ඇත්තෙමි. ජී.බී. පිළිබඳව, විශේෂයෙන්ම, ඔහුගේ මානසික තත්වය පිළිබඳව ජයතුංග මහතා ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති අදහස් පිළිබඳව යමක් පැවසීම උචිතයයි සිතමි. ජයතුංග මහතාගේ ලිපියෙහි අන්තර්ගතය අංග... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/11/10)

Racist attack on Tamil Women, Culture and Traditions by a Sinhalese Canadian.
Manicka Vasagar
Hon Jason Kenny M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration & Multiculturalism House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario. minister
cic.gc.ca  Dear Minister,  Racist attack on Tamil Women, Culture and Traditions by a Sinhalese Canadian.  First, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you and your party, and appreciate your presence and support to the Tamil community in Toronto recently, in their endeavours to be part and parcel of Canadian life, contribute to the social and economic development and be lawful citizens of Canada. Canada has always been well known for its values and principles of democracy, freedom, equality and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/11/10)

Sri Lanka turns rebel hideout into wildlife sanctuary
Sri Lanka is to turn a vast jungle area that was a base for the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels into a wildlife sanctuary, 18 months after the end of island’s bloody civil war, the government said yesterday. The jungles of Mullaittivu, from where the rebels launched attacks for decades until they were defeated by government troops last year, has been declared a safe haven for wild animals, the information department said.... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 30/11/10)

Massive Tamil Colonization of Colombo Threatens Security and Sustainability - a Response to Those Who Cry Sinhala Colonization of Jaffna
- Kumar Moses
 Colombo was known as the garden city sometime back. However all that splendour was lost within a few decades as massive Tamil colonization rapidly changed the city. To make matters worse they settled down mainly in the Greater Colombo area which was already crowded. In order to house this massive Tamil population that flocked to the city suddenly, many unplanned dwellings were built. However, the drains, roads, garbage collection and other infrastructure could not handle this sudden influx. Greater Colombo (GC) area gradually degenerated into something similar to a South Indian city.  Having done so, shameless... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/11/10)

Welcome to President H.E. Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan – a true friend of Sri Lanka.
By Charles.S.Perera
While we say good by to  Mr. S.M.Krishna the External Affairs  Minister of India, it is a pleasure to  Welcome His Excellency Mr.Asif Ali Zardari the President of Pakistan.  Pakistan will always have a special place in the hearts of Sri Lankans, and will remain  a true friend of Sri Lanka.  Pakistan Stood by us through out that recent  dark period of Sri Lanka under the threat  of terrorism. India’s relation with Sri Lanka was never cordial or sincere.  India  always had an ulterior motive in its “friendship”.  Even before terrorism India,  “…..keeping with the doctrine of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/11/10)

Meditation and Mental Health
Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge M. D.  
Meditation is a synchronized mind body technique. It is a technique, defined as, 'the maintained focus of attention on a single object, through which the mind is calmed and distracting influences of other internal and external events are reduced. Meditation enhances cognitive functions strengthening attention span. It helps to achieve an optimal growth towards a state of total brain functioning. Mediation augments psycho physiological functioning of the body and helps to achieve full mental potential. Meditation and Combating Anxiety Anxiety is viewed as a diffuse and vague feeling of apprehension. Anxiety disorders... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/11/10)

UK SRI LANKANS WANT POSITIVE MEDIA COVERAGE
PRESS RELEASE
Sri Lankan expatriates in the UK agree that generating adverse publicity in the media does not help the reconciliation process, badly needed to re-build the nation after the 26 year ethnic conflict in their motherland.  This was the outcome of a meeting held in the House of Commons in London where Dr Jayalath Jayawadena MP and Dr Wickramabahu Karunaratne were addressing a group of Sri Lankan expatriates, chaired by Former BBC News Editor Clive Lawrence.  It was a most unlikely and extra-ordinary anti government alliance between Marxist militant Dr Karunaratne and “conservative” Dr Jayawardena that surprised... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/11/10)

Familiarity breeds contempt - Or does it?
Dr. Tilak Fernando
Our personal beliefs certainly control our lives. Psychological pundits would advise that we can change our attitudes so as to change our life if we want a better reality by developing healthier principles. The problem here is how to recognize a disempowering conviction that needs changing which will affect us. In the distant past Colonial rulers kept our local folk at a distance, possibly to avoid becoming too familiar with them. Suddas, with their ‘superiority complex’, thought “Hell is other people”. In a slightly different manner to what Benjamin Franklin used to say “Fish and visitors... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/11/10)

"Christ" Jewellery & Watches"
TERRENCE DE SILVA - K.S.A
Attached is a photograph which I took in the Transit Lounge of The Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt Germany on 2nd June 2010 and the "Christ" Jewellery & Watches" is a popular brandmark and this retail outlet has been there for several years; with no untoward problems arising and no one being offended by it. I made it a point to take this picture as I had in mind people Who raise objections to the use of the name Buddha & Mohammed. And Pandula Ranatunga and his article which appears with pictures In the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/11/10)

Zardari, Rajapakse agree on Pak-Sri Lankan ‘comprehensive engagement’
By Shafek E Koreshe
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov 28 (APP): Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Sunday agreed on expanding its relationship from defence cooperation to an “overall comprehensive engagement” involving trade, communications and culture.President Zardari in a one-on-one meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapakse at the Presidential Secretariat overlooking the Indian ocean, held extensive talks on bilateral, regional and global issues.During the exclusive meeting that lasted for one hour, the two presidents agreed on taking the existing level of Pak-Sri Lankan relationship to “new heights”, encompassing a multi-sectoral engagement in addition to defence, that had been... -Full Story- (app.com.pk - 28/11/10)

Arab travellers flock to sri lanka as ME Tourist arrivals surge by 58% in ten months
Arab travellers to Sri Lanka increased by 58% in the first ten months of the year according to Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau's (SLTPB) Middle East office. Statistics compiled by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority indicate that the growth from the Middle East is higher than the overall growth in arrivals to Sri Lanka which is pegged at 43.5% "Sri Lanka is witnessing a dramatic rise in visitors which in turn has enabled vast development of Sri Lanka's existing tourism infrastructure with new hotels and better road networks currently underway island-wide to cope with the destinations increasing popularity," remarked Ms... -Full Story- (www1.albawaba.com - 28/11/10)

Krishna Cancels Meet with SL's Main Tamil Party
PTI
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today concluded his four-day visit to Sri Lanka without meeting the country's main Tamil political party, TNA, once considered as a proxy of the LTTE. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said Krishna was to hold talks with them today morning, but the meeting was put off till noon giving him time to return to Colombo from the southern town of Hambantota where he opened a consulate. "Later we were told that the minister is flying straight from Hambantota to the (international) airport and there is no possibility to have the scheduled meeting," TNA... -Full Story- (news.outlookindia.com - 28/11/10)

Zardari, Mahinda Meet:Agree to Fortify Pakistan, Sri Lanka Ties in Vital Fields
'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk
COLOMBO (Sri Lanka): Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Sunday agreed on expanding their relationship from beyond political and defence paradigm to an 'overall comprehensive engagement’ including trade, joint investments and cooperation in new areas. President Zardari in a one-on-one meeting with Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapakse at the Presidential Secretariat overlooking the Indian Ocean, held extensive talks on bilateral, regional and global issues.... -Full Story- (pakistantimes.net - 28/11/10)

True Friend Pakistan : Visa on arrival
Shenali Waduge
While India in post-war Sri Lanka is bending its back to make us Sri Lankan's believe India was all the while helping us to eradicate terrorism, it is without any doubt that Pakistan has been a true friend.   While India to negate or balance the mass assistance being given by China strives to involve itself in Sri Lanka's development by once again doing petty deals like opening consulates in Jaffna & Hambantota, Pakistan has signed with the Sri Lankan Government visa on arrival for Sri Lankans.   When Indians have been given visa on arrival... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/11/10)

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අතිගරු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හා නව කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය
චන්ද්‍ර ‍සේන පණ්ඩිත‍ගේ විසිනි.
මේ වනවිට අතිගරු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ දෙවන පදවි ප්‍රාප්තිය නිමව, ඉදිරි කටයුතු සඳහා රට මෙහෙයවිමට නව අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයක් තෝරාගෙන හමාරය. මෙම ඇමති මණ්ඩලය පසුගිය වතාවේදී පත්කල ඇමති මණ්ඩලයට වඩා පුළුල්ව ඇත. ඒ සම්බන්ධව ජනතාව දක්වන විවිධ ප්‍රතිචාර සම්බන්ධව සියුම්ව සලකා බැලුවහොත් මෙම විශාල ඇමති මණ්ඩලයට පොදුවේ රටේ ජනතාව තුල ඇත්තේ බලවත් විරෝධයකි. පසුගිය මහා මැතිවරණය නිම වීමත් සමග පිහිට වූ ඇමති මණ්ඩලය, ඊට පෙර තිබූ ඇමති මණ්ඩලයට වඩා කුඩා කරන ලද්දේ අතිගරු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසිනි. පවතින පාලන ක්‍රමය තුල එම ඇමති මණ්ඩලය කුඩා කිරීම ‍නොකල යුතු කාර්යයක් වුවද, එවන් අධූරදර්ශී තීරණයක් ගැනීමට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/11/10)

The Greedy Buddha - a name for the restaurant that insults all Buddhists
Pandula Ranatunga
Proprietor The Greedy Buddha 144 Wandsworth Bridge Road, Fulham, London. SW6 2UH Tel. 020-7751 3311 Dear proprietor, I was passing through Wandsworth Bridge Road in Fulham recently and to my horror my wondering eye fixed on to something so appalling, which was the name of your restaurant, "Greedy Buddha". I am a Buddhist myself, and like millions of other Buddhists all around the world who worships Lord Buddha and follow his sacred teachings, I was shocked and saddened by your insensitivity and sheer audacity to choose a name for your restaurant that insults all Buddhists. I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/11/10)

CRUSH EXTREMISM
ALI SUKHANVER
  Park51, originally named Cordoba House, is a planned 13-story Muslim community center to be located two blocks from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The major part of the center will be open to the general public. It will contain a Muslim prayer space that has controversially been referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque. The proposed construction of this community centre has become a controversial issue and a very hot favourite point of opposition for various religious sections of the American society. Some of the politicians who want to win the political sympathies of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/11/10)

Warning to all UK Expats... Please check your child's school registration data sheet
Sri Lankan in UK
Remember how the journalist Bandula Jayasekra (Now the Diplomat) revealed in the island  in 2001  that some UK Schools   re-clarified   Sinhala Children as  Srilankan Tamils on the school Registration forms.    At that time. Ranil was "in peace" with Prabkaran and the UNP government was outraged. Then Foreign Minister Tyrone Fernando  called Bandula an irresponsible Journalist in the Parliament and  demanded an apology. Our High Commission in London denied such thing was happening in UK. Since Bandula was living in Srilanka he could not substantiate his claim and had to apologize.     However, Bandula was telling the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 19 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
කල්යාණ කරුණාරත්න හා වැල්ලවාය පොලිසියට පහර දීම
 71 කැරැල්ල උඩු යටිකුරු වූයේ 1971 අපේ‍්‍රල් 5 දින රාත‍්‍රී 11ට වෙනුවට අපේ‍්‍රල් 4 දින හිමිදිරියේ වැල්ලවාය පොලිසියට පහර දීම නිසාය. ඒ පිළිබඳව වික්ටර් අයිවන්ගේ 71 කැරැුල්ල පොතේ සඳහන් වන්නේ මේ අයුරිනි.  ‘දිවයිනේ සෑම ප‍්‍රදේශයකම එකම දිනක එකම වේලාවට (අපේ‍්‍රල් 5 දින රාත‍්‍රි 11ට* පහර දීමට අදහස් කරගෙන සිටිමුත් ඒ සඳහා ලැබුනු නියෝගය වැල්ලවාය ප‍්‍රදේශයේ සාමාජිකයන් අතට වැරදි ලෙස පත් වීම හේතු කොට ගෙන 5දා රාත‍්‍රී වෙනුවට 5දා හිමිදිරියේ වැල්ලවාය පොලිසියට පහර දීම එල්ල වීම හේතු කොට ගෙන විය හැකි අනතුර කලින් දැන ගනිමින් 5දා රාත‍්‍රී 9... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/11/10)

President Zardari here on state visit -Pakistani leader to strengthen solidarity and cordial relations
by Manjula FERNANDO  courtesy Sunday Observer
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday evening on a four-day landmark State visit aimed at bolstering bilateral ties. This is his first official visit to Sri Lanka. President Zardari was received at the Bandaranaike International Airport by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Cabinet Ministers. The Armed Forces accorded a Guard of Honour to the visiting President, followed by a 21-gun salute. President Rajapaksa introduced him to his Ministers and the Services Chiefs. He is accompanied by 40 member team comprising Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Chairman... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/11/10)

Lessons:| Past, present and possible futures
Susantha Goonatilake Ph.D.-written submission to LLRC
 I am going to begin this submission by two preambles: one on my motivation and secondly, on a background as to who the Sinhalese, and Tamils are, the two major presumed actors. I am currently among others, the President of the 166 year old Royal Asiatic Society and was several years ago, the General President of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, two leading academic associations in the country dealing with the humanities and sciences respectively, my presentations here are my own private views.   As for myself, in my school... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

A POLITICAL SOLUTION FOR MR KRISHNA’S DILEMMA
CHUTTA. Farnborough,UK
This is a common man’s viewpoint about Foreign Minister of India, Mr Krishna’s agenda about finding a political solution to Sri Lankan Tamils. HE The President had already offered an excellent political solution to Tamils, to all other ethnic minorities, as well as to the Sinhala majority, soon after the annihilation of the LTTE in May 2009.  His statement, if I can remembered it right, conveyed the message, “We do not have Sinhalas, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers or Moors etc in this land.  We are all Sri Lankans. From now on what we have are those who muster... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

BUNDY CLOCK ATTENDANCE SYSTEM FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
By M D P  DISSANAYAKE
It has been reported that during the recently concluded Budget, there were fewer number of MPS  (mostly government MPs) in attendance  at the Parlimantary sessions. This has been acute problem at the Sri Lankan Parliament for many years.  Before the General Elections, these potential MPs  spent their time and resources to get elected.  After being elected a MP, why are they so lazy, lethargic to attend the Sri Lanka’s highest legislative body?   What possible reasons can be adduced by these ‘grass fed yearlings(GFY)’ for their failure to attend the Parliament?  “Sorry  Mr Speaker,   I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/11/10)

SLFP or UPFA should start a Grama Charika to counter UNP misinformation campaign in their Grama Charika.
By Charles.S.Perera
 UNP is carrying on a world wide misinformation campaign against the Government of Sri Lanka abroad and locally in a much publicised Grama Charika . The UNP leader uses his official position as the Leader of the Opposition to meet the political leaders of the Western countries, to discredit and paint the picture of Sri Lanka as an undemocratic country with a President who withholds the freedom of the people.  In Sri Lanka other UNP politicians lead by the Karu Jayasooriya, Sajith Premadasa, and Mangala Samaraweera are carrying on a similar misinformation campaign diminishing the important dynamic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

Statement on Sri Lanka's General Shavendra Silva - November 21,2010
Ira de Silva London, Ontario 
Mr. Mathew Lee Inner City Press New York, N.Y. U.S.A.   Dear Mr. Lee,   I am writing regarding your latest posting on  Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka's Representative to the U.N. in New York, General Shavendra Silva the current Deputy Permanent Representative. You state that General Silva is "responsible for many of the war crimes in 2009". To make this statement as one of fact, what proof do you have? You say it has been "noted by a New York tabloid" - I suppose you mean the New York Post in which Brad  Hamilton has... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—45-PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT INTERRUPTS OUR JOURNEY TO YELOWSTONE NP
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 Red Lodge, Montana, is the starting point of the Beartooth Highway, which the late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt called  “the most beautiful drive in America.” The highway straddles the Montana-Wyoming border as it wiggles its way to the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), is situated about 670 miles (1,076 km) southwest of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area, where we live. In July 1996, we—daughter Carmel, 12; son Junius, 16; wife Yoke-Sim; and I—planned an excursion that would include the Theodore Roosevelt National Park... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

If it had not been for our President Kalmunai,Samnthurai, and Akkaraipattu would have been another Gaza strip
news from ministry of youth affairs
While distributing dry rations among the Muslim devotees gathered at the Davia Mansjeed mosque at Matara Minister of youth affairs Hon Dullas Allahpperumma said that if it had not been for his Excellency the president Samanthureyi, Kalmuneyi, Akkarapatthu,would have been soaked by the blood of the Muslims. When His Excellency the president was engaged in his elections campaign in the Northern Province, the LTTE threatened his life. In spite of those threats the President met the Muslim brethren in those areas and won their esteem. The Hon minister said that heshudders to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

MORALITY IN HOSTAGE
UPALI COORAY
With multiple scams apparently weighing on their minds, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi today spoke out against the "cancer of corruption" and rising "graft and greed", saying these are putting in danger the very basis of Independent India.  Gandhi said the country's economy may "increasingly be dynamic, but our moral universe seems to be shrinking... Graft and greed are on the rise. The principles on which Independent India was founded, for which a generation of great leaders fought and sacrificed their all, are in danger of being negated."(Source NDTV.com 19/11)) It is common... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

EMDR – An Effective Mode of Psychotherapy
By Ruwan Jayatunge
 Psychological trauma affected the humankind since dawn of history. A countless number of people suffered from natural and man made disasters. For centuries, there were no methods to heal the suffering. People lived with their traumatic memories and believed that the time would heal them. Some could get away with their suffering when the time passed by, but others could not. The famous Viennese doctor Sigmund Freud knew about the suffering carried by the emotionally disturbed patients. His Psychoanalytic therapy could be considered as one of the early researched based attempts to heal trauma. But Psychoanalysis... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/11/10)

China, Russia, Iran Dumping Dollar For Gold
Posted on Pakalert on November 26, 2010 // Leave Your Comment
Something is going on that your government does not want you to know about. Very few journalists have written about it and little or nothing has appeared in the mainstream media. The story could be one of major stories of our time. Western powers have tried to destroy gold as a backing for currencies for many years. Presently the major media won’t touch the story and that is understandable. Something we have been writing about for years is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization known as SCO. Few have been listening... -Full Story- (pakalertpress.com - 26/11/10)

Sri Lanka to drill first oil well next year
Sri Lanka is scheduled to drill its first oil well in the north western Mannar basin in the first quarter of 2011, a senior government minister said on Thursday. Susil Premajayantha, minister of Petroleum Industries told reporters that the drilling is being handled by Indian based Cairn Lanka Private Limited. Premajayantha said the drilling will first take place in the first three lots of the Mannar basin which had completed the seismic studies. "The first, second and third stages of oil drilling would take three, two and three years respectively and the entire project would be completed in eight years,"... -Full Story- (english.people.com.cn - 26/11/10)

Devolution package for Tamils not out of radar: Sri Lanka
Nov 26, 2010 | PTI| Colombo
Sri Lanka on Friday assured India that a devolution package for the minority Tamil community in the country was not out of its radar as the two neighbours discussed the key issue of resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the post LTTE-era. "The issue is not out of sight and is not out of the radar," Sri Lankan foreign minister G L Peris told reporters after the seventh India-Sri Lanka joint commission meeting co-chaired by him and external affairs minister S M Krishna here, referring to the devolution issue.... -Full Story- (Asian Age - 26/11/10)

India extends $416.39 mn as Line of Credit for Sri Lankan projects
India, which is assisting Sri Lanka in reconstruction of its war-ravaged northern region, on Friday extended more than $416 million as Line of Credit for building three railway projects in this country. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka, witnessed the signing of the credit agreement for $416.39 million along with his counterpart G.L. Peiris in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Line of Credit is being extended for three projects ? Omanthai-Pallai, Madu Road-Talaimannar and Medawachchiya-Madu Road.... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 26/11/10)

Sri Lankan apparel sector has better prospects in EU & US markets
November 26, 2010 (Sri Lanka)
A sustainable economic growth can be attained by Sri Lanka beating all economic as well as social woes, in spite of all the internal and external issues that the country is facing, stated the Ambassador for the Kingdom of Netherlands in Sri Lanka Leoni Cuelenaere. She was addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA). The country has emerged from a long three-decade war and is resilient to external and internal pressures, she added.... -Full Story- (fibre2fashion.com - 26/11/10)

India, Sri Lanka take ties to new heights
Over a year after the Tamil Tigers were crushed, India and Sri Lanka Friday took their ties to new heights by unveiling New Delhi-aided projects worth $1 billion and expanding cooperation in areas ranging from energy to defence. Even as India called for a lasting political settlement, Colombo promised that the estimated 20,000 Tamils still without homes because of the war will be resettled by the end of the year. The two countries signed a credit arrangement for $416.39 million for a railway link in Sri Lanka's north -- the former war zoen -- to be formally launched by Indian... -Full Story- (story.irishsun.com - 26/11/10)

China ties no risk to Indo-Lanka affinity'
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s relationship with India is not at risk over expanding ties with China or other nations, India’s foreign minister said today. Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna is on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa, sign trade and financing deals and open two new consulates. One is in the former Tamil Tiger stronghold of Jaffna in the north and the other in southern Hambantota, Rajapaksa’s hometown and site of a new Chinese-financed harbour that has stirred national security concerns in New Delhi.... -Full Story- (thehimalayantimes.com - 26/11/10)

Police send ‘mass grave’ ashes for forensic test
Doha Time
Sri Lankan police have reportedly sent 24 bags full of ashes for forensic testing from a suspected mass grave of government troops in the north-eastern parts bordering Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts. Officials said that jailed Tamil Tiger rebels had admitted that the grave contained the remains of 26 troops, including eight soldiers and 18 navy personnel, they had captured and shot dead in January 2009.... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 26/11/10)

Indo-Sri Lanka relations not at risk over China
International News
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's relationship with India is not at risk over expanding ties with China or other nations, India's foreign minister said yesterday. Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna is on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa, sign trade and financing deals and open two new consulates. One is in the former Tamil Tiger stronghold of Jaffna in the north and the other in southern Hambantota, Rajapaksa's hometown and site of a new Chinese-financed harbour that has st irred national security concerns in New Delhi.... -Full Story- (kuwaittimes.net - 26/11/10)

No Peace Dividend Until the Majority Community Benefits from Northern Development
By Kumar Moses    
“Gedi siyayak bima heluwath appachchita eka gediyai” It is a verse from a song from popular singer Visharada Nanda Malini. Translated to English it means, if a hundred coconuts were plucked, the worker gets just one coconut as payment. If this is cruel, consider how cruel the plight of most security forces personnel is. They liberated close to 15,000 square kilometres of land but most of them are without even a square inch of their own land! Altogether there are 250,000 Sri Lanka Defence Forces personnel at present. On top of that, 27,000... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල18 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
ජී.අයි.ඞී. ධර්මසේකර
ජී.අයි.ඞී. ධර්මසේකර එදා කස්ත්‍රෝ අනුගමනය කළේය. අද ඔහු අනුගමනය කරන්නේ අනගාරික ධර්මපාල තුමාගේ මාවතයි. හෞතිකවාදයේ සිට අධ්‍යාත්මික වාදය දක්වා ගිය දීර්ඝ ගමන ගැන අසා දැන ගැනීමට මම අනගාරික ධර්මසේකර හමු වීමට ඔහුගේ කළුතර අසපුවට ගියෙමි. මේ අනගාරික ධර්මසේකර කියන කතාවයි.  ‘මම විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයෙන් පිට වූයේ 1966 අවුරුද්දේ. මම හදාරලා තිබ්බේ ආර්ථික විද්‍යාව, ඉතිහාසය, හා සිංහල යන විෂයන්. කුඩා කාලයේ සිටම අපිට දුෂ්කරතාවයන් තිබුනා තාත්තා මුදල් නාස්ති කලා. අම්මා තමයි පවුලේ බර කර ගැහුවෙ. මම කුඩා කාලයේ සිටම එළවළු වගා කලා. ඒ කරලා පවුලේ බර අඩු කරන්න උදව් උනා. මම ළමා ගොවියෙක්. උදැල්ල අතට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/11/10)

Indo-US relations at a decisive juncture
By Philip Fernando, former Deputy Editor, Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
Indo-US relations are going beyond the basic bilateral interests. They include key joint projects worth several billion dollars amidst China’s colossal global presence. The relations are at a crucial and decisive stage according to most observers. The urgent need for capital inflow into India and job creation in USA was alluded to as the main reason for getting together; what many observers called the attitudinal adjustments following Barrack Obama and Manmohan Singh meeting in Delhi recently.  One of the major steps agreed under Obama-Singh dialogue was lifting of controls... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/11/10)

I STAND STRONG AGAINST THE DEROGATORY ARTICLE titled WAR ACCUSED UN role
Malin Abeyatunge
I STAND STRONG AGAINST THE DEROGATORY ARTICLE titled WAR ACCUSED UN role in line of ire on our Deputy Permanent UN Representative Major General Shavendra  Silva which appeared in mXNEWS OF 22 Nov 2010. I challenge every word of Acott’s accusations which are unsubstantiated and utterly false. Acott as a journalist knows nothing about the Tamil Terrorist conflict, what happened then and what’s happening now and should get his facts correct. A journalist should be a well read person and should be impartial in reporting. But in this article, he has completely breached every norm of journalistic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/11/10)

Reforms to the Constitution to accelerate development programs - Minister Dallas Alahapperuma
News from ministry of youth affairs
The Government’s first priority will be to add reforms to the Constitution to accelerate development programs as mentioned in the Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma policy program, Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dallas Alahapperuma said while addressing his Ministry Staff yesterday. The Minister appealed to all political parties to join hands with the Government to achieve expected development targets without considering political differences. He pointed out that the country's youth have not been given due place by almost all Governments that came in to power. As a result we had to face three... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/11/10)

Budget 2011: Make or Break?
November 23rd, 2010 by George
| Leave a comment In previous years, the biggest chunk of the budget allocation was for defence. The defence spend was at the expense of developmental projects such as building of new roads, schools and other public infrastructure projects. However, the defence expenditure was necessary, without it, the scourge of terrorism would never have been eliminated. The war is no more, so what’s next? The budget for the fiscal year 2011 was unveiled on 22nd November by President Rajapakse. Unsurprisingly, defence is still a massive chunk of the budget as the country still... -Full Story- (unitesrilanka.org - 24/11/10)

‘An inclusive Cabinet for tasks ahead’?
A glance at some of the recent political manoeuvres of President Rajapaksa since the Presidential Elections in April would seem to provide ample ammunition for those decrying Sri Lanka’s ‘slide towards dictatorship’. Chamal Rajapaksa He eliminated his main threat by having Gen Fonseka jailed for corruption in arms procurement. He appointed his younger brother, Basil, to Minister of Economic Development, who now controls the massive international loans to rebuild the country after the war, and his older brother, Chamal, to parliamentary speaker. (A fourth brother, Gotabhaya, has been the defence secretary since 2005, distinct from the Ministerial position held by... -Full Story- (unitesrilanka.org - 24/11/10)

India to start power trade with Sri Lanka by 2014
Sudheer Pal Singh /
The two countries are likely to sign an MoU for the Rs 2,500-crore project. The government’s initiative to have trading of electricity with Sri Lanka is likely to bear fruit by mid-2014, with the commissioning of a high capacity power transmission link between the two countries. Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), the country’s largest electricity transmission utility and the implementing agency for the project from the Indian side, is likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for developing the Rs 2,500-crore project with the neighbouring country by next month.... -Full Story- (business-standard.com - 24/11/10)

Military drill
Soldiers disembark from a helicopter during Cormorant Strike, a joint Sri Lankan military exercise, in the northern town of Mannar yesterday. Over 2,500 troops from Sri Lanka’s army, navy and air force are taking part in the nine-day long exercise, which involves amphibious landings followed by operations on land under simulated combat conditions... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 24/11/10)

Sri Lanka tourism revenue at record
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s tourism revenue hit a record high in the first ten months of 2010, with October arrivals jumping 39 per cent as the country continues to enjoy a post-war surge, tourism board data showed on Wednesday. Earnings from tourism have jumped 61.8 per cent in the first 10 months of this year to a record $437.9 million, the central bank’s latest data shows. The previous record of $416.8 million was set in 2004 when a peace accord between the government and separatist Tamil Tigers was in place. Arrivals have risen every month since the government defeated the Tigers... -Full Story- (gulftoday.ae - 24/11/10)

Why did Dr. Jehan Perera lie to Dr.Michael Roberts? A Sri Lankan horror story
By Darshanie Ratnawalli 
 “When a highly educated Sinhalese scholar like Jehan Perera, one who is a genuine grassroots worker for multi-cultural accommodation, is unaware (personal comment in late Jan. 2000) that the eastern coast of Sri Lanka was an integral part of the Kingdom of Kandy from the late sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the gaps in information—and the success of Tamil propaganda—are starkly manifest.”  -ESSAY Narrating Tamil Nationalism: Subjectivities and Issues Michael Roberts April 2004- (Footnote 57)  By 2000 however a number of books and papers were in print which could have bridged the gaps in Dr. Jehan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/11/10)

Beware tax dodger professionals: You are under duty to play your part
VISHVAMITHRA
The announcement made by the President Rajapakse in the budge speech should open the eyes of all professionals in this country, particularly the lawyers and the doctors, who shamelessly indulge in defrauding the public funds by not paying the tax due on their income. The current tax rate on personal income has been reduced, ranging from 5 to 35 percent to 4 to 24 percent.  The tax-free threshold income also increased from Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000 and the tax slabs from Rs 400,000 to Rs 500,000.  This handsome tax concession carries a clear massage to the professionals,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/11/10)

Handing the Ministry of Justice to a Known Criminal is Casting Pearls before Swine, Literally
Dilrook Kannangara
A person who was involved in many criminal activities including collusion with the LTTE, is back in the limelight. Despite having more than two thirds support in parliament, the power greedy government goes after these criminals to bolster its position further. What for? If the government has good intentions in securing two thirds, there is no need to seek power beyond 150 seats. At the 18th Amendment, which was totally useless to Sri Lankans, it received 161 votes which is 11 votes more than what was required. Obviously reshuffling ministries has something to do with the crossovers. But... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/11/10)

Captain Fallen from Grace to Utter Disgrace.
Malin Abeyatunge
The Sri Lankan Diaspora in Australia still remembers how Arjuna Ranatunga as captain of the Sri Lanka Cricket team was booed by the Australian public be it in Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide. They hated him more than Murali. But yet, Sri Lankan Diaspora stood behind  Arjuna and his team at every venue by booing the Australians as counter action. Now the same person did come to Australia with a JVP MP Anura Dissanayake,  knelt down to Australian politicians and begged to do something against the present Rajapaksa Government. What a come down for a head strong captain... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල පිළිබඳ මගේ සිතිවිළි
ඹෘ විජය 
 වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග ගේ 71 කැරැල්ල ලිපි කියවන පාඨකයෙකු  වන මා 71 කැරැල්ල  පිළිබඳ මගේ සිතිවිළි මෙලෙස දක්වමි රංජිත් දිසානායක ට අපි පාසැලේදී කීවේ කපුටා කියා ය. ඒ ඔහු එම්. එස්. ප‍්‍රනාන්දුගේ මම කොළඹ කාක්කෙක් යන බයිලාව ගායනය කරමින් පාසැල තුල ජනප‍්‍රිය වූ නිසා ය. මත්තෙගොඩ පැත්තේ නිවසකට දිනක් අපව කැඳවූ රංජිත් දිසානායක විප්ලවයක් ගැන දේශනා කරන්නට යෙදුනි. බඩගින්න නිසා ඈණුම් අරමින් කථාවට සවන් දුන්න ද එය අපට තේරුන කෙහෙල් මලක් නොවී ය. කාගේදෝ නවකථා තුලින් විප්ලවයක් ගැන අසා තිබුණ ද, රුසියානු විප්ලවයක් ගැන කණ වැකී තිබුණ ද එය මොන කෙහෙල් මලක් ද, කෙසේ සිදුවන්නේ ද... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/11/10)

ශ්‍රීලංකා ගාඩියන් කතුවරයා දනුනගේ මිතුරෙක්ද -කතුවරයාගේ බෙදුම්වාදී වැඩපිළිවෙල හෙළිවේ!
සරත් බන්දුල
රාජ්‍ය විරෝධී සහ දේශ ද්‍රෝහී කටයුතුවල නියැලෙමින් ඉන්දියානු රෝ ඔත්තු සේවයේ සහ ඇමෙරිකානු සි.අයි. ඒ සංවිධානයේ රහස් තොරතුරු සපයන්නෙකු ( sleeper  agent ) වශයෙන් හැදින් වන ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගාර්ඩියන් වෙබ් අඩවියේ කතෘ  ගැන පසුගියදා හෙළිදරව් වීමත් සමඟ ඔහු ඉතා කලබලයට පත් වී ඇත. මොහු දිවයින පුවත් පතින් තම  මාධ්‍ය ජීවිතය ආරම්භ කලේ මීට වසර හයකට පමණ පෙර දීය. දිවයින පුවත් පතේ ප්‍රධාන පෙලේ  තීරු ලිපි රචකයෙකු වූ ඔහු  විශාල ලිපි ප්‍රමාණයක් එම පුවත්පතට ලිව්වේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ  අධ්‍යාපනය හදාරමින් සිටින අතර තුරය.  එසේම ඔහු ඉතා කෙටි කලකින් කතෘ මණ්ඩලය අතර ප්‍රසිද්ධ වූ අතර ඔහුගේ වයසට වඩා නොගැලපෙන සංකීර්ණ දෑ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල17 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 නයනානන්ද විජේකුලතිලක නයනානන්ද විජේකුලතිලක අද දිනයේ හැඳින්විය යුත්තේ සිරගෙදරින් බිහිවූ චිත‍්‍ර ශිල්පියා වශයෙනි. මහ නඩුවේ 39 වන විත්තිකරු වූ ඔහු වර්තමානය්දී ජීවත් වන්නේ අම්බලන්ගොඩය. ඔහු හමු වීම සඳහා ඔහුගේ නිවසට ගිය මම දුටුවේ කලාගාරයක් බඳු  නිවසකි. මුළු ගෙදරම චිත‍්‍ර හා මූර්තින්ගෙන් පිරි තිබුනි. අප සඳහා රතු හාල් බතක් රසවත් පරිප්පු හොද්දක් හා දිව පිනා යන කරවල බැදුමක් සකස් කළ නයනානන්ද හා ඔහුගේ ඇඹෙනිය මුලින්ම ආගන්තුක සත්කාරය කළේය. ඉන් පසු අප කථා බහ ආරම්භ කළෙමු. දුම්වැටියක් දල්වාගත් නයනානන්ද තම කථාව පටන් ගත්තේ මෙලෙසයි. මම 71 ක‍්‍රියාවලියට ඇදී ආවේ 1968 වගේ ඈත යුගයක සිට. එතකොට මට පේරාදෙණිය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/11/10)

Man of the hour -‘Igniting the flame of hope’:
Dr. Tilak Fernando
With warm wishes, salutations, religious ceremonies and social rejoicing islandwide, accompanied by planting of 1.1 million trees, to mark the occasion of the second term of office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his birthday, the Opposition, however, seems to be disconcerted with bull-headed ideas. Hailing from a political family, President Mahinda Rajapaksa qualifies as the most experienced and senior politician today who, over forty years, has transformed from the ‘youngest member of parliament’ in 1970, 13th Prime Minister in 2004 and finally ascended to the highest office in Sri Lanka as the fifth and sixth Executive... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/11/10)

It would be a world of difference!
Dr Hector Perera UK
When I had the opportunity to have live interviews at a national TV in Sri Lanka, to let the nation know how to save the wastage of gas, first of all I congratulated Rt Hon President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse for his achievement in making this country an independent country. He didn’t bow down, kneel down to the threats and intimidations from Western World when they held up any foreign aids; they demanded too many promises to release funds on certain conditions then help the country. If anyone not believes the present state of freedom in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/11/10)

Sri Lanka unveils tax reforms
Tuesday, 23 November 2010 01:34
Share COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday announced a major tax reform package aimed at boosting the economy of the island as it recovers from the civil war that ended last year. Rajapaksa, who is also finance minister, unveiled the new measures as he presented the annual budget for 2011 with the deficit predicted to fall to 6.8 percent of gross domestic product from 8.0 percent this year. He slashed import taxes on many capital goods, including on vehicles and industrial machinery by 25 percent, and also simplified taxes charged on... -Full Story- (thepeninsulaqatar.com - 22/11/10)

Sri Lanka’s budget aims at economic revival
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka plans to cut corporate taxes and adopt an inflation target for its central bank, aiming to bolster growth and anchor price expectations in the South Asian economy emerging from a 26-year civil war. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, unveiling the 2011 budget in Colombo on Monday, announced plans to lower the value added tax for banks to 12 per cent from 20 per cent, reduce the levy on construction companies to 12 per cent and offer breaks to tea and rubber companies. The changes to the nation’s fiscal and monetary frameworks mark the biggest overhaul of economic policy since... -Full Story- (gulftoday.ae - 22/11/10)

BBC Sinhala, that darling of the pro-LTTE diaspora and LTTE biased NGOs is set to face the axe.
by George
BBC Sinhala, that darling of the pro-LTTE diaspora and LTTE biased NGOs is set to face the axe. The commercial arm of the BBC, BBC World Service runs BBC Sinhala. The World Service (WS) is funded by grant-in-aid rather than the licence fee. It is paid for by the UK Government and its funding is allocated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). With the BBC taking full control of the World Service by 2015, they will be open to the wider cuts process, which is expected to hit BBC Sinhala.... -Full Story- (unitesrilanka.org - 22/11/10)

N. Ram interviews Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa - full text
Sri Lanka is now one country, my aim is to see whole nation gets all benefits: President Rajapaksa
During his first term, Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, underestimated by his political opponents and the outside world, achieved overwhelming political dominance after his politico-military strategy eliminated the LTTE as a military force and he went on to score two big electoral victories. As he embarks on a second presidential term, which began on November 19, he reflects on the tasks and challenges ahead in an interview given to N. Ram at Temple Trees in Colombo. Mr. President, you made a huge... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 22/11/10)

ICRC told to quit former Sri Lanka war zone
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s government has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to close its offices in the island’s former war zone, the Geneva-based humanitarian agency said yeterday. The government told the ICRC to move out of two northern towns after the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year brought about the end of decades of civil war, spokeswomen Sarasi Wijeratne said. “The government has asked the ICRC to close the Jaffna and Vavuniya offices and operate only from Colombo,” she said, adding that no reason had been given for the move.... -Full Story- (thepeninsulaqatar.com - 21/11/10)

Krishna to air New Delhi’s views during Colombo trip on Thursday India wary of Chinese presence in Lanka
New Delhi, Nov 21, DH News Service
: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will inaugurate Indian consulates in Sri Lankan port cities Jaffna and Hambantota during his visit to the island nation beginning next Thursday. Though Krishna’s visit to Sri Lanka coincides with the birth-anniversary (November 26) of the slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief V Prabhakaran, New Delhi seems keen to take its ties with Colombo out of the shadow of the conflict that the tiny country on the Indian Ocean witnessed for over 25 years. “Our defence and security dialogue with Sri Lanka,... -Full Story- (Deccan Herald - 21/11/10)

හරාකිරි කාව්‍ය සංග‍්‍රහයෙන් බිඳක්
 වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග
 මූසිලගේ අභියාචනය
 සෞන්දර්ය අංශයේ නිළධාරි මහතුන් වෙත ලියා දන්වන වගනම්, දස වසක් නොකඩවා ගාන්ධර්ව සේවයේ යෙදුණු නමුත් තවමත් ස්ථිර නැත මගෙ රැකියාව සේවය කරන්නෙමි අනියම් පදනමට නැත ස්ථිර වැටුපක් මා හට ලැබෙන්නේ දීමනාවක් පමණි.   ලැබෙන සොච්චමින් දරුපවුලක් නඩත්තු කරන්නේ කෙසේද? මහ ඇදුරු ගුත්තිල මගේ ගුරුතුමා බව සැබැයි. එතුමා දැන් මහළුය හන්දිරුදාව නිසා නිතරම රැුකියාවටද නොඑයි. එතුමන්ගේ වැඩකොටසද ඉටුවන්නේ මා අතිනි   පසුගිය වසරේ රාජ්‍ය ප‍්‍රසංගය සියළු වැඩකළේ කවුරුන්ද කියා දන්නෝ දනිති. මගේ හමගියත් නම ගියේ ගුත්තිල මහ ඇදුරුගේය   දර පැළුවා, දිය ඇද්දා අත පය මිරිකා තෙල් ගැල්වූවා කැඹුරුවා ගුත්තිලයන්ට උගැන්වූ ශිල්පයට මුළු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/11/10)

ආදිවාසියෝ
දයා නිකහැටිය
ආදිවාසි ඇත්තන්ගේ පුරාණේ කීමට වරනැග ලැබෙන්ට අවසර මහතුනි කවියට නගලා තමිමැන්නාවට ගොඩබැස විඡුය කුමාරු ආ වෙලාවෙ ඇය පමණයි හිටියේ රැුකවරණය දෙන්ටා වන්නි ඇත්තො පැවත එන්නෙ ඒ උත්තම පරපුරිනුයි කුවෙිනිගේ නාමෙට වැද අවසර ගන්නා කළ උදවිව අමතක කර රාඡු බලය අත්පත් කර වන්නියෙලැත්තොලැ අයිතිය උදුරගන්තා අද ඊයේ ආපු එකක් නොවෙයි අපේ ගුණමකුකම මහාවංසයෙත් ඒ ගැන සදහන් වෙනවා විඡුය කුමරු කරපු වැඩෙි හොදදැයි නොහොදදැයි කියා හිතල බලන්නට කාලය ඇත ඇවිදිල්ලා ආදි වාසි ඡුනතාවට අත්වූ ඉරණම ඒකයි කබලෙ ඉදන් ලිපට වැටිල දුකට පත් උනා සංවර්දන සංකල්පය ගමට ගෙනත් බුල්ඩෝසර ගිරිය යටින් හූ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/11/10)

MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIAN NATION
ALI SUKHANVER
 “Go India! Go back! We want freedom!” the charismatically enchanting valley of    Srinagar was resonating with the ear-piercing slogans raised by the hundreds of protesters who had gathered there after the Eid prayers. The Indian security forces started firing shots in the air and used teargas to disperse the violent crowd but all in vain. The protesters transformed into a procession and proceeded towards the main city and ultimately started hurling stones at the police. So many injured, so many arrested. That is how the people of Indian held Kashmir celebrated their one of the most... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/11/10)

Sri Lanka's Military Action to Eliminate 30 plus years of Tamil Tiger Terrorism in Sri Lanka
Mahinda Gunasekera Toronto
Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda's review of General Ashok Mehta's paper titled ' Sri Lanka's Ethnic Conflict:: How Eelam War IV was Won' referred to as Manekshaw Paper 22, published by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies of New Delhi, carried as Manekshaw Paper 22A by the same institute, contains added information on the actual ground operations thereby filling in the gaps left by General Ashok Mehta, and also rebutting the conclusions reached by various western INGO and political analysts who based their reports on hearsay and fabricated tales carried in the Tamilnet, an LTTE propaganda outfit. Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict:   How Eelam... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/11/10)

Luxury Import Vehicle Permits For MP's? Excuse Me!
In Hindsight By Citizen Perera
Nov.19th 2010 This must be a huge embarrasment to the consciences of the Sri Lankan Administrative Staff, reaching upto the highest level when the open media blatantly says that "In a strange turn of events, the Treasury has amended the circular relating to vehicle imports enabling more MPs to import vehicles for their personal use under duty concessions, government sources said yesterday." But excuse me! Is this for real or some kind of a joke??  In a land which has a surface area of a mere 25,000 Sq.miles approximately and already congested with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

Minister Jason Kenney meeting the Tamil community in Toronto
Asoka Weerasinghe (a card carrying Conservative) Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada
November 20, 2010 Hon. Jason Kenney, MP  Minister of Citizenship &  Immigration  House of Commons]  Ottawa, Ontario Dear Jason: Re: Your Meeting with Tamil Groups in Toronto Yesterday, I received an anonymous 8”x 11” brown envelope in the mail with an interesting package of photographs and Tamil news paper cuttings of Minister Jason Kenney doing his Ministerial work, campaigning among the Tamil community in Toronto, as any parliamentarian would do, to buy, to garnish, promise this and that, shake hands and kiss cheeks saying that,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

We Salute our Great Leader On This Historic Moment
Ranjit Wickremeratne
We feel freedom,We smell freedom and We love Freedom after thirty bloody years of war Thanks to this great true son of my Motherland who daringly fought the battle to the end to wipe out terrorism completely from our beloved homeland. Our sincere gratitude and tribute to this village lad who became our Country's President for the second time from the ballot of the citizens of Motherlanka. While the traitors and enemies of our nation conspire day and night to get the power to their hands by hook or crook our great leader walks freely attending to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව සිඳබිඳලා ගොඩනැංවුන හා ගොඩනංවන සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරය.
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
අද ලෝකයේ ප්‍රධාන කර්මාන්තයන් අතරට සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරයද එක් වී හමාරය. සංචාරකයා යනු කවරෙක්ද? ඔහු ඇත්තටම සංචාරය කරන්නේ කුමක් අරභයාද? ඔහුට සංචාරය කරන්න මුදල් ලැබෙන්නේ කෙලෙසද? ආදි වශයෙන් ප්‍රශ්න ගනනාවක් මෙම ක්ෂේත්‍රය සම්බන්ධව නිරීක්ෂණය කිරීමේදී පැන නගී. වර්තමාන ලෝකයේ ඉහලම තලයක වැජඹෙන්නේ මුදලයි. මුදල දිදුලන ලෝකයක මුදල් පසු පස හඹාගොස් මුදල් තොග ගනනින් ගොඩනංවා ගන්නා සමාජයක් මෙ ලොවට උරුමව ඇත. මුදල කොතරම් ප්‍රබල වුවද, එයට පාලනය කල නොහැකි ප්‍රබල සාධකයන් ගනනාවක් ස්වභාවය විසින් මේ ලොවට උරුම කර ඇත. මිනිසකුගේ ආයුකාලය තීරණය කරනු ලබන්නේ මිනිසා නොව ස්වභාවය වීම හරහා, ඉතා කෙටි කලක් තුලදී මහා මුදල් කන්දරාවක් උපදවන මෙලොව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

Patience and Steadfastness
By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Sri Lanka.
 (Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermon of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, delivered on 12th November, 2010 at ‘Baithul Futhuh’, London, U.K., gave a discourse on the subject Patience and Steadfastness.)   His Holiness recited the following Quranic verse at the beginning of the sermon: “O ye who believe! seek help with patience and prayer; surely, Allah is with the steadfast.” (2:154) He elaborated that through patience and prayer a believer (momin) will achieve success and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

We Wish President Mahinda Rajapakse, health and happiness and the blessings of the Triple Gem.
by Charles.S.Perera
 On the 19 November 2005, Sri Lanka was blessed by a political leader of character, determination, sincere, and devoted to the service of his people and his country.  Thanks to that day, thanks to the people who voted for that man at that historic Presidential Elections we are today a free people, without fear, without shrinking from the shame of being helpless for thirty years.  We need not bow low in gratitude to the rich and the powerful nations, who we feared to antagonise even in the face of the worst enemy threatening our independence, preparing to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

Combat Related PTSD among the Sri Lankan Army Servicemen
By Dr. Neil J Fernando / Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
Overview The 30 year armed conflict in Sri Lanka has produced a new generation of veterans at risk for the chronic mental health problems that resulted following prolonged exposure to the Eelam War.  Over 40,000 members of the Sri Lanka Army had been directly or indirectly exposed to combat situations during these years. There had been nearly 20 major military operations conducted by the Armed Forces from 1987 to 2009. A large number of combatants from the Sri Lanka Army were exposed to hostile battle conditions and many soldiers... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

Returning to the Church's Old Ways?
Susantha Goonatilake
 Malcolm Ranjith, the faithful disciple of the Pope and his new Cardinal has made two wrong submissions to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). One was falsely blaming the adoption of Sinhala as the medium of Government and second, asserting that there are exclusively "Tamil Only" Northern and Eastern Provinces to which the Sinhalese should be barred. Both of these are mischievous LTTE positions.  "Sinhala only" with the "Reasonable Use of Tamil" soon following, was adopted so that locals who did not know English (only around 2% could) might do their work. Such use of local... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

Letter to the Editor - Who is celebrating?
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Vanderwert Place, Dehiwela.
Have you noticed how we,  the common man  and women, are being kept away from all the celebrations of the country? We have no participation in independence day, the presidents’ swearing in ceremony, the war hero’s celebrations etc. etc. We are not only  kept away, we are also prevented from going about our daily duty. The roads are closed, many offices and schools are closed and parking areas changed.  Actually the swearing in ceremony of the incumbent President should be a joy for the whole country. After all, whether anyone voted... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

What does it matter what the leech or the peach do?
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai  Dehiwela.
Reading the piece written on “when the Leech attacked the peach” written by the globally known celebrity Koluu (Daily Mirror 19/12/2010) I cannot help but feel a bad taste in the mouth. I do not belong any  of the classes mentioned in the article. But all these seems to be just simple malicious gossip. Gossip is sweet and interesting, as long as you are not at the receiving end of it. Reading the article I was just imagining the feelings of the persons concerned. How they must be feeling. How the society... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/11/10)

MAHINDA RAJAPKSE, THE HALLMARK OF SRI LANKA!
BY Dr M D P DISSANAYAKE
The celebrations throughout Sri Lanka on November 19, 2010  is a great recognition  of the massive contribution made by the President Mahinda Rajapakse within a short period of time.  The President has changed the country upside down.   The President has inspired the Nation as a single Unit.  The President has single handedly steered the country to a modern era, from the clutches of war and terrorism.  The President has virtually become the Hallmark of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka and Asia as a whole must be proud to see a Great Man marching towards... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

GAMBLING in Sri Lanka
by hela puwath
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke).  The subject of Gambling has been addressed in all religions.  No religion condones gambling.  All religions condemn gambling, unanimously. In Sri Lanka, recently, Buddhist monks and perhaps clergy of other faiths have objected to the Casino Gambling Law.  What ever may be the basis of objections of other major religions to gambling, in Buddhism, it is not based on a divine revelation, or the fear of a higher power.  In Dhamma the reasoning is clear and succinct: it is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

නැළවිලි ගී
දයා නිකහැටිය
පතර බලැති සිරි කුන්ද විදාරන විතර බලැති ගිරිදර පංච තාලෙන බාලොලි ලන් ලොලි ලන්න බිළින්දේ නාඩන් දැන් එන්දෑ නාඩන් රන් කද මගෙ සුදු නංගී මා ඉන්නෙත් නූඹ වාගෙම තනිවී අමිම අපේ යනදා ගෙන් පිටවී බාර කළා මට මගෙ රන් ගිරවී බාලොලි ලන් ලොලි ලන්න බිළින්දේ නාඩන් එයි අමිමා එතකන් නාඩන් මගෙ නංගා අප්පුචිචා ගල් කොරියෙන් වැටිලා ඉස්පිරිතාලෙට ඇරගෙන දිවිවා ගියා ගියාමයි ආවෙි නැතුවා එදා ඉදන් අමිමා අප්පුචිචා ගගට දැමූ සා පැටියකු සේමා මසට දුන්නු කිරි භරෙකෙකු සේ මා දුකින් භඩ භඩා අරගෙන වීසා අමිම ගියේ වෙන අතක් නැති නිසා බාලොලි ලන් ලොලි ලන්න බිළින්දේ නාඩන් එයි අමිමා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල -16 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
පේ‍්‍රමපාල හේවාබටගේ-මහ නඩුවේ 38 වන විත්තිකරු වූ පේ‍්‍රමපාල හේවාබටගේ මුලින්ම මට මුණ ගැසුනේ 2008 නොවැම්බර් මාසයේ දිනෙක ඔහුගේ නිවසේදීය. ඉතා රමණීය ලෙස ස්වභාව ධර්මයට කිට්ටු වන ලෙසට තැනු වෘතාකාර සාලයේ සිට අප සංවාදයේ යෙදුනෙමු. අපට දිවා ආහාරයද පිරිනැමූ පේ‍්‍රමපාල මහතා සවස් වන තෙක් සංවාදය ගෙන ගියේය. ඔහු පැවසු අතීත සිද්ධින් විශාල නිසා යළිත් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවක් මට අවශ්‍ය විය.  අපගේ දෙවන හමුවීම සිදු වුයේ ඔහුගෙ කාර්යාලයේදීය. සවස් වරුවේ රාජකාරි නිම කිරීමෙන් පසුව චෙස් අදිමින් සිටි පේ‍්‍රමපාල මටද චෙස් අතක් ඇදීමට ආරාධනා කළේය. එම ඉල්ලීම ස්තූති පූර්වකව ප‍්‍රතික්ෂේපකල මා සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවේ අවශ්‍යතාව ගැන කීවෙමි. ඊට එකඟ වූ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

Art Exhibit and Sale by 86 year old resident of Enfield to benefit charities - Mayor to open exhibit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dr. Rene Dias Weerasinha is exhibiting a collection of 64 paintings at the Dugdale Centre, Thomas Hardy House, 39 London Road in Enfield Town, from November 30th –November 5th 2010.  Dr. Rene Dias Weerasinha is a retired consultant psychiatrist from Chase Farm Hospital and resides in Enfield, surrounded by several children and grandchildren. She has devoted her time to painting, reading, playing the piano and traveling for pleasure since the loss of her husband in 2005. The paintings, a collection of her work over the past 25 years have been inspired mostly from her many travel... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

Canada's terrorism risk among the lowest
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester. Ontario . Canada 
  November 18, 2010   The Editor (Letters)  THE OTTAWA CITIZEN   Sir:   I wouldn't allow Canada to be too complacent about being "one of the lowest risks of terrorism" just because a 2010 Terrorism Risk Index says in a Special Report.  Let's be vigilant.   When our Charter of Rights and Freedoms have charmed the foreign terrorist cells to establish themselves on Canadian soil to plot and attack their targets in foreign countries, Canada will certainly be vulnerable for a reverse attack.   It would also be interesting to find... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

Let more women come back with nails in them! Ameen.
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Vanderwert Place,Dehiwela.
The news that more and more women are being sent back with nails driven into them is good news for the counselors. Yes only they see the pathetic situation of the neglected children of these mothers who go in search of the never existing greener pastures, sometimes never to come back and at other times to come back to a broken family. It is the psychologists and the counselors who see the real pathetic results of house maiding. Irrespective of whether their stories are true or not, we are happy more... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/11/10)

President’s second term manifestly futuristic
By Philip Fernando, former Deputy Editor, Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
 President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term commences on a manifestly futuristic note signifying a creative approach to governance. Political observers credit the president for being remarkably accessible casting himself as the proverbial safe pair of hands, an unmatched leadership quality. Many favourable trends mark the event: first and foremost his adroit prosecution of the war would prove to be an unparalleled experience in taking the country forward.  Equally significant is how Sri Lanka successfully withstood the harsh impacts of a global recession under President’s stewardship. IMF has stated that a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/11/10)

An Island of Mistrust - National Post, November 11,2010
Ira de Silva London, Ontario, Canada
Hon. Bob Rae, M.P. Foreign Affairs Critic of the Liberal Party House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario   Dear Sir:   Having read the article in the National Post of November 11,2010, my initial reaction was to dismiss it as it is from a person who speaks for the Liberal Party of Canada on Sri Lanka which party has a proven track record of supporting the Tamil terrorists of Sri Lanka. While Canada was supposedly denouncing terrorism in the world and signing conventions to indicate it's policy, the Liberals were openly supporting the Tamil... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/11/10)

LEGALISING GAMBLING IN SRI LANKA
by hela puwath
[The purpose of this paper is not to criticize those who havewritten about this issue, but to invite a serious discussion about the issue.]   Before Castro’s revolution, under dictator Batista, Cuba was “America’s house-of-ill-repute”. That was before Nevada’s barren dessert rose to become (Las Vegas, the Sin City) “one of the most prosperous places on earth”.  The current economic recession has now, however, transformed that “most prosperous Las Vegas” to, the “most desperate city in America”.  Fun (sin) industries are the first to tank when recessions hit.  Getting down closer to home: The law that legalized... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/11/10)

MY MOTHERLAND:TAKE PRIDE IN BEING A PART OF THIS GREAT NATION
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane
AN INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN NATION My motherland – whatever label you may wish to ascribe to it - Heladiva, Helabima, Sinhalay or Sri Lanka, is the oldest country in the world within its present borders. This glorious historic island existed as an independent sovereign country as far back as the 6th century BCE. The island's civilization has achieved an individuality and identity that distinguishes it from its neighbors. Cultural traits brought from India have undergone change and independent growth, largely influenced by Buddhism which was formally introduced to our country in the 3rd century BCE. The Sinhala... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/11/10)

Ranil Demands harbour for polonnaruwa
... -Full Story- (youtube.com - 17/11/10)

A (GREAT) PRESIDENT
From Jay Pathbey/USA
A very humble ( but most powerful) President Obama with children of the "untouchables". He never forgets his roots.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/11/10)

ලංකාව තවත් වසර 200 සුද්දන්ට යටත් විය යුතුයි - ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගාඩියන් කතෘ නිලන්ත ඉලංගමුව
Manoj මනෝඡ්
ඉන්දියාවේ රෝ ඔත්තු සේවය විසින් සහ ඇමෙරිකාවේ රහස් ඔත්තු සේවය විසින් නඩත්තු කරණ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගාඩියන් වෙබ් අඩවියේ කතෘ නිලන්ත ඉලංගමුව මහතා විසින් ඊයේ සඳහන් කොට ඇත්තේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තවත් වසර 200 කටවත් බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය සුදු අධිරාජ්‍යවාධින්ට යටත් විය යුතු බවයි. මෙසේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුවට සහ එහි නායකත්වයට ඉතා ප්‍රබල ප්‍රහාරයක් එල්ල කරණ හෙතම ජනධිපති  රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ දෙවන ධූර කාලය යනු ශ්‍රී ලංකික නාසි වාදයේ ආරම්භය යයි හෙතම සඳහන් කොට ඇත. රාජපක්ෂ වූකලී බයගුල්ලෙක් ලෙස සඳහන් කරණ හෙතම ඔහු ජනවර්ග අතර බෙදීම් ඇති කොට ඇති බව සඳහන් කරයි. අදාල කතුවරය ඉන්දියාවේ රෝ ඔත්තු සේවය සමඟ ඉතා කිට්ටු සම්බන්ධතා පවත්වන... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/11/10)

Fonseka admitted to prison hospital after breathing problems
Sutirtho Patranobis
Jailed former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka was rushed to a prison hospital in Colombo on Tuesday night after he complained of breathing problems and wheezing. Fonseka, targeted by the Tamil Tigers more than once, has multiple shrapnel still embedded in his body. And he developed breathing problems after an attack by a Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber nearly left him dead. Though Fonseka’s condition had stabilised, doctors had kept him under observation, Tiran Alles, MP and chairman of the Fonseka-led Democratic National Alliance told HT after visiting the former general... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 17/11/10)

“Passenger ship service to Colombo likely in 3 months”
Staff Reporter
Passenger shipping service between Tuticorin and Colombo is likely to be launched shortly, according to G.K. Vasan, Union Minister of Shipping. Addressing journalists in Udhagamandalam on Wednesday, he said officials from Sri Lanka and India were engaged in talks. Probably in three months, shipping service would start. The Tuticorin and Chennai ports would be developed at Rs. 3,686 crore under the Eleventh Five Year Plan. In Chennai, a mega container terminal would be built and the foundation for the works would be laid soon.... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 17/11/10)

V.R. Lechchmi, Sri Lanka Maid: Saudi Couple Drove 14 Nails Into My Body As Punishment (VIDEO)
Yet another Sri Lankan maid has come forward with claims her Kuwaiti employers abused her. As she lay in recovery at a Sri Lanka hospital, V.R. Lechchmi, told Al-Jazeera her employers had driven 14 nails into her body when she asked for her salary after six months of work. "The master of the house held me down, while the mistress gave him the metal pins to put into my hands and legs," said 38-year-old Lechchmi, who had obtained her job abroad through an employment agency. "I endured the pain in silence because I thought I may be killed if I... -Full Story- (huffingtonpost.com - 17/11/10)

Opposition Leader's Attempts To Discredit The Nation's Administration Eclipsed By Singapore's Deputy PM As The World Watches Sri Lanka's Progress.
LankaWeb Weekly Editorial
!5th. Nov.2010Seems like a strange paradox that while many nations in the world are paying glowing tributes to the Sri Lankan Administration of Mahinda Rajapaksha for the progress and march forward towards Nation Development, the Leader of the Opposition and United National Party, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe is singing a tale of woe wherever he goes and continues to drag down the Administration with his pathetic sob stories about administrative mismanagemnent, negative portrayals of the health care system and the nation's economy whereas economists around the world as well as political observers with a gread deal of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

වාර්ගික ගැටුම තුල පවත්නා සාමූහික අවිඥානයේ බලපෑම
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්.ජයතුංග
“වර්ගවාදීන් නොවූ ඇතැම් සිංහල නවකතා කරුවන්ගේ ප්‍රසිද්ධ නවකතාවලින් දුවිඩ මිනිසුන් කෙරෙහි සිංහල මිනිසුන් තුළ තිබූ නුරුස්සනාභාවය ප්‍රකට වී ඇත. නමුත් ඒවා වැඩි සැලකිල්ලට යොමු වී නැත. ඩබ්ලියු. ඒ සිල්වාගේ “කැලෑහඳ” හා ගුණදාස ලියනගේ ලියූ “දෝන කමලාවතී” නවකතාවලින් මෙසේ සිංහල මිනිසුන්ගේ සාමූහික අවිඥානය නිරූපණය වී ඇති ආකාරය විචාරකයින්ගේ අවධානයට යොමු නොවූයේ එය එදවස ඒ හැටි අපූරුවක් නොවූ නිසාද? ජනවාර්ගික ගැටුම තුළ සිංහල හා ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතීන් තුල පවත්නා සාමූහික අවිඥානයේ බලපෑම අධ්‍යනය කොට ඇත්තේ අඩුවෙන් බව පෙනේ. මෙම ජාතීන් දෙක අතර අවිඥානිකව පවත්නා සතුරු බව හා ගුටුම්කාරී බව ඇතැම් විට වර්තෙමාන ජනවාර්ගික අර්බුධයට තලුලුවක් වන්නට ඇත. එම නිසා ගැටුම් නිරාකරණයේදී සහ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

The (Recent) Travels of a Journalist -POMMY’S TOUR OF LONDON BY NIGHT SHOWS SITES IN DIFFERENT LIGHT
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead
On the night (Tuesday, 27 July 2010) before my wife and I left England back to Minnesota, a bright idea sparked in the mind of my “Pommy” brother-in-law, a long-time resident of Shepherds Bush. In postprandial conviviality, he offered to take us to central London to see “London by night.” The thought intrigued me, particularly because he was associated with the London club circles in his youth. “Pommy” clarified that what he had in mind was a two-mile (or so) walking tour of central... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

Conflict in Sri Lanka: War or Insurgency
By Neville Ladduwahetty Courtesy The Island 17-11-2010
 Two eminent persons, a lawyer Mr. Gomin Dayasri, and a former Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleke, have invoked the doctrine of ‘Just War’ in regard to the conflict in Sri Lanka. Another lawyer, Ms. Nirmala Chandrahasan has stated that IHL (International Humanitarian Law) is applicable to ‘Internal Armed Conflicts’(The Island, November 5, 2010), but has not stated explicitly whether IHL as it applies to Internal Armed Conflicts is applicable to the Sri Lankan conflict. However, the timing and content of these commentaries seem to convey a shift towards categorizing the conflict as an internal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

SRI LANKA vs WEST INDIES- BIG HEADED SELECTORS!-Carcass of Sri Lankan Cricket
BY  M D P DISSANAYAKE
This is Just a brief  reminder to the top brass of the Sri Lankan Cricket.  Selecting  relatively inexperienced two fast bowlers for a Test match has thus far shown the way in which  Sri Lankan Cricket management has under-estimated the West Indies Team.  Thilan Thushara and Prasad are great performers.  But  they are all alone.  Rajiv Sandiv and Ajanta Mendis are also great performers.   But both fast bowling and spin departments are without the likes of experienced legends  in this match. Sadly, Dilhara Fernando who is a vibrant player has not yet overcome his... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

Art Exhibit and Sale by 86 year old resident of Enfield to benefit charities
PRESS RELEASE
Dr. Rene Dias Weerasinha is exhibiting a collection of 64 paintings at the Dugdale Centre, Thomas Hardy House, 39 London Road in Enfield Town, from November 30th –November 5th 2010.  Dr. Rene Dias Weerasinha is a retired consultant psychiatrist from Chase Farm Hospital and resides in Enfield, surrounded by several children and grandchildren. She has devoted her time to painting, reading, playing the piano and traveling for pleasure since the loss of her husband in 2005. The paintings, a collection of her work over the past 25 years have been inspired mostly from her many travel experiences.  Since... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

Cardinal Declaration (Warning ?)
- Dishreatned Sinhala Buddhists -
The statement made by recently appointed Cardinal Malcolm R. at the LLRC, against we Sinhalese and Buddhists, is extremely INDECENT, DEROGATORY, FALSE & PROVOCATIVE.  We know it had been parroted by you according to the instruction by your Western Masters, the Bastion of the Western Capitalism the Vatican and the LTTE who would have even funded the Vatican to do so. You are simply continuing the 1505 Portuguese Crusade that came with Sward and Gun and now in Saints clothes.  Therefore, without going in to all the details, please withdraw and make a public... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/11/10)

The Crusade of MalcolmR, should be a Crusade for Reconciliation.....
By Charles.S.Perera
In a previous article it was pointed out why it was important to make the Independence from colonialism meaningful by raising the National Status of Sri Lanka , with one language, one flag, one national anthem, and one official religion as any Nation any where in the World. It will takes a long time for the people of Sri Lanka to shed their foreign cultural “skin”, to stand up proudly in their own. Nonetheless, they are doing it gradually and if they continue they will be able to shed themselves completely of the foreign “culture skin” with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/11/10)

Taming of the Shrew(d) LTTE Diapora
Prof. Hudson McLean
Interesting article by Kumar Moses - How to Tame the LTTE Diaspora? Posted on November 14th, 2010 LankaWeb. First it is important to analyse the objectives of the Tamil Diapora worldwide, mainly in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and what do they expect to win. Since the Mahinda Rajapaksa government has taken an extremely civilised, balanced, democratic, fair and sympathetic position to settle the Tamil issue, including previous LTTE Terrorists, the displaced, The LTTE Dispora is on a limb right now. The Tamil citizens of other countries are visiting Sri Lanka in large numbers to visit... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/11/10)

An Island of Mistrust
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada
November 15, 2010 Hon. Bob Rae, PC, OC., OOnt., QC., LLD.,MP       Liberal Party Foreign Affairs Critic ( and author of the Chapter ‘An Island of  Mistrust’ in his book Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea)    House of  Commons Ottawa Dear  Bob: I see that you did Sri Lanka in again with your chapter ‘An Island of Mistrust’.  I read it twice with patience.  I didn’t have to read it the third time as I realized that it was a Political Monologue in three Acts bashing Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/11/10)

SAUDI ARABIA/SRI LANKA: Saudi King responds to the plea for Rizana
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
The Asian Human Rights Commission is happy to learn that His Royal Highness King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has taken the initial steps towards a reprieve for Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan girl who is currently on the death row in Saudi Arabia convicted for strangling a baby in her care. Rizana, who was 17-years old at the time of the incident, claims it was an accident in which the baby choked while being bottle-fed. The Supreme Court in Riyadh confirmed her death sentence in late... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/11/10)

Feeble foundations cause structural cracks
Dr. Tilak Fernando
Feeble foundations cause structural cracks
[Points to ponder] * Train junior officers to build confidence * To deal with crime, drug peddling, illicit liquor barons and underworld activities. * Round up motorists who fail to dip headlamps during night * Mobile patrol sqad should be conversant with motor traffic law Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, known for his ‘no-nonsense’ attitude, demanded ‘urgent remedial action from the Police to recreate public confidence while addressing an assemblage at Katana Police Academy in April this year. “The Police priorities should change without further delay to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/11/10)

මානව දයාව
දයා නිකහැටිය
ඇවිලෙන ගින්නට පිදුරු දමන්නට එපා එපා එපා මිනිසුනේ අපා ගාමි වන පවක්ය ඒ ගින්න නිවන්නට බැරිනමි අපහට දුරස්ව හිදුමයි අපගේ යුතූකම ඇවිලෙන ගින්නට පිදුරු නොදා ඉපැදෙන ඉපදුනු මිනිසුනි ගැහැනුනි ඉපැදි මියැදෙන මිනිසුන් වෙමු අපි ඉන්නා ටික කලකට ඇයි මෙි හැටි ගහ බැන ගන්නේ තේරුමකට නැති හැමදා ඉන්නට අවෙි නැ අපි ඡුාති ආලයද දේශ පෙු්මයද වඩා උතූමි එයට වඩා වැඩි දහමක් වෙි ලොව පටු සිමා නැති බල අරගල නැති වාද බෙිද කූල ඡුාති ගෝත‍්‍ර නැති මානව දයාව කියූ නමින් බුදු හිමි හෙලි කළ මග එයවෙයි ඡේසු තූමන් වැඩි මග එයමයි යුදෙවි හින්දු මහමදු හැම දහමින් ලොවට කියා දුන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/11/10)

How to Tame the LTTE Diaspora?
- Kumar Moses
The LTTE Diaspora is spread in the developed world in sizable numbers. Given their huge numbers coupled with hard currency earnings which is many times that of a Sri Lankan resident, their financial clout is much higher than what Sri Lanka can utilise in their country. Our diplomatic missions are funded by the government of Sri Lanka and funds are limited. Compared to our diplomatic missions, Tamil Elamist sections are very resourceful. They use it against our interests very effectively. Assuming there are 350,000 Tamils in Canada and 250,000 in the UK as of today,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/11/10)

MIKES NIGHT 2010 Saturday, November 20, 2010 – 6.30pm
Past Pupils’ Association Of St.Michael’s College, Batticaloa North American Chapter Presents
Enjoy an evening with an exotic feast of Sri Lankan & Western foods, excellent entertainment and incredible music to dance the night away, while supporting a wonderful cause. MIKES NIGHT 2010 Saturday, November 20, 2010 – 6.30pm At Claireport Place Banquet and Convention Centre 65 Claireport Cres., Etobicoke – ON M9W 6V5 (PH: 416 675 7700)   Enjoy an evening with an exotic feast of Sri Lankan & Western foods, excellent entertainment and incredible music to dance the night away, while supporting a wonderful cause.   Highlight of Mikes... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/11/10)

MICHIGAN STAGE SET FOR AN UNPRECEDENTED 'WAVES'
By Shripal Nishshanka Fernando
                         When Sri Lankans in Michigan do something, they do it in a classic and unique way. It is exactly the same case for the upcoming mega event of "Waves"-The Ultimate Experience.             Waves, a fundraising multi cultural entertaining evening comprising Sri Lankan, Indian, Scottish, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and other national artists will be held on Saturday the 04th of December at the Wallace F. Smith Performing Arts Theater in Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills Michigan from 2.00 to 5.00 pm. This unique evening is raising funds for the Michigan Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල15 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 චූකි පේ‍්‍රමරත්න -චූකි පේ‍්‍රමරත්න 71 කැරැල්ලේ 32 වන විත්තිකරුය. මා දකින අයුරින් කැරැල්ලෙන් පසුව ඉතා හොඳින් සමාජ ගතවී සිටින ඔහු දැන් විශේෂඥ ඉංජිනේරුවෙකි. පහත දැක්වෙන්නේ චුකී පේ‍්‍රමරත්න මහතා මා හට පැවසූ කරුණුයි.  මම මේ දේශපාලන ව්‍යාපාරයට සම්බන්ධ උනේ 1968 වසරේදී විතර. එතකොට මම අනුරාධපුර මධ්‍යා මහාවිද්‍යාලයේ උසස්පෙළ හැදෑරුවා. මම සම්බන්ධ උනේ සනත් බොරළුකැටිය හරහා. සනත්, කලත්තෑව මහා විද්‍යාලයේ ගුරුවරයෙකු ලෙස ඒ කාලේ සේවය කළා.  මට පන්ති කළේ සනත් කලැත්තෑව ගොවිපලේ. විජේවීරත් පන්ති කිහිපයක් පැවැත්තුවා කලත්තෑවේ. ජයසිංහත්, ආවා. මම ඊට පස්සේ පූර්ණකාලීනයෙකු ලෙසට පදවිය ජනපදය බලා ගියා. එහිදී බඳවා ගැනීම් වැනි සංවිධාන කටයුතු කළා. 1970 දී... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/11/10)

The Crusade of Cardinal Malcolm R , a backward march to division and chaos.
By Charles.S.Perera
The “ Christian fundamental precepts” the Cardinal had presented to the LLRC are not divine revelations. When the Buddha spoke of them in his discourses  2600 years ago  they were revolutionary thoughts  to an ancient  Indian society  following a strict Vedic and Hindu caste system, under a feared Monarchy. a) (fidelity to ) the truth ( sacca) b) respectful to the human dignity (karuna) c) the equality of all human beings (metta) d) well being and development of all segments of society (sabbe satta bhavantusukhitatta), e) good Governance (dhammappasasana) The Cradinals “fundamental precepts”  were condensed by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/11/10)

Is Legalising Gambling a Step in the Right Direction?
Dilrook Kannangara
Gambling turned the barren dessert of Nevada into one of the most prosperous places on earth. However, like the meat industry or the liquor industry, it is not a good industry to be in if looked at from the moral point of view. Legalising organised gambling is a major step for conservative Sri Lanka. Stiff opposition from religious leaders is understandable. Economic prosperity comes at a cost. When the open economy was introduced in 1977 ahead of India (1988) and China (1980), there was similar opposition. But as time passed, people adjusted to the new economic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/11/10)

`LTTE is not trying to regroup`
By: M.R. Narayan Swamy
In an obvious bid to regain legal status in India, Sri Lanka`s Tamil Tigers have told Home Minister P. Chidambaram that it is not trying to regroup and is also not engaged in any illegal activity in this country. In an open letter to the minister, the vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has also described as "totally untrue" claims by Indian officials that the Tigers had links with Indian Maoists.... -Full Story- (asianlite.co.uk - 13/11/10)

HOW THE CHINESE HELPED TO UNITE SRI LANKA IN THE 15TH CENTURY
BY DR JANAKA GOONETILLEKE
Sri Lankan Chinese relations date back to the Anuradhapura period. This  has been proven with out any doubt from the findings of the excavations in Anuradhapura and Sigiriya.  In this long history the Chinese never got involved in the politics of the Island except in the early 15th century during Admiral Zheng He’s visit to Sri Lanka. Admiral Zang He was sent on an expedition during the Ming China. At  the time it was the largest , richest and the most powerful country of the world dominating world trade. He was a Eunuch sent to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/11/10)

Reasons that Christian padres give at LLRC for the conflict is a ruse.
Herold Leelawardena
When LTTE was wiped out with all its combat leaders, sensible people thought Tamils would give up their fight for Eelam and negotiate with the government for a settlement. But Tamils never wanted to give up their original goal. Some demanded 13A, and some others 13 plus, and others federal, yet more con-federal and the Diaspora self rule. But each one of them said it is only for a starter. Meaning, the endgame is Eelam.  Apart from the above demands, Diaspora Tamils kept up the pressure on the government through various tactics to reach their goal. They... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/11/10)

The role of the Catholic Church and Conversion
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
After the cancerous presentation by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission a large number expressed their views about the role of the Catholic Church, which worked hand in glove with the terrorists to break up the sovereignity of Sri Lanka with the intention of destroying Buddhism for the purpose of conversion.   During the hey day of the LTTE, when Bishop Rasayappah Joseph, Bishop T. Saundranayagam and so on were molly coddling the terrorists, it was heartening to note the emergence of a Nationalist Christian Movement which was at odds with the Catholic Churches... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/11/10)

Watch Out Conservatives!
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
November 11, 2010 Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, MP, Conservative Prime Minister of Canada    Hon.  Jason Kenney, MP, Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Hon.  Vic Toews, MP, Minister of Public Safety   Hon.  Bev Oda, MP, Minister of International Cooperation (CIDA)    Hon.  Peter Kent, MP, Minister of State  for Foreign Affairs of the Americas   Hon. John Baird, MP, Leader of the House & Minister for Environment  Hon. Stockwell Day, MP, President of the Treasury Board    Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister and  Intergovernmental Affairs   Hon. Lawrence Cannon MP,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/11/10)

OPEN LETTER TO INDIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER IN SRI LANKA CAN SRI LANKA TRUST INDIA?
By Stanley Perera
 To High Commissioner of India, You have visited Badulla, Passara and Thalawakelle Tea Plantations on 6th and 7th with a trade union leader Thondaman who is also a politician. Recently a retired medical and health researcher in Melbourne launched a Community Development programme to uplift the living standard of Plantation workers to build 1000 new homes and develop the infrastructure in order to transform an estate to a model village. Nirupama Rao was notified of the launch of the development project in order to obtain funds and building material as India is only interested in development... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/11/10)

Sri Lanka says new 'war pictures' are lies
Sri Lanka on Friday rejected as "lies" new photographs broadcast by Al-Jazeera of piles of dead bodies and execution-style killings allegedly taken during the final stages of the island's ethnic war. Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the Qatar-based television network had mixed images previously shown on a British television channel with "fabricated" photographs. The "footage on the killings is nothing but lies", Rambukwella said in a statement. It added that the Al-Jazeera report was a collection of "bits and pieces" from a previous clip which the government dismissed as a fabrication.... -Full Story- (news.smh.com.au - 12/11/10)

LTTE remains a threat to India: Tribunal
NEW DELHI: A special tribunal headed by a Delhi high court judge today upheld Centre's decision to extend the ban on terrorist outfit LTTE for another two years saying that the organisation remains a threat to the security of the country. "Indian soil is being used for unlawful activities propelled by the remnant cadres of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. There is sufficient material to declare the LTTE as unlawful association as contempleted under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act.... -Full Story- (Times of India - 12/11/10)

Government Regrets Space Given for Tiger Propaganda Tiger Proxies - Nov.11,2010
Ira de Silva London, Ontario
The Editor The Island Colombo, Sri Lanka   Dear Sir:   The fact that LTTE proxies in the U.S. have formed a "Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam" and that V. Rudrakumar is the "Prime Minister" is not new information.  Rudrakumar  has been the leader of the Tamil Tigers in the U.S. for over twenty five years, has represented the LTTE in the so-called peace talks in Geneva, and has on-going dialogue with the U.S. State Department and other U.S. government institutions on behalf of the LTTE.  The representatives of Sri Lanka in the U.S. should be well aware of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

පාරාදිසයෙ දූපත් වැසියෝ
දයා නිකහැටිය
පාරාදිසයෙ දූපත ලෙසටයි පෙරසිට ලැබුවෙි පරසිද්දේ සේලන් සීලන් සිලෝන් කියාලයි බටහිර පඩිවරු හැදින්නුවෙි ඊළමි කරන්න හැදුවත් සමහරු අතේ පත්තුවී ගියා වැඩෙි දූල පුතාලට බාරයි මතු දා ශ‍්‍රී ලංංකාවෙි අනාගතේ මාමල නැන්දල කළ ඔලමොළකමි හෙන්චයිකමි එමටයි පුතුනේ ඒවායින් නිසි පාඩමි අර ගෙන ඉදිරිය බලලා යා යුත්තේ ආවට නැති නැති නෑකමි කියාන බලාන සතුරෝ ගෙට ගන්නේ සාරය උරලා රටටම විනකර යන අරමුණිනුයි උන් එන්නේ රාඡු රාඡු කාළින්ග මාඝලා ආවා රඡු රට ගිනි තියලා ගෙරි හම එලන්ට ඉඩක් ඉල්ලලා බැස්සේ කොටුවට පරංගියා ලස්කිරික්‍ද්ක්‍ද හමුදාවන් අරගෙන අවා බටහිර බළ සේනා ඒ ඔක්කොම උවදුරු මැද පණ නළ ගැටගහගත්තා සීහළයා ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

Bill C-49 & support by Balan Ratnarajah and his Peel Tamil Community Centre
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario Canada November 10, 2010 IMPORTANT TO BE NOTED Devinder Shory, MP (Conservative MP for Calgary Northeast) Hon.Vic Toews, MP (Minister of Public Safety) Hon. Jason Kenney , MP  (Conservative MP for Calgary Southeast and  Minister for Citizenship & Immigration)  Hon. Deepak Obhrai, MP (Conservative MP for Calgary East & Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) cc. Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, MP , Prime Minister (Conservative MP for Calgary Southwest) Gentlemen: Re: Bill C-49 and support by Balan Ratnarajah and his Peel Tamil Community Centre As a card carrying member of the Conservative... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 14 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 බටපොල අතුල - අපේ‍්‍රල් මහ නඩුවේ 27වන විත්තිකරු බටපොල අතුල හමුවීම සඳහා අප ඔහුගේ නිවසට ගියෙමු. බටපොල අතුලගේ නිවස පෙන්වීම සඳහා අප සමඟ රංජිත් කුරුකුලසූරිය ද ගියේය. අප බටපොල අතුලගේ නිවසට ගියද ඔහු බැහැර ගොස් තිබුණි. අතුල හමුවීම සඳහා මදක් ඈතින් වූ මත්තෙගොඩ කඩමණ්ඩියට යමු යැයි රංජිත් කුරුකුලසූරිය කළ යේජනාවට අප එකග වූයෙමු.  සවස අඳුර වැටී තිබුණ ද ඈතින් මල්ලක් අතින් ගෙන එන බටපොල අතුල හඳුනා ගැනීමට රංජිත් කුරුකුලසූරිය සමත් විය. ජීවිතයේ ප‍්‍රථම වතාවට සුප‍්‍රකට බටපොල අතුල මම සියැසින් දුටුවෙමි. මහ`ථ වී සිටි ඔහු ඇවිද්දේ සෙමිනි. අපේ වාහනය ඔහු අසලට ගොස් නතර කළේය. මම ජනේලය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

ඓතිහාසික මහා ඝාතන රැල්ලකට හසුකර, මරා දමා අන්තර්ධාන්‍ය කල පසුවත්, සමර, සමරා මරා දමන “රෝහණ විජේවීර“
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
2010 නොවැම්බර් මස 13 වෙනිදාට, රෝහණ විජේවීරයානන් ඝාතනය කොට වසර 21ක් සම්පූර්ණ වෙයි. රෝහණ විජේවීර චරිතය හා ඔහු අනුගමනය කල දේශපාලන ප්‍රතිපත්ති කුමක්දැයි වටහා ගැනීමට, අපට ඔහුගේ දේශපාලන පන්ති වලටවත්, දේශනවලට සහභාගී වීමට අවශ්‍ය නොවේ. මාක්ස්වාදීන් හා භෞතිකවාදීන් යයි කියා ගන්නා මහත්වරුන්ට නම්, තමන්ගේ පංති සතුරෙක් සිටී. ඒ පංති සතුරා යනු ගමේ ගොඩේ මිනිසුන්ට සිටින සතුරා මෙන් අද හරමානිස්, හෙට පොඩි අප්පුහාමි හා අනිද්දාට සිරිබිරිස් යනුවෙන් වෙනස් වෙන්නේ නැත. එදා කාල්මාක්ස් හා ෆෙඩ්රික් ඒංගල්ස් දුටු ඒ පංති සතුරාම අදද ඒ ආකාරයෙන්ම මේ සමාජය තුල වැජඹෙමින් සිටී. ඒ මාක්ස්වාදයට හා භෞතික වාදයට අනුවය. ඒ පංති සතුරා 1977දී... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

THE CHRISTIAN EXTREMISTS
ALI SUKHANVER
 It is a difficult question to be answered; what do the Americans hate; Islam or the Muslims; but it is a day light fact that the Muslims are maltreated in America. Complaints of harassment, discrimination, and violence against Muslims have been increasing at the rate of 30 percent per year since 2005. Before that year this rate of increase was 10 percent per year. This growing hatred against the Muslims could be to some extant an aftermath of the 9/11 incident but more important is the role of the extremist element ruling over the Christian church in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

Government's Policy On Restricting Wheatflour Imports If Beyond Hearsay Could Be More Harmful Than Meritworthy!
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Nov.10, 2010 Latest reports coming out of Sri Lanka that "a Sri Lankan Government campaign against bread and other wheat products appear to be causing many anxieties in many communities worrying about what will happen to their beloved loaf of bread as all Lankans know it and almost an iconic feature in the morning hours in cities, towns and villages where bread delivery is part and parcel of a tradition which has prevailed for centuries. It will surely force many out of gainful employment and already it has been reported that some 2,000 bakers are... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/11/10)

Mossad in Sri Lanka
Submitted by Abdul Alhazred
Yesterday in Sri Lanka a bomb ripped through a packed civilian bus Wednesday, killing 23 people and wounding 67. I mention this because Mossad has directly sustained this violence since 1983, when ethnic Tamils in the north started fighting for independence from ethnic Sinhalese in the south. The Tamils want an independent state called Tamil Eelam. Mossad has caused Sri Lanka’s fighting to become some of the bloodiest in human history. Entire villages are routinely wiped out. Massacres happen almost daily. Over 70,000 people have been killed. The purpose of this post is to give... -Full Story- (wakeupfromyourslumber.com - 11/11/10)

Falling into the Homeland Trap
By Garvin Karunaratne,
I refer to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s statement to the LLRC that the Wanni areas- the Northern and Eastern Provinces were the homelands of the Tamils  and that peasant settlement done by the Government was the cause of ethnic strife. It follows that these two provinces are not a part of a united Sri Lanka.  My colleague Tissa Devendra has ably contested the homeland theory- that the Northern and Eastern Provinces are exclusively Tamil homelands.  As a member of the Administrative Service for around five years I had to inspect cooperatives and paddy collection island-wide and have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

The Catholic Church and the Crusade of Cardinal Malcom Ranjith.
by Charles.S.Perera
The Catholic Church  never stood for patriotism in any country? It is only a papal presence, bereft of attachment to the country where the Church is located.  Above all  the Catholic Church is not a progressive institution. On the 24 October, 2010 Young Asia Television interviewed Ms.Sanja Sarnavka of B.a.B.e, Human Rights House, Croatia, who was a representative from Croatia to the International Women’s Rights Activists Asia Pacific and Women and Media Collective  Conference held in Colombo.  She said that for 40 years the Catholic Church  had been kept away by the Communist Regimes in a country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THEIR ROLE IN SRI LANKA
Harvey Perera
I feel compelled to write a response since so many had written in comments on the above topic. Sri Lanka has suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church for over 500 years since the invasion by the Portuguese. But the Buddhists have not forgotten. At every point in time the Buddhists treated the other races and religions with tolerance and compassion. In return they have been treated badly and the kindness has been mistaken for weakness. The Catholic Church has used the money and the power behind it to attempt to take over Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

SATAN IN SAINTS CLOTHING
Malin Abeyatunge
It’s appalling to read the most outrageous statement from a  religious leader Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith Fernando at the LLRC Commission. He alleged to have said that Quote Colonization of the North and East and attempts made to change the demographic areas in the North and East could create fear among the people in the region, His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said.  “It is observed by many that there are new settlements that could change the demography of the North and East. This is seen as a wave of colonization with tacit government approval,” Cardinal Ranjith said. He... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

SHOULD SARATH FONSEKA REPENT OR NOT? WHY RELEASE A ‘LOOSE CANNON’?
By M D P DISSANAYAKE
During a meeting with Mrs Anoma Fonseka and her team, the Malwatte Mahanayake  Thibbatuwawe Sri Sumangala Thero has expressed confidence that there is  a likelyhood of some relief being granted by the President Mahinda Rajapakse to  Sarath Fonseka, subsequent to the swearing ceremony for the second term in Office.  Our President is not a vindictive person.  Our President is not a Western Puppet.   Our President is not a coward. Our President is someone who has improved his own image and the image of  Sri Lanka immensely within a short period of time in Office.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

The success of the National Dengue Control Program Week – October 7 to 14, is directly related and/or rooted with the Urban Development Authority
R. George Manuelpillai   Former Assistant Director, Ministry of Planning & Economic Affairs Colombo 05 
September 27, 2010 Hon. Mitripala Sirisena, Minister of Health Affairs Colombo  You’re Excellency Mitripala Sirisena,  Subject: The success of the National Dengue Control Program Week – October 7 to 14, is directly related and/or rooted with the Urban Development Authority  The Ministry of Health reserving dates to organise a National Dengue Control Program Week, concentrates mainly on cleaning up the environment that induces water stagnation points viz small pools of water, discarded pot, pans, tyres, open drains et al. the breeding areas are comparatively insignificant,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—41b (Hawaii Ho!)-CARMEL ARRIVES IN CAPRICORNIA BEFORE DAD LEAVES PUʻUHONUA
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead
 My fascination with volcanoes did not end with my near encounter with Pele, the goddess of fire, at the entrance to her abode in the awesome fire pit called Halemaumau Crater.  She accelerated the velocity of the downpour that soaked me when I was about to enter her doorstep. I surrendered by turning back. In the poem “Looking at Kilauea,” Asian poet Garrett Hongo (born 1951 in Volcano, next to the Kilauea Volcano) wrote that he saw solidified eddies of paho’eho’e swirled like fans of pandanus... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/11/10)

After Decades of War, Sri Lanka Bounces Back-Billions in foreign money, especially from China, are pouring in
By Frederik Balfour
As recently as a year and a half ago, life in Colombo was tense. Residents were under constant threat of suicide bombs, and armed guards at checkpoints made crossing the city a hassle. "You went out every day not knowing what would happen," recalls Richard Vokes, Asian Development Bank (ADB) country director. Since Sri Lankan government forces defeated the Tamil Tigers rebel group in May 2009, though, the sandbags and checkpoints are mostly gone, tourists stroll the palm-fringed seaside promenade, and locals fly kites in front of the majestic colonial-era Galle Face Hotel. Living in Colombo is... -Full Story- (businessweek.com - 10/11/10)

INVASIONS, VIOLENCE, ATROCITIES AND PLUNDER CHARACTERIZE TAMIL/DRAVIDIAN INVOLVEMENT IN SRI LANKA FROM 230 BCE
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane
OVERVIEW Recorded history states that Sri Lanka was invaded as much as seventeen times by South Indian Dravidian Tamil speaking invaders since 230 BCE. Coming with armies of Tamils from South India they ruthlessly wiped out entire Sinhala villages along their way to Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa the royal capitals of the past. These highly prosperous Sinhala Buddhist capitals were ransacked and plundered and the people subject to untold atrocities. This was a part of Tamil invasions and occupation of our land for varying periods of time in the past. They killed Sinhala Kings or forced them... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/11/10)

Bread battle’ bankrupts 2,000 bakers
A Sri Lankan government campaign against bread and other wheat products has forced some 2,000 bakers out of business and left many more under threat, an industry body said yesterday. The All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association said more than a quarter of bakers in the island had closed down this year because of high taxes and other government moves to discourage imported wheat. “The government has intensified a campaign against bread,” association president N K Jayawardena said. “One minister has equated eating bread to ‘terrorism’. This is absurd.”... -Full Story- (Gulf Times - 09/11/10)

Porn stars hunted by police in Sri Lanka
Jason Burke in Delhi
Police hope to identify 83 actors in initiative launched because of concerns about children watching films Sri Lankan police have launched a campaign to trace more than 80 local people who have appeared in pornographic films by printing their pictures in newspapers. Earlier this week more than three dozen porn actors were pictured in a full-page advertisement in one local newspaper. Police plan to publish images, taken from the films, of around 50 more in the coming days. The mug shots have been obtained by a special police squad viewing films "round the clock", officers... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 09/11/10)

`CARDINAL’ ERRORS
S L Gunasekara
The Roman Catholic and the Anglican Churches are two Institutions with  considerable followings in the Northern and Eastern Provinces which could, had they been so minded, have saved tens of thousands of lives and billions of rupees worth of property by rendering their unstinted support towards the restoration of peace in our land  by:-  a)         exhorting their flock to oppose or simply refuse to obey the orders of the LTTE and to give information to the Security Forces regarding the conduct, activities and the movements of the LTTE and its leaders; and,  b)         publicly condemning the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 13 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
සුසිල් සිරිවර්ධන සුසිල් සිරිවර්ධන 71 අපේ‍්‍රල් මහ නඩුවේ 24 වැනි විත්තිකරුය. ඔහු පරිපාලන සේවයේ සිටි තරුණ නිලධාරියෙක් වු අතර ඔක්ස්ෆඞ් විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ඉගෙනුම ලැබු අයෙකු විමද වෙසෙසින්ම සඳහන් කළ යුත්තකි. ඔහුගෙන් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවක් ලබා ගැනීම මදක් උගහට වු බව සැබැය. දුරකථන සංවාද කිහිපයක් විද්‍යුත් තැපැල් පණිවිඩ කිහිපයක් අප අතර හුවමාරු වූ අතර අවසානයේදි ඔහු මගේ පොතට දායක වීමට එකගත්වය පළ කළේය. 2009 පෙබරවාරි 11 දින රාත‍්‍රියේ මා සමග දුරකථනයෙන් සම්බන්ධ වූ සුසිල් සිරිවර්ධන මහතා 71 කැරැුල්ලට ඔහුගේ සහභාගිත්වය අහඹුවක් බව කීය.   යටත් පිරිසෙන් ඔහු පන්ති 5 නිම කොට සිටියේද නැත. අහඹුවක් නිසා 1971 සිට 1975... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/11/10)

Open Short Letter to Mr. Udaya Gammanpila: Western Province Councilor and a leading figure of JHU
Kithsiri Athulathmudali, Florida, USA
Dear Mr. Gammanpila, With reference to the article by the editor of Asian Tribune confused me.http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/10/26/sinhalese-familes-well-have-right-returne-... What you are saying to the editor of the Asian Tribune is what every one is saying, but one expect lot more than giving press briefings, is actions from you and the JHU party. JHU has all the proof of how “Mudisooda Mannan” (Un crowned King of Northern and Eastern Province ref: P. Chidambaram) modified the Land Registry and during the cease fire, also got Ranil to issue a directive to the land registry in Jaffna to corporate with... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/11/10)

Imperative national requisite
Dr. Tilak Fernando
How astounding it was that after writing in this column on October 25 about Dr Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of India, regarded as the ‘missile man of India,’ who strongly advocates an action plan to develop his Motherland into a knowledge super power and to a developed nation, I had the rare opportunity of listening to one of our own ‘Action Men’, Dr Ajith C S Perera, giving a live discourse with equal vim and vigour about our own Motherland focusing on the subject, ‘not to miss opportunities in our hands in promoting a sustainable... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/11/10)

Sri Lanka declares war on an unlikely enemy - wheat
By Charles Haviland
Some 2,000 bakers across Sri Lanka have been forced to close their businesses, the industry says. The closures come as the government campaigns against the consumption of products based on wheat flour. Eighteen months after defeating Tamil Tiger militants, the government seems to be intensifying its struggle against an unlikely enemy. In recent days it has been banning wheat products from various public institutions.... -Full Story- (bbc.co.uk - 08/11/10)

Reconciliation panel's term extended
B. Muralidhar Reddy
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has extended the term of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) by six months on the ground that a large number of persons from Sri Lanka and abroad are still to give evidence before it. The eight-member Commission was constituted in May to report on the lessons to be learnt from the events between February 2002 and May 2009, their attendant concerns and to recommend measures to ensure that there will be no recurrence of such a situation.... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 08/11/10)

THE LTTE AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SRI LANKA
Herman Pathige Watford UK
October 2010     Monsignor Malcolm Ranjith Archbishop of Colombo Bishops House Borella Colombo Sri Lanka  Reverend Sir  THE LTTE AND THE ROMAN  CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SRI LANKA  Now that the ethnic war has ended it is interesting to dwell on certain events relating to that tragic conflict from a historical perspective. A fact which has been  established without a trace of doubt was that the LTTE had a two pronged objective: one to establish a separate state and the other to destroy and destabilize the Buddhist  cultural heritage with the encouragement and covert involvement of the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/11/10)

The Cardinal, Catholic Church and the LTTE
Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith during his appearance before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission had said that the "...Catholic Church had never advocated the LTTE's position... and the Catholic Church had made several attempts to bring the govt. and the LTTE into the peace process..."   The truth is that the Catholic Church had its sympathies with the LTTE . The role of the Catholic Church in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka came under greater scrutiny during the 30 year war. Perceptive observers have publicly accused the Catholic Church of being the invisible hand behind the LTTE's violent campaign... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/11/10)

The Absurdity of Compelling to Learn Three Languages
Dilrook Kannangara
A number of political commentators have highlighted the need to learn three languages - Sinhala, Tamil and English by everyone. Although it looks very good on the surface, it is not the right thing to do for various reasons. Encouraging people to learn as many languages as possible is no doubt good and it should happen. But compelling them to learn languages that are of little use is a tragedy. Those who recommend such outdated remedies are detached from ground realities leading to unwise judgements. In short, two persons need just one language (not three or... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/11/10)

The Catholic Church and Politics
Henry J.
The Editor, Lankaweb    The support of the Catholic church for the LTTE-ruthless murdering terrorists responsible the murders of thousands of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka- is, to say the least a great paradox. But then, the Catholic church has a history of paradoxical and irrational behavior, a glaring example of which was the concordats it signed with the Nazis when those terrible guys were carrying out progroms against the Jews.  It is no surprise that the new Cardinal is declaring support for the LTTE for he seems to be following tradition. However, the cardinal must remember that the LTTE, like... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/11/10)

Open Letter to Editor, AsiaTimes
Simon Gnanapiyasena
Dear Editor AsiaTimes:  I earnestly bring to your notice the concerns I have around the one-sided, racist article titled “Vandalism at library frightens Tamils” by your writer Sudha Ramachandran.  http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LK06Df01.html  Clearly, this writer’s intent appears to be to the arousal of communal hatreds between the majority Sinhalas and the minority Tamils of Sri Lanka and ensure that Sri Lanka will never achieve ethnic-reconciliation between these two main communities and move the nation forward after the horrific civil war that ended last year - after 30 long years of immense death and destruction.  What is concerning here is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/11/10)

China and India both know about underground UFO base in the Himalayan border area deep into the tectonic plates
Posted on Pakalert on November 6, 2010 // 1 Comment
According to the few local people on the Indian and Chinese sides, this is where the UFOs are seen coming out of the ground, According to many, the UFO underground bases are in this region and both the Indian and Chinese Government know this very well.. Recently, some Hindu pilgrims on their way to Mount Kailash from the Western pass, came across strange lights in the sky. The local guides while in the Chinese territory told them that this was nothing new and is a normal phenomenon from... -Full Story- (pakalertpress.com - 07/11/10)

The Criminal History of the Papacy - Part 1 -
by Tony Bushby - Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 14,
The papal office has an unparalleled record of corruption and criminality over the centuries, and the true history of the popes is one of scandals, cruelty, debauchery, reigns of terror, warfare and moral depravity.Most Catholics go through life and never hear a word of reproach for any pope or member of the clergy. Yet the recorded history of the lives of the clerical hierarchy bears no resemblance to its modern-day portrayal, and the true stories of the popes in particular are among the most misrepresented in religious history... -Full Story- (loveforlife.com.au - 07/11/10)

The Criminal History of the Papacy - Part 2 -
by Tony Bushby - Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 14,
We are still in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and now expand upon the life of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), whom many Catholics exalt above all others and regard as one of the chief constructive forces in the development of European civilisation. When he was elected in 1198, he demanded an oath of allegiance to himself, as pope, from the prefect, who represented the Holy Roman Emperor, and the senators, who represented the Roman people. In that same year, he suppressed all records of earlier Church history... -Full Story- (loveforlife.com.au - 07/11/10)

The Criminal History of the Papacy Part 3 of 3
Extracted from Nexus Magazine Volume 14, Number 3 (April - May 2007)
Pope Julius II, "Warrior of Rome" The papacy continued on its way into degeneracy with no parallel in the history of world religion, and that brings us to another militaristic and disbelieving pope. He was Giuliano della Rovere (1443-1513) and he called himself Julius II (1503-13). He fought and intrigued like a worldly prince and was famous for his long and bloody wars. He was constantly in the field leading his army, firmly convinced of the rightness of his frightful battles. He led his Catholic troops... -Full Story- (bibliotecapleyades.net - 07/11/10)

Deepavali, Ravana, Rama and Sri Lanka
By Sri Rohana
“Deepavali is an Indian hindu festival that commemorate blessed day on which the Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after defeating the Sri Lankan king Ravana”.  Deepavali is celebrated in many parts of the world where hindus and tamils live, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Surinam and Guyana. Mainly these countries were invaded and occupied by British invaders and Indians brought to those countries as laborers. As most Indians and tamils are hindus they celebrate Deepavali as a blessed day in those countries.  Deepavali is an official holiday in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/11/10)

Cardinal Walks on a Tight Rope between Religion & Government
Prof. Hudson McLean
 As a Catholic I am dismayed and disappointed that the new Cardinal Malcom Ranjit's decision to resurrect the LTTE Flag against a leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government. Catholic Clergy has in many instances played a role to support the "under dog" in many countries.  In this case the LTTE is not the "under dog", more of a wild mad dog, the Devil in disguise. Catholic Clergy in Sri Lanka has created immense bad will amongst the Sri Lankan citizens by openly supporting  a criminal, Velupillai Prabhakaran and his coterie of murderers. The government... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

Cardinal sins….a continuation
By Mario Perera, Kadawata
 Prince Gemunu lying in foetal position on his bed said that he had been hemmed in by the Tamils and the Deep Blue Sea. This nation has always been hemmed in this manner by the Tamil separatists and the deep blue sea symbolizing the hypocritical and to that extent immoral European and American so-called democracies, also called the ‘International Community’. In contrast to the experience of the dearly beloved prince, now we are dealing with a third element: the Tamil Diaspora which plays the tunes to which the ‘International Community’ dances. The latest of such... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

The most cardinal thing about Rev. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit’s representations made to the LLRC Commission
Dr. Sudath Gunasekara 5.11.2010.
 Reading through what was said by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit before the LLRC few days back I got the feeling that the LTTE machinery is still not dead. With all respect to him as a respected Cardinal of the Catholic Church I am convinced to believe so when I evaluate what he has said this week together with his past behavior on this issue. For as every one knows right through out he has been supporting this terrorist movement while opposing the government’s attempts to eradicate the LTTE.  I reproduce the main issues highlighted by the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

Registry of Betrayers (ROB)
Ananda De Costa
Any sensible person is able to observe that a large number of betrayers living happily, enjoying all the democracy in Sir Lanka. Unless confined to jail due to legitimate offences, they are allowed to travel to any country and heartlessly speak their greed out, insulting and condemning  the very country which paid for all their education and made them wealthy people. Take the names frequently appearing in the internet, for example, Brian Seneviratne, Jayalath Jayawardena , Mano Ganeshan, Fedrica Janz, various UNP and JVP leaders and various religious leaders in Sir Lanka. No other country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith's Agenda
Dinesh Paiva
 Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the religious figure of the Sri Lankan Catholic Church, seems to be becoming something of a joke ever since he was appointed a cardinal by the Pope. He appears to have a assumed a new arrogance and is now running about trying to tell everyone else what they should be doing when there are a myriad of issues in the Catholic Church that need to be put right first. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith needs to decide whether he is a politician or a man of the cloth.  The Cardinal's latest bombastic statements to the Lessons... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

ස්වර්ණවාහිනී මෙගා ස්ටාර් මෙහෙයුම හා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය.
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
 මෙගා ස්ටාර් යනු වසරක කාලයක් පුරා ස්වර්ණවාහිනී රූපවාහිනී නාලිකාව මගින් පවත්වාගෙන ගිය  රූපවාහිනී වැඩ සටහනකි. මෙය මෙරට ජන කොට්ඨාශයන් අතර සිටින එක්තරා ජන කණ්ඩායමකගේ ඉතාමත් ප්‍රියතම රූපවාහිනී වැඩ සටහනක් විය. ආරම්භයේ පටන්ම, ඉතාම සූක්ෂම ආකාරයට සංවිධානය කර තිබූ මෙම මෙගා ස්ටාර් නම් වූ වැඩ සටහන, සූක්ෂම දේශපාලන වැඩ සටහනක් වූ අතර, එහිවූ දේශපාලනය කුමක්දැයි බොහෝමයකට තේරුම් ගැනීමට ‍නොහැකි ආකාරයට සකස්ව තිබීම, ‍මෙහි වූ වි‍ශේෂත්වයයි. ඒ නිසා මේ වැඩ සටහන තුලදී සිදුවන්නේ කුමක්දැයි පැහැදිලි අවබෝධයක් ජනතාවට ‍නොතිබිණ. ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂ‍යේ ඇමතිවරයකු වූ ආචාර්ය මර්වින් සිල්වා මහතා විපක්ෂ‍යේ, ‍රෝසි ‍සේනානායක මහත්මිය, රන්ජන් රාමනායක මහතා, දයාසිරි ජය‍සේකර මහතා හා එවකට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 12 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
එස්. ඞී. බණ්ඩාරනායක  මහ නඩුවේ 20 වන විත්තිකරු වූ එස්. ඞී. බණ්ඩාරනායක 56 පරපුර හඳුනාගත්තේ ඉඹුල්ගොඩ වීරයා වශයෙනි. ඒ, ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන ඇතුළු එ.ජා.ප. ආධාරකරුවන් නුවර දක්වා ගමන් කරමින් සිටි පා ගමන ආපසු හරවා එවීම නිසයි. භාෂා ප‍්‍රශ්නයේදී අපගේ දේශපාලනයේ ඉතා පහත් පෙලේ දේශපාලන වාසි සොයා ගිය බව සැබෑය. ඔවුන් එදා කළ පටු දේශපාලනය හා දෙබඩි පිළිවෙත් නිසා මුළු රටම යුද ගිනි දැල් වලට ගොදුරු වූ බව අමුතුවෙන් කිවයුතු නොවේ. ජනවාර්ගික අර්බුදයට 71 කැරැල්ලද යම් පූර්වාදර්ශයක් සැපයුවා විය නොහැකිද? ඒ කෙසේ නමුත් එස්. ඞී. හා 71 කැරැල්ල අතර සහ සබඳතාව ඉන් අවුරුදු 37 කට පසුව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

My response to UCAN’s publication on http://www.ucanews.com/2010/11/04/sri-lankan-conference-promotes-tamil-revival/
Warna Hettiarachchi
My intention is neither to insult, nor offend Christians nor Catholics of Sri Lanka or anywhere in the world. My ideology is to live in peace with everyone together. Sri Lanka belongs to ALL that lives there, not just Sinhalese, Tamil, Burghers and Muslims, but also the whole of its fauna and flora.  I could not be silent on absolute bullshit published like this, repeatedly and more frequently by the Catholic Church recently.  Warna Hettiarachchi  Questions for Catholic Peeping-Tom’s:
 When did Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church and its bishops and now Cardinal EVER celebrate the peace after... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

UNESCO- turns away from Indian, Chinese, and African philosophies to celebrates the World Philosophy Day 2010, with a hybrid philosophy of its own.
by Charles.S.Perera
 Philosophy is a subject apart from  Education, Science and   Culture which are within the purview of UNESCO.  But Education being knowledge, philosophy could fall well within Education.  But philosophy is a diversity of knowledge, it is hence representative of different Cultures. Therefore, probably as  the religion, philosophy and culture of a nation are interrelated,   in UNESCO Philosophy finds its place in  the Sector of Social and Human Sciences.  Where ever it is placed, it is important that UNESCO has philosophy among its specialised programmes not only to popularise different  philosophies  among its member States, but also to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

CRICKET- SINHALESE FOR SRI LANKA AND TAMILS FOR AUSSIES!
By M D P DISSANAYAKE
Sri Lanka’s victory against world champion Australians with a series win on 5th November in Sydney was a well-timed stimulus package for the Team in preparation for the 2011 World Cup.  MAN OF MATCH UPUL THARANGA: It was a fine slow and steady knock by Upul Tharanga, to ensure gathering runs on a wicket difficult to score at the beginning.  He had to perform in this match to prove his metal and did perform under pressure   with dedication, anchored the innings ensuring loss of minimum number of wickets, which resulted in D/L formulae for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—41a (Hawaii Ho!) CRATERS HUMBLE NOSY WRITER BY SOAKING HIM IN RAIN WATER
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010Professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead
    Exit Fullerton My mother and I left California on the last Friday of January 1984. It was the last day of my Fullerton Year.   I handed all my grade sheets to Admissions and Records at Fullerton College and said goodbye to many colleagues and friends over the preceding two days.   Larry Taylor, my exchange partner, had returned from Australia Wednesday and paid me a surprise visit Friday morning. I returned the keys to his beloved Volvo. He refunded me the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/11/10)

Share my amazing experience with fellow readers
Larry de Silva Melbourne Australia
I won’t gloat but I need to share my amazing experience with fellow readers here, especially Sri Lankans. I was at one day cricket game between Sri Lanka and Australia on Wednesday, along with a good natured crowd of about 20,000 with about 16,000 ex-pat Lankans. It was a superb atmosphere complete with a para band dishing out new and old bailas and just people having great fun and genuine enjoyment. The Aussies batted poorly, should have scored faster and about 40 more runs. Haddin was good. Hussey batted well but slowish. I thought... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/11/10)

LET US COLONISE AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND CANADA
By Stanley Perera
Australia is a land in abundance with a population not more than that of Sri Lanka. Australia needs millions of people migrating to strengthen its economy. There are untapped natural resources and it becomes the richest nation in the world. Fortunately or unfortunately Australia’s population is not enough to enjoy the luxuries in life. Australia is a full continent with a population of not more than 22 million. Australia is a part of Asia and the Asians believe that they have the right to call Australia their home. The most popular destination in the world for... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/11/10)

The World Looks at Obama After the U.S. Midterm Election
By George Friedman
The 2010 U.S. midterm elections were held, and the results were as expected: The Republicans took the House but did not take the Senate. The Democrats have such a small margin in the Senate, however, that they cannot impose cloture, which means the Republicans can block Obama administration initiatives in both houses of Congress. At the same time, the Republicans cannot override presidential vetoes alone, so they cannot legislate, either. The possible legislative outcomes are thus gridlock or significant compromises... -Full Story- (stratfor.com - 05/11/10)

Cardinal Sins!
- Kumar Moses  
Amidst some reasonable representations at the LLRC commission, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith also regurgitated ultra Tamil vile racism espoused by the LTTE. He warned that any attempt to change the ethnic ratio in the Northern and Eastern Provinces through colonization could cause ethnic trouble. He should be ashamed of making such comments that border racism. What he calls colonization is actually ethnic integration! He is against ethnic integration in areas that were ethnically cleansed by LTTE terrorists using violence. If anyone cannot stand what they call colonization, they better leave Sri Lanka and settle down in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/11/10)

White flag civilians not shot: Ex- M’tivu GA
By Olindhi Jayasundere Courtesy Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
Jaffna Government Agent, Imelda Sukumar who was the Mullaitivu GA during the war, yesterday vehemently denied claims that those who crossed over from LTTE controlled areas to Government controlled areas carrying white flags were fired at by the army during the height of the war. Mrs. Sukumar said this while responding to a question posed to her by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Chairman, C.R de Silva, on the issue, during a LLRC session held yesterday. Ms. Sukumar maintained that reports of alleged atrocities by the Sri Lankan... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/11/10)

Sri Lankan Army rescues civilians from LTTE
Wick Gankanda Senior software engineer (Republished)
Dear Mr. Mark Mcdonald of the NY Times: I read your story 'Sri Lankan Troops Breach Rebel Haven' on April 20, 2009. Thank you for reporting the suicide attack by the Tamil Tiger Terrorists on the people escaping the fighting. The Sri Lankan army has done an incredible job of securing civilians from the Tigers as shown in the real-time video from unmanned drones. The LTTE front Tamilnet that you listed as 'pro-rebel Web portal' is well known to doctor images and invent absolutely non-existent civilian casualties, all conveniently blamed on the Sri... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/11/10)

From: Wick Gankanda to Mr. Bill Keller Executive Editor New York Times 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018
From: Wick Gankanda
To: Mr. Bill Keller Executive Editor New York Times 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Thursday, May 28, 2009 Dear Mr. Keller: For the past few months, we have seen an incredible number of inflammatory biased attacks on Sri Lanka in the New York Times, some even based on hearsay and false stories generated by the Tamil Tiger Terrorists. Here is just once such example: Sri Lanka: Inquiry Sought on Atrocities on May 26, 2009 “The United Nations’ top human rights official demanded an independent investigation on Tuesday into allegations of atrocities committed by both... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/11/10)

A reply to The Economist -the latest recruit for “Sri Lanka Bashing” with its article: Rajapakse’s big cover up.
by Charles S.Perera
The article in  The Economist  dated 28 October,2010,  may have been  written by an expatriate Tamil or some one bought by the expatriate Tamils. In either case the person who wrote that article is certainly not cultivated, but lewd. However, The Economist which is  supposed to be a serious journal that does not indulge in slander or defamation, seems to have fallen into the category of  a cheap Western gossip magazine, casting aspersions , with intention to discredit  the good President of Sri Lanka, and his government.  Barely clad women,  be it frescoes on stone... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/11/10)

NDP amendments on Refugee Bill C-49
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada 
November 4, 2010   The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN   Sir:   "Accused human-smugglers would be considered guilty until proven innocent under an NDP amendment to proposed federal legislation," according to Olivia Chow, the NDP Immigration critic.  Furthermore she wants the Tories' Bill- C-49 reworked, so that any ship captains who arrive in Canadian waters with more than 40 passengers and lacking identification should have to prove they are not smuggling their human passengers. That certainly would let the smart Tamil smugglers transport 39 Tamil illegal migrants ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/11/10)

After Decades of War, Sri Lanka Bounces Back Billions in foreign money, especially from China, are pouring in
By Frederik Balfour
As recently as a year and a half ago, life in Colombo was tense. Residents were under constant threat of suicide bombs, and armed guards at checkpoints made crossing the city a hassle. "You went out every day not knowing what would happen," recalls Richard Vokes, Asian Development Bank (ADB) country director. Since Sri Lankan government forces defeated the Tamil Tigers rebel group in May 2009, though, the sandbags and checkpoints are mostly gone, tourists stroll the palm-fringed seaside promenade, and locals fly kites in front of the majestic colonial-era Galle Face Hotel. Living in Colombo is... -Full Story- (businessweek.com - 04/11/10)

Sri Lanka to relax forex rules
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is ready to relax currency controls and allow private banks to build foreign exchange reserves to manage strong inflows, central bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Thursday in Manila. Cabraal also said he expects inflation this year and the next to be under control despite expected strong growth. Sri Lanka will announce measures to relax currency controls on Nov. 22 but they are unlikely to include a change in the existing 10 percent cap on foreign investments in government securities, Cabraal told Reuters on the sidelines of an economic forum at the Asian Development Bank.... -Full Story- (gulftoday.ae - 04/11/10)

Murdered UK-based transsexual immigration solicitor represented LTTE- Appeared for ‘Kittu’ during LTTE-Premadasa ‘honeymoon’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
David Burgess, a top immigration solicitor, who was pushed under a train by a person identified as Nina Kanagasingham on Oct. 25 at the King’s Cross tube station, had represented the LTTE for many years. He is believed to be one of the first British lawyers, approached by the LTTE. The British press described Burgess aka ‘Sonia’, as a transsexual. At the time of his death he was dressed as a woman.... -Full Story- (The Island - 04/11/10)

The brave new world is leaving the Tamil separatists behind
H. L. D. Mahindapala
One week President Mahinda Rajapakse is sitting between India’s Prime Minister and Vice President at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. Within a fortnight he is sitting next to the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao at the closing ceremony of the spectacular 2010 International Expo held in Shanghai. This is a vastly different scenario from that of William Hague, the British Foreign Minister, sitting in the high chair with a straight back and seating supplicant Ranil Wickremesinghe in the low chair as a well-trained, low-caste stooge of the white man. The symbolism is significant:... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

Tamil/Muslim Grievances and Remedies
GOMIN DAYASRI
Most of these grievances cut across ethnic barriers and are common to all the communities but to overcome a national crisis Tamil/Muslim grievances should be given priority over the issues of the majority Sinhalese to show that Sri Lanka has a caring majority.                              [A] Language  The present constitutional and statutory provisions relating to Tamil language should be implemented comprehensively. Sinhala and Tamil should be taught to children and adults by an accelerated process. Teaching of English to be enhanced and taught to schoolchildren in a manner it can be comfortably absorbed as a tool for the advancement... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

Do our favourite numbers indicate inner-most attitudes?
By Philip Fernando, former Deputy Editor, Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
Most people say-”we will be back in five or ten minutes.” We are used to a seven-day week, 24-hour day and 12-month year. Our fondness for certain numbers may show attitudinal inclinations. Numbers are a very quirky story indeed. Do numbers seven or nine; for example, correspond to some inner most longings or affinity to Voodoo, the numinous practice of avenging a wrong? Number 13 is considered ominously bad by many-Friday the 13th is worse.  Should we be suspicious when the signal to be sober comes at the half... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

TO PROVE WE WON A JUST WAR
By Gomin Dayasri
1 The war was waged against an organization that was deemed to be a terrorist organization that had bans imposed against them and recognized by the UN as utilizing child soldiers. It was never termed a part of a liberation struggle.  2 It was terrorist outfit that spilt beyond territorial boundaries in the matter of the killing of the Indian prime minister and the attempted assassination of the Pakistan High Commissioner. In the international realm there was money laundering, terrorist funding especially through networks such as the TRO, illegal shipping activity, narcotics trade that enabled them... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

LASITH MALINGA AND ANGELO MATHEWS – “YES WE CAN”
By M D P DISSANAYAKE
The One Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 3, has provided one of the best 50 over matches  in the living history of the game. Chasing a target of 240 to win,  Sri Lanka was virtually written off from winning the game after several pedestrian batting performances  by Dilshan Tillekeratne, Upul Tharanga, and Chamara Silva. At present only Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara appear to be in fine form, producing results consistently. When chips were down at  8 for 107,  the hopes of Sri Lankans were shattered.  The stylish Angelow Mathews... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

දෙවොල් බිම
දයා නිකහැටිය
අයාලයේ යන පින් ගවයන  රැල වටකොට බුරනා බලු දන්ඩෝ පිස්සො භිගන්නෝ ඔල්මක්කාරයො දේවාලේ බිම බදු ගත්තෝ   දේව බැල්ම ඇයි අඩු මෙ පිරිසට නෑ කවුත් ඒ ගැන හිතුවෙ පූඡා වටිටිවල ඉතුරුව කාලා ඒ ඡීවිත ගැට ගහගන්නේ   ඒ ඒ කාලෙට ඒ ඒ දෙවිවරු විෂ්ණු විභීෂණ කද සුරිදු නමි ගමි දීගෙන දෙවොල් තනාගෙන නර පනුවෝ එති පේලි සැදී   හිමිදිරි උදයෙම පැන් හත නාලා පිරිවට ඇදගෙන ගමි දැරියෝ ආවට ඉඩ නෑ පෝලිම පිරිලා මුලටම ඉන්නේ ලොකු ලොක්කෝ   රූපෙට රුපේ දෙන්න බාරවී ටවුමෙ නෝනලත් ඇවිදිල්ලා චෙරුටි ලවෙන්ඩල් ඩොල්ෂ ගබානා සුවදට පෙනහලු හැකිල්ලෙනා   ඒ අය එනවිට සිල්ලර නඩවල... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

71 කැරැල්ල -11 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 විරාජ් ලක්ප‍්‍රිය ප‍්‍රනාන්දු  1971 අපේ‍්‍රල් කැරැුල්ලේ 17 වන විත්තිකරු වූ විරාජ් ලක්ප‍්‍රිය ප‍්‍රනාන්දු මහතා විදේශගතව ජීවත් වෙයි. ඔහුව සම්මුඛ සාකච්චාවක් සඳහා සම්බන්ධ කර ගැනීම අසීරු වුයේ ඔහුගේ දුරකථන අංකය හෝ විද්‍යුත් තැපැල් අංකය ඔහුගෙ සමකාලිනයන්ද නොදැන සිටි නිසාවෙනි. අවසානයේදී මට උපකාරයට පැමිණියේ ගුවන් නියමුවෙකු වන එල්මෝ ජයවර්ධන මහතා විසිනි. ඔහු මට විරාජ් ප‍්‍රනාන්දු ගේ විද්‍යුත් තැපැල් අංකය ලබා දුන්නා පමණක් නොව මගේ පොත පිළිබඳව මූලික අදහසක්ද ඔහුට ලබා දුන්නේය. ඉන් ක්ෂණික ප‍්‍රතිචාරයක් ලැබුණු බව කිව යුතුමය.  දින දෙකක් වැනි සුළු කාලයක් ඇතුලත මට විරාජ් ප‍්‍රනාන්දු මහතා ගෙන් විද්‍යුත් තැපැල් පණිවිඩයක් ලැබිණි. තමාගේ 71 මැදිහත්වීම වැරදි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

Sri Lanka ---pls educate your members about Sri Lanka's struggle
Ranjith Soysa Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka
To Editor - Australia - Green Left Dear Editor We are rather disappointed by the stance taken by your magazine as well as you movement in regard to Sri Lanka's fight against the terrorist/racist LTTE . You have constantly treated LTTE ;s racist agenda as a liberation struggle of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.If you really dig deep into the horrible acts committed by the LTTE you will realize that German Nazis or Kehmer Rouge in Cambodia  are no different to the LTTE. In fact the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 03/11/10)

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man –Redemption in Confession
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
To steal millions, you need a top team of armed robbers. But to steal billions, you need PhD's with color charts and economic projections made of fairy dust and eye of newt. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a best seller written by John Perkins based on his undercover experiences. According to the book John Perkins was an undercover  Economic hit man. Who are these Economic hit men? Are they a special kind of breed? John Perkins gives a simple definition of Economic hit men thus. Economic hit men or (EHMs) are highly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/11/10)

JOIN TO BUILD A UNIFIED NATION
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane East Avenue, Vancouver BC CANADA -
 It is most discouraging to note that still; there are some Tamil extremists such Mr. Sithamparapzillai Kathieravelu & His foreign Friends who appear to be thinking that they can resort to falsehood, fabrications and lies, or in other words sheer dishonesty, deliberate misinterpretation and distortion of facts, in order to serve their self interests at the expense of our nation. They have been circulating emails highlighting Sinhala discrimination against Tamils, but as usual, without being specific as to the nature and type of discriminatory practices they have faced and continue... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/11/10)

LONG LIVE BIN LADIN IN FRANCE !
Ranjith Soysa
Dear Editor, The news of erecting a statue for S. Thamilchelvam, one of the leaders of "the deadliest terrorist group in the world" (FBI), in La Courneuve, France, where there is a large concentration of Tamils, is an insult to the human rights values espoused so pompously by France, particularly in dealing with countries like Sri Lanka. Thamilchelvam was the barber who instead of cutting hair turned into a ruthless cutter of Tamil throats. He was the final authority in deciding whose under aged children should be forcibly dragged into the futile war of the Tamil Tiger... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/11/10)

සැබෑ යුධ අපරාධකරුවන්
ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම
එකිනෙකාගේ භාෂාවන් ඉගෙනීමට සලස්වන්නේ නැතිව වෛරයේ බීජ වපුරන ලද ඉතිහාසයේ පාලකයන් සැබෑ යුධ අපරාධකරුවන් ලෙස නම් කල යුතුය අපේ රටේ සැබෑ යුධ අපරාධකාරයන් වන්නේ එකිනෙකාගේ භාෂාවන් ඉගෙන ගැනීමට ඉඩ සලස්වන්නේ නැතුව, අඩ සියවසකට අධික කාලයක් රට පාලනය කරමින්, මාතෘ භූමිය මත වෛරයේ බීජ වපුරන ලද පාලකයින් බවත්, යුධ අපරාධකරුවන් ලෙස දංගෙඩියට ගෙන යා යුත්තේ ඔවුන් බවත්, යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම මහතා මඩකලපුවේදී ප‍්‍රකාශ කළේය. මඩකලපුව මහජන විද්‍යාලයීය ශ‍්‍රවණාගාරයේදී පැවති, මඩකලපුව දිස්ත‍්‍රික් යොවුන් හමුවේදී  ඇමතිවරයා මේ බව ප‍්‍රකාශ කළේය. දිස්ත‍්‍රික්කයේ ප‍්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශ 14 කට අයත් යෞවන සමාජ 348 ක් නියෝජනය කරමින් තරුණ තරුණියන් 700 කට අධික... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/11/10)

Britain’s moral high ground : ‘War crimes’ allegations against Sri Lanka
The Third Eye- courtesyThe Daily News
British Prime Minister David Cameron has made a fresh call in the British Parliament for ‘investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka’. However, since this call was made in response to agitations by his own Parliamentarians, there is a shadow of doubt as to the earnestness of this call for it could well be a political ploy to assuage his Parliamentarians in an effort to win over the Tamil vote from the Labour in a likely future election. But whatever the case is, Sri Lanka may not wish its internal issues to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/11/10)

OBAMA-A MESSENGER OF PEACE?
ALI SUKHANVER
 There is a clear difference between traveling and wandering. Traveling is meaningful and wandering is meaningless. The US president Barrak Obama is traveling to India somewhere in the mid of this month. According to the Indian media reports, this visit is chiefly aimed at improving economic and defence related relations between the two countries but the neighbouring countries like China, Iran and Pakistan are looking at this visit from a different point of view. They are taking this visit as a warning from USA that these countries must not underestimate the hegemonic position of India in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/11/10)

TV in a Jungle of Commercialisation !
Dr.Tilak Fernando
G Wilfred Dissanayake of Ethul Kotte lamented through letters to the Editor, Daily News, recently on ‘Commercial advertising by electronic media’ who precisely spoke on behalf of millions of other TV watchers in Sri Lanka about the time eaten out of interesting programs by ever increasing television advertising. Many viewers, who are ‘teledrama addicts’, will admit how half hour teledramas are getting overridden by chomp of a 60 percent commercial breaks much to their exasperation. ‘Commercial breaks’ on television are the mouthpiece of any business organisation. These are programed, produced at a cost, and paid for, to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/11/10)

සුසුමක සැනසුම
නිදහස් අදහස්
 ‘‘දුවේ මම ඔබේ, තිලකයක් තියන්නම්’’ දියණියකට පියෙකුගේ සෙනෙහස වන් එම ක‍්‍රියාව සැමගේ ආදරණීය බලාපොරොත්තු සුසුමක සිර කළේය. ‘ජීවිතයේ පළමු වතාවටයි, මම කැබිනට් ඇමතිවරයෙක් ඉදිරියේ කතා කරන්නේ.’’ පිරිස අතරින් නැගී සිටි දමිළ තරුණයෙක් කීය. ‘‘අපේ ගමේ පරිගණක පුහුණු පාඨමාලාවක් පටන් ගත්තා. මුලදී පරිගණක 15 ක් තිබුණා. දැන් තියෙන්නේ එකයි.’’ ඒ පුදුකුඩුඉරිප්පු සිට පැමිණි තරුණියකගේ හඬයි ’’අපේ දිස්ති‍්‍රක්කයට සංගීත භාණ්ඩ ලැබුණා. ගේනවා විතරයි දැක්කේ. ඒවාට මොනවා වුණාද? දන්නේ නැහැ. මල්ලාවි ප‍්‍රදේශයේ තරුණයෙක් කීය. සභාව, මීයට පිම්බාක් මෙනි. වේදිකාවේ අසුන් ගත්තෝ මුව අයාගෙන අසා සිටිති. ඉකුත්දා, මඩකලපුව මහජන විද්‍යාලයීය ශ‍්‍රවණාගාරයේදී, මඩකලපුව දිස්ත‍්‍රික් යොවුන් හමුව පැවැත්විණි. ඒ සඳහා මඩකලපුව දිස්ත‍්‍රික්කයේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/11/10)

Pakistan to enhance economic cooperation with Sri Lanka
Pakistan Times Federal Bureau
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Sri Lanka have identified cement, sugar, dairy production, chemical plants, textiles, tourism, and pharmaceutical as potential areas of mutually beneficial collaborative projects in Sri Lanka. Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Saleem Mandviwalla who is presently on a visit to Sri Lanka to explore the possibility of enhanced commercial and economic cooperation between the two friendly countries met the Acting Minister for External Affairs and apprised him of the purpose of his visit, says a press release received here on Monday.... -Full Story- (pakistantimes.net - 01/11/10)

LTTE's unlawful activity still on, Centre tells tribunal
J. Venkatesan
There is enough material on record for extending the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for another two years from May 14, 2010 under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Centre maintained on Monday. Additional Solicitor-General A.S. Chandhikok made this submission before Justice Vikramajit Sen of the Delhi High Court, who constitutes the one-man tribunal hearing arguments on the validity of the notification extending the ban.... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 01/11/10)

Over 4,000 ex-LTTE rebels rehabilitated in Sri Lanka
Indo-Asian News Service
Over 4,000 former Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka have been rehabilitated and reintegrated in the society, officials said Saturday. "We have rehabilitated over 4,000 former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels and sent them back to their families. Six thousand more are to be rehabilitatedXinhua quoted commissioner general of Rehabilitation Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe as saying. Sri Lanka detained thousands of ex-rebels from the former LTTE territory during the last days of the government troops' military operation in May last year. The government has put them through rehabilitation since then. The... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 01/11/10)

'Lanka to indict 1,000 ex-LTTE cadres on charges of terrorism'
Press Trust Of India
The government will indict some 1,000 former LTTE cadres in custody on charges of involvement in terrorism during the nearly three decades ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka that came to an end last May. D E W Gunasekara, Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister, said these former LTTE cadres are being related stories LTTE remnants trying to regroup in India: Govt held on charges of their involvement in terrorism. According to the ColomboPage online, the government has decided to indict some 1,000 former LTTE cadres who are currently in custody and release 23 former women LTTE cadres.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 01/11/10)

Sri Lankan Airlines to increase flights to Indian cities
. Ravikumar Chennai, Nov 1
Peace has returned to Sri Lanka and with it an increase in traffic between the island-nation and India – and SriLankan Airlines is all set capitalise on the new situation. The airline currently operates 50 flights a week between Colombo and various Indian cities; now the plan is to raise this number by 7 from December. Besides, it also plans to resume flights to Kochi and Hyderabad, said Mr Samantha Nagahawatte, Regional Manager (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka), SriLankan Airlines... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 01/11/10)

China promises to rebuild Lanka
Sutirtho Patranobis, Hindustan Time
China will continue to support Sri Lanka in expanding critical infrastructure like roads, bridges and highways. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised his country’s support to Lanka during a bilateral meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Shanghai. Rajapaksa’s three-day visit to China, beginning October 28, came within two weeks of his New Delhi visit. Much of Sri Lanka's development projects like a new port, airport and a power plant already receive China's financial and technical support.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 01/11/10)

Colombo denies reports on library attack
B. Muralidhar Reddy
Sri Lanka's Presidential Secretariat has denied a media report that its staff were involved in a recent “attack” on the Jaffna Public Library. In a statement here, it referred to news report in The Sunday Leader headlined “Jaffna Public Library Comes under attack, again” and said it was based on unverified and unauthenticated information. The English weekly said pandemonium reigned in Jaffna when the library was stormed by hundreds of unarmed assailants on October 23. The weekly said it sought clarification from Tamil National Alliance M.P. Suresh Premachandran and he corroborated the story.... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 01/11/10)

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