By Charles.S.Perera
They the 100 day Ministers would not have even dreamt they would be Minsters this soon. If UNP had contested the elections with Ranil Wickramasinghe as the leader they would have surely lost again. This time it is through sheer good luck, and thanks to Maitripala Sirisena they have become 100day Ministers in a mostly UNP Government of 100 days. But what they are doing as “chance” Ministers is sniffing dirt to accuse the previous government for corruption, fraud, and irregularities committed by it. It is 20 days since good luck hit them but they have done... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
by Orpheus Perera
Good Governance "Yahapalanaya" concept was a conspiracy for UNP to come to power using Maithripala Sirisena as the cats paw. Mithripala Srisena was one of the 12 children of a poor ex soldier who got 6 acres of Paddy Land from DS Senenayaka under Polonnaruwa govi Janapadaya. He worked as a Grama Sevaka for a little salary before he got the scholarship to Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature to do Russian Political science. Before that in 1971 he was sent to prison for one and a half years for JVP activities and re-rehabilitated. It is very... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
- Kumar Moses
What goes around comes around. It is remarkably valid for King Abdulla (1924-2015) of Saudi Arabia. About 10 years ago a Muslim housemaid from Sri Lanka by the name Rizana Nafeek was attending to a baby in Saudi Arabia. The baby died in her care and she was blamed for it. Poverty and the 2004 tsunami that devastated her home led her to work in the Kingdom despite her young age. Many appealed against her execution but failed. As a last resort a state level mercy plea was sent to Saudi Arabia's king Abdulla. It was rejected... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Susantha Wijesinghe.
WITH NO MALICE TO NONE. I wrote to that Foolish Ex-President Mahinda to cancel the Elections, the moment the present Mr.President Maithreepala crossed over after eating Hoppers. It was a personal email letter, with possibly one inch letters in RED. It was copied to all Tri Forces Commanders, the IGP, and the Prime Minister. None of these recipients took no notice. FOOLS. It was Strategy that mattered at once. If he cancelled the Elections, the Minister of Health would have had to change his stance. Not only he, but Ranil, Chandrika, JHU, JVP, TNA, and the whole unholy... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Prof.Nalin de Silva
කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය විසින් විශේෂ කැබිනට් පත්‍රිකාවක් මගින් මොහාන් පීරිස් මහතා අගවිනිසුරු ලෙස පත්කිරීම නීත්‍යානුකූල නොවේ යැයි තීරණය කර ඇති බවත් ඒ අනුව ජනාධිපතිවරයා ශිරාණි බණ්ඩාරනායක අගවිනිසුරු ලෙස පත්වී ඇති බවත් වාර්තා වෙයි. මේ වාර්තා පිළිබඳ සත්‍යාසත්‍යතාව කුමක් වුවත් අද (2015ජනවාරි 28) ශිරාණි බණ්ඩාරනායක ශ්‍රෙෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට ගොස් ඇත. මෙහි දී අපට ප්‍රශ්න ගණනාවක් යහපාලනය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඇති වෙයි. මොහාන් පීරිස් මහතාගේ පත්වීම නී්‍යානුකූල නොවන බවට අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලයට තීරණය කළ හැක්කේ ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ කිනම් වගන්තිය යටතේ ද? පත්වීම නීත්‍යානුකූල ද නැත්ද යන්න ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය වූ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවටවත්, එහි අංගයක් වූ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයටවත් තීරණය කළ නොහැකි ය. විධායකයටත් එය කළ නොහැකි ය. කැබිනට් රැස්වීම්වලට... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Mahinda Rajapaksa Former President of Sri Lanka
To the Venerable Maha Sangha, all Reverend Clergymen and the People of Sri Lanka Numerous allegations have been levelled against me, my family and my government both before and after the recent presidential election. If there are allegations of wrongdoing against anybody, there are established procedures that can be followed. What we see instead is a media blitz meant to vilify me and to mislead the public. I wish to state my position on these matters so that the people will not be misled by this unprecedented campaign of vilification by interested parties.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
'Sri Lankan Patriot'
This essay is written to ally misconceptions and in most cases, downright lies that were spread by the opposition during the period 2006-2015 and now who have formed the new Government in Sri Lanka. When Mahinda Rajapakshe came to power in the latter part of 2005, he was bequeathed a country which was suffering a thirty year civil war with no end in sight. He realised that if the war went on and on, Sri Lanka will only get deeper and deeper into trouble. He therefore ensured that an effective team was put together and all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
'Sri Lankan Patriot'
There are over 6,000 permanently disabled soldiers have been provided rehabilitation and even houses in some cases. All other forces members who amount to over one lakh? have been re-trained in peacetime tasks such as restoration of roads, bridges, buildings especially in the Northern Province and even in the restoration of canals etc in beautifying Colombo. I would like to ask the new Government, why after thousands and thousands of our forces members sacrificing their lives, are you giving ‘more powers’ to the provincial councils? Sri Lanka is one country and every islander has the right... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
My heart cried When my feet touched Auschwitz Although many years have passed It seems like yesterday I was brought here Along with my family We traveled three nights in a cattle train Fully packed and had no space to move When my little sister asked for water I gave my water bottle with a small loaf of bread Then she slept on my lap But I was awake all the time When the train stopped The Doors were opened There were no welcome signs The SS men came with guns and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
... -Full Story- (https:/youtube.com/ - 31/01/15)
... -Full Story- (https:/youtube.com/ - 31/01/15)
Dilrook Kannangara
The manner in which the Chief Justice was removed resembles Pakistan under General Zia-Ul-Haq or Pervez Musharraf. Mohan Peiris was not removed from his post by legal means. The threats he faced while serving as the Chief Justice until his removal were not seen in this country's history. The parliament was not consulted on his removal and the proper procedure was not followed. It was totally dictatorial for the president to remove the Chief Justice illegally, appoint the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka, get her to resign and appoint another in her place. This is a despotic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Prof. Hudson McLean
Re my article - “Did ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa turn Temple Trees into a Dog House?” Thank you Gentlemen for your opinions. However, whilst disagreeing with my statements, mario_perera Says: January 28th, 2015 at 8:01 pm "The truth is that every previous president would have done so if only his or her hands were not tied by international interferences. There were umpteen occasions when the war could have been ended, but India, mainly, stood in the way." I presume, that you agree,that, although previous Presidents had the power..... " I said...... Neither CBK nor Ranil Wickremasinghe could... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
ජනවාරි 27, 2015 පෝප්තුමාගේ අවවාදය හා 13 වන සංශොධනය "එක පවුලක් ලෙස ජීවත්‌වන්න යයි" පෝප්තුමා ලංකාවාසීන්ට අනුශාසනා කර ගියේය. ඉන්පසු දිනක ඉස්ලාම් ත්‍රස්තවාදීන් ප්‍රංශ කාටූන් පත්තර කන්තෝරුවට පහරදුන් සිද්ධිය ගැන එතුමා කියා සිටියේ "යමෙක් ඔබේ අම්මාට අපහාස කලොත් ඊට යම් ප්‍රතිචාරයක් ඔහු විසින් ඔබගෙන් (මූණට තදබල පාරක් හෝ වෙඩි උණ්ඩයක්) බලාපොරොත්තු වියයුතු බවය." මේ දෙකෙන් ලංකාවාසීන්ට දුන් අවවාදය කොළඹ කාඩිනල්තුමා විසින් පෝප්තුමාට ලියාදුන් කථාවේ තිබුණ දෙයක් විය යුතුය. දෙවන කියමන ක්‍ෂණයකින් ඉබේම එතුමාගේ හිතට ගලා ආ අදහසක් විය යුතුය. පුදුමයකට මෙන් එය "ඇහැට ඇහැක්" යන පරණ බයිබල් කථාවද සිහිකරවයි. කෙසේ වෙතත් මේ අවවාද දෙක ලංකාවේ 13 වන... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Prof. Hudson McLean
After an election, specially when the Party-in-Power gets booted-out, mud-raking is a global pastime. Every new incoming Leader and his followers first priority is to ram-in the negatives before any thing else. In the case of the ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, MR deserves a better "Goodbye" handshake, for saving Sri Lanka from blood-shed of 30 years. Neither CBK nor Ranil Wickremasinghe could do bugger-all to bring an end to LTTE Tamil Terrorism which, MR with the support of GR & General (?) Sarath Fonseka concluded in style. The Island is at Peace, but for how long? All... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
By Rohana R. Wasala
Courtesy The Island These days, the phrase ‘good governance’ reverberates across the media reporting on Sri Lanka. It refers to a vague concept that is being used by the West and their opportunistic allies as a very effective weapon against our country to keep it destabilized for their own purposes, while trying to alienate us from the relatively more sincere friends in the region that we have had for over a thousand years. (Human rights violation charges are another weapon. Even when there are some genuine reasons for raising issues such as poor governance and rights... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/01/15)
Presented before the parliament by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 30/01/15)
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared last week that his government would implement the 13th amendment to the country’s constitution. After nearly three decades, the amendment, which provided for the limited devolution of powers to the Tamil elite on a provincial level in the island’s north and east, has never been carried out fully.... -Full Story- (dbsjeyaraj.com - 30/01/15)
SRI Lanka’s new government has formally blocked a $400-million casino resort project in the country proposed by James Packer’s Crown Resorts, fulfilling an election pledge by new President Maithripala Sirisena. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Sri Lankan parliament yesterday that gazette notices that gave tax concessions to three casino projects, including Mr Packer’s integrated mixed-development project, had been amended. “We have decided to ban such approval for casinos,” Mr Wickremesinghe told parliament. “But they can conduct all other activities,” he said. Outside parliament a cabinet spokesman said all casino licences would be reviewed and gaming would be restricted to... -Full Story- (theaustralian.com.au - 30/01/15)
It was reported that a committee has been appointed by Navy Commander Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera to investigate the legitimacy of Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s ranks as a Navy Officer. Speaking to the media, Navy Media Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said that the committee was formed following the complaints lodged by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).... -Full Story- (lankanewsalert.com - 30/01/15)
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s sons Yoshitha and Rohitha are to be removed from the captaincy of the Rugby teams of the Navy and Army respectively, on the instructions of a highly placed official, informed sources said yesterday.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 30/01/15)
The new government, in its budget, slashed the prices of 13 essential items, domestic gas, kerosene oil while announcing a host of relief measures for the general public including a monthly pay hike of Rs. 5000 for public servants effective from next month and a Rs.1000 increase on pensions from April. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake made his budget speech outlining the proposals to be implemented during the 100-day programme of the new government.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 30/01/15)
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake presenting the interim budget 2015 today said that the option of dual citizenship would be available to all persons of Sri Lankan origin and granted after due evaluation. A payment of Rs. 500,000 will have to precede each individual request. Furthermore, provision will be made for foreigners seeking resident status in Sri Lanka who are in a position to invest US$ 10 million in the country. All such applications would be subject to the approval of Defence Ministry, and would need to be renewed every 5 years. The visa fee for such persons will be Rs.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 30/01/15)
Senior Advisor Jayantha Dhanapala briefed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on the policies of the newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena and the government. Foreign Ministry said that Mr. Dhanapala also met President of the Human Rights Council Joachim Rücker as well as all the members of the Human Rights Council.... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 30/01/15)
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, the opposition charged that the manner in which Shirani Bandaranayake was appointed as the Chief Justice and the removal of former Chief Justice Mohan Pieris, was wrong. Speaking in Parliament, MP Dinesh Gunawardena said that the Parliament is the only entity that can remove a Chief Justice from his position. And added that this is a sad incident that has taken place in the history of Parliament.... -Full Story- (newsfirst.lk - 30/01/15)
A new Mansion tax has been introduced by the Government, Ravi Karunanayaka said a short while ago. Mansion valued at over Rs.100 million or comprising over 5,000 square feet will be taxed Rs.1 million per house. All Sri Lankans who migrate to another country will be liable for a 20% exit tax, Karunanayaka added. He also added that a super gain tax of 25% will be applicable for organizations that record a profit of over Rs. 2000 million.... -Full Story- (adaderana.lk - 30/01/15)
Sri Lanka's new president has reinstated the former chief justice two years after she was sacked by his predecessor over corruption claims. However, her return is thought only temporary as reports say she is to retire now her name has been cleared.... -Full Story- (BBC - 29/01/15)
The political sources pointed out yesterday that the ruling coalition has reached consensus on the proposed constitutional amendment that will primarily seek to introduce a dual executive system of governance and on the re-instating of the independent commissions. Reportedly the proposed formula will be presented in Parliament early next month to be discussed with the main opposition. However in the event that these constitutional reforms are enacted, President Sirisena will remain as the Head of State, but with reduced powers. He will retain the defence portfolio and the power to appointment provincial governors and on several other subjects including that... -Full Story- (lankanewsalert.com - 29/01/15)
CJ 43 Shirani Bandaranayake’s reinstatement has a legal basis due to a serious loophole in the legal process adopted by the previous governor when impeaching Dr. Bandaranayake, senior lawyer Saliya Pieris explained. “Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake was removed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa without a request from Parliament. The motion passed in Parliament in Jan 2013 did not contain an address for removal which is a mandatory requirement as per the Constitution. The motion merely reproduced the earlier resolution seeking to appoint a select committee to inquire,” Pieris stated following the reinstatement of Dr. Bandaranayake.... -Full Story- (asianmirror.lk - 29/01/15)
The Defence Ministry today announced that former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka is entitled to his rank of Four Star General, medals, pension and other privileges which were stripped of in 2010, by two Army tribunals before he was cashiered and imprisoned. “Entitlement to wearing of all decorations of General (retd) G.S.C Fonseka, former Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army who left an indelible legacy of gallantry by directing the Army to wipe out LTTE terrorism from Sri Lanka, has been restored, following the full Presidential amnesty, granted by HE the President Maithripala Sirisena, in terms of the... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 29/01/15)
It was reported that Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a statement today charged that Numerous allegations have been levelled against me, my family and my government both before and after the recent presidential elections. The Full statement says. To the Venerable Maha Sangha, all Reverend Clergymen and the People of Sri Lanka Numerous allegations have been levelled against me, my family and my government both before and after the recent presidential election. If there are allegations of wrongdoing against anybody, there are established procedures that can be followed. What we see instead is a media blitz meant to vilify me... -Full Story- (lankanewsalert.com - 28/01/15)
From: Charles.S.Perera
Your Excellency, We convey our deepest sadness at our failure to have mustered enough votes to retain you as the President of Sri Lanka for another fruitful period of development. We miss you very much Your Excellency, we know that today we breath as a free people without fear or constrain because of the determination you had to eliminate terrorism despite great risk to yourself. We are therefore ever grateful to you for having unified Sri Lanka, part of which had been given to be kept under terrorist control under a CFA signed with the terrorists ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/15)
By Malin
Before appointing Arjun Mahendran as Governor of Central Bank, were you both aware of the his connection with Raj Rajratnam? Current CB Governor Arjun Mahendran is a childhood friend of Raj Rajaratnam as admitted by him. Here is evidence. http://archives.dailymirror.lk/2005/07/12/ft/15.asp Arjun Mahendran as a top banker (now CB Governor) while commenting about Sri Lanka Stock Exchange in the year 2005 has mentioned about his childhood friend Raj Rajratnam. Quote The basic problem with Sri Lanka is it's an illiquid market and it's far too small for a typical international portfolio,” said Arjuna... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/15)
By Chandrasiri Atukorale
We are sick of hearing corruption allegations now being made against the former President Mahinda Rajapaksha. There, we see nothing but mere mud-slinging. Corruption and vices sprang in this country with the open economy we got under J.R. Jayawardena regime. When Mr. J.R. Jayawardena made the present constitution his desire was this: the Auditor General must be committed not to the constitution but to the Government of the day. We must not take things in politics at it’s' face value. Every issue in politics should be studied in conjunction with some other issues in politics. Things... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/15)
ධර්මසිරි සෙනෙවිරත්න
දෙමල කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදී බෙදුම්වාදීන්ටත් ඉන්දියානු රාජ්‍ය ත්‍රස්තයන්ටත් තමන් විසින් ලංකාවට ගෙන ආ කුලී කාරයන්ට යන එන මන් සැපයීම ට අවශ්‍ය වූ ඉංග්‍රීසින් උන් තමන්ට බරක් නොවෙනසේ එහෙත් සිංහලයන්ට බරක් වෙනසේ පදිංචි කිරීමේකාර්යයට කල උප්පර වට්ටියක් වුත් 75% ක සිංහලයන්ට කිසිදා අවශ්‍ය නොවූත් ඔවුන්ගේ අදහස් වලට පට හානි වුත් 13 රටට අවශ්‍ය වන්නක් නොවේ මෙය බෙදුම් වාදයට රුකුල් දෙන්නක් මිස විසදුමක් ද නවේ වර්ධරාජා පෙරුමාල් එය ඔප්පු කර පෙන්නුවේය ජනපති බලතල මගින් එය ව්‍යර්ථ කළා මිස බෙදුම් වාදී න් පසු බස නැත. උතුරේ නැගෙනහිර මුස්ලිම් කාරයොත් එකතු වුනොත් එම පලාත්වල ජනමතයක් පමණක් පවත්වා දෙක එකතුකර ස්වාධීනත්වය ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/15)
Dr Hector Perera, England
My scientific energy saving cooking idea is not “spring chickens”, I experimented the technique for many years in order to improve the technique. When I came to England unlike in Sri Lanka, I had to sleep, study and cook in one room. That is because I couldn’t afford no more than a single room in a large house. One of my good friends bought a large house for his son and daughter while they were studying in England because he could afford but I couldn’t afford at the start. I am sure everybody understand that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/01/15)
Police Media Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana said that investigations revealed that “Wele Suda” had made payments to MP Duminda Silva. Police Media Spokesprson SSP Ajith Rohana addressing a media briefing this afternoon said that Court has ordered a probe into all accounts under the name of MP Duminda Silva at all financial institutions. SSP Rohana noted that this step was being taken to aid investigations into alleged ties between the MP and drug baron Wele Suda.... -Full Story- (newsfirst.lk - 28/01/15)
BY DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA
PRE-INDEPENDENCE DAY THOUGHTS 2015:THE FUTURE STATE OF THE NATION In the run-up to Independence Day 2015, we must thank God for Mr. Sumanthiran. He is indubitably a moderate and an intellectual. Let us give thanks also for the Sunday Observer, which is a state-run newspaper not given to running stories or distorting them in a manner inimical or embarrassing to the government of the day. Therefore, when Mr. Sumanthiran says something to the Sunday Observer, I take it seriously because I know I am on safe ground. Mr. Sumanthiran tells the newspaper that the TNA... -Full Story- (dbsjeyaraj.com - 28/01/15)
As the dust settles following an unexpected result in Sri Lanka’s recent presidential election, the focus has gradually shifted from discussions on what was behind the incumbent’s loss to what lies ahead with the new administration. President Maithripala Sirisena’s campaign focused mainly on domestic affairs, related to corruption and government reform, yet requires a firm pivot towards prioritizing external affairs as well.... -Full Story- (thediplomat.com - 28/01/15)
Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana said today a Court Order was obtained from the Colombo Magistrate’s Court to check all accounts held by Colombo District United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Duminda Silva at several banks and financial institutions. The Court Order was based on a statement made by narcotics kingpin ‘Wele Suda’ and included the checking of accounts held by two others as well. “The accounts belonging to Duminda Silva, Wele Suda and his wife held at 82 banks and financial institutions will be probed. During interrogations by the CID, Wele Suda revealed that he doled out money obtained from... -Full Story- (dailymirror.lk - 28/01/15)
