News Archive for Dec 2010

Open letter to Canadian Tamil Congress - Saying CTC a lobbying organization is unconstitutional
Vel Velauthapillai
Dear CTC board of directors, CTC officials, It is very sad to see that CTC board unconstitutionally prevents members from raising transparency related concerns to our member of parliament. The reason I wrote this open letter to highlight the issues to other members and community. There is a need for any Tamil organization that try to represent Tamil Canadians to correct their mistakes and provide answers to their members responsibly. Fortunately, there are couple of good Tamil Canadian organizations emerging, so the expectation will become high for good organization practices. In this open letter,I try to point... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/12/10)

The Rock Band KISS and the Death Instinct
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.
  I was never interested in being a rock star. I always wanted to be Boris Karloff. Gene Simons  The hard rock band Kiss was famous for their thought provoking music and extraordinary flamboyant stage outfits with face paint. The group had a dramatic affect on young people and KISS fans started to grow in tens of thousands since 1973. They have sold over 40 million records and became one of the popular rock bands in North America. Despite the group’s popularity, many religious and civil groups criticized the band for using satanic lyrics and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/12/10)

Karuna deplores ‘US embassy lies’
by Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island 
Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan aka Karuna  strongly denies former US Ambassador in Colombo Robert Blake’s claim that he fled Sri Lanka and secured refuge in Tamil Nadu in early 2004 with the help of the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga. "Ambassador Blake’s accusation is absurd," the National List MP told The Island. According to him, the US mission in Colombo, on the basis of unsubstantiated information received from those described as ‘trusted contacts’ in confidential US diplomatic cables had accused his former outfit (the TMVP) of illegal military operations directed at the LTTE. Blake... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/12/10)

Economic boom on the rise - Wall Street Journal
Sri Lanka News
Sri Lanka's post-war economic boom is only just beginning. The potential here goes well beyond a boost in tourism. Adjusted for inflation, economic growth could be close to eight percent this year, up from an average of five percent in the prior decade. Bond market strategists are now expecting Sri Lanka's credit rating to be revised upward next year, sates The Wall Street Journal in a year end analysis on Sri Lankan economy on December 30. The report states that Sri Lanka's location within East-to-West shipping lanes is promising, and large areas of farmland and coastline... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/12/10)

‘NfR allegations, wholly false’:Alleged circular non-existent - Govt Info Dept
Govt Info Dept
The allegations in the statement by Networking for Rights (NfR - Sri Lanka) on 28.12.2010 referring to the killing by unknown persons of the Deputy Director of Education, Valikamam zone of the Jaffna district, are wholly false, the Government Information Department said in a press release. The NfR statement alleges that the killing of the Deputy Director of Education Markandu Sivalingam was because he openly criticized a circular directing that the National Anthem of Sri Lanka be sung in Sinhala only at the National Safety Day ceremony held in the Jaffna district on December 26, 2010.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 31/12/10)

Bribery & Corruption HotLine - 2011
Prof. Hudson McLean
With the dawning of another New Year, patriotic Sri Lankans should recognize the brave, balanced leadership of HE President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his closest advisors. However, the same cannot be said of some of the parliamentarians and Cabinet portfolio holders. Its encouraging to see the Customs & Excise pulling in their weight and majority of the Police successfully collecting revenue through Fines. Bribery & Corruption is still rampant, and the People's Reprsentatives are following the doctine, "Charity Begins at Home", meaning their Homes. The word "Home" should represent the entire Island of Sri Lanka. Only one... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Sex, Hypes and Peccadilloes
Dr Bandula Kothalawala  London N7
Sweden’s zeal and determination to tighten the noose around Julian Assange’s neck show no sign of abating. Indeed, with Uncle Sam breathing down their own neck, the Swedish authorities are said to be burning midnight oil (It is quite handy to have oil-rich neighbours.) to mete out exemplary punishment to Julian Assange. Of course, no one disputes the Swedish authorities’ right to pursue Julian if he has committed any offence on Swedish soil. I am assuming that Sweden does not intend to claim universal jurisdiction in this particular specialism. The alleged offences, not having... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Minnesota Buddhists to hold memorial service To celebrate Venerable Wipulasara’s contributions
By Shelton A. Gunaratne
The Minnesota Buddhist Vihara in Minneapolis will hold a memorial service on New Year’s Day (Saturday, 1 Jan. 2011) to celebrate the contributions of the late Venerable Mapalagama Wipulasara Maha Thera to both the Buddhist community and to Sri Lanka. Venerable Witiyala Seewalie, abbot and president of the Minnesota Buddhist Vihara, said he is organizing this memorial service. Venerable Seewalie is a former principal of the Parama Dhamma Cetiya Pirivena in Ratmalana. Venerable Seewalie said, “Venerable Wipulasara Maha Thera served as an exemplary director for the pirivena monastic education. He was kind and open hearted.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Meditation and Buddhist Meditation
By Charles.S.Perera
 What is Meditation ?  It is defined as a mental culture, turning one’s attention inwards to the mind, or contemplation. Meditation is to cultivate mental calm or quiescence,  through concentration of the mind. A mind cleansed in preliminary concentration, could be further developed to attain dyāna. Dyāna is a deeper state of   concentration, which for Indian yogis is a union with the Creater -Maha Brahma.  The practice of meditation in ancient  India probably began after the end of the Vedic religious tradition.  The Vedic teachers brought with them samhitas the sacrificial liturgy which was primarily recitation of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Letter to Rahul Gandhi
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada
December 30, 2010 SENT BY AIR MAIL Mr. Rahul Gandhi    Member of Parliament for Amethi, Uttar Pradesh  Leader of the Indian  National  Congress  10, Dr. Bishambhar Dar Marg NewDelhi 110 001,  Delhi, India  Dear Rahul: A Happy New Year and hope it will be a good one for you capped with geo-political Wisdom and Maturity. You have surprised me with your statement that Sri Lankan Government is “not doing enough” for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and that you would ensure they get justice.    Wow!  That’s mighty talk... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

ප්‍රද්‍රම කථාවක්!
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
මේ සතිය තුලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන උපයෝගිතා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති ආචාර්ය ජයතිස්ස ද කොස්තා මහතා විසින් ප්‍රකාශිත පුදුම කථාවක් අප දුටුවෙමු. සම්පූර්ණ ප්‍රවෘත්තිය මෙසේය. විදුලි ඒකක 90 දක්වා වූ විදුලි ගාස්තු සහනය ඒකක 120 දක්වා ඉහළ නැංවීම තුළින් රජයට රුපියල් මිලියන 400 ක අලාභයක් විඳීමට සිදුවන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන උපයෝගිතා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති ආචාර්ය ජයතිස්ස ද කොස්තා මහතා පවසයි. නමුත් එම අලාභය දැරීමට රජය සූදානම් බව අද(29) රජයේ ප්‍රවෘත්ති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකට සහභාගි වෙමින් ඒ මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. ජනතාවට සහනයක් ලබාදීමේ අරමුණින් විදුලි ඒකක 90 දක්වා වූ විදුලි ගාස්තු සහනය ඒකක 120 දක්වා ඉහළ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Leveraging the Patriotic Diaspora to Secure Sustainable Peace in Sri Lanka
SPUR  (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc Reg: A003 0777 M P.O. Box 4066, Mulgrave VIC 3170, Australia
Evidence to Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission 27 December 2010  Dr Dasarath Jayasuriya, PhD., M.Eng, B.Sc (Eng), Grad.Dip.Bus.Mgt, M.I.Eng. Aust, CPEng President SPUR Australia Good afternoon honourable members of the commission, ladies and gentlemen, I thank the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) for giving me an opportunity to present my views as an active member of the Diaspora working to safeguard Sri Lanka’s unitary status, the territorial integrity and the sovereignty for over 30 years.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Karuna reiterates call for probe on Erik Solheim's financial transactions with the LTTE on behalf of the Norwegian government.
  By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island 
Solheim responds to allegations targeting Norway at LLRC In SL lies are used for political gains or to taint someone’s reputation’ Karuna reiterates call for probe on Tiger revenue sources December 29, 2010, 12:00 pm  Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan says Sri Lanka should investigate the role played by Norwegian Development and Environment Minister Erik Solheim in the peace process launched in 2002, particularly his alleged involvement in financial transactions with the LTTE on behalf of the Norwegian government. He was responding to a statement attributed to Minister Solheim in the Norwegian... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

කුමන්ත‍්‍රණවලින් ආණ්ඩුව පෙරළන්න බෑ - නිර්මලගෙන් රත්නසිරිට පිළිතුරක්
SriLankamirror.com වත්මන් රජය සැලසුම් සහගතව ඉදිරි දැක්මක් ඇතුව වැඩ කරන බවත්, ජනතාවට පවසා හදා ගැනීමට තරම් වැරදි මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ රජයෙන් නොකරන බවත් වරාය හා මහාමර්ග නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමති නිර්මල කොතලවල මහතා පවසයි.
තවද මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා කාගේවත් ලණු නොකන බවත්, කාටවත් ලණු දෙන්නෙත් නැති බවත් යහපාලනය හා යටිතල පහසුකම් ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ අමාත්‍ය රත්නසිරි වික‍්‍රමනායක මහතා කර තිබූ ප‍්‍රකාශයකට පිළිතුරු වශයෙන් නිර්මල මහතා මෙසේ නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කර පවසා ඇත. එම නිවේදනය මෙසේය. ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ ඇමති රත්නසිරි වික‍්‍රමනායක මැතිතුමා කළ ප‍්‍රකාශයක් තිබුණා, ආණ්ඩුව සැලසුමක් අනුව කටයුතු කළ යුතු බවත්, ජනතාව ඉදිරියට ගොස් වැරදි නිවැරදි කර ගැනීම සඳහා යම් ස්වයං විවේචනයක් කළ යුතු... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Sri Lanka Eliminates Terrorism and Restores Right To Life Of All Her Citizens
Mahinda Gunasekera  Toronto, Ontario Canada
The UN Advisory Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka UN Secretariat New York, NY  Dear Members of the Advisory Panel,  Sri Lanka Eliminates Terrorism and Restores Right To Life Of All Her Citizens  I am writing with particular reference to the submission made by the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) titled ‘Towards Global Justice: Accountability for War Crimes in Sri Lanka’ which has also been endorsed by four Canadian politicians who are dependant on the votes of the members of the Tamil Diaspora in their respective ridings. Looking at the signatory organizations and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—50 BORDER-CROSSING BRINGS MEMORIES OF BWCA CAMPING TRIP IN MID-‘60S
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2011 Professor of mass communications emeritus
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 Day 8 (Thursday, 18 Aug. 1988) We left the Pigeon River Provincial Park Thursday (18 Aug. 1988) morning, crossed over to U.S, territory, and entered Grand Portage (pop. 557). The Grand Portage State Park did not exist then. Opened in 1989, its focal point became the 120-ft. (37-meter) Pigeon Falls, known locally as High Falls. The mile of frontage along the Pigeon River offered views of the falls and river gorge from rustic outlooks. Ernest Hemingway nicknamed Grand Portage "the Big Wild.” The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 30/12/10)

Exploitation of Privileges Should be Taxed
Prof. Hudson McLean
65 MPs earn millions from sale of vehicle permits
The above statement made by a National newspaper highlights the violation of a Parliamentary privilege by exploitation, for personal profit. The MPs are turning privileges immediately for personal gain. The vehicle permits are given for a reason, mainly to serve the electorate of the MPs. If this facility is not required by the MP, then it should be returned to the Ministry. The profit made on the sale of the permit should be subjected to Income or Personal Gains tax at a rate of 90%. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/12/10)

Sri Lanka: Development decade in the offing in 2011
By Philip Fernando, Former Deputy Editor, Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
Positive postures and adjustments following post-war transition had brought on a more upbeat attitude in the country. Most analysts predict a development decade beginning in 2011. It is not a matter of number crunching the robust export earnings or the GDP but a deepened urgency that portends an effervescent mindset everyone is striving to bring about. It is much more than the ability to preserve but the need to critically visualise the future. The fluidity of the paradigm shift from war to peace has finally disappeared. President Mahinda Rajapaksa... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/12/10)

A Brief Inquiry Into The Continued, Widespread, Poverty Tragedy.
Dr. Mervyn D. De Silva, former, Director/Advisor, Ministry of Plan Implementation (former SLFP National List Member of Parliament),
In the final quarter of the first decade of the 21st Century, we witnessed unprecedented extravaganzas, at huge costs, of serial celebrations. First, by the political fraternity (for the President) and next by the religious fraternity (for a Cardinal). Ironically, side by side with these contradictions was the unprecedented spectacle of the sufferings heaped on the poor, now ravaged by thunderstorms, floods, landslides, and damaged homes, caused by  furious mother-nature, angered by man’s treatment of the planet’s ecosystem.  Many of the victims... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/12/10)

NGOs and Rama Mani
S. Akurugoda
A writer, who happened to be a member  ( since 1953 to 1998) of our highly unsuccessful diplomatic missions to counter the propaganda machinery of the LTTE, has echoed his sympathy for notable NGO activists in an article under the title ‘NGOs and Rama Mani’ appeared one of the local daily news paper last week. The writer begins his own fulmination saying “Fulminations have been going on against the NGOs for many long years, but as far as I can make out hardly anything really serious has been established against them, except in a few instances.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/12/10)

One National Anthem only
S.Senanayake
 Some wrongs were done and mistakes overlooked in the name of national harmony though the results have gone completely awry sadly.One stand out example is the CFA which was forced down on the majority citing national unity.    Consenting to a Tamil version of the national anthem is another such detrimental step by inept politicians at the time.   As much as Sri Lankans stand united proudly under one national flag,they should unite in one single anthem.   Examples of New Zealand or South Africa are totally a different kettle of fish with colonial invasion and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 29/12/10)

Rahul Gandhi from Indra Gandhi Clan, calls for Justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka while Dalits are being burnt alive in India.
By Charles.S.Perera
 Rahul Gandhi the Congress Leader  tries out his  ancestral inheritance of interfering into political affairs of Sri Lanka, apparently imbibed into his gene system, even  before  reaching  political maturity.   In his   delayed rebellious adolescence  he  tries out a dangerous manly statement which may have dangerous consequences saying "….We are concerned that enough is not being done for Sri Lankan Tamils by the government there," adding that  he would take up the matter with "appropriate persons" at the Centre and see that Sri Lankan Tamils got justice.”  His pompous declaration shows that he is  no where near   political... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/12/10)

කාන්තාර කුණාටුව‍
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් M ජයතුංග
 වැලි කුණාටුව නිසා කුඩා ගම්මානය දිස්වුයේ    බොදවී ගිය චිත්රයක් විලසිනි . සොල්දාදුවන් දුටු කාන්තාවන් හනිකට ගෙවල් වලට වැදුනහ. වැලි පාරේ දකිනට සිටියේ  කුඩා ළමුන් සහ   මහල්ලන් අතලොස්සකි. සුපරික්ෂාකාරී ලෙස පැමිණි සොල්දාදුවන්  ඔවුන්  පැමිණි වාහන ගම්මානය අද්දර   නවතා පා ගමනින් ගම්මානයට කඩා  වැදුනේ දඩ   බල්ලන් ගොදුරු සොයන අන්දමටය. සොල්දාදුවන් පැමිණි BMP-1 වර්ගයේ යුද ටැංකි දෙක දුටු ළමුන් එය බැලීම සඳහා ටැංකිය අසලටම ගිය මුත් ඉදිරියේ   සිටි  හැඩිදැඩි  කළු සොල්දාදුවා දැක නැවතුනහ. HMMWE රථ පමණක්  වැලි පාර   ඔස්සේ    නිවස පේලිය අසලටම පැමිණියේය. ඉදිරි   වාහනයේ සිටි   සෙබලා නොනවත්වාම වෙඩි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/12/10)

DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE SINHALA BUDDHIST-
J Jayasunder
 Independence from colonialism should have been the start of a new era of liberation and progress of the Sinhala Buddhist nation. Unfortunately after 60 years of Independence the disenfranchisement of the Sinhala nation which started with British Colonialism in 1815 continues. The propaganda of Sinhala Chauvinism, Mahavansa mindset and more recently alleged human rights abuses and the riots of 1983 have subdued the aspirations and a pride of a nation that is second to none. The pauperisation and destruction of the Sinhala Buddhist society which characterised British Colonialism has now evolved into a refined form. The... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/12/10)

IS IT CHRISTMAS OR ‘KISS MUS’ !
IN FOCUS BY  Dr. Tilak S. Fernando
Christmas comes but once a year, and how we mortals avow year on year never to get caught up in the commercial hype that prevails during this festive season? As December dawns atmosphere in every town changes while endless shopping by people of all faiths, Christian, Buddhist or  Muslim,  who automatically get caught up with the spontaneity for the big day  throttling  the arteries and nerve centers of the road traffic. Christmas by and large is a feast of the Nativity of Christ. Although the actual date of birth of Christ is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/12/10)

අපේ දුර්වල පාලනය නිසා කොටියා අංක එකට ආවා - මහාචාර්ය රොහාන් ගුණරත්න
සටහන - චන්දන ජයවීර -දිනමිණ
  එක්සත් රාජධානියේ ශාන්ත ඇන්ඩෲ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට අනුබද්ධ ත්‍රස්තවාදී පර්යේෂණ හා දේශපාලන ප්‍රචණ්ඩත්වය පිළිබඳ අධ්‍යයන ආයතනයේ ප්‍රධානියා වන මහාචාර්ය රොහාන් ගුණරත්න සිංගප්පූරුවේ නැං යෑං තාක්ෂණ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ ආරක්‍ෂක අධ්‍යයන අංශයේ මහාචාර්යවරයෙක්ද වෙයි. ත්‍රස්තවාදයට එරෙහි ක්‍රමෝපාය පිළිබඳ ඊශ්‍රයලයේ අන්තර්ජාතික ආයතනය ඇතුළු ආයතන ගණනාවක ද සාමාජිකයකු වන මහාචාර්ය ගුණරත්නයන් ලංකාවේ පශ්චාත් යුද සමය පිළිබඳ කරන අදහස් දැක්වීමකි මේ.   බලපෑම් කණ්ඩායම් තම අරමුණු සඳහා පොළඹවා ගැනීමට ප්‍රචාරණය භාවිත කරයි. ත්‍රස්තවාදී කණ්ඩායම් තම දේශපාලන අරමුණු හා පරමාර්ථ ළඟාකර ගැනීම සඳහා භාවිත කරන්නේ ත්‍රස්ත ක්‍රියා ය. ඒ සඳහා ඔවුන් සිවිල් වැසියන් ඝාතනය කිරීමටද පෙළැඹේ. මේ තත්ත්වය අපට ශ්‍රී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/12/10)

THANK YOU MR. JINNAH
ALI SUKHANVER
 December 25 of every year reminds me of a marvelous philosophical saying; Life is like a tennis match. If you want to win, you must serve well, return well and play coolly. Always remember that the game begins with Love all; this saying freshens my mind with the memories of all those who conquered this world with the sword of love and affection, particularly of the Holy Christ and Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah., no doubt two immortal personalities; one who brought the heavenly message of benevolence and kindheartedness for the whole humanity and the other who gave... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 28/12/10)

India offers training slots for Sri Lankan military personnel
R. K. Radhakrishnan
Despite Indian defence personnel training academies being almost fully subscribed, India will offer additional training placements for the Sri Lankan security service personnel. This was part of the peacetime engagement process that India and Sri Lanka agreed upon on Tuesday. Both the sides also decided on a series of measures to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries.... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 28/12/10)

Probe India's refusal to help in anti-LTTE operations: Swamy
Special Correspondent
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday demanded that the Union government set up a Commission of Inquiry into India's role in the 2008-09 anti-LTTE terrorist operations in Sri Lanka and its national security implications. The UPA government's refusal to provide heavy artillery and air force support for the Sri Lanka operation against the LTTE had enabled Pakistan to set up a base in the island by providing the requested military assistance, he alleged. Dr. Swamy said that his party would work for the defeat of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the coming Assembly elections. He told a... -Full Story- (thehindu.com - 28/12/10)

Liam Fox should not let unthinking fashionistas decide British foreign policy. Sri Lanka needs rebuilding
Praveen Swami
In February 1945, British and American aircraft dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on Dresden. “People were caught in fires as hot as 1000° C”, Britain’s National Archives record. “The city was devastated.” Investigations conducted by Dresden authorities concluded that between 22,700 and 25,000 people were killed. Five thousand miles and six decades separate the conflict in Sri Lanka from Second World War Germany – but the same ethical issues have surfaced in an increasingly charged debate over the small, South Asian island nation’s human rights records.... -Full Story- (blogs.telegraph.co.uk - 28/12/10)

Dissociative Disorders Following Traumatic Combat Exposure among the Sri Lankan Combatants
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.
Combat soldiers who were exposed to distressing battle events can go in to dissociative reactions. Dissociation can be interpreted as a protective or defensive reaction in extreme stress. Repression of war experience may be a temporary reaction. Among the dissociative features psychogenic seizures, psychogenic tremors, aphonias and fugue states are frequent. Some of these reactions evident soon after the traumatic battle events and some manifest as delayed reactions. The combat stresses led soldiers go in to an unprecedented numbers suffering from dissociative disorders.The Nature of Dissociative Disorders in Combat The dissociative disorders... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/12/10)

Was Jesus born on December 25?
Shripal Nishshanka Fernando
Was Jesus born on Christmas day? We celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas, but no one really knows what day Jesus was born, or even exactly what year. In 336 A.D., the Western Church, based in Rome, chose December 25 to celebrate as Christmas, meaning "Christ's Mass." The Eastern Church chose January 6. The day was named Epiphany, meaning "appearance." Eventually the period from December 25 to January 6 became known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.  There is no evidence to prove that Jesus was born on December 25th for this date. So then, who decided that Jesus' birth would be celebrated... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/12/10)

Half the Words of the National Anthem in Sinhala are Tamil, Making It Suitable for All
Dilrook Kannangara
The national anthem debate still continues after over 60 years of Independence may be because the completion of Sri Lanka’s independence in 2009 with the victory over the armed separatist movement. Although keeping the Tamil version of the national anthem seems the good and sympathetic thing to do, further research into the matter proves it is not the right thing to do. Often the good thing is not the right thing. When the national flag was debated in the 1940s, top Tamil politicians including Ponnabalam, Sundaralingam, Chelvanayakam, etc. vehemently opposed it. They found many things in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/12/10)

Statement on Sri Lanka Seeking "Justice for Tamils"
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Mr. Rahul Gandhi Congress Party, New Delhi, India.  Dear Sir:  It is with deep regret that I read your recent statement seeking "justice" for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and stating that you would take up the matter with "appropriate persons at the Centre" by which I assume you are going to take it up with the Government of India. In this regard, I would like to state some relevant facts for your consideration which I hope you will keep in mind when taking the matter up with the centre.  1. The Tamils of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 27/12/10)

Are These Political Perks Real Or Surreal And Why Is The Administration Tolerating Them If Provably True.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Dec.26th 2010 For The Times Newspaper to publish the item highlighted below, it has to be provably true at the risk of dire consequences if not and has to be assumed accurate for face value and the credibilities of the publisher! Some weeks ago when the topic of car permits for MP's and its ludicrous perspective was questioned by Insight it was pooh poohed and ridiculed by a few lackeys and yobbo minded critics and here we are today getting a whiff of further ado over this ridiculous issue which needs to be taken to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/12/10)

Ahmadiyya International Convention began in Qadian, India.
By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jma’at, Sri Lanka.
119th Annual Convention (Jalsa Salana) of Qadian (Punjab, India) began yesterday (26th December, 2010).  Thousands of Ahmadi Muslims from all over the world including Sri Lanka are attending this three day convention in which Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will address the convention on the last day of the Convention (on 28th December) from London via MTA (Muslim TV Ahmadiyya International) at 3.00 P.M. (Sri Lankan Time) Apart from the soul-inspiring and though provoking discourses of Ahmadiyya Supreme Head (Ameer-ul-Mumineen), there... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 26/12/10)

Submission by the National Council of Canadian Tamils
Asoka Weerasinghe   Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario .  Canada
December 24, 2010 The UN  Advisory Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka  New York, US cc. Hon. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada      Paul Dewar, MP for Ottawa, Ontario, Ottawa Centre (NDP)   Patrick Brown, MP for Barrie, Ontario (Conservative) Glen Murray, MPP, Toronto Centre, Ontario Dear UN  Advisory Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka: I have read with impassioned interest the National Council of Canadian Tamils  (NCCT) submission –Towards Global Justice: Accountability for War Crimes in Sri Lanka, which the four of the above Canadian... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/12/10)

Hajj 2010
M. Azath S. Salley (Former Deputy Mayor Colombo) President, Azath Salley Foundation
We the members of the Committee appointed by His Excellency the President to oversee the activities involving the performance of Hajj for the year 2010, regret very much the efforts made by a few individuals who are bent on gaining political mileage over this issue by hurling insinuations at the committee without a proper understanding of the rigors involved in the performance of the holy pilgrimage. The manner in which these insinuations are worded, it is clear that they are made with a lot of malice. Drawing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/12/10)

Misuse of Zakat collected through mosques
by Abu Asma
Zakat is not a mere ritual, but an　indispensable　competent　of Islam　which　Abubakr (Ral) fought against who rejected it and has been a responsibility of the Islamic State to collect from the right people and distribute it to the right people. In Sri Lanka this is now taken up by some mosques Alhamdulillah. However there seems ample cases of　corruption, favoritism, misuse of funds collected in the mosques in the name of Islam. The main reason is even the people who give Zakat seldom question 　the mosque　authorities　/ trustees of how their Zakat was used and what impact it has made in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/12/10)

GOTA ! GET IT DONE AS YOU HAVE DONE BEFORE !
Ranjit Wickremeratne
"GOTABAYA"  now famous name in the political scene inside the country and abroad. The Son of Lanka who bravely fought the battle of terrorism in our beloved homeland. A straight forward and fearless soldier whom we can be proud of as our Defence Secretary in His Excellency Mahinda Rajapksa's Government. Yes you were the architect who brought down Velupillai Prabakaran to his knees and lastly to hell. We owe you our lives for bringing Peace to the country after thirty long years and spending billions of rupees by every Government who was in power. After ending the war we thought that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 25/12/10)

Seasonal Greetings - Peace & Goodwill!
Prof. Hudson McLean
Seasonal Greetings - Peace & Goodwill Happy Holidays A Merry Christmas & A Bountiful Glorious 2011! To All Sri Lankan Partiots, HE President & Family May You Be Blessed with Good Fortune, Health & Happiness. Express Your Opinion - Read What Others Say! The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet. Please visit -: http://www.lankaweb.com/... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/12/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 24 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 බෝල සමරේ-71 කැරැල්ලේ අමතක කළ නොහැකි චරිතයක් ලෙස බෝල සමරේ චරිතය සනිටුහන්වී තිබේ. ඔහුගෙ නියම නම ජේ සමරතුංග වුවද ඔහුව දන්නේ බෝල සමරේ නමිනි. මට ඔහුව හමු වුයේ නාරම්මල ඔහුගේ නිවසේදීය. දක්ෂ ගොවියෙකු වන සමරතුංග මහතාගේ වත්ත පුරා කෘෂි බෝග දැකිය හැකිය. මා ඔහුගෙන් ඇසූ මුල්ම ප‍්‍රශ්නය වූයේ ඔබට බෝල සමරේ කියන්නේ මන්ද? යන්නයි. එවිට ඔහු කීවේ මෙයයි.  ‘මට බෝල සමරේ කිව්වේ ඒ කාලේ මම මහත නිසයි. දැන් මගේ ශරීරය කෙට්ටු වෙලා. මම පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ උපාධිධාරියෙක්. මම සිංහල, ආර්ථික විදයාව, ඉතිහාසය යන විෂයයන් හැදෑරුවා. මම මුලින්ම දේශපාලනය කළේ ෂන්මුගදාසන් එක්ක එක පිලේ. මම විශ්ව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/12/10)

Ever Increasing Prices: Who Is To Blame
Herold Leelawardena
None can deny that commodity prices have gone up tremendously in this country. But this is a global phenomenon than a Sri Lankan ailment. We’ve heard onion prices have increased fourfold in India. And the cost of food items in the UK has gone up as never before. We need not mention extraordinary rise in the cost of living in the near bankrupt nations like Ireland and Greece Portugal.  Some try to blame the traders for price increases. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am no trader. In fact, I hate unscrupulous traders as much as all... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 24/12/10)

RAHUL GANDHI SHALL MIND HIS OWN BUSINESS IN INDIA AND LEAVE SRI LANKA ALONE
Shripal Nishshanka Fernando
Congress leader in India Rahul Gandhi today has voiced his concern over Sri Lanka government “not doing enough” for the Tamils there and said he would ensure that they would get justice. Rahul should first learn the Indian history properly. He should be able to access the reports of TamilNadu political plots which took place in early nineteen twenties in India to gain independency from India, subsequently the Indian government under British rule imposing country wide ban of any kind secession in India thereafter. Following this ban the independency plot was temporarily exported to neighboring country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

Mr. Rahul Gandhi: Isn't it enough what your grandmother did, nurturing the LTTE?
Henry Jayaweera  
The Editor.   So the third generation of the great Gandhi generation has made his proclamation. There's none so dumb as those who will not learn.   This is for Mr. Rahul Gandhi: Isn't it enough what your grandmother did, nurturing the LTTE, and then your father, who paid the ultimate price for trusting that murderous group?   We Sri Lankans have had enough of the Gandhian morality, and would like to be left alone to solve our internal problems.   Obviously, yours is a political stunt to get the support of the Tamil people in India, but even they... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

Do Gandhi Dynasty Ever Learn?
Prof. Hudson McLean
Playing the Tamil card is political! Now Rahul Gandhi enters the political arena with a "bomb-shell". This is a point of no-return. Having seen father Rajiv slain by the Tamil Tiger terrorists largely nurtured by the grand mother Indira Gandhi, Rahul's statement is "explosive" to say the least. Short and Sweet, my advice to Rahul is-; either let the Sri Lankan government, which represent the citizens, who suffered thirty years of blood shed caused by the Tamil Terrorists, handle the rehabilitation and settlement in its own way, or if Rahul considers the progress is not to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

Glaring errors and misconceptions
John MacKinnon
To: François Boo at GlobalSecurity.org 300 N. Washington St. Suite B-100 Alexandria, VA 22314 Your listing Military - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at contains glaring errors and misconceptions. Just a few we noted:Tamil people of the island of Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka) constitute a distinct nation External Aid - LTTE's overt organizations supported Tamil separatism by lobbying foreign governments   – totally wrong, they are a minority group, grabbed power by serving the British and discriminated against the majority. You forgot to say that Tamil Eelam was to be achieved by Tamils using... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—49 GO PAST ‘DEVIL’S GAP’ AND GREET ‘HUSKY MUSKIE,’ ‘MAX MOOSE’ AND ‘SLEEPING GIANT’ ON THE WAY
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 I did not err when I said (in the last installment) that we visited the eastern shore of Lake of the Woods Provincial Park in 1988. But the offshore area in the vicinity of Morson that we had the honor to visit currently answers to the name Assabaska Ojibway Heritage Park—a fact that even the ubiquitous Wikipedia has failed to pick up.  Ontario Parks—a branch of the Natural Resource Management Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources—clarifies that the re-named park, “formerly part... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

SAVE THY CHILDREN MR.PRESIDENT!
Ranjit Wickremeratne 
Dear Mr.President same way you rescued our Motherland from ruthless terrorism please help to save our children from evil human beings and bad habbits. You and your Government is doing so much to uplift the standard of our young generation and your Education Minister was helping you and the country on this noble mission and we are very greatful to you and to your Government. Children are the most valuable asset any parent can have. Every parent's wish is that their children to have a good Education, being smart and good in their behaviour and to be in a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

Sinhabahu the Paradigmatic myth of the Sri Lankan Oedipus
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
 The mythological Story of Sinhabahu describes the origin of Sinhala nation. According to the mythology, the Princess Suppadevi of Vanga Kingdom was kidnapped by a ferocious lion and took her to the wilderness. While living with the lion she became pregnant and had twins. The newly born son was named Sinhabahu and daughter was named Sinha Seevali. The lion kept them in a cave and used to cover the entrance with a mighty rock.   When Sinhabahu was sixteen years of age, he removed the megalith and escaped with his mother and the sister. They... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

What’s up with coconut?
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwela.
Why this unholy   preoccupation with coconut is something I cannot understand. It is not as if we cannot live without coconut. When we are abroad we jolly well manage to cook all sorts of tasty dishes without coconut. May be healthier too. We are going on and on as if it is the staple food. The government going onto import this nut is simply nutty. Not only we will be hitting the poor coconut cultivators in the stomach but will help some crooks to get  huge commissions too. And the poor  citizen... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

Why is it snowing at our TV station?
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai  Dehiwela.
It is amusing, nay irritating  to see a TV station has taken to show continuous snowing when the news is read. Hello, This is Srilanka, remember? It does not snow here. We are blessed with gorgeous sunshine and rainbows  right throughout the year. We have lovely showers, plentiful vegetation from January to and including December, birds signing, people on the roads laughing and merry making. We are blessed with the best of the weather in the whole world. Being a small island we have the monsoons bringing  rain  right throughout the year ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 23/12/10)

Amazing metamorphosis of the greeting card
By Philip Fernando, former Deputy Editor, Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
 The greeting card conveyed a heart-felt personal note, charming and creatively wrapped. Internet has turned it into to a high tech spectacle honing on a captivating message meant to dazzle. In an information age, what’s more informational than saying “I want you to know that I remembered you!” But email messages convey much more. The flood of seasonal greetings, birthday cards, memoranda conveying condolences, get well soon - we miss you, have a great vacation and so on had exploded with a "brilliance."  It is a valiant effort to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/12/10)

පංති තහනම
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
පංති තහනම වහා ඉවත් කරව්! පංති තහනම වහාම ඉවත් කරව්! පුදුම කාලගෝට්ටියක්! කාගෙද මේ පංති තහනම් කරල තියෙන්නේ? අනේ මන්ද? ඉස්කෝලේ යන ලමයි කට්ටියක් නම් නෙමෙයි වගේ! අනුමානයක් නැහැ මේ එන්නේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාල වල ශිෂ්‍ය යෝ වෙන්න ඇති. ආ! විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවලත් පංති තියෙනවාද? ඔව් ඔව් ලංකාවේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවල නම් පංති තියෙනවා. ඇත්තද? එතකොට ඔය විශ්ව විද්‍යාල වල ඉන්න කී වෙනි පංතියේ ලමයින්ගේද පංති තහනම් කරල තියෙන්නේ? විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවල ෆේල් වෙවී ඉන්න හෝඩියේ පංතියේ ලමයින්ගේ වෙන්න ඇති. එතකොට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවල මණ්ඩප, පීඨ වගේ දේවල් නැද්ද? තියෙනවා ඕනෑ තරම් තියෙනවා. ඒවාට ඕනෑ තරම් ශිෂ්‍ය ශිෂ්‍ය වෝත්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/12/10)

We should not accept UNSG Ban Ki Moon's Panel in Sri Lanka.
By Charles.S.Perera
 The appointment of the UN Panel to investigate in to the violation of human rights in Sri Lanka was a unilateral decision taken by Ban Ki Moon the Secretary General of UN.  It was taken  despite a protest by the Government of Sri Lanka a Member State of the UNO.  Ban Ki Moon has failed to show  that he has acted in the interest of the Member State and that his decision was objective, as he has not appointed a similar panel to investigate into the continued violation of human rights by the US Armed Forces in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/12/10)

UNP's Call For UN Panel To Consult Retd. Gen. Fonseka A Move Which Could Land Both the UNP and Fonseka in Hot Water!
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Dec.22nd 2010 Indeed the Main Opposition United National party (UNP) would like very much that a visiting United Nations Experts Panel should be allowed to meet former Army Commander retd. Gen. Sarath Fonseka as he has "expressed willingness to face any international probe without harming the country or the security forces" which sounds like a joke  knowing fully well what the real outcome of this would be. Especially in the face of all the threats Fonseka has made against the Government in his futile attempts to discredit it through irresponsible verbosity and more! What... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/12/10)

WikiLeaks and Sri Lanka’s PR.
Padraig Colman December 22, 2010 - 2:22am
The release by WikiLeaks of a batch of ‘diplomatic’ cables encouraged a lot of Sri Lankans to say: “I told you so”. Those relating to former UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, have caused particular smugness. When he visited Sri Lanka towards the end of the war against the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, scolded him and reminded him that Sri Lanka was no longer a British colony. The cables reveal that Miliband exerted influence to turn down Sri Lanka’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games.... -Full Story- (agonist.org - 22/12/10)

Regime change-sorry, Sri Lanka is not Iraq!
Wikileak revelations did not surprise me as much as what I read in the front page of your newspaper (20 Dec.). The news item related to some opposition goons trying to canvass support through their masters for a regime change, by conspiring at the headquarters of democracy – the House of Commons. From this we note that already frustration has started to set in among the opposition members, who are unable to see light at the end of the tunnel or for that matter there is no end to this dark tunnel they are in. So, they look for a... -Full Story- (The Island - 22/12/10)

GL meets Butenis over ‘war crimes’ allegations. - Condemns C’bo mission for misleading Washington
Courtesy The Island  December 21, 2010,
External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris on Tuesday (Dec. 21) raised concerns with US Ambassador Patricia Butenis about the references to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the President’s brothers and former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka in the leaked confidential US diplomatic cables. Both Butenis and her predecessor Robert Blake had levelled a series of allegations against Sri Lanka’s political and military leaders, with Butenis going to the extent of accusing President Rajapaksa, his brothers, Gotabhaya and Basil and General Fonseka of ‘war crimes.’ "The purported cables do contain glaring... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 22/12/10)

Ranil’s dictatorship falls at Siri Kotha
H. L. D.Mahindapala
 The moment Sajith Premadasa stepped on the stage of the UNP convention at Siri Kotha last week Dayasiri Jayasekera, one of leading reformists, started timing. The cheering lasted fifteen minutes exactly. That was the sound of the new wave sweeping the UNP.  Later when Ravi Karunanayake, one of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leading sympathizers, began speaking there was hooting. That was the sound of the old guard, led by Wickremesinghe, fading away.  The convention ratified that future leaders of the party should be elected. This is a deadly blow to Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ambition of remaining as leader as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/12/10)

Reduce Sri Lanka, recycle myths and reap the whirlwind
Ranjith Soysa
Robert Blake, an interfering ugly American  wants Sri Lanka to reduce the emergency regulations and the High security zones while being a  diplomat of the USA which has almost destroyed the Iraq nation state in searching for WMDs .The USA 's responses to 9/11 killings are well documented including the atrocities committed to the suspects held  in Guantanamo and in the Iraqi prisons. His paternal advise comes in the wake of activities of the Tamil Eelamists in the USA who are said to be  protected by the US democratic rights- so says US Ambassador in Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/12/10)

Wikileaks: Bane or Boon? - A Deluge of Treachery - Revealed
By Eymard de Silva Wijeyeratne- Courtesy The Island  22-12-2010
As much as we are determined to learn lessons through a sincere effort to recall a grim and bloodied past and make amends, Wikileaks has only provided evidence that has been a part of our experience over many decades. Wikileaks has merely confirmed what we had known about how foreign powers have converted naked colonial occupation and exploitation into a more insidious form of intervention that one could call do-gooder machinations. It has now reached a point where foreign elements working under cover of slogans such as ‘international community’, ‘co-chairs’... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/12/10)

Sri Lanka warns US over leaked cables
Colombo, Dec 21, (PTI):
Sri Lanka today warned the US to exercise ''greater circumspection'' in its diplomatic cables about the situation in the the country after a WikiLeak release claimed Colombo colluded with anti-LTTE para military groups which engaged in war-crimes. External Affairs Minister G L Peiris told US Ambassador to the country, Patricia Butenis that Colombo did not condone publishing the cables on WikiLeaks, but felt that the contents of the documents were designed to discredit Sri Lanka. "The Minister expressed the view that at least where future instances may be concerned, greater circumspection would be appropriate," the ministry... -Full Story- (Deccan Herald - 21/12/10)

A question to Dr. Nishan Wijesinha Chairman – Training and Restoration House of Jesse Mirihana
Leela
We all know that all brands of Gentlemen from the so-called International community had been advising our successive Governments on how to achieve ‘peace’ with LTTE. However, not very many of us know; it is a manipulative arm of the Christian ecumenical church. For one thing, if Christian past is a paradigm to go by, we can certainly visualize all their motives.  The state religion of these western countries is Christianity. Queen is the head of the Christian Church in England. All hierarchy in the realm of Norway has to be Lutheran Christians by their constitution. Naturally, culture... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/12/10)

සොල්දාදුවාගේ ගිතය
Daya Nikahetiya
නොඑන ගමන් යන මා ගත දැවී නොහඩන් මලනුවනේ අපරාඡුත ලෙස රණ බිම වැද හෙව මියදිමත් සැපතකිය මහා මරණ මංචකේ වැතිරී අමිමා කී දේ මතකද නුඹට මලේ උපන් භූමියට බරක් නොවී ඉද අබරණයක් වී මැරෙන් පුතේ බභ තෝරන සන්දියෙ ඉදලම අපි ඇසුවෙ රණවිරුවන්ගෙ කතා සුරංගනා ලෝකයෙන් මිදෙන්නට ඇස් පාදා දුන්නේ අමිමා පළමුව මවිබිම නුඹ ඉපදුන රට ඡාතිය ආගම ගැන සිතලා බුදු ගුණ සිභිකර තබපන් පියවර ඡුය පිට ඡුය එයි නුඹ සොයලා මගේ අතින් ගිලිහියන අසිපත නුඹෙි සුරත රැදෙනා වෙලේ යගදාවක් වී සියොළග වෙවුලා නීලමහා බල ඇති වෙවා මරණය අබියස හිමාලයක් වි බුද්ධ මන්ත‍්‍රයෙන්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 21/12/10)

ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් ගෝටාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා වෙත විවෘත ලිපියක්
මේජර්  DH
ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම්  ගෝටාභය  රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා වෙත   ගෞරවයෙන්  ලියමි   ගරු    ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම්තුමනි , මෙම ලිපිය ලියන මම ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදාවේ  වෛද්‍ය බලකායේ මේජර් වරයෙකු ලෙස සේවය කලෙමි.  එදා ඔබ සමග වඩමාරච්චි ක්‍රියාන්විතයට සහභාගී වූ    විශිෂ්ට නිලධාරීන්ගේ ආභාෂය  ලැබූ මම ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුධ හමුදාවට මගේ උපරිම සේවය ලබා දුන්නෙමි. හරි දේ හරි ලෙසටත් වැරදි දේ වැරදි ලෙසටත් දකින්නට හුරු  පුරුදුව සිටින මම පක්ෂ භේදයකින් තොරව හිතට එකගව කරුණු පවසමි.   ලෝකයේ දරුණුම  ත්‍රස්තවාදී    සංවිධානය වූ එල්ටීටීඊ  සංවිධානය සහමුලින්ම පරාජය කිරීමට ඔබතුමා  දුන් එඩිතර නායකත්වය   අති  විශිෂ්ට බව පක්ෂ චින්තනයෙන්  මිදී  රටට ආදරය කරන සැම දෙනාම... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/12/10)

Why it is necessary to have one National Anthem sung in one language ?
By Charles.S.Perera
 The necessity to sing our National Anthem in Sinhala is being debated now. It appears to be an appropriate time to discuss the importance of a National Anthem and in which language it should be sung. There are comparisons of the language of the National anthems sung in different countries.  It is time that we in Sri Lanka should in certain matters take our own decisions evaluating our own situation, cultural values , our national construct etc. without having to do some thing because some others are doing it, or some others are not doing it.  It... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/12/10)

Asia’s Wonder or Blunder ?An open letter to His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksha
MAHINDA KARUNARATNE
Ground truth-Express Your Opinion - Read What Others Say!
 The massive corruption, lethargy and negligence from Govt. folks of all starting from high holders, Ministers, Officials to the other lower levels are at unexplainable levels and the general public is tormented in all levels and activities, raises whether the your  Wonder can be made a reality.  None of the state officials are honest, thus they need the Pound of Flesh to do any works although they are being paid from public money, so do the Ministers, keep enjoying their luxury and benefits at the cost... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/12/10)

Inadequacy in U.S. Miiission in Colombo
Ira de Silva London, Canada 
Ms. P. Butenis U.S.  Ambassador Colombo, Sri Lanka   I am forwarding an article that spells out the inadequacy and flawed information on which reports are based and forwarded to the State Department from the mission in Colombo which results in the biased, inaccurate statements which are made about Sri Lanka by the State Department. While your cables sent to Washington are now public, it seems that your attitude, assessments and reporting are based on prejudice, misinformation and supportive of pro-LTTE claims and demands - the LTTE using you to get what they failed to get... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/12/10)

Name is mud
Dr. Tilak Fernando
The Diplomatic Service is generally considered as a prestigious profession where the State supports diplomats’ privileges and self-esteem with the whole idea of supporting its own international status. Sri Lanka High Commission in the UK was established at 13 Hyde Park Gardens, West London in a plush neighbourhood. Professionals in the calibre of Dr Gamini Corea, Dr Jayantha Dhanapala, Shirley Amarasinghe, Sir Lalitha Rajapaksa, Dr Neville Kankaratne, among many others, have made Sri Lanka proud from this esteemed office in the past. During that era, activities and the management of the High Commission were quite professional... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 20/12/10)

Haven't the British-the Nation of Shopkeepers,
Henry Jayaweera.
The Editor.   I was speaking to  colleagues about the Liam Fox trip to Sri Lanka fiasco, and I told them "So what else is new?"   Haven't the British-the Nation of Shopkeepers, in the words of one of their own- always acted like small-time shopkkeepers?  For centuries their policy has been creative accounting-trying their best to hold on to whatever profit they can get, or avoid loss, in a given situation,while preaching nobility to others.   After three decades of supporting their darling boys, the LTTE, in the most duplicitious ways, typifying their still colonial divide-and-rule policies, the invitation by Mrs. Kadirgamar... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/12/10)

The temptation to say, “Completely no” but, “just only in odd occasional treatments”.
Dr Hector Perera UK
The doctors always say, “Have a balanced diet”, that means a varied diet. Actually sometimes we can have odd occasional treatments but not so often as possible. When these seasonal greetings come, you will find plenty of invitations and occasions. It could be from friends and families for such lovely treatments where you find it difficult to refuse or resist the temptation to over drinking and eating. There will be plenty food and drink that you hardly cannot resist, the temptation is so high, you will find any excuse to be there than not to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 19/12/10)

Blackmailing Sri Lanka’s friends
British Defence Secretary Liam Fox finally did not turn up for the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial oration he was due to deliver yesterday. This despite the fact that his aide, Adam Verity, was in Colombo ahead of him and even the topic of his oration ‘International Security’ had been announced. Fox has been a friend of Sri Lanka for many years and the reason why he accepted the invitation to deliver the Kadirgamar memorial oration is obviously because of the regard he had for the late foreign minister with whom he would have had many dealings over the years. This was... -Full Story- (The Island - 19/12/10)

Shortfalls in foreign investment and aid for reconstruction
The Sunday Times Economic Analysis
Foreign investments and aid to reconstruct the North and East and resettle displaced persons are important for the country’s economic development. The expectations of large inflows of foreign investment after the ending of the war do not appear to have materialized to the extent that was expected. There has also been a disappointing flow of foreign assistance for resettlement. Both these factors are slowing down the economic development of the country. Perhaps the high expectations of foreign investment were unrealistic due to both global economic conditions and the local environment. The Budget for 2011 was... -Full Story- (sundaytimes.lk - 19/12/10)

Cowardly Brits prevent Liam Fox from delivering the Lakshman Kadirgamar Lecture
Vish Abeygunawardena
It is an absolute travesty of justice for the British Government to prevent Defense Secretary, Liam Fox, from visiting Sri Lanka, to present the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture.  Mr. Fox had been invited by the late Foreign Minister's widow to give the lecture.  However, it seems like the British Government, led by the cowardly, William Hague, has persuaded Mr. Fox to cancel his trip to Sri Lanka.   The late Lakshman Kadirgamar was a true hero of Sri Lanka.  A Tamil, he vociferously defended the right of the Government of Sri Lanka to safeguard its territorial integrity and was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

Letter to Manicka Vasagar
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent .  Gloucester . Ontario . K1J  6G1 . Canada
December 17, 2010 Letter to Manicka Vasagar:                     my response to his/her letter to Hon. Jason Kenney MP,  in response to my letter addressed to the Minister Jason Kenney on November 20, 2010 cc. Hon. Jason Kenney, MP,  Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration & Multiculturalism Hello! Manicka Vasagar: I have just read your letter to Minister Jason Kenny, after my return to Ottawa from Sri Lanka where I presented myself to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). You, ‘as a non Sri Lankan Tamil’ had... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—48- CAMPING AROUND ONTARIO-MINNESOTA BORDER, WE EXPLORE NATIONAL PARK ACCESSIBLE BY WATER
By Shelton A. Gunaratne © 2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 WHEREAS the main access to most national parks is by automobile or by foot, the primary access to the 218,054-acre Voyageurs National Park is via water.  Because Voyageurs NP lies to the west of the famous Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota, “the Land of 10,000 Lakes,” this peculiar feature should come as no surprise. Many people visited the park by canoe and kayak. These canoeists, kayakers, other boaters and fishermen found the park an aquatic haven. The (Sinhala-sounding) Kabetogama Peninsula,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

INDIA SHOULD ACT FAST
Malin Abeyatunge
The latest news as reported by Times Of India that LTTE‘s latest plan to assassinate Indian PM Manamohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi has to be treated very seriously not only by the Indian Government, but by Sri Lanka and the countries in the western world who still mollycoddle LTTE activists in their countries. Although Sri Lanka defeated the most brutal terrorist outfit militarily, its remnants which consists of Tamil Diaspora are still active in countries like USA, Canada, UK, some EU countries, Scandinavian countries, down under Australia and India in an... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

TERRORISTS REGROUPING IN INDIA
Shripal Nishshanka Fernando
According to the latest international intelligent reports, the most notorious terrorist group in the world LTTE is at its best efforts to regroup in TamilNadu India. The LTTE was successfully wiped out from Sri Lanka by annihilation of its leaders and apprehending key supporters in May 2009 by the present Sri Lankan government under the brave leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  As per the saying ‘what goes around comes around’ or according to an action of a boom-a rang, this inhumane terrorist organization has turned back to its original birth place of TamilNadu India to rejuvenate.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

Robinson Devor ‘s Controversial Movie - Zoo
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
 Robinson Devor ‘s reconstructed controversial documentary ZOO is a narrative on a community that engages in physical and emotional connections with horses.   The movie was inspired by an unusual true incident of a man who died from a perforated colon after he arranged to have sex with a stallion.   The modern society views   Zoophilia,  or bestiality as a sexual deviant behavior. The movie Zoo brings us a repulsive topic, which is rarely discussed and often avoided. But the Zoo brings us a   moral question how human deals with animals. When a person or a... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

GOD is not a Freak
Reverend Dr. Nishan Wijesinha Chairman – Training and Restoration House of Jesse  Mirihana
Many when they think of God it recalls to a thought of God as some non re-generic cosmic power. Or in other words a powerful force but a true freak. To understand reproduction one has to have experience of reproduction. A freak cannot ever comprehend reproduction. The male and female reproductive generic emotions evolve around already predestined thoughts, which in no other terms could generate in a creature if the creator was in origins a freak. God himself relates to man his name as Jehovah, and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/12/10)

US embassy cables: Indian officials tell US neither Sri Lanka government nor Tamil Tigers respect international community
Series: US embassy cables: the documents
1. (C) Summary. In a meeting with PolCouns on April 26, MEA Joint Secretary Mohan Kumar: -- said that the caretaker government in Bangladesh has reached a crossroads by allowing Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia to return, stating such a move weakens the government and will force it to reassert itself in some way; -- suggested the U.S., UK and India agree on a core message to give the Bangladeshi caretaker government, one that supports the government while it remains on a path toward credible elections but clarifies that the military needs to remain... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 18/12/10)

US embassy cables: Sri Lankan doctors released on bail after charges of false civilian casualty reports
Series: US embassy cables: the documents
1. (S) Four government doctors, held by the police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) since the end of the war in May for allegedly filing false reports on civilian casualties in the No-Fire Zone during the last several months of the war, were released on bail today. XXXXXXXXXXXX 2. (S) The doctors XXXXXXXXXXXX had been pressured to give the press conference held in early July (reftel), where they recanted all the statements they had made from the No-Fire Zone. They said they were heavily coached for the press conference, given specific lines to say, and... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 18/12/10)

US embassy cables: Sri Lankan government accused of complicity in human rights abuses
Series: US embassy cables: the documents
1. (S) SUMMARY: Allegations of government complicity in crimes committed by organized paramilitary groups have mounted in the last year. Paramilitaries such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-breakaway Karuna group and Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) have helped the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) to fight the LTTE, to kidnap suspected LTTE collaborators, and to give the GSL a measure of deniability. The GSL, which denies any links to paramilitary groups, has recently touted its efforts to improve its human rights record, such as the re-publication of procedures on arrests and detentions... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 18/12/10)

US embassy cables: Human rights abuses by Tamil Tigers
Series: US embassy cables: the documents
1. (S) SUMMARY: In late May PolOff met the XXXXXXXXXXXX described the LTTE's complete control of all activities that take place in Tiger-controlled territory, including forced conscription and the use of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) to extract money from INGOs. XXXXXXXXXXXX also criticized the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission's (SLMM) complacency in the face of coercive techniques the LTTE employs to maintain control of its northern stronghold. On June 8, after meetings with representatives from UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Food Program to discuss how these organizations fund projects operating in the Vanni, Emboffs... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 18/12/10)

US embassy cables: 'Progress' on human rights in Sri Lanka
Series: US embassy cables: the documents
) According to Congressional mandates and Administration policy, U.S. assistance to Sri Lanka, particularly military assistance, is tied to progress by the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) on several key issues, including treatment of IDPs, human rights, political reconciliation, and accountability for alleged crimes perpetrated by GSL troops and officials during the war with the LTTE. The GSL has progressed more or less on each of these issues since the end of the conflict. Continued or increased U.S. assistance, however, hinges on the GSL broadening and deepening this progress.... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 18/12/10)

Sri Lanka relents over UN war crimes experts
COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka has softened its stance and agreed to welcome a panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to probe alleged war crimes, a minister said Saturday. The experts will be allowed to meet a local panel reporting on moves to ensure that the country does not slip back into ethnic war. Sri Lanka previously rejected Ban's panel as an interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state and instead set up its own "Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)" to study, among other things, why a 2002 truce broke down between the... -Full Story- (Yahoo - 18/12/10)

Sri Lanka allows UN to 'share' war crime evidence
By KRISHAN FRANCIS The Associated Press Saturday, December 18, 2010; 5:00 AM
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka has backtracked and will now allow a United Nations team to visit the country and share evidence gathered during an investigation into whether war crimes were committed during the final phase of the island's bloody civil war, a Cabinet minister said Saturday. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a three-member panel last June to look into alleged human rights abuses during the decades-long war. The Sri Lankan government resisted the move, calling it an infringement of its sovereignty and vowed not... -Full Story- (washingtonpost.com - 18/12/10)

MP Fox abandons controversial visit
North Somerset MP Liam Fox has dropped out of a controversial visit to Sri Lanka after the row over his plans to head to the country that is facing war crimes allegations escalated. The Defence Secretary was due to go this weekend on a private visit but the decision was said to have infuriated Foreign Secretary William Hague. Shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper then increased pressure on Dr Fox, raising questions about his judgment in going to a nation where the government is accused of war crimes against Tamil Tiger rebels. "Chaotic diplomacy like this does no good for the... -Full Story- (thisissomerset.co.uk - 18/12/10)

In 2007 Indian official said Lankan condition beyond bleak: WikiLeaks
Agencies Tags : LTTE, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lankan govt Posted: Sat Dec 18 2010, 16:45 hrs Colombo: Freelance Jobs China Wholesale Discount Shopping Cordless Headphone DiscussionBlogsRahul, congress and ... - By R C Desai Let mr.rahul declare... - By Senapathi Raul gandhi - By Kiran Rahul vs wiki lks - By RAMAKRISHNA It is not rahul`s co... - By Anjan Roy True copour of secul... - By dinu Rahuls faux pas - By M.K.B.Nambiar 'Irresponsible' Rakta charitraLearning Point Illumina at MDIDesi Food Galaxy Two years before Sri Lanka completed a crushing military defeat of the LTTE, a... -Full Story- (indianexpress.com - 18/12/10)

AN ACTIVE LAND SETTLEMENT POLICY NEEDED
Don Wijewardana*
 Prabhakaran had to rely on the idea of a Tamil kingdom that was purported to have existed in the north to push for Tamil Eelam. And it continues to remain central to some of the current political parties too for obvious reasons: their very survival depends on the claim that attracts votes.  The main argument for not disturbing the existing pattern of land settlement in the north hinges on the claimed existence of an ancient Tamil kingdom. But this has been disputed by eminent historians, among them Professor Karthigesu Indrapala of the Jaffna University, Mudliyar C. Rasanayagam,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/12/10)

වධහිංසනයේ මානසික බලපෑම්
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග
”පීඩකයා සතුව තිබෙන ඉතාම බලගතු අවිය වනුයේ පීඩිතයාගේ මනසයි.” ස්ටීවන් බිකෝ   වධහිංසනය යනු මානව හිමිකමි උල්ලංඝණය කෙරෙන ඉතාම දරුණු අවස්ථාවලින් එකකි. සාමාන්‍යයෙන් වධහිංසනය යන්න හඳීුන්වනු ලබනුයේ ’ පාපෝව්චාරණයක්, ලබාගැනීම වැනි අරමුණක් සඳහා දඩුවමක්, තැතිගැන්වීමක් හෝ බලහත්කාර කමක් හෝ ඔීනෑම ආකාරයක වෙනස්කමිකිරීමක් පදනමි කරගත් ශාරීරික හෝ මානසික අන්දමින් කිසිවෙකු හට දුකක් හෝ වේදනාවක් වේතනාත්මකව පමුණුවන ඔිනෑම කි්‍රයාවක්¶ වශයෙනි.වධහිංසන නිසා ගැඹුරු හා දීර්ඝකාලීන ශාරීරික හා මානසික ප්‍රතිවිපාක ඇතිවේ. වධහිංසනය යනු සාමූහික වේදනා ආකාරයකි. එය වින්දිතයාට පමණක් සීමා නොවූවකි. ඔහුගේ පවුලේ සාමාජිකයින්ටද මිත්‍රයන්ටද එමගින් බලපෑමි ඇතිවේ. අභිනව පර්යේෂණ අනුව මානසික හා ශාරීරික යන දෙයාකාරයේම වධහිංසන නිසා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/12/10)

CHRISTMAS AND THE SUN-GOD FESTIVAL
By  D. Amarasiri  Weeraratne
The celebration of Christmas on December 25th reminds us once more of the legend of the Sun-God and how Christianity is deeply rooted in Pagan religious history, which prevailed for thousands of years before the time of Christ in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The birthdate of Christ is not known to Historians or Archeologists for lack of evidence - even after sifting almost every grain of sand in Bethlehem. No-one, not even the early Christians, knew the birthdate of Christ. So, the early church settled on the same day that the Pagans celebrated... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/12/10)

Sex, Lies and Video Tapes: media in the digital age
By Surangani Seneviratne
 The arrest of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder exposes how the free flow of information is controlled and the freedom of press is defined. Mr Assange descended from an awarded journalist to a man most wanted by the Interpol in a short time. He was the front man for WikiLeaks, the website initially hailed to up hold the freedom of speech in the digital age. During its infancy, Julian Assange received numerous awards for exposing sensitive documents up loaded by those who had excess to classified information. The manner in which Mr Assange turned from hero to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

Sri Lanka: Sustainable technology accruing steadily
By Philip Fernando Former Deputy Editor, Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
 A durable technological environment is a reality in several areas like agriculture, industry, tourism, telecommunications and Internet access. Optimum productivity levels seeping in due to technology use seemed well within reachable sights in the country. What is manifestly clear is that modernization is occurring not at a strained profusion rate but as a living force with its own needs and tendencies. That said we are seeing the impressive rate of growth as substantiated by the most current data.  Paddy harvest accruing from the ten rice-growing districts in the country... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

US STRATEGY OF ‘LOVE AND LEAVE’
ALI SUKHANVER
 It is still an ambiguity why was the ‘innocent’ Julian Assange pushed behind the bars. According to the details he has been arrested for the alleged rape and molestation of two women though he has been denying the charges since the day first. According to The News-Worthy Info, a lawyer for the two Swedish women who are accusing Assange for molesting and raping them said that the charges are in no way politically motivated and that “the women are angry at that suggestion”. Claes Borgstrom the attorney said, “They were attacked by Mr. Assange and then they... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

Why the National Anthem Should be Changed to Hela Jathika Abhimane?
- Kumar Moses  
Now that the national anthem and the way it is sung are discussed widely, it is the opportune time to revisit the appropriateness of it altogether. The present national anthem has been in existence since the 1940s although it was officially adopted in 1951. According to some accounts it was sung at the Independence Day celebrations in 1948. Sri Lanka has undergone tremendous changes thereafter and the appropriateness of ‘Sri Lanka Matha’ to the modern nation is debatable. It has a number of flaws if one reads it objectively and compare with national anthems... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 23 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 ඇට්ලස් බන්ඩාර හෙවත් ඒ.එම්.කේ. බන්ඩාර  රෝහණ විජේවීර යාපනය සිරගෙදරින් නිදහස් කර ගැනීම සඳහා කොලඹ සිට යාපනයට මෝටර් රථයෙන් ගියේ ඇට්ලස් බන්ඩාරයි. මෙම වෑයම අතටම අසුවීම නිසා ඇට්ලස් බන්ඩාරත් රියැදුරු සිරිපාල නොහොත් බාල්දි සිරාත් හැමන්හිල් හි සිරගත වූහ. තමන්ට අනපේක්ෂිත ලෙස අනතුරට හෙළීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් බාල්දි සිරා සිරගෙදරදි ඇට්ලස් බන්ඩාර හාම්පුතා බව අමතක කරමින් සුද්ධ සිංහලෙන් බැන වැදුනු බව හැමන්හිල් වල සිටි අය සිහිපත් කරති. හැමන්හිල්  සිරකරුවන් අතර ඒ සිද්ධිය අලලා පබැඳුනු ගීයක්ද විය.  ඇටිලස් බණ්ඩාර ඔබයි යළිත් ඉපැදුණු මුලින් ඔබ සිරාට නිදහස ලබා දිය යුතයි. ඩිස්ටැම්පර් ඔබ සෑදිය යුත්තේ ඉන් පසුවයි.  මෙම ගීතය සුප‍්‍රසිද්ධ මද්දුම බන්ඩාර... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

Statement on Sri Lanka Regarding Human Rights
Ira de Silva London, Canada
Mr. M Posner Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Washington, D.C. U.S.A.   Dear Sir:   Reference your statement on Sri Lanka on December 12,2010 it is reported that you have said that the U.S. is continuing to engage with the Sri Lankan Government on the  issue of looking at the past. It is further reported that you have stated  that there is a very real internal discussion of what your alternatives are and that you "are aware of some of the humanitarian issues that continue to be of concern, as well... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

Pragnawalokanaya 2010-40 Million worth Scholarship for 1000 A/L Student
Media Secretary - Dhanushka Ramanayake Ministry of Power & Energy
Pragnyawalokanaya is a scholarship program where Advance Level students who have excelled in their examination receive scholarships to study CIMA. The scholarship program will be taking place at BIMCH ‘MIhilaka Medura’ on the 19th of December 2010 from 2:00 PM onwards. Hon. Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Hon. Minister S.B. Dissanayake will be gracing the occasion as Chief Guest’s and Guest of Honor Hon. Minister Patali Champika will be addressing the gathering as the key note speaker.  The Pragnyawalokanaya program was originated in the year 2006 by a concept of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයේ මිනිස්බල ආයතන හරහා සේවයට යොදවාගන්නා ලද සේවකයින්ගේ රැකියා සුරක්ෂිත කිරීම
ලං.වී.ම. දිනවමින් අපි ද දිනමු. අමිල විරාජ් - කැඳවුම්කාර මණ්ඩලය වෙනුවෙන් ලං.වී.ම. මිනිස්බල සවිය
ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයේ සේවාවන් ඉටුකර ගැනීමේ දී එයට අවශ්‍ය සේවක සංඛ්‍යාව ප‍්‍රමාණවත්ව නොසිටීම හේතුකොට ගෙන අදාල සේවාවන් අඛන්ඩව පවත්වාගෙන යාම සඳහා බාහිර මිනිස්බල සේවා සපයන කොන්ත‍්‍රාත් කරුවන්, මාර්ගයෙන් සේවක අවශ්‍යතාව සපුරා ගැනීම1994 සිට පැවත එන්නකි. ඒ අනුව මේ වනවිට ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයේ සේවය ලබා දෙනු ලබන මිනිස්බල සේවක ප‍්‍රමාණය තුන්දහස ඉක්මවා ඇත. ඔවුන් බඳවා ගනු ලබන්නේ අදාල නියොජ්‍ය සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරීවරු මගින්ය. මේ වනවිට මිනිස්බල කොන්ත‍්‍රාත් සමාගම් ගණනාවකින් සේවකයින් ලං.වී.ම. වෙත සපයනු ලබන අතර, ඔවුන්ට අදාල සමාගම් විසින් දෛනික වැටුප් පදනම මත, ගෙවීම් කරනු ලබයි. ඒ අනුව... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

විදුලි අය ක‍්‍රමය සංශෝධනය කිරීමේ බලයමහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිසම සතුයි විදුලි ඒකක 90ට අඩුවෙන් පරිහරණය කරන්නන්ට කිසිඳු මිල වැඩිවීමක් නොකිරීමට රජය තීරණය කරයි
මාධ්‍ය අංශය - විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශය
මෙවර අයවැයෙන් යෝජනාවූ පරිදි 8%ක විදුලි ගාස්තු වැඩිවීම ඒකක 90ට අඩුවෙන් පරිහරණය කරන විදුලි පාරිභෝගිකයන්ට බලනොපාන බව විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශය අවධාරණය කරයි. නව විදුලිබල පනතට අනුව විදුලි ගාස්තු ක‍්‍රමයෙහි සිදුකරන්නාවූ සියළු සංශෝධනයන් මහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිසමේ අධීක්ෂණය යටතේ සිදු කෙරෙන අතර මෙවර විදුලි ගාස්තු වැඩිකිරීම ඒකක 60ට වඩා වැඩියෙන් පරිහරණය කරන්නන්ට බලපාන පරිද්දෙන් සිදුකළ යුතු බව එම කොමිසම විසින් පසුගිය 25 වන දින යෝජිත නව සංශෝධන යටතේ තීරණය කර තිබේ. නමුත් රාජ්‍ය ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති රාමුවට අනුව මෙම විදුලි ගාස්තු වැඩිවීම මහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිසම විසින් යෝජිත ඒකක 60 සීමාව ඉවත් කර, පසුගියදා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/12/10)

RCMP reportedly set to charge suspected migrant smugglers
Stewart Bell, National Post · Monday, Dec. 13, 2010
The RCMP is preparing to lay charges against several alleged migrant smugglers who helped bring 76 Sri Lankans to the British Columbia coast last fall, according to two sources briefed on the investigation. The sources said the pending criminal charges concern suspected organizers of the voyage of the Ocean Lady, which was intercepted in Canadian waters on Oct. 17, 2009, after crossing from Malaysia. “Until charges come out, we don’t talk about things like that,” Constable Michael McLaughlin, an RCMP spokesman in B.C., said on Monday. He denied charges... -Full Story- (National Post - 15/12/10)

A Statue to Commemorate Mrs Bandaranaike.The most illustrious Lady of our time
Dr Sudath Gunasekara. One time Secretary to Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike. 10.12.2010.
 Every one knows that Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayaike was the first woman Prime Minister in the world. No one can refute that. In that context she was the greatest and the most illustrious Lady ever born in this resplendent Island. I do not think any one will disagree or quarrel with me for this statement. On account of that alone she has made history by creating a world record which any one will not be able to break on any day. It is irreversible for ever. That alone makes... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/12/10)

The Psychology of Nazism
By Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge
The Nazi movement which did horrifying atrocities to the people was based on racial superiority. Adolf Hitler who was the main architect of the Nazi organization was supported by many intellectuals. Many leaders of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (Nazi) had many things in common. They all believed in destructive Nazi nightmare of racial hearted and ethnic cleansing. What was the psychology behind such a fascist movement which violated basic human rights? Were they psychologically deviated? Psychologist Gustave Gilbert analyzed many Nazi leaders like Herman Goering, Albert Speer, von Ribbentrop Rudolf Hob (the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/12/10)

HOW THE DEVIL HE WILL DO IT?
Ranjit Wickremeratne   
This funny man is always funny where ever he goes.Now the latest lie in his handbook is telling the people that he is going to defeat the President before he completes his second term. Can anybody in right mind tell me how he is going to do that with barely 40 odd idiots behind him in the parliament? Not before his second term this walawwe Hamu has to wait three or four terms to beat the greatest President we have today, by that time Ranil the loser will be walking with a stick you mark my word.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 14/12/10)

Misled foreign policy mandarins
There appears to be muddle-headedness and enveloping confusion with regard to Sri Lankan foreign policy of late, but at least one good foreign policy decision was taken last week, and that was the one to absent ourselves from the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo. China is our ally, and it makes abundant strategic sense to show solidarity with the Chinese, particularly at a time when nations which ought to be our friends such as Great Britain and the United States for instance are rejecting us with such practiced nonchalance. Liu Xiaobo, this year’s peace prize recipient may be... -Full Story- (lakbimanews.lk - 14/12/10)

Indian Foreign Minister’s reference to ‘meaningful devolution’
By Neville Ladduwahetty
December 13, 2010, 7:08 pm During his recent visit to Sri Lanka, India’s Foreign Minister S.M.Krishna reiterated the words of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (as referred to in the June 2010 joint statement) calling for "meaningful devolution". Since the joint statement had not elaborated on the form and substance of devolution that would make it meaningful, Mr. Krishnan is reported to have stated during his visit to Jaffna that devolution should be "based on the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution" (The Sunday Times, November 28, 2010).... -Full Story- (The Island - 14/12/10)

National Tree and National Flower: how they came to be selected
Haris de Silva
December 13, 2010, 12:00 pm A few weeks back there was an inquiry in the print media –not The Island- as to how the National Tree and the National Flower had come to be selected. The following sequence of events are given here for the information of the public. The idea to have a National Tree and a National Flower, had come as a sub-project of the 100 Million Trees Programme, mooted by the then Prime Minister (Ranasinghe Premadasa), and for which the Cabinet had given its approval.... -Full Story- (The Island - 14/12/10)

The Issue Of The National Anthem In Both Official Languages Put Into Perspective.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Dec.13th 2010  There seems to be some misinformation on the issue of the National Anthem and its Tamil connections as the barkings from all the unwanted sources such as Karunanidhi that age old rabble rouser from Tamil Nadu and a few self styled pundits blasting away with their epithets at the well intended surmissions of the likes of the Hon. Minister of Housing and Construction, Wimal Weerawansa  who has voiced his support towards the Cabinet decision to do away with the Tamil version of the National Anthem although he seems to have overstepped his statutes of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

Grow up UNP!
Henry Jayaweera  
The Editor.   First, let me congratulate the UNP for being able, at last, to get its act together as far as internal politics goes, and bring some semblance of order, albeit agreeing to disagree, as the compromise of two heads obviously shows.   Now to my more serious concern. According to reports, this great compromise has as its prime objective, the bringing down of the present government. Now there lies the rub! What the hell for? (I desist from using stronger expletives for the sake of decency) The UNP is in, and has been for a very... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

A submission to LLRC
By Charles.S.Perera
The Secretary, Mr.S.B.Athugoda The Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission, The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations & Strategic Studies, 24 Horton Place, Colombo – 07, Sri Lanka.  Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Commission, In ancient times it was to the elders the people took their problems. It had been so in Asia Africa , Europe, and even with the American Indians. The King Alexander went to the priests to consult oracles. In Sri Lanka the elders including the Buddhist Monks were consulted by the kings and the people to get their advice. These elders knew... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

What the Tigers failed to get by the bullet the TNA is now trying to achieve by hypocrisy and deceitful means.
Dr Sudath Gunasekara 13.12.2010.
D.B.S.Jeyaraj writing to dbsjeyaraj.com on December 10th, 2010 under the caption ‘President Rajapaksa initiates political dialogue with TNA’ has revealed the following information. He says that there had been preliminary discussions in this regard between two representatives of the government and the TNA and they had made commendable progress in most respects. Thereafter there was a discussion between the President and Sampanthan in Colombo attended by Prof G.L.Peiris. According to his column some of the salient points on which preliminary agreement was reached at these discussions were as follows. AGREEMENT “- There will be no... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

Not-so-secret agreements with TNA
Durand Appuhamy Negombo Courtesy The Island 
In a weekend newspaper, a Tamil journalist has revealed that the President has agreed in one-to-one talks with TNA leader R. Sambandan that, among other things, exclusive powers over land will be devolved and all state land in the province will be vested in the Provincial Unit, though this Unit has been not yet agreed upon. There would be provision for the "Centre to request and use lands necessary for other national projects". I find it dangerous to grant any province exclusive power over the very limited resource of land. This exclusive power... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

Please Keep the Tamil Version of Sri Lanka Matha, the National Anthem
Dilrook Kannangara
It was reported that the Tamil version of the National Anthem would soon become a thing of the past as state establishments, etc, would not sing it. Apparently the former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had walked out of a function when the Tamil version of Sri Lanka Matha was sung at a function. This is a very short-sighted move and must be resisted by all patriots. What’s the point in Tamil students singing the national anthem in a language they don’t understand? How can they inculcate patriotism and love for the motherland if they cannot understand... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

Time to strengthen laws to counter separatist sentiments
S. Akurugoda
According to  media reports, governing party members of the Sri Lankan parliament handed in a motion to the Speaker requesting for the appointment of a select committee to probe into UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena. The motion was said to be signed by 78 governing party members and has called for a select committee to probe Dr. Jayawardena’s alleged involvement in anti-government protests. The select committee is to investigate whether Dr. Jayawardena has violated the oath taken by legislators where they says they would not support any act that would promote separatism, as per the said reports. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

NATIONAL ANTHEM IN ONE LANGUAGE-BOLD DECISION BY A PROUD NATION HIGH TIME TO CORRECT THE SPELLING OF THE COUNTRY NAME
Shripal Nishshanka Fernando
Let it be Tamil, English or Sinhalese. But let it be in one language. That is how an Anthem of a nation shall be.   Flag of Sri Lanka  Certainly it was hilarious that Sri Lanka had allowed an alternate Anthem for a considerable period of time till today other than its original Sinhalese version. Those were weak tolerations of previous Sri Lankan governments which paved for a disastrous destructible situation which ended recently with a massive sacrifice. Due to the far sighted and broad minded vision of the Rajapaksa regime, another calamity could be avoided... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 13/12/10)

Mr Ban-Ki Moon,”UN Panel” and War Crimes
Dr Bandula Kothalawala London N7
According to some news reports, Mr Ban-Ki Moon’s “Panel” is expected to submit its Report to him some time early next year. As many contributors to this Forum have rightly pointed out, Mr Ban-Ki Moon’s manoeuvres in this regard are fundamentally flawed, procedurally incorrect and profoundly unjust vis-à-vis a long-standing member of the UN family. This article looks at the appointment of the “Panel”, comments on the terms of reference and some other issues involved and concludes that the Government of Sri Lanka should take no notice of its advice to the UN Secretary-General.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/12/10)

පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී කරු ජයසූරිය මහතා හා බටහිර ගිලටිනය
චන්ද්‍ර සේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
පසුගිය දිනවල මෙරට දේශපාලන පිටිය උනුසුම්ව පැවතිණි. ඒ එංගලන්තයේදී අතිගරු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට එරෙහිව එරට රජය දෙමළ ඩයස් පෝරාව ඉදිරියට දමාගෙන කරන ලද ජාත්‍යන්තර දේශපාලන රංඟනය හේතුවෙණි. මෙම සංසිද්ධියේ පෙරමුණු ක්‍රියාකාරයින් දෙදෙනෙකු වූ අතර, ඒ ආචාර්ය වික්‍රමබාහු කරුණාරත්න වන අතර, අනිත් පුද්ගලයා වන්නේ දොස්තර ජයලත් ජයවර්ධන මහතාය. මෙම දෙපල තමන්ගේ මනෝකාය පමණක් නොව රූපකායද බටහිර සුද්දන් ඉදිරියේ උකසට තබා දිවි ගෙවන දේශපාලකයින් දෙපලකි. ආචාර්ය පදවියත් දොස්තර පදවියත් මහත් ගෞරවණිය තනතුරු ලෙස සලකන සමාජයකට, “නැහැ ඒවා ඔය කියන තරම් වටිනා කමක් තියෙන පදවි නොවේ“ යන මතවාදය කාවද්දන ලද පහත් දෙපලක් වන මේ අයට එරෙහිව ප්‍රබල... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/12/10)

කරු ජයසූරියගෙන් පැහැදිලි පිළිතුරක්‌ අවශ්‍යයි
සී. ඒ. චන්ද්‍රප්‍රේම -දිවයින
ඉකුත් සතියේ මුල සිටම කාගේත් කතා බහට ලක්‌වූ මාතෘකාව වූයේ එම ඉරිදා "සන්ඩේ අයිලන්ඩ්" පුවත්පතේ ප්‍රධාන සිරස්‌තලය අනුසාරයෙන් පළවූ පුවතකි. එම මත භේදයට තුඩුදුන් ප්‍රධාන සිරස්‌තලය වූයේ එජාප නියෝජ්‍ය නායක කරු ජයසූරිය මහතා ලංකාවේ සිදුවූවා යෑයි කියන "යුද අපරාධ පිළිබඳ විමර්ශනයක්‌ අවශ්‍ය යෑයි" ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇති බවයි. ඔහු එසේ පවසන්නේ බටහිර රටවල් සමග ඇති සබඳතාවයත් දෙමළ ඩයස්‌පෝරාව සමග ඇති සබඳතාවයත් යථා තත්ත්වයට ගෙන ඒමට මෙය අවශ්‍ය යෑයි ජයසූරිය මහතා පවසන බවට එම ප්‍රධාන සිරස්‌තලයටම ඈඳුනු අතුරු සිරස්‌තලයකින් පැහැදිලි කරන ලදී. එම සිරස්‌තලය යටතේ පළවී තිබුණේ කරු ජයසූරිය මහතා විසින් "ද සන්ඩේ අයිලන්ඩ්" පුවත්පතට එවන ලද... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/12/10)

AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXELLENCY THE PRSIDENT, HONOURABLE PRIME MINISTER, AND ALL MUSLIM PARLIMENTARIANS.
A hajee
This year Hajj has come out with lots of hardships and money swindling by the Hajj committee who was appointed to look after the interest of hajees. They instead of looking after the hajees they put all hajees in to difficulties. Whatever they may say over the media facts are stubborn. Every hajee will bear witness to it.therefore please  appoint a committee  of inquiry to go in to details to see where they have gone wrong. Forget about their political background and bring them to books.  This year Ihad the oportunity of performing Hajj.Iwish to submit the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 12/12/10)

Norway – the Tiger bastion of anti-Sri Lankan politics
H. L. D. Mahindapala
 The Vadukoddai War declared on May 14, 1976 is not yet over.  The Vadukoddai Resolution which laid the foundations for the Vadukoddai War opened up two fronts: 1. the military front on the ground where the Tamil youth were asked to take up arms and never “flinch” until they reach Eelam and 2 the ideological front encapsulated in the Vadukoddai Resolution which is still exploding at selected flash points.  The first front on the ground was defeated comprehensively at Nandikadal on May 18, 2010. The second front – the ideological front – is still alive... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/12/10)

වියට්නාම් යුද්ධය හා ඊළාම් යුද්ධය අතර සමානකම් හා අසමානකම්
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග
රජයක් සිරිත් පරිදි යුද වියදම් ගණනය කරණු ලබන්නේ ඩොලර්වලින්, අහිමිවූ නිශ්පාදනයන් මගින් හෝ මියගිය හෝ තුවාල ලැබූ සොල්දාදුවන් ගණනිනි. නමුත්, කලාතුරකින් හමුදාමය සංවිධාන මෙම යුද වියදම්, යුද්ධය හේතුවෙන් පීඩාවිඳින පුද්ගලයන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මැනීමට කටයුතු කරයි. රිචඩ් ගේබ්‍රියල් වියට්නාම් යුද්ධය හා ඊළාම් යුද්ධය අතර සමානතා හා අසමානතා බොහෝ වෙයි. නමුත් මේ දෙකම 20වන සියවසේ යුද්ධයක ඇති බිහිසුණුකම විදහා දක්වයි. වියට්නාම් යුද්ධය, ඇමරිකාව සම්බන්ධවූ දීර්ඝතම යුද්ධය වූ අතර එය 1963 සිට 1975 තෙක් වසර 12ක කාලයක් පැවතිණි. ඇස්තමේන්තුවලට අනුව පුද්ගලයන් මිලියන 2.5ක් මෙම යුද්ධය සඳහා දායකවී ඇති අතර 58,000 පමණ ඇමරිකානුවන් පිරිසකට ජීවිත අහිමිවී ඇත. තවත් 300,000ක්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/12/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 22 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
 බර්ටි රංජිත් බර්ටි රංජිත් යාපනය සිර ගෙදර ප‍්‍රහාරයේ මූලිකයා විය. දැනට ජර්මනියේ ජීවත් වන බර්ටිගේ දුරකථන අංකය ලබා දුන්නේ ඔහුගේ පැරණි සගයෙකු වූ පියුමසේන කන්නංගර විසිනි. ඒ හරහා ලබා ගත් සබඳතාව අනුව බර්ටි මගේ පොතට දායක වීමට එකඟ විය. 2009 මාර්තු 1 දින බර්ටි රංජිත් විසින් මා වෙත එවන ලද විද්‍යුත් තැපැල් පණිවිඩය සමන්විත වන්නේ මේ ආකාරයටය.  ‘මම ව්‍යාපාරයට යොමු වූයේ 1968 අග කාලයේදීය. ඒ සඳහා හේතු වූයේ එකල අපි තුල තිබූ දේශපාලන පිපාසය විය හැක. මා ජීවත් වූ බඩල්ගම ප‍්‍රදේශයේ තරුණයන්ගේ. එකතුවක් තිබුනි. බඩල්ගම සේනාරත්න කන්නංගර අපගේ මග පෙන්වන්නා විය. ප‍්‍රදේශයේ දේශපාලන චන්ඩින් විසින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/12/10)

Russian warships visit Sri Lanka, head to Gulf of Aden
Sea piracy in the modern world
A Pacific Fleet's task force led by the Admiral Vinogradov destroyer will complete on Saturday a three-day visit to Sri Lanka and head to the Gulf of Aden to fight sea piracy in the region. The visit to the port of Colombo coincided with the 60th anniversary of Sri Lanka's Navy. "During the friendly stay the Russian sailors visited the mayor's office and several military facilities," a spokesman for Russia's Pacific Fleet said. The Admiral Vinogradov destroyer is accompanied on the current mission by a salvage tug and the Pechenga tanker.... -Full Story- (en.rian.ru - 11/12/10)

Gangsters killing police in Sri Lanka shot dead
At least two gangsters wanted for killing two policemen have been shot dead Saturday morning, police said. A joint army and police search operation was launched at south eastern Warakapola area, 60 kilometers north of Colombo to nab a group of gangsters who committed a robbery and shot dead two policemen who were chasing them on Friday. The gangsters later fled to a jungle area, resulting Saturday's joint operation between the police and army. Another two gangsters were also arrested, police said.... -Full Story- (english.people.com.cn - 11/12/10)

Any one heard about retribution.
By Charles.S.Perera
 If you do a bad turn to some one who is a good person, it may rebound on you. You cannot escape from it if the person humiliated or put into an embarrassing position had no bad intensions. They say these retributions normally take place within 7 days or three months from the day of the occurrence of the humiliation or the untoward act.  It was on the 2nd December that the President of Sri Lanka Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse who was invited by the Union of the Oxford University to deliver a speech to the Union members, was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/12/10)

Speech in the Votes of the Ministry of External Affairs At the Committee Stage of the Budget Debate – December 7th 2010
Rajiva Wijesinha
In discussing the votes of the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Speaker, we should look at the situation in which Sri Lanka found itself five years ago, and what we have now. In those days, we seemed to be wholly dependent on what called itself the international community, so much so that representatives of that community thought they held the balance between conflicting forces in Sri Lanka. Sadly, so deep had the rot sunk that it was outsiders who had to make the position clear, while some of those who represented Sri Lanka spoke slightingly of military solutions... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/12/10)

Buddhist Philosophy and Critical Thinking
Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge  
The Buddha's Charter of Free Inquiry and judging truth are found in the Kalama Sutra of the Anguttara Nikaya. In Kalama Sutra Buddha emphasized the importance of critical thinking that involves seeing things in an open-minded way. Critical thinking helps to evaluate and challenge the thoughts and ideas   and rethink conclusions in the light of new knowledge. Buddhism was conceived as a rational way of thought, being entirely in accordance with the latest findings of the natural sciences and Buddhism was not based on 'dogmas of blind belief and revelation, but on rational thought... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/12/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—47-JITTERS AND JOYS OF CAMPING IN AND AROUND BLACK HILLS
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 On Tuesday (9 July 1996), we left the four presidents in Mount Rushmore meet and greet their thousands of other fans who kept on flocking, while we continued our adventures in the Black Hills (Pahá Sápa in Lakota) National Forest. We spent most of the next morning with “Crazy Horse” (ca.1840-1877), an Oglala Lakota warrior who took up arms against the U.S. federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. “Crazy Horse” led the Battle of... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 10/12/10)

Ban on cattle slaughter
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Vanderwert Place, Dehiwela
I tend to agree with Chandima Pallage of  Makola on most points on this  topic. Let me take the points one by one.   He says “I wish to state  that no religion encourages cruelty to animals” – which is true. (But about   animal slaughter I am afraid I have not come across a single religion which prohibits slaughter  but of course all do mention it has to be done in a humane way. If anyone says any religion prohibits it I would like to have the quote. I... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/12/10)

WHY THIS CRUEL WORLD DONT ALLOW US TO CELEBRATE FULLY OUR GOD GIVEN FREEDOM AND PEACE!
ranjit wickremeratne
Bombs were falling everywhere.Our lion hearted war heros were dying daily.Suicide bombers were creeping to the cities serching for their preys. Blood was everywhere and men.women and children young and old were dying from bomb blasts in trains,buses,on the road,in buildings etc.That was the dark days of our history and I am angry why some of my fellow citizens act like nothing has happened for the last thirty years. How they have forgotten those bloody days in their lives so quickly only god knows. Politicians of course you cannot trust they sing according to the times.They... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 11/12/10)

India and Sri Lanka step naval cooperation
Sutirtho Patranobis,
India and Sri Lanka on Friday continued to step up defence cooperation with navy chief admiral Nirmal Verma leading two Indian naval ships to participate in Sri Lanka navy's diamond jubilee celebration. Indian naval ships Mysore, the largest indigenously built largest destroyer of the Indian navy and Tarangini a sail training ship took part in the celebrations, which began on Wednesday. These two ships along with Indian navy's Tir, Shardul and Indian Coast Guard Ship Varuna had earlier provided extensive training to Sri Lankan Navy cadets in October.... -Full Story- (Hindustan Times - 10/12/10)

SCI mulls Colombo to Tuticorin ferry service
Mamuni Das
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) is considering a proposal from the Union Shipping Ministry to start a passenger ferry service between Tuticorin and Colombo. For this, the SCI will first have to either enter into a partnership with a ferry owner and/or operator. Alternatively, SCI might also take a ferry on lease to operate the service. Expressions of interest SCI is likely to invite expressions of interest from various firms on the issue soon, said sources from the Shipping Ministry and SCI. The Shipping Minister, Mr G.K. Vasan,recently stated that a ferry service between India and Sri... -Full Story- (The Hindu - 10/12/10)

The Plot Thickens as Diaspora Funds Reach Colombo
Dilrook Kannangara
Adversity makes strange bedfellows - proverb  Rienzi Algama was an ardent UNP supporter from Wattala. However, he was not a fool to commit harakiri over a bankrupt political party. Manipulating his love for the party, a certain well known person orchestrated a Tamil Nadu style self immolation right in front of the UNP head quarters in Pita Kotte. Soon after he succumbed to his injuries, Karu Jayasuriya publicly stated that his dying wish was the UNP leaders don’t fight each other for the top post. This was when the young popular prince from the south was... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

How to frame someone for murder or war crimes
John Brewstaer
How to frame someone for murder or war crimes As mastered by the Tamil terrorists If you need to frame someone for murder or war crimes, there are plenty of resources at your disposal. Use the wealth in the west to create a war chest. Just ask the Tamils living here. Use narco-terrorism, extortion, counterfeit documents, illegal and deadly weapons trade with terror groups, credit card fraud, money laundering, illegal human smuggling, etc, as the Tamils in the west have done for the past 30 years and still do. Contact the Tamil terrorists living in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

YOU be the Judge !!!
Dev de Silva
Hi Patriots.  I think its high time we Patriotic Sri Lankans become "Proactive" instead of being Reactive in this situation. It is apparent that the defeat of the murderous tiger terrorists have united a majority of Sri Lankans under the Lion flag and brought out the patriotism towards their motherland. I say "majority" of Sri Lankans because there are also those maggots out there who claim to be Sri Lankans but are totally unpatriotic to their motherland and would even sell their own mothers for their own benefit. From the events in the recent past... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

Sri Lanka features at the Kuwait University Exhibition
Embassy of Sri Lanka  Kuwait 
The prestigious Kuwait University hosted  the 4th International Conference on Social Sciences from 29th – 30th  November under the patronage of  Prof. Moudhi Abdul Aziz Al Humoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education of Kuwait and President of the Kuwait University. As part of the conference, over 25 countries participated in a two - day country promotional exhibition featuring  their culture, touristic attractions, fashion, people,  food & hospitality etc,  which attracted visitors in thousands.  The countries participated included  Asian, African, European and Western nations, which all had maintained promotional booths at the Kuwait... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

To the President with love
Ranjith Soysa
You regained the country chasing the Tigers. Signalled to the world that Sri Lanka is strong and healthy, Remember the Brits, the Vikings, the Blakes who hissed like vipers, nurtured terror, provided succour to fronts venomous and wealthy   Lanka’s friends were in the East In Latin America and the Middle East They rallied round and sent a message to the World. That Sri Lanka can march along head high and bold.   But, we were stunned when you chose Oxford To convey the vision of new Lanka to the world In little England, plagued by flu... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

විකල්ප බලශක්තියෙන් නව විදුලි සබඳතා ලබාදීමට ඉල්ලූමිපත් බාර ගැනේ
මාධ්‍ය අංශය - විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශය
දැනට දිවයිනේ පවුල් ලක්ෂ 42කට පමණ ජාතික විදුලිබල ජාලයෙන් විදුලිය සපයා ඇති අතර ඉදිරි වසර දෙක ඇතුලතදී ලක්ෂ 47 දක්වා ඉහළ නැංවීම විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ඉලක්කය වී තිබේ. ඒ සඳහා ග‍්‍රාමීය විදුලි ව්‍යාපෘති 4593ක් පමණ දීපව්‍යාප්තව ස්ථාපිත කිරීමේ විදුලමු ලංකා වැඩසටහන මේ වනවිට දියත් කර ඇත. මීට අමතරව ජාතික විදුලිබල ජාලයෙන් විදුලිය ලබාදීමට නොහැකි පවුල් වෙනුවෙන් විකල්ප බලශක්තිය යොදා ගනිමින් විදුලිය ලබාදීම සඳහා විෂයභාර අමාත්‍ය පාඨලී චමිපික රණවක මහතාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වන ග‍්‍රාමශක්ති වැඩසටහන මේ වනවිට දිවයිනේ සෑම ග‍්‍රාම නිලධාරී කොටිඨාශයකම දියත් කිරීමට විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශය පියවර ගෙන තිබේ.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

බොල්ෂෙවික් විප්ලවය සහ බොරිස් පැස්ටර්නැක්
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග
  ”තමන් දන්නා සත්‍ය කථා කරන කුමන හෝ මුග්ධයෙකු සෑම පරම්පරාවකම සිටිය හැක”බොරිස් පැස්ටර්නැක්  බොල්ෂෙවික් විප්ලවය පැවති අවධියේදී රුසියාවේ ඉහළ මධ්‍යම පාංතිය තුළ පැවති අවාසනාවන්ත ස්වභාවය පිළිබඳව අවධාරණය කරමින් ”ඩොක්ටර් ෂිවාගෝ” නම් අර්බුදයට තුඩු දුන් නවකථාව රචනා කිරීම හේතුකොටගෙන නොබෙල් ත්‍යාගලාභී රුසියානු කවියෙකු හා ගත්කතුවරයෙකු වූ බොරිස් පැස්ටර්නැක් ලෝක ප‍්‍රසිද්ධියට පත්විය. පැස්ටර්නැක් ”පරිකල්පනයට” අදාළ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ නිර්මාපකයෙකු විය. ඔහුගේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ නවකථාව මානවවාදයෙන් පිරී ඇති අතර එහි චරිතයන් සකසා ඇත්තේ කාව්‍යාත්මක දැක්මකිනි. 1917 දී රුසියාවේ සිදුවූ දැවැන්ත සමාජ පෙරළිය ඔහු දුටුවේ නිරන්තරයෙන් වෙනස් වන සිත්ගන්නා රූ රටා මවන මානව ක‍්‍රීඩා භාණ්ඩයක් ලෙසිනි.  මෙම නවකථාව රචනා කරන ලද්දේ විප්ලවය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 09/12/10)

The Tamil leadership solely responsible for what happened to the Tamil people
The following is the full text of the  submission made by H. L. D. Mahindapala to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission on November 29, 2010.
Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Commission, I am honoured and privileged to be invited to give evidence before this Commission on the historic and epic events of our time and I thank the Commission for giving me this opportunity. Before I go any further I must congratulate the Commission for the progress made so far, particularly in giving the lie to its critics who dismissed it as not being credible as... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/12/10)

UNP should change its Political Strategies adopted as a personal vendetta against President Mahinda Rajapakse.
By Charles.S.Perera
 In UNP Rukman Senanayake stands out from the rest- a probable leader to save UNP from collapse.  In 1986 there was a coalition Government in France. The late Mr.Francois Mitterrand was the President, and his Prime Minister was Jacques Chirac. The President was from the Socialist Party and Chirac from the Conservative Republican Party. Their politics were poles apart.  Despite their being in a cohabitation government they criticised each other politically within France with out coming down to personal levels . But out side France they never criticised each other. They were very honourable politicians, speaking in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/12/10)

To Mr Karu Jayasuriya
L. B. Wasantha (USA)
In response to Mr. Karu Jayasuriya's statement in the Lanka Guardian: http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/12/karu-replies-to-paper-which-carried.html titled: "Karu replies to the paper which misquotes him", here is a question:   Dear Karu, If you are so innocent as you claim to be in your denial of betraying Sri Lanka while in the UK, (as written to the Sri Lanka Guardian, of all places), all you have to do is to show the video of your speech made in the UK.  I am sure there must be an official video of this.  Why not show it to the public? ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 08/12/10)

The East is rising and Sri Lanka is its star
Catherine Deshayes
This is probably the best investment opportunity of its kind in the world - a bold claim you may say, so just take a moment and consider the following... Consider these points: No Capital Gains Tax! No Tax on Rental Income for 15 years! Net Rental Returns commencing at least 17 per cent! Total return on capital of 295 per cent after 60 months! No Exchange Control Restrictions on Capital and Income! With property markets in the USA, Europe and the Middle East suffering an unprecedented crash and financial markets in a state of flux, it is understandable... -Full Story- (themovechannel.com - 08/12/10)

Rajapaksa's support still strong in Sri Lanka despite setbacks
Feizal Samath
Last Updated: Dec 9, 2010 COLOMBO // Support for President Mahinda Rajapaksa remains strong and his opposition weak and divided despite protests in the UK that forced the visiting president to cancel a planned speech to the Oxford Union. Hundreds of Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates and supporters of former Tamil rebels protested in London against Mr Rajapaksa's visit, prompting Oxford University to cancel the president's talk, scheduled for December 2. But while the cancellation was hailed as a moral victory for Tamil supporters and an embarrassment for the president, analysts in Colombo said it would have... -Full Story- (thenational.ae - 08/12/10)

Global Financial Crisis Exploding LaRouche: Sink the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks!
The New Citizen
6th Dec. 2010—Ireland detonated a depth-charge in the global financial system in November, by bucking the City of London’s demand that Ireland’s taxpayers bail out the nation’s bankrupt private banks. Until it caved in on 22nd Nov. to excruciating pressure from the European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to agree to an 85 billion euro bailout, the Irish government had insisted, rightly, that it is not the Irish state which is bankrupt, but the private banks—virtually all of which are simply offshore branch offices of the major banks of the City of London. What... -Full Story- (cecaust.com.au - 08/12/10)

71 කැරැල්ල 21 කොටස
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
පියුමසේන, කන්නංගර -පියුමසේන, කන්නංගර බර්ටි රංජිත් සමඟ යාපනය හිර ගෙදර ප‍්‍රහාරයට සම්බන්ධ වූ අයෙකි. ඔහු මෙසේ පවසයි.  ‘‘මම ව්‍යාපාරයට සම්බන්ධ වෙන කොට රැකියා විරහිත තරුණයෙක්. මට ඩ‍්‍රයිවින් පුළුවං. එස්.ඞී බණ්ඩාරනායක මහත්තයගේ ව්‍යාපාරෙ වැඩට දීලා තිබු අංක 1961 දරණ ෆොක්ස් වැගන් එක මම එලෙව්වා. වරක් සුමාන 2-3 විතර පොඩි අතුල සමඟ වාහනේ බෝම්බ පෙට්ටි ප‍්‍රවාහනය කලා.  බර්ටි රංජිත් ඉගෙන ගත්තේ හුනුමුල්ල සෙන්ට‍්‍රල් එකේ. මම හුනුමුල්ල මධ්‍ය මහා විද්‍යාලයේ. බර්ටි මගේ පාසල් කාලයේ සිටම දන්න මිතුරෙක්. අපි යාපනේ හිරගේ කඩන්න ගියේ අපේ‍්‍රල් ප‍්‍රහාරයට දින 10 විතර පෙර මාර්තු මාසයේදී. කෝච්චියෙන් බර්ටි. මම, විරසිංහ හෙවත් පසුව කලපු වීරේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/12/10)

බටහිර තානාපති කාර්යාල වල උකසට තැබූ, සින්නවීමට ආසන්න වාමාංශික ‍මොල
චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.
‍මොල උකසට ගැනීම හා ‍මොල උකසට තැබීම, කාලාන්තරයක් මුළුල්‍ ‍ලේ ‍මේ රටතුල ගජරා‍මෙට සිදුවූ ව්‍යාපාරයකි. සාමාන්‍ය ජන පදනමින් ආරම්භව ගලා ගිය ‍මෙම ව්‍යාපාරය අද ජාත්‍යන්තර පදනමින් ව්‍යාප්තව පවතී. වි‍ශේෂ‍යෙන් ‍මේ රටතුල ජීවත්වීම සඳහා ‍මොල උකසට තැබීම ‍බො‍හෝවිට සිදු කරන්‍ නේ දේශපාලනයට සම්බන්ධ විවිධ පුද්ගලයින් විසිනි. මහා පරිමානයෙන් මොල උකස් ගන්නා මධ්‍යස්ථාන බවට පත්ව ඇත්තේ මෙරට බටහිර තානාපති කාර්යාල ජාලයයි. මෙම මොල උකස් ගන්නා මධ්‍යස්ථානවල මොල උකසට තැබීම සඳහා සියළුම දේශපාලන පක්ෂවල ක්‍රියා කාරීන් පැමිණෙන අතර, ඒවා උකසට තබා ඇති කාලය තුලදී එම තානාපති කාර්යාලවල දේශපාලන අංශ ක්‍රියාකාරීන් උපරීම ආකාරයෙන් පාවිච්චියට ගනී. ඒ හේතුවෙන් ගෞරවණීය දේශපාලඥයෝ ඇටි... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/12/10)

Double standards of US Ambassador Butenis
P.A.Samaraweera, Australia
In a recent address, US Ambassador Butenis had said, "...Obama and Hilary Cliton have made it a priority to reinvigorate America's relationships with the world... Built new ones to meet shared challenges from climate change to ending the threat to nuclear weapons, to fight disease and poverty in countries like Sri Lanka...and I am proud to be part of it..." And she had been smiling.   Then in cables sent to the US Dept., she had made allegations that the responsibility for many of the alleged war crimes rested with President Rajapakse, his brothers and Opposition Presidential candidate Sarath... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 07/12/10)

DISENFRANCHISE TRAITORS AND FOREIGN STOOGES
BY A.A.M.NIZAM
　President Mahinda Rajapaksa is undoubtedly and indisputably the greatest statesman produced by Sri Lanka in the recent times.　 He not only unified Sri Lanka by liberating the country vanquishing the world’s ruthless terrorist organization, akin to our great heroes never compromised the country’s integrity and never bowed down in front of the enemy or anti national forces. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has never compromised the integrity and the unitary status of the country and never genuflected in front of a foreign power whoever and how powerful it may be, and have never acceded to foreign dictates and demands,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/12/10)

Watch this Video by Dr. Wickramabahau Karunaratne
... -Full Story- (youtube.com - 06/12/10)

පශ්චාත් ව්‍යසන ක්ලමථ අක්‍රමතාවය
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග
 මානසික වශයෙන් දැඩි පීඩනයකට ලක් විය හැකි සිදුවීමකින් පසුව නැගෙන මනෝවිද්‍යානුකූල රෝගී ලක්‍ෂණ, පෙන්නුම් කරන දූරාවලියක් ‛පශ්චාත් ව්‍යසන ක්ලමථ අක්‍රමතාවය (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) යනුවෙන් හැඳින්වෙයි.(PSTD) යන කෙටි නාමයෙන් හැඳින්වෙන මෙම මානසික තත්ත්වය ව්‍යසනයකට මුහුණ දීමෙන් අනතුරුව ක්‍ෂණිකව හෝ කාලයක් ගතවීමෙන් පසුව හෝ ඇතිවිය හැකිය. කෙසේ වෙතත් එය භීතිය ගෙනෙන පීඩාකාරී හැඟීම් මුසු භයංකර අත්දැකීමකට පසුව ඇතිවන්නකි.කොළොම්බියා විශ්වවිද්‍යාල විශ්ව කෝෂය පශ්චාත් ව්‍යසන ක්ලමථ අක්‍රමතාවය හෙවත් ඡඔීෘ නිර්වචනය කර ඇත්තේ මෙසේය. “එය අතිශය පීඩාකාරී මානසික අත්දැකීමක් මත උපදින්නකි. යුද්ධය, භීෂණය, ළමා කල අපහරණයට ලක් වීම, ලිංගික අතවරයකට බඳුන්වීම, දරුණු අනතුරකට මුහුණ දීම ආදියට පසු මේ මානසික... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/12/10)

HANG 'EM HIGH
Ranjit Wickremeratne
I am not talking about the Clint Eastwood movie but about our Sinhala traitors who were clamouring to oust our beloved President and destroy our Sinhala gem of a nation SRI LANKA. Our nation is progressing in every field after the bloody terrorism war for thirty years.These stupid Sinhala idiotic traitors like Ranil,Somawansa,Tilvin, Witch Doctor Jayalath, Red Dog Balubahu not wickremebahu,Sarath Fonseka and others should be hanged for treason to their Motherland in my view. They dont have any love for their own country of birth.They simply wants to destroy our new born freedom and unity... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/12/10)

VIPs and ‘Hell’s Angels’
Dr. Tilak Fernando
Thesaurus describes the word ‘Privilege’ as a special entitlement to immunity granted by the State or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. Etymologically a privilege means a private law to a specific individual(s). In a broader sense, ‘privilege’ could be refer to special powers or de facto immunities held as a consequence of political power or wealth. One of the objectives of the French Revolution was the abolition of privilege. Members of the diplomatic guild may flout the civil or criminal codes of their host country with the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 06/12/10)

The Need to Tame the LTTE Diaspora
- Kumar Moses
   It’s easy to predict the next moves of the LTTE Diaspora. Much has happened since the above timely topic was discussed a few weeks back. Unfortunately the LTTE Diaspora is hell bent on treading a destructive path. Although the government arranged a protest rally by resettled civilians against the irresponsible LTTE Diaspora, it was not very successful. Only a very small number of people participated with government agencies supplying them with flags, etc. and they didn’t do it voluntarily. Their elected representatives, mostly TNA, are also waiting for the opportune time to discredit Sri Lanka... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/12/10)

The cancellation of the Second Address of H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka at the Oxford Union.
Press Statement – Oxford University Sri Lanka Society
The Oxford University Sri Lanka Society is shocked and outraged at the eleventh hour cancellation of the Second Address of H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka at the Oxford Union by its President James Kingston. We consider it a slur not only on Sri Lanka but also on the long cherished ideals of freedom of speech and liberty in the United Kingdom. It is reprehensible and utterly irresponsible that this was done only after President Rajapaksa had arrived in the United Kingdom and forever will be a black day in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/12/10)

Incriminating Evidence Against Instigators Of Sri Lankan President's Oxford Union Impasse Sufficient for Indictment And Persona Non Grata Status In The UK.
Insight By Sunil Kumar
Dec.5th 2010  The term unpatriotic  rabble rouser and treasonous individuals may well be fitting Sri lanka's UNP parlimentarian Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena  primarily as well as Dr Wickremabahu Karunaratne's role in calling for punitive action agaist the Government odf Sri lanka and her President during his recent UK visit. The former's  dubious track record as a former Tamil Tiger sympathiser surreptitiously visible  to the more discerning on many occassions despite no charges laid relative to some of his contentious actions and statements to the media during the LTTE problems in Sri lanka alone may be sufficient to indict and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/12/10)

CAPITALISM ,HUMANITY AND THE BUDDHIST DOCTRINE OF DEPENDENT CO-ORIGINATION
 DR JANAKA GOONETILLEKE
Since the advent of European colonialist 200 years ago to other continents   in search of wealth , dramatic changes in the moral Zeitgeist was designed  to exploit man and nature. In this context elimination of the Red Indians and Australian aborigines to the present day carnage in Iraq and Afghanistan has been justified. In a economic sense the Myth of creation of wealth in a world where the wealth is zero sum is nothing but a cloud to shroud the ultimate aim of redistribution of wealth.  This transfer of resources has been carried out with ponzy... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 05/12/10)

A Nobel Laureate!
Dr Bandula Kothalawala London N7
Since the launch of the series of Wiki Leaks’ “revelations”, Hillary Rodham Clinton has busied herself with apologising profusely to US allies for unflattering comments contained in diplomatic cables. Indeed, the amazing fluidity with which apologies roll off her forked tongue is no mean achievement in itself even for a prima donna of her ilk.  Apologetics has become her favourite literary genre, at least, for the moment. Thanks to Wiki Leaks, Hillary Clinton, at last, seems to have hit upon the right literary genre. Critics need not grudge her this apparent success, for it... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/12/10)

Sarath Fonseka jumped into a hell hole, it is for him to scramble out of it now.
By Charles.S.Perera
 Sri Lanka after the elimination of terrorists is at last a safe place for every one.   But what is really happening in Sri Lanka after this historic victory over terrorism ?  Instead of enjoying this freedom gained after so much of suffering and human and material, sacrifice, the traitors to Sri Lanka  have begun a campaign to stop progress and development. JVP  following a traitorous  political path misleading University Students, and Government employees, is  creating political mayhem carrying  the weight of Sarath Fonseka on their back.  Unfortunately in Sri Lanka there is no enjoyment of the freedom... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/12/10)

The West's unconditional and ceaseless bashing of Sihale
By Kith de Silva
Here we go again.UK Channel 4 has timed it perfectly. What a fantastic diversion to take the heat away from the Wikileaks exposing atrocities of the West. Kick Sri Lanka in the guts yet again.  No one should condone civilian killings by any. However over three decades LTTE went on killing spree of civilians and wanton destruction of economic assets and desecration of religious sites in Sri Lanka. British and other so called guardians of human rights and democracy kept mum, the minority Tamil votes in marginal seats and the blood money of the terrorist... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/12/10)

Wikileaks on Sri Lanka
Ira de Silva London, Ontario
Ms. P. Butenis U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka  Dear Madam:  I refer to your statement at the outset of the news regarding the content of the information made available to the world on diplomatic exchanges from the U.S. embassy in Colombo and the U.S. State Department. Your claim was that this information should not be made public and your Secretary of State could also only condemn the exposure stating that it would endanger lives. What is clear is that the U.S. is only concerned with American lives and have no regard... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/12/10)

Tamil activists apply for arrest warrant for Sri Lankan general
Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk,
Campaigners apply for war crimes arrest warrant against Chagi Gallage, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's bodyguard Lawyers acting for Tamil activists are in court this morning applying for a war crimes arrest warrant against a Sri Lankan general visiting Britain. Campaigners hope to persuade magistrates at Horseferry Road court in central London that the officer in charge of security for the aborted tour by President Mahinda Rajapaksa should be detained. The president had been due to speak at the Oxford Union debating society last night but the address was cancelled at short notice after the threat of mass protests... -Full Story- (guardian.co.uk - 04/12/10)

A post mortem of a snub
Malinda Senaviratne
The President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, was snubbed. Well and truly snubbed. Perhaps it was Sri Lankan generosity, perhaps it was ego or perhaps it was just seizing of an opportunity to present his case, his vision or his credentials, perhaps a reaching out, a going of an extra mile with respect to the pro-Eelam/LTTE sections of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, we don’t really know why he accepted this invitation. He opened himself to a snub and snubbed he was.... -Full Story- (nation.lk - 04/12/10)

The Travels of a Journalist—46 FROM YELLOWSTONE TO BLACK HILLS: AN ENCOUNTER WITH FOUR PRESIDENTS
By Shelton A. Gunaratne©2010 Professor of mass communications emeritus
Minnesota State University Moorhead
 When we left West Yellowstone, Montana, Sunday (7 Dec. 1996), our intention was to explore the southeastern section of Yellowstone from Moran (pop. 414) to Cody (pop. 8,835). In the morning, we drove 127 miles south from West Yellowstone (pop. 1,177) to Jackson (pop 8,647), Wyoming, via U.S. 20 (then SR 32 and SR 33) along the eastern border of Idaho. Jackson is a major gateway for millions of tourists visiting nearby Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the National Elk Refuge. Our aim... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 04/12/10)

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දේශපාලන ප්‍රචණ්ඩත‍්වයේ මනෝ විද්‍යාත්මක බලපෑම
වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග පරිවර්තනය - ඒ. එම්. වික්‍රමසිංහ
"රජයක මුලිකම කාර්ය‍භාරය වනුයේ තම පුරවැසියන් ප්‍රචණ්ඩත්වයෙන් ආරක‍ෂා කිරීමයි" -ජෝන් ෆෝස්ටර් ඩල්ස් [John Foster Dulles] ප්‍රචණ්ඩත්වය සාමාන්‍යයෙන් අර්ථ දැක්වෙන්නේ තමාටම හෝ වෙනත් පුද්ගලයෙකුට හෝ පුද්ගල කණ්ඩායමකට හෝ යම් ජන සමාජයකට හෝ විරුද්ධව, හිතාමතාම බලය හෝ කායික ශක්තිය භාවිත කිරීම මඟින් ශාරීරික ආබාධ, මානසික ආබාධ මරණය හෝ වියෝගය ඇති කිරීම හෝ ඇතිවිය හැකි ලෙසට ක්‍රියා කිරීම ලෙසය. ( Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi & lozano, 2002) දේශපාලන ප්‍රචණ්ඩත‍්වය යනු දේශපාලන අභිමතාර්ථ සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා ප්‍රචණ්ඩකාරී ක්‍රියා යොදා ගැනීමයි. දේශපාලන අරමුණු ඉටුකර ගැනීම සඳහා ලොවපුරා මිනිසුන් සහ රජයයන් �