First Police Buddhist Society formed in Sri Lanka

Senior DIG, Jayantha Wickremaratne was elected as the first President of the newly formed Police Buddhist Society recently. CID, DIG, D. W. Prathapasinghe was elected as the First Secretary to the Society. This is the first time in the 142-year history of the Police Department that a Buddhist Society was formed to serve the Department, said Senior DIG Wickremaratne.

The first act of the Police Buddhist Society was to organise a Sil campaign at the Police Headquarters on Vesak Day. Over 350 police personnel participated in the Sil campaign.

Several other religious programmes were held on the Vesak Poya Day at the Police Headquarters and other police stations in the country. Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva PC was the guest speaker at the ceremony.

The most Ven. Welimitiyawe Kusaladhamma Nayake Thera, Vice Chancellor, Vidyodaya University and Dr. Chandana Jayaratne also participated.

Extracted from,
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=43,4086,0,0,1,0

PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA SAYS UNDER NO CONDITION WOULD HE ALLOW HIS COUNTRY TO LOSE ITS INDEPENDENCE

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said to thunderous applause that he would not let his country once again become a colony of any imperial power and lose its precious independence, making obvious references to the country’s Leader of Opposition allegedly going around the world, pleading for help for his political power from foreign powers.

“When we were in the opposition, unlike some leaders, we organized our own citizens to gain political power,” said the President, in ridicule of the Leader of Opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has advised him publicly to listen to India, Europe and the U.S. in formulating a political solution to the country’s strife created by an armed insurrection. Spokesman of the government had earlier said it was seeking an indigenous solution for the country’s ills.

Read more,
http://www.tothecenter.com/news.php?readmore=1799

JHU demands arrest of Tamil MP

The TNA told parliament yesterday the LTTE air operations were only for its protection and definitely not to attack any other powerful country like India.

Speaking at the debate on the extension of the state of emergency, TNA front-liner S. Gajendran congratulated the LTTE for its ‘successful’ air strikes.

“This is only to attack identified enemy targets within Sri Lanka and not to attack India. The government had said the LTTE air power was a threat to India as well. But we are certain the LTTE ‘air force’ was set up only to protect us in the northeast and not to attack any other powerful country like India,” Mr. Gagendran said

Meanwhile,JHU leader Ven. Ellawela Medhananda Thera demanded the immediate arrest of Mr. Gajendran for making an anti-constitutional statement.

Read more,
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/05/10/front/2.asp

Estate workers donate to Defence Fund

President Mahinda Rajapaksa lauds the Kumarawatte Estate workers for their cash donation to the Defence Fund, stating it is a meritorious and charitable act to be emulated by all.

Workers in the ‘Janawasama’, owned Kumarawatte Estate in the Moneragala District, handed over the cash donation to President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees yesterday. 619 workers have contributed a days wages

A representative of the estate workers, S. Sadayandi told the Daily News after the presentation that their only plea was to see the dawn of peace to their Motherland, and they would extend their fullest support to the President in all his deliberations to achieve this end.

Read more,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/05/10/news25.asp

Don’t betray the motherland for political gains – President

President Mahinda Rajapakshe requests all political leaders not to betray the dignity of the motherland for petty political gains. President made this request at a ceremony held at the Temple Trees.

He said that leaders of certain parties have tarnished the good name of the country in overseas travel and people should take a verdict about them. The President said any political party should organize people to come to power.

The President said every one should support the effort to defeat terrorism at a time the terrorists are losing ground and this crisis should not be passed over to the next generation.

Extracted from,
http://www.lankatruth.com/full_story/2007/may/09/200700509_2.htm

NALIN DE SILVA ATTACKS RANIL WICKREMESINGHE FOR TRYING TO ECHO WHAT “HIS MASTERS SAY IN BRITAIN WHO CREATED THE PROBLEM”

Calling Ranil Wickremesinghe, the UNP leader an agent of the West Professor Nalin de Silva of the Kelaniya University said the UNP leader is instructing the government to accept solutions by the creators of the problem in Sri Lanka and such “solutions” could be suicidal for the country.

“Ranil Wickremesinghe who spends most of his time abroad would not have known the proposals at first hand. However, if he was genuinely interested in the proposals he could have obtained the necessary information from various websites or from a friend in Sri Lanka,”said Nalin De Silva further criticizing the Leader of Opposition.

Further attacking Ranil Wickremesinghe Nalin De Silva said no problem can be solved without knowing what the problem is. This is a “fundamental axiom” in Sinhala Buddhist culture, and Ranil Wickremesinghe who is alien to that culture would not have known it. Instead of Studying the problem, he is satisfied with echoing the views of his masters in the west, and he wants the President also to emulate him.

Read more,
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/090507-1.html

defence preparedness reviewed in India

With Sri Lanka saying that LTTE's air power was a threat to India's nuclear installations, the country's (India) defence preparedness was reviewed today at a high-level meeting.

The meeting, chaired by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was attended by Defence Minister A K Antony, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt.

The meeting comes a day after Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said there was a possibility of LTTE carrying out air strike on nuclear installations in India besides the shipping interests in the Indian Ocean.

"There is an air threat which has a range of 200-300 nautical miles and this range brings within it not only cities within Sri Lanka, shipping in Indian Ocean but also the nuclear installations of India," Kohona said.

Noting that LTTE is a terrorist organisation that had not hesitated in assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Kohona said "so the possibility is always there".

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200705081925.htm

British mediation bid runs into stormy weather

Britain's bid to mediate between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE has run into stormy weather. There are enough indications that the Rajapaksa government will eventually bow to nationalist pressure and keep the British at bay in a diplomatic way.

As the Sri Lanka Patriotic Front led by the Buddhist monk Elle Gunawanse demonstrated in front of the British High Commission in Colombo on Tuesday, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Wimal Weerawansa made a thundering speech in parliament asking the government and the people of Sri Lanka to ask the British to stay off Sri Lanka.

"The British create a problem and come back saying they have solution!" Weerawansa said.

Read more,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=
75c2227c-49b3-48ec-a75f-904936728efe&&Headline=
British+mediation+bid+runs+into+stormy+weather

Two new faces in Pakistan squad

Uncapped duo Fawad Alam and Najaf Shah are the new faces in the Pakistan squad for a three-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi later this month.

Retired former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq leads an absentee list including Younus Khan - on duty with county team Yorkshire, Azhar Mahmood, Danish Kaneria, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Yasir Arafat, all of whom are dropped.

Alam, a young all-rounder, has been selected on the back of an outstanding domestic season, while left-arm seamer Shah also impressed for PIA and Rawalpindi during the last campaign.

Read more,
http://www.ananova.com/sport/story/sm_2321265.html?menu=

Colombo UN officials tried to cover up LTTE abduction of two UN employees -The Island

National English daily said in its top story today that the UN officials in Colombo deliberately tried to cover up the abduction of two UN employees by the LTTE terrorists.

The incident was made known to the public by the newspaper itself on 20th April 2007 despite the attempts made by certain UN employees and NGO activist to cover it up. The island further says that the UN officials have had clandestine negotiations with LTTE the terrorists to solve the issue underhand without getting public attention. It is obvious, that such public attention will expose the true nature of the terror outfit and will be certainly disadvantageous to the LTTE propagandist.

Read full text of the headline news report published in The Island today (8th)
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070508_06

California judge withdraws her own judgment favoring PKK and LTTE in a 16 page verdict

A federal judge in Los Angeles, California has withdrawn her own judgment favoring Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan (PKK) terrorist group in Turkey delivered last November.

Last November, the federal judge said President Bush acted unconstitutionally when she designated 27 groups and individuals including the Tamil Tigers as terrorists in 2001. The judge reconsidered the issue at the government’s request.

Mr. Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, said the statute invoked by the president's order, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, gives him t too much authority. "It's very much like the blacklists of the McCarthy period. The president can designate anybody he wants for any reason or no reason at all," Mr. Cole said.

Read more,
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/5629

Sri Lanka To Acquire Russian MiG 29 Fighter Jets

Sri Lanka’s air force is shortly to take delivery of five advanced fighter aircraft from Russia to counter the threat posed by the LTTE’s air wing, The Nation newspaper reported Sunday. In addition to buying the five MiG 29 interceptors, Sri Lanka is looking to upgrade its ground attack Kfirs to interceptor role by adding radars and missiles, the paper said.

The MiG 29 fighter aircraft designed in the former Soviet Union, for an air superiority role entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1983. It is now in use with the Russian Air Force (which reportedly has over 450), as well as in many other nations, including India (which has over 60).

Read more,
http://www.india-defence.com/reports-3145
and
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/
2007/05/sri-lanka-fulcrums-lions-to-battle-tigers/index.php

Photo,
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/AIR_MiG-29_lg.jpg

Norwegian Ambassador’s Kilinochchi tour cancelled again

The Kilinochchi tour of the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Hans Brattskar was cancelled again today.

He was to leave for Tamil Tiger rebel held Kilinochchi this morning and to hold talks with the head of the political division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) S.P. Thamilchelvan and other LTTE leaders with the hope of revitalizing the collapsed peace process of Sri Lanka.

The Norwegian Ambassador’s visit, scheduled for two weeks ago, was postponed on security grounds at the Sri Lankan government’s request.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/May7142604SL.html

university non-academic staff strike ended

It is reported that the non-academic staff strike in universities of sri lanka has been ended.