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අපේ රාජ්‍ය ප්‍රතිපත්තිය සදහම් මඟ ගුරු කොට ගත්තකි - ජනපති


අප සම්මා සම්බුදුරජාණන් වහන්සේගේ සදහම් පණිවුඩය රැගෙන මිහිඳු මහ රහතන් වහන්සේ ලක්දිවට වැඩම කිරීමෙන් දෙසු දහම අප සමාජයත් සංස්කෘතියත් නව මඟකට යොමු කර ලොව අන්‍ය ජාතීන් විශ්මයට පත්කරවන ප්‍රෞඪ ඉතිහාසයකට උරුමකම් කීමට අපට හැකි වූ බව මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා සඳහන් කරයි. පොසොන් පෝය නිමිත්තෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද පණිවුඩයේ ජනාධිපතිතුමා එසේ සඳහන් කරයි.

එම පණිවුඩයේ මෙසේ ද සඳහන් වෙයි.

මිහිඳු හිමියන් දෙසු දහම් අප සමාජයත්, සංස්කෘතියත් නව මඟකට යොමු කෙළේය. ජාති ආගම් භේද නොසලකා එකම රටක පුරවැසියන් ලෙස සහජීවනයෙන් ජීවත් වීමට ඒ දහම් පණිවුඩය අපට මාර්ගෝපදේශය විය. කරුණාව, දයාව හා මෛත්‍රිය පෙරටු කොටගත් අප අවිහිංසාවාදී සමාජයක් ගොඩනඟා, සුචරිතවත් ජාතියක් ලෙස අදිටනින් පෙරට ආවෙමු. ලොව අන්‍ය ජාතින් විශ්මයට පත්කරවන ප්‍රෞඪ ඉතිහාසයකට උරුමකම් කීමට අපට හැකිවූයේ ද මිහිඳු හිමියන් පෙන්වා දුන් සැනසිලිසහගත ගමන්මග නිසා ය.

මිහිඳු හිමියන් පෙන්වා දුන් දිශානතියට යොමුව දැහැමි රටක් ගොඩනැඟීමට අද රට එක්සේසත්ව තිබේ. අධිෂ්ඨානයෙන් කටයුතු කොට සියල්ල ජයගත යුතු වන්නෙමු. දයාව, කරුණාව පෙරදැරිව සහජීවනය ඇති කළ යුතු වෙමු. සියලුම බේද අප පරාජිතයන් බවට පත්කරවන බව අප අමතක කළ යුතු නොවේ. අප රාජ්‍ය ප්‍රතිපත්තිය සැම විටම ධර්මයේ මඟ ගුරු කොට ගත්තකි.

ධම්මෝ හවේ රක්ඛති ධම්ම වාරි

“ධර්මයේ හැසිරෙන්නා ධර්මය විසින් ම රකියි” යන මිහිඳු හිමියන් අප ජාතියට ඉගැන්වූ සම්බුදු වදන මෙනෙහි කරමින් මේ පොසොන් සමය අර්ථවත් කොට අලුත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවක් ගොඩනැඟීමට පෙළ ගැසෙමු.

GOSL strongly opposes UN Panel

FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SRI LANKA – PANEL OF EXPERTS BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
ImageThe Government of Sri Lanka strongly opposes the appointment, by the Secretary General of the United Nations, of the Sri Lanka – Panel of Experts announced by his Spokesperson in New York on Tuesday, 22nd June 2010.

Sri Lanka was ravaged by the scourge of terrorism for over 30 years. The people of Sri Lanka have, during this period, suffered violence and terror of unimaginable proportions, unleashed on them by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world. After a long and difficult struggle the Government of Sri Lanka has successfully rid the country of terror, and is in the process of rebuilding the lives of her people. As an important part of this process His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka has appointed a Commission on “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation” under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, a statutory regime available under Sri Lankan law. The Government is confident that the Commission would make a most significant contribution to the further strengthening of national amity, through a process of restorative justice.

Sri Lanka is a sovereign state with a robustly independent judiciary and a tried and tested system for the administration of justice. The Government of Sri Lanka has consistently promoted and protected human rights. Indeed, this has been explicitly acknowledged by legitimate organs of the United Nations system. The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has formally adopted, after the cessation of the conflict situation, a resolution commending, inter alia, the commitment of Sri Lanka to the promotion and protection of human rights.

Sri Lanka regards the appointment of the Sri Lanka – Panel of Experts as an unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation. This interference, moreover, has potential for exploitation by vested interests hostile to the process of reconciliation taking place in Sri Lanka.

The Government of Sri Lanka notes that the joint statement of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary – General issued at the conclusion of the Secretary – General’s visit to the country on 23rd May 2009 makes no reference to “allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during military operations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)”.

Ministry of External Affairs
Colombo

23rd June 2010

Hambantota Port nearing completion

Filling of water to the new Hambantota Port basin will take place on August first. This deep sea port in southern Hambantota is being built with the financial assistance of the government of China. The first stage of this construction at a cost of US dollar 372 million included the construction of break water and the Jetty.The first stage will be commissioned for operation on November 18th by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Deputy Minister of Ports and Aviation Dayasritha Tissera made aninspection tour of the site .

Three anchorages are being built in an area spanning 43 hectares under the first stage. The depth of the Habour is 17 metres. The circle of handling the vessels is 600 metres. A Jetty which is1000 metre long will be completed for commissioning under the first stage. In parallel
to the construction work, an oil tank complex is also being built at a cost of 76 million US dolllars.

The Government of China has also offered financial assistance of US$ 200 million to build the second phase of the Hambantota Port and the agreement in this regard was signed on June 11, 2010 when the Chinese Vice Premier visited the country.(ST)

ADB assistance for northern road rehabilitation work


The Asian Development Band (ADB) has approved $154.4 million for the Northern Road Connectivity Project in Sri Lanka to rebuild the roads in the once conflict-affected northern region.

The financial assistance to rehabilitate the road network is aimed to spur the economic growth in the war-devastated region enabling livelihoods of the people to be upgraded and to bring normalcy to the region.

The ADB Board of Directors yesterday approved the loan from ADB's ordinary capital resources and concessionary Asian Development Fund. It will also provide a technical assistance grant of $500,000 to support agencies that manage and maintain the roads.

The road network in the region had been severely damaged due to the long-running war and neglect hampering the transportation of goods to markets outside the region and isolating the region from the more prosperous South.

An ADB press statement said the project will carry out civil works on 140 kilometers of provincial roads in Mannar and Vavuniya districts, including those linking settlements to markets, as well as major feeder roads connecting towns and villages.

Another 170 kilometers of national roads will be rehabilitated, helping link the north to city centers in the south. The improved surfacing and widening will help cut travel time and costs, revitalizing travel between the north and south, the release added. The project due to be completed in 2015, will facilitate access to essential social services, help resume livelihood activities, and revitalize transport of goods and peoples between the country's northern and southern regions, Dong-Kyu Lee, Transport Specialist in ADB's South Asia Department said.

Sri Lankan Government is to provide assistance of $18.6 million, for a total project cost of $173 million.The grant of $500,000 from ADB's Technical Assistance Special Fund will be used to strengthen the capacity of the Northern Provincial Council-Northern Provincial Road Development Department to manage and maintain the road network. Additional technical assistance support of $60,000 equivalent will come from the two provincial agencies.
source news.lk 6-20

Sri Lanka has lesson to world on defeating terror – President Rajapaksa

We are aware that some countries being battered by terrorism have taken strength from the victories won by Sri Lanka over terrorism. It is time for the countries facing attacks from terrorism to look back and see where they had gone wrong,

whereas Sri Lanka has succeeded, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his address to the Nation on the Victory Day celebrations at Galle Face, Colombo today.

It is a grave error judgment to think that while being opposed to terrorism targeting you, to believe that terrorism that is no threat to you is good…The world has so far trod on this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. The countries hat show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of history, President Rajapaksa further said.

Among the highlights of the President’s address are:

• We have already appointed an Independent Commission to inquire into the causes that led to terrorism, the lessons we can learn from this, and the path to reconciliation.

• As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.

• The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again.

• Our armed forces comprise those who went to battle carrying a gun in one hand, the Declaration of Human Rights the other, as well as taking food for the liberated people of the North and full of human kindness in their hearts

• What those from abroad who seek to strengthen separatism are really doing is to once again corral the people of the north into camps…The world should look into what happened to all the aid that was given as relief for the Tamil people of the North. For thirty long years they did not see the development of roads, electricity and schools.

• It did not take us long to restore normalcy to the East that was affected by terrorism. We shall next resolve the problems faced from terrorism by the people in the North, by the end of this year.

• What is most needed to prevent the shedding of blood and tears for the country is to restore the hearts shattered by violence and ease such pain. I am confident that the Sri Lankan nation has the will to achieve this.

• We must line up under the slogan, 'We for the Country'. Many countries in the world have developed through the extra-ordinary endeavors of their people. We, who have astonished the world through success in our humanitarian operation, must do so in development, too. We must surprise the world through the unthinkable.

Here is the text of President Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation:

As I hoist the national flag today, I recall the cry of victory raised by the entire nation waving the national flag throughout the country one year ago. For the first time in the history of our nation the proud roar of being brought under a single national banner was taken to the entire world by our people. Our national flag fluttered on that occasion in the last breath of those heroes who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the land. Each day, as the sun rises I remember these heroes of war who laid down their lives for the country.

We must also remember that presidents, presidential candidates, ministers, members of parliament and political leaders and intellectuals such as Duraiappah, Amirthalingam, Lakshman Kadirgamar and Neelan Thiruchelvam who faced death at the hands of terrorists are interred in our soil. We also must remember that large numbers of people, including thousands of little children, who were killed by terrorist attacks on villages, streets and highways, also lie buried amongst us. Our land today does not comprise only rock, sand and gravel but the flesh and blood of our ancestors, too.

As long as we remember that those who sacrificed their lives now rest in the soil of our land, I declare with pride that our people shall not leave room for anyone to divide this motherland of ours.

Friends,

The strategies to divide our motherland were not limited to the battlefield. This had entered not only our parliament but also factories, schools and even our homes. For thirty long years our people faced this threat in the midst of many obstacles. On some occasions our people even had to face international sanctions.

Our people have faced the worst tragedies in the history of the world. Even at a time when the Sri Maha Bodhi, the Sacred Tooth Relic and Bhikkhus were being assassinated, the community of Bhikkhus living in distant villages did not abandon their sacred responsibility of being the guardians of the nation. They gave guidance and strength to people, who clutching their children had to hide in the forest at night, returned to work their fields at day and protected the villages that would have been the borders of our land. Both in the North and East children who were returning from school were forcibly taken by the terrorists for the war. The mothers in the North and East suffered this loss.

In spite of the bombs being exploded in trains and buses, and air raids, not a single person abandoned their places of work. Terrorists who snatched away the lives and property of our people could not deprive them of determination.

The effort of the terrorists to change our hearts through the pursuit of terror for thirty years did not meet with success. Our children were deprived of their right to learn the history of our nation. The name of King Dutugemunu was demeaned even worse than during the reign of King Elara. Many were the efforts made to make us forget that we are a people who in the past had defeated the most powerful invaders.

Terrorists decapitated the villagers in the North and East. Others who earned dividends from separatists struck at the minds of the people. The determination of the heroic youth of Sri Lanka was blunted by those who spread the belief that going to war against terrorism was a dangerous and unwise task. Films were screened all over the world seeking to humiliate heroes who were disabled in the war. As much as our language, our intellectuals too, were totally ignored. Sons of Sri Lanka were been made to be temporary lodgers in their homeland.

We must be proud that our people did not allow the nation to be divided despite all these challenges that lasted thirty years. The mere recruitment of youth in large numbers to the armed forces and strengthening the forces with more arms was not sufficient. It was necessary to consider this land as part of ourselves. It was necessary to instill the confidence that the nation belongs to the people themselves.

Friends,

We inscribed in the Mahinda Chintana the path of bringing back to the nation what was forcibly taken away from us and our nation.

A government that sells the national assets of the country to foreign racketeers, that degrades our national history, that pays no heed or respect to our national language, traditions and values, is not capable of winning such a struggle. Heroism cannot be imported from abroad- it lives in our history and tradition.

In a struggle to liberate one's country, knowing the enemies' terrain alone is not important. It is necessary to understand the heartbeats of the people, their views and aspirations and respect them, too.

The people should have complete faith and confidence that the land that was liberated from terrorism through great sacrifice of life will not be handed over to the forces of separatism again.

One cannot succeed in liberating the motherland by keeping your son at home and getting another's son to fight. When we came forward to liberate the motherland, it was not done thinking that the leader, the people and the country were separate from each other, but was a single entity.

Friends,

A year has passed since that glorious victory. But there were attempts to tarnish that victory in the recent past. You are aware of the attempts at the biggest betrayal of bringing the armed forces to disrepute took place. It is an insult to the heroic troops who shed their blood and gave their lives for the country in this great humanitarian operation to say that they shot at terrorist leaders who came carrying white flags. Our armed forces comprise those who went to battle carrying a gun in one hand, the Declaration of Human Rights the other, as well as taking food for the liberated people of the North and full of human kindness in their hearts.

It is only those who have hatred towards the country and nation can betray such heroes. The beneficiaries of such a great betrayal will only be the separatists.

But my dear friends, it is with the same satisfaction that I felt when we won the humanitarian operation that I am pleased to say today that the people of this country have accepted the great challenge of protecting this glorious victory.

I believe the people of this country will stand firm as a solid fortification around the government and the security forces who won the country for them.

Friends,

We are aware that some countries being battered by terrorism have taken strength and courage from these victories won by Sri Lanka. It is time for the countries facing the attacks of terrorism to look back and see where they have gone wrong.

It is a grave error of judgment to think that while been opposed to terrorism targeting you, to believe that terrorism that is no threat to you is good.

The world has so far trod on this wrong path. Terrorism remains unvanquished because of this incorrect thinking. I must state that the countries that show sympathy towards terrorism and separatism will be the victims of terrorism. This is the lesson of the history.

Friends,

What those from abroad who seek to strengthen separatism are really doing is, to once again corral the people of the north into camps.

The world should look into what happened to all the aid that was given as relief for the Tamil people of the North. For thirty long years they did not see the development of roads, electricity and schools. It is now seen how all those funds went for the luxury, pleasure and overindulgence of separatists and for them to deprive the people of the North of their freedom.

Friends,

The problems of the Tamil people, Muslims and all others who are born and live in this country cannot be a burden to those outside. It is our own responsibility to solve the problems of our people. It did not take us long to restore normalcy to the East that was affected by terrorism. We shall next resolve the problems faced from terrorism by the people in the North, by the end of this year.

Many who went to the North are satisfied with the work done by the government towards the welfare of the displaced people. We have already appointed an Independent Commission to inquire into the causes that led to terrorism, the lessons we can learn from this, and reconciliation. It is our intent to make the people in the North be the most pleased by this victory over terrorism. It is understood by all that we carried out this great humanitarian operation only to eliminate terrorism. We left no room for even one bullet to be fired against ordinary citizens. Therefore, we consider day as one which unites all our people.

The conditions laid before us holding this country to ransom with the threat of terrorism are not valid anymore. There is a government and people today ready to make any sacrifice to safeguard the freedom of this country.

We are not ready to accept aid under conditions that will betray the freedom of our land and people. We must be ready to end the era of dependence on aid.

Friends,

It is not to idly waste our time that we liberated this land. It was not to hand over the country to thieves, crooks, the corrupt and those of the underworld and also not to waste our time in lethargy.

More than 200,000 in our armed forces have given Sri Lanka a victory through their commitment through day and night in good weather and bad. These heroes are our children born in our own villages.

Our public service has six times the manpower of the armed forces. They are also our own children born in our own villages. If our public servants make a commitment for four years similar to that by our heroic forces we will be able make this country the Wonder of Asia.

Friends,

You should be well aware of the challenges that lie ahead. We went to battle under the slogan, 'Api Wenuwen Api'. Similarly, in building the nation and country we must line up under the slogan, 'We for the Country'. Many countries in the world have developed through the extra-ordinary endeavors of their people. We, who have astonished the world through success in our humanitarian operation, must do so in development, too. We must surprise the world through the unthinkable.

It is only those of us who are born in this country that have the will to build this country. People of our country have the strength and courage to build this country. What is only needed is the will.

Yes! What is most needed to prevent the shedding of blood and tears for the country is to restore the hearts shattered by violence and ease such pain. I am confident that the Sri Lankan nation has the will to achieve this.

Heroic Troops,

We had a past full of valor, heroism and courage. But we have such qualities in which we can take pride, today. In the future when there is a need for the Sri Lankan nation to launch an incomparable battle to protect this land, they will recall with pride and take courage from the heroism displayed by you today. Even if you die you will not lie in a grave but in our hearts that love our land.

We shall pay you the tribute of our nation for every drop of blood you have shed to free our land by uniting all our peoples, ensuring that terrorism does not raise its head again, and building this nation to its true greatness.

May you have a prosperous future!

May you be Blessed by the Noble Triple Gem!

රණවිරුවන්ගේ ගෞරවය රැකදීම මුළු මහත් ජාතියේම වගකීමක් - ජනපති


රණවිරුවන්ගේ ගෞරවයත්, අභිමානයත් රැකදීම ජාතියේම වගකීමක් බැවින් රණවිරු සුබසාධනය රජයේ ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යයක් ලෙස වගකීමෙන් ඉටුකරන්න බව ජාතික රණවිරු දිනය නිමිත්තෙන් ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටියි.

නිදහස් කරගත් අප මාතෘභූමියේ කිසිදු බෙදුම්වාදයකට, ත්‍රස්තවාදයකට යළි මංපෙත් විවර නොවන බවද ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සිය පණිවිඩයේ සඳහන් කරයි. එම පණිවිඩය මෙසේය.මාතෘ භූමියේ නිදහස වෙනුවෙන් අභීතව ජීවිත පරිත්‍යාග කළ රණවිරුවන් සමරන ජාතික රණවිරු දිනය මේ වසරේදී සමරනු ලබන්නේ සැබෑම නිදහසක් උරුම කරගත් ජාතියක අභිමානයෙන් යුතුව ය.

මේ උදාර නිදහස ජාතියට උදා වූයේ යුද, නාවික හා ගුවන් හමුදාවල ද, පොලිස් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ සහ සිවිල් ආරක්ෂක බළකායේ ද සැම කළ අපරිමිත කැප කිරීම් නිසා ය. රණවිරුවෝ තම දෑස්, දෑත් - දෙපා සේම ජීවිතය පරිත්‍යාග කෙළේ මව්බිමේ නිදහස පිණිස ය. එමෙන්ම අනාගත පරම්පරාවට බියෙන් සැකෙන් තොර රටක් උදා කරනු පිණිස ය. ඒ නිදහස් රට අද අපේ ජාතියට උරුමව තිබේ.

නිදහස් කරගත් අප මාතෘ භූමියේ කිසිදු බෙදුම්වාදයකට යළි ඉඩක් නැත. ත්‍රස්තවාදයකට නැවත මංපෙත් විවර වන්නේ ද නැත. අප ඒ වෙනුවෙන් කැපවී සිටින්නේ නිදහස වෙනුවෙන් අසීමිත කැප කිරීම් කළ විරුවන්ට ද කරන උතුම් උපහාරයක් ලෙස ය. රණවිරු සුබ සාධනය ද රජයේ ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යයක්ව තිබේ. ඒ අප විරුවන්ගේ ගෞරවයත්, අභිමානයත් රැක දීම ජාතියේම වගකීමක් වන නිසාවෙනි. ඔවුන්ගේ පවුල්වල සාමාජික සාමාජිකාවන්ගේ අභිවෘද්ධිය වෙනුවෙන් ද වගකීමෙන් යුතුව මැදිහත් වීමට රජය පියවර තබා ඇත්තේ ඔවුන් ද අප ලැබූ නිදහස උදෙසා කළ කැපකිරීම් සිහි කරගෙනය.

සැබෑ ගෞරවණීය සාමයත් නිදහසත් වෙනුවෙන් ජීවිත පරිත්‍යාග කළ සියලු රණවිරුවන්ට ජාතියේ ප්‍රණාමය පුද කරමු.

දැය වෙනුවෙන් දිවි දුන් රණවිරුවන් සැමරීම ජාතියේ යුතුකමයි - ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්


දැය වෙනුවෙන් දිවි දුන් රණවිරුවන් සැමරීම ජාතික යුතුකමක් බව ආරක්ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ජාතික සැමරුම් වෙනුවෙන් පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් සඳහන් කරයි.

එහි මෙසේද වේ.

අප මාතෘ භූමියේ ජීවත්වන සමස්ත ජනතාවගේම නිදහස ආරක්ෂා කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් වීරෝදාර රණවිරුවන් තම උතුම් ජීවිතය පරිත්‍යාග කොට ඇත. අද දවසේ අප සියලු දෙනාටම සාමකාමී පරිසරයක ජීවත්වීම උදෙසා දීර්ඝ කාලයක් ත්‍රස්තවාදයට එරෙහිව සටන්වැදි රණවිරුවන්ගේ කැපකිරීම සුවිශේෂී වේ. අප පරම්පරාවේ කැප කිරීම් තුළින් අපගේ දූ දරුවන්ගේ හෙට දවස නිර්මාණය කළ යුතුව ඇත. ඔවුන්ට යහපත් අනාගතයක් උදාකරලීම පිළිබඳ පෙර නිමිති මේ මොහොතේ අප හැම දෙනාටම අත්විඳීන්නට හැකිවීම මහත් වූ භාග්‍යයකි.

වීරෝදාර රණවිරුවන් ඔවුන්ගේ උතුම්ම කැපකිරීම ලෙස තම ජීවිතය මව්බිම වෙනුවෙන් පූජාකොට ඇත. අප සියලු දෙනා එම කැප කිරීම කිසිදු දවසක අමතක නොකළ යුතුය. එය හෙට දවසේ උපදින දරුවන්ගේද යුතුකම වනු ඇත. ඒ උතුම් පූජාව තුළින් අප සෞභාග්‍යමත් ජාතියක් ලෙස ගොඩනැගීමේ අඩිතාලම නිර්මාණය කොට තිබේ. අද දවසේ අප සියලු දෙනාගේම වගකීම හා යුතුකම වන්නේ මිල කළ නොහැකි කැප කිරීම් තුළින් අත්පත් කර ගත් ජයග්‍රහණය ගැන සිහිපත් කොට සංවර්ධනය කිරීමේ කාර්යයට එනම් යහපත් වූ හෙට දවසක් මව් බිමට උදාකරලීම සඳහා කැප වීමෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමයි.

සියල්ල තුළින් සමස්ත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවාසීන් අමතක නොකළ යුතු සුවිශේෂී කාරණය වන්නේ දිවිදුන් රණවිරුවන්ගේ දෙමාපියන්, බිරින්දෑවරුන්, දූ දරුවන් සහ ක්‍රියාන්විතයේදී ශරීරාංග කැප කළ රණවිරුවන්ගේ සුබ සාධනය සහ ඔවුන් රැක බලා ගැනීමේ කාර්යයි.

සමස්ත ජාතියේම උත්තමාචාරය රණවිරුවන් වෙත පිදෙන ජාතික රණවිරු දිනයේදී මේ කාර්ය සාර්ථක කීරීමට දායක වන ජාතික හා පළාත් මට්ටමේ ප්‍රාදේශීය මට්ටමේ උත්සව වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරමින් රණවිරුවන් සැමරීමට කටයුතු කරන සියලු දෙනා ජාතික යුතුකමක් ඉටු කරනු ලබන බව සිහිපත් කරමි.

53 Former LTTE Cadres Married In Vavuniya


53 Former LTTE Cadres Married In Vavuniya

Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday conducted the marriages of over 100 former rebels at a mass ceremony attended by Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi.

A total of 53 couples were issued marriage certificates in the northern district of Vavuniya, where they are being held in military custody following the defeat of the Tamil Tiger separatist movement in May last year.

Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe, said most of the ex-combatants had been living together without formalising their partnerships.

“Some have children. It’s only fair we legalise their marriages as part of their rehabilitation process,” Ranasinghe said.

Formal marriage gives clear inheritance rights and makes it easier to seek social welfare assistance from the state.

The former militants are being rehabilitated at a military-run camp in Vavuniya, 255 kilometres (160 miles) north of Colombo, after they surrendered to the army last year.

Some 10,000 combatants gave themselves up when government troops wiped out the Tigers’ top leadership and ended the 37-year conflict which had claimed up to 100,000 lives, according to United Nations estimates.

Oberoi’s presence added glamour to Sunday’s celebration and the actor later spoke to some of the newly married couples.
lankajournal.com

PRESIDENT RETURNS TO THE ISLAND AFTER A SUCCESSFUL THREE DAY INDIAN VISIT


President Mahinda Rajapahsa returned to the Island after a successful three day official visit to India. A presidential; spokesman speaking to the news.lk over the phone said that the Srilankan airline flight carrying President and his entourage touched down sharp at 4.15 pm at the Katunayaka Air port.

During this visit Sri Lanka entered into seven agreements with India

New Delhi welcomes Sri Lankan President with Guard of Honour


The Official welcoming ceremony for the visiting Sri Lankan President who arrived in Dew Delhi last (8) evening was held a short while ago at the President's Palace the Rasthrapathi Bawan.A Guard of Honour was held in honour of the President with gun salutes. The Indian President Prathibha Patel and the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh were in attendance at the time of Guard of honour.

Soon after the Guard of Honour the President and his entourage visited the Gandhi Samadhi where President laid wreath to pay his respect to the late great leader of Maha Baratham.

The official bilateral talks between the Indian and the Sri Lankan delegation will be held this noon at the Prime Minister’s officeHyderabath House. Sri Lanka and India are to enter into several agreements at this luncheon meeting

Reconstruction and reconciliation, economic partnership, resettlement and defence will be on the agenda for discussions in the bilateral talks between India and Sri Lanka.
Source Wednesday, 09 June 2010 news.lk

40 වසක දේශපාලන දිවිය අගයා ජනපතිට ශ්‍රීලනිපයෙන් සම්මාන










හතළිස් වසරක දේශපාලන ගමන් මගේ අභිමානයත් සමඟින් පක්ෂයත් රටත් රැකගෙන පෙරට යන ගමන වෙනුවෙන් ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ උපහාර ලබයි.

එම පක්ෂයේ සමස්ත ලංකා කාරක සභාව අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී ඊයේ (07) රැස් වූ අවස්ථාවේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා වෙත මේ උපහාරය පුද කෙළේ ය. ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ උප සභාපති අගමැති දි. මු ජයරත්න, මහ ලේකම් සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමැති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන, භාණ්ඩාගාරික යෞවන කටයුතු ඇමැති ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුම මහත්වරු ජනාධිපතිවරයා වෙත මේ උපහාරය පුද කළහ.


ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ප්‍රථම වරට පාර්ලිමේන්තු පැමිණ වසර හතළිහක් ගෙවෙන මොහොතේ රැස් වූ ශ්‍රීලනිප කාරක සභාව එතුමන්ට ගෞරවණීය ආචාරය පුද කර සිටියේ ය. සර්වාගමික ආශිර්වාද මැද ඇරැඹුණු මේ අභිමානවත් උත්සවය ප්‍රථමයෙන් සිය පක්ෂයේ ආදී කර්තෘවරුන්ට, දේශය වෙනුවෙන් දිවි දුන් රණවිරුවන්ට ගෞරව පුද කෙළේ ය. අනතුරුව ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ මහ ලේකම්, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා මේ අභිමානවත් වූ සභාවේ අරමුණ පැහැදිලි කෙළේ ය.

පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ දී සියයට 65ක ඡන්ද ප්‍රතිශතය ඉක්මවූ ආසන සංවිධායකවරුන්ට ප්‍රථමයෙන් ස්වර්ණ තිළිණ සම්මාන පිරිනැමිණි.

ආසන සංවිධායකවරුන් 42 දෙනකු මෙහි දී සම්මාන දිනූ අතර එහි ප්‍රථම ස්ථානය සියයට 71ක ප්‍රතිශතයකින් කරන්දෙණිය ආසනය ජයග්‍රහණය කරවන ලද සංවිධායක ඇමැති ගුණරත්න වීරකෝන් මහතාට පිරිනැමිණි. දෙවැනි ස්ථානය හිමි වූයේ සියයට 70.66ක ප්‍රතිශතයක් ලැබූ හක්මන ආසන සංවිධායක ලක්ෂ්මන් යාපා අබේවර්ධන වන අතර තෙවෙනි ස්ථානය සියයට 70.59ක ප්‍රතිශතයකින් තංගල්ල ආසනය ජයග්‍රහණය කරවන ලද මහින්ද අමරවීර නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමැතිවරයාට හිමි විය. 2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ දී තීරණාත්මක අභියෝගවලට නොබියව මුහුණ දෙමින් විශිෂ්ට ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා දුන් අම්බලන්ගොඩ ආසන සංවිධායක, දකුණු පළාත් මහ ඇමැති ශාන් විජයලාල් සිල්වා මහතාට ද ස්වර්ණ තිළිණ විශේෂ සහතික පත්‍රයක් පිරිනැමිණ.

එසේම ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ දී පළාත් මට්ටමින් ප්‍රථම, දෙවන හා තෙවන ස්ථානවලට ඡන්ද ලබා ගත් ආසනවල සංවිධායකවරුන්ටත් ස්වර්ණ තිළිණ සම්මාන පිරිනැමිණ.

අනතුරුව පසුගිය මහ මැතිවරණයේදී වැඩිම මනාප ලබා ගත් අපේක්ෂකයන්ට ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ අතින් ස්වර්ණ තිළිණ සම්මාන පිරිනැමිණ.

එහි ප්‍රථම ස්ථානය ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් මනාප 425861 ක් ලැබූ බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ, කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් මනාප 280672ක් ලැබූ විමල් වීරවංශ, ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් මනාව 186140ක් ලැබූ සුදර්ශනී ප්‍රනාන්දුපුල්ලේ යන මහත්ම මහත්මීන් විසින් දිනා ගැනිණි.

මහ මැතිවරණයේ දී දිවයිනේ වැඩිම මනාප ප්‍රතිශතය ගත්’ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ටද ස්වර්ණ තිළිණ ජනාධිපතිවරයා අතින් පිරිනැමුණු අතර එහි ප්‍රථම ස්ථානය සියයට 84.4 ඡන්ද ප්‍රතිශතයක්’ ලැබූ නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, දෙවන ස්ථානය සියයට 75.9ක් ලැබු මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන තෙවන ස්ථානය සියයට 72.2ක් ලැබූ බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ මහත්වරු දිනා ගත්හ.

පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ දී දිවයිනේ ඉහළම ඡන්ද ප්‍රතිශතය ගත් ආසනය වූ කරන්දෙණිය ආසනයේ සංවිධායක නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමැති ගුණරත්න වීරකෝන් මහතාට ද මෙහි දි සම්මානයක් පිරිනැමිණ.

Report from dinamina ධනුෂ්ක ගොඩකුඹුර june 8

President marks four decades since entering Parliament


President Mahinda Rajapaksa, today, marks 40 years since entering Parliament. He entered the then National State Assembly on June 7, 1970 as the youngest Legislature winning the Beliatta constituency for the United Front coalition.
Throughout his political career, he went on to become a Cabinet Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister and later as the executive President of the country

A lawyer by profession, Mahinda Rajapaksa hails from a political family - his father, D. A. Rajapaksa represented the same region of Hambantota in Parliament from 1947 to 1965.

In 1994, following the election victory of the People's Alliance, Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed Minister of Labour. He held this post until 1997 and in the cabinet reshuffle, his portfolio was shifted to Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. He was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition in 2001. After the General Election in 2004, Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s 13th Prime Minister on April 6, 2004. While Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister, he also held the portfolio as the Minister of Highways.
Mahinda Rajapaksa became the fifth Executive President of the country in the year 2005 .
President Rajapaksa was re-elected for a second term of office in the Presidential Election held on January 26, 2010. His re-election took place in the first nationwide election held after the defeat of the LTTE in May last year, This was considered to be the first nationawide election free and fair election as the elections in the LTTE held northern and eastern parts were not held properly untill the defeat of tiger terrorists in May 2009.

SOURCE JUNE 6 News.lk

President pays homage to historic Kataragama Temple


President Mahinda Rajapaksa pays homage at the Kataragama Sacred City. The President arrived at the sacred site last morning and paid homage at the Kirivehera. Its Chief Incumbent, the Ven. DR. Aluthwewa Soratha thera chanted seth pirith and showered blessings on the President.

Thereafter he joined in a religious ceremony at the Kataragama Maha Devale. He seized the opportunity of receiving blessings by visiting all Devales in the Sacred Site and participates in religious observances. Uva Chief Minister Shashindra Rajapaksa and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa were present.

Meanwhile, the President monitored work on Botanical Gardens which is under construction at Mirijjawila. It is the first to come up in a Dry Zone.

On his return to Colombo, the President inspected the construction work on the Colombo Marine Drive which links Bambalapitiya and Kollupitiya.
source : news.lk 5-5

IIFA forum will give fillip to Indo-Lanka business links


India’s premier awards ceremony Indian International Films Awards will have several sideline forums to further strengthen business and investment links between India and Sri Lanka and increase tourist flow to Sri Lanka. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will hold the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum 2010 on Friday (June 4, 2010) in Colombo.

The 2010 FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum is the highlight of the IIFA weekend, as it provides Indian and Sri Lankan business leaders with a mutually beneficial networking opportunity.

The objective of the business forum is to promote bilateral trade between India and the host country, said Sri Lanka Convention Bureau Consultant Nimalka Morahela. The FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum facilitates interaction between top Indian businessmen and industry leaders from Sri Lanka.

IIFA and FICCI have invited potential investors and businessmen from India for this event which will also be attended by Sri Lankan top state and private sector invitees, she said.

The half day forum will convene an elite galaxy of speakers representing industry, Government and academia in a candid discussion on the sectors that power, trade, commerce and investment and examine promising areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Speakers at the forum include Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism Union Minister Kumari Selja, Lalit Suri Hospitality Group Chairperson Managing Director Jyotsna Suri, Western Union Services India Director Marketing Rajesh Mehta, FICCI Co-Chairman Tourism Himmat Anand, Ranjit Page, J.D. Bandaranayake and Mahesh Amalean.

Courtesy: President Media