May Day messages

President's May Day message: Working masses will preserve nation's victory

The working masses will stand united to preserve the victory the country gained by defeating terrorism, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in his May Day message.

There are certain international conspiracies to give life back to terrorism which we defeated. This is a take back of the victory we achieved with enormous dedication and patience. I expect the whole working community will be united under the theme Upan bimata da bindhuwak, Rata surakina jana paurak to safeguard the country, employees' rights and trade union victories," the President added.

The President's May Day message: "I remind you with pride of Sri Lanka's higher recognition among the South Asian countries as a country which enforced the conventions of the International Labour Organisation very successfully. First and foremost I extend my gratitude for the Sri Lankan labour community for contributing fruitfully to increase the country's economic development growth rate to eight percent."

With the defeat of terrorism we have expedited our program to win the rights of the working class. The introduction of a Pension scheme for the Private sector as a government which could recognize the interests of the people is a massive victory of the general public. It ensures a better future for the contributors of the Employees' Trust Fund. It is a great pleasure for us as we dedicated ourselves to win the rights of the working class throughout the history.

Compensation for male and female labourers for accidents at the workplace was also increased. Timely amendments were also brought to the Workers' Compensation Act. Laws are already imposed to eliminate the child labour. Sri Lankan women contribute largely to the labour force. Therefore strengthening the legal provisions related to their rights and privileges is a contemporary necessity. The government has paid attention towards it.

Moreover, steps have been taken to create the necessary administrative and management methodologies to use the foreign labour in a more fruitful manner. Our expectation is to grant the benefits enjoyed by the working class of the developed countries to our general public.

The main challenge our working community experienced was terrorism. The support we received from the working community when we stepped into defeat terrorism showed their awareness of this challenge. During our war against terrorism the labour community did not leave space for any strike or sabotage. The dedication and patience showed by our labour community to defeat terrorism is an honour for the world labour community. I also extend my best wishes for the trade union movement.

Working class achieved much - PM

It is with honour and pride that I extend my greetings to the working class in Sri Lanka and the world over to mark International Workers Day as one of their representatives, states Prime Minister DM Jayaratne in a May Day message. The message adds, “I personally believe that the success of any struggle depended on the truth and genuineness of its motives. In this context the working class can be described as those performing their duties and conducting their struggle on the basis of truth.

“It will be an act of gratitude at this moment to remember the late A. E. Goonesinha who was the founder of the labour movement in Sri Lanka.

“Today, the motherland is ruled by a labour leader who carries forward that theory with a wider vision. I consider this too as a major victory achieved by the working class of Sri Lanka. The world ‘strike’ is very rarely heard these days amidst the very flexible policies adopted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa towards worker rights and just demands. I wish to express my personal gratitude to the President and the working class in this regard.

“But still we are not complete. I believe that as a government and a country we should pay more attention towards the entire working class.

“Let us on this day dedicate ourselves to protect and safeguard the rights of the working class in Sri Lanka and the whole world.

Major stakeholders in development- Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge

Labour and Labour Relations Minister Gamini Lokuge in a May Day message states: We are celebrating May Day today on the theme “A drop of sweat to the motherland: People’s fortress protecting the country.”The fearsome sound of bomb blasts is not heard today. With the end of 30 year cruel war we are able to celebrate May Day in a free country. The peaceful environment in the country has spread to work places. Therefore our duty is to take the country towards development and progress. The working class is the most important shareholders of this endeavour. Today we have been able to maintain economic growth at a high level owing to the workers who are contributing their labour in a fruitful manner.

Owing to the active contribution of the working class we have a duty and responsibility to uplift them to the highest level. I believe that the experiences gained through the Trade Union movement will make it easy for me to fulfil this task. We have been able to make this a reality through the ‘Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma’ program.

The most important role of the working class should play today is not only to safeguard their rights but also to defeat local and foreign forces trying to label the Commander-in-Chief, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and war heroes who restored peace in the country as war criminals.

Working class day SLFP-General Secretary

The secret behind the human civilization is labour. Civilization was built, promoted and maintained through the greatness of labour. Therefore it is no exaggeration to say that human civilization is indebted to working class labour, said SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena in a May Day message.

When we consider the rights and privileges enjoyed by the working class today we are reminded of the liberators, leaders and philosophers who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the working class struggles.

This is a very appropriate moment to honour and salute them on behalf of the working class.

The farsighted leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who defeated reactionary forces and paved the way for the workers charter which helps to create the environment necessary for worker brothren to render an honourable service keeping their heads erect, will be a blessing to the working class. The working class has a great responsibility in our effort to transform the motherland as the wonder of Asia. I trust that they will clearly identify that responsibility and work in a creative and enthusiastic manner. While saluting the entire working class, I take this opportunity to express my honour and gratitude to health sector trade unions and their worker members who are working in unison with me for the welfare and progress of Sri Lanka’s Health Service.

I request all Sri Lankans to display the might of the working class of this country to the international world and make use of this May Day to build a fortress to defeat all conspiratorial forces.

Govt rejects UN panel report

The government strongly objects to the publication of the report of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on accountability in Sri Lanka and to the taking of measures based on the recommendations made by the said panel since the panel is not appointed by the UN system, External Affairs Minister Professor G L Peiris said yesterday.

Professor Peiris

He made this observation at a press conference held to express the government’s stance in respect of the present situation springing from the report by the Advisory Committee appointed by the UN Secretary General to advise him on accountability issues in Sri Lanka.

Professor Peiris also said that a representative of the UN Secretary General has stated that the report of the Advisory Committee will be published this week and the Sri Lanka government requests the UN Secretary General not to publish it or implement the recommendations of the report as this Committee had no authority to conduct investigations. He added that the UN Secretary General clearly stated that the Committee was appointed purely to advise him.

Minister Peiris said that he would not make any comment on the contents of the report at this stage but was only objecting to the publication of the report as it is wrong and unacceptable and against the principles of the United Nations.

He further said that Sri Lanka has entered a new era accelerating economic development and facing the challenge of reconciliating between communities following the eradication of terrorism. He queried if the publication of this report of the advisory panel would unite and build reconciliation among the communities in this country or act otherwise.

The External Affairs Minister further said that the Sri Lankan mission received this report in New York on April 12 and rejected it as it was fundamentally flawed.

He also said that the representatives of various countries including the west appreciated the move by the Sri Lankan government to set up the Lessons Learnt and Reconcilliation Commission.

He added that this Commission will complete its work in May but the Advisory Committee of the UN Secretary General completed its report even without looking at the report of the LLRC which is against all principles.

The Minister further stated that publishing the report by the Advisory Panel would seriously harm the UN system. He added that the consequences for the UN by publishing the report are far from fortunate. The publishing of the report will inflict even greater damage on the UN system far from Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a member of UN and a member since it was established.

Professor Peiris also stated that the UN system has to consider this advisory committee mandate to comment on Sri Lankan institutions, Sri Lankan jurisdiction, Court System etc. He added that the Sri Lankan government is asking the UN to refrain from taking steps that will make reconciliating the communities in Sri Lanka difficult.

මූන්ගේ කමිටුවට සන්ධානයේ විරෝධය

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ මහලේකම් බෑන් කී මුන් මහතාගේ කමිටුවට එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය විරෝධය පළ කරයි. එම වාර්තාව සත්‍ය තොරතුරු සොයා බැලීමෙන් තොරව සකස් කළ ඒකපාර්ශ්වීය වාර්තාවක් බවට සන්ධානය පවසයි. එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රකාශයක් කරමින් සන්ධානයේ මහලේකම් වරයා පවසන්නේ අප රටට යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා එල්ල කිරීම එහි ප්‍රධාන අරමුණ වන බවය.

මහලේකම්වරයාට උපදෙස් දීමට පත්කළ ත්‍රිපුද්ගල කමිටුව ඒකපාර්ශ්වීය සාවද්‍ය තොරතුරු මත වාර්තාව ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති බව පවසන සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත් මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යුද්ධයක් තිබුණේ නැති බවත් තිබුණේ මානුෂීය මෙහෙයුමක් බවත් පවසයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අවශ්‍යව තිබුණේ එල්. ටී. ටී. ඊ ත්‍රස්තවාදයෙන් ජනතාව මුදාගැනීම පමණයි. එම සංවිධානය ලෝකයේ රටවල් ගණනාවක තහනම් සංවිධානයක්. එහෙත් මේ වාර්තාවේ සඳහන් වන්නේ අවසන් අදියර ගැන පමණක් බවද ඇමැතිවරයා පවසයි.

එල්. ටී. ටී. ඊ සංවිධානය වසර 30 තුළ සිවිල් ජනතාව, රාජ්‍ය නායකයන්, හමුදා නායකයන්, දේශපාලනඥයන් ඝාතනය කළ බවත්, එම සංවිධානය මෙරටින් තුරන් කිරීමට නායකත්වය දුන් ජනාධිපතිතුමා, ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්තුමා, රණවිරුවන් ඉලක්ක කර චෝදනා කිරීමත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරීභාවයට මැදිහත්වීමට ප්‍රයත්න දැරිමත් දැඩි සේ හෙළා දකින බවත් පවසන මහලේකම්වරයා මෙම වාර්තා සකස් කිරීමේදී ඇතැම් දේශපානඥයින් මෙරටදී සහ විදේශවලදී වාසි තකා සිදුකරන ලද ප්‍රකාශද පදනම් වී ඇතැයි ද පවසයි.

මේ වාර්තාව මඟින් ජාත්‍යන්තරයට ගෙනයන කුමන්ත්‍රණය පරාජය කිරීමට දේශහිතෛෂී සියලු ජනතාව එක්වන මෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින මහලේකම්වරයා, මානුෂික මෙහෙයුමෙන් පසු ජනවර්ග අතර සමගියත් රටේ ආරම්භ කළ සංවර්ධනය නවතා දමා රට දෙකඩ කිරීමටත්, ජනවර්ග අතර බෙදීමක් ඇති කිරීමට කටයුතු කිරීම ජගත් සංවිධානයට තරම් නොවන බවත්, මහලේකම්වරයා පවසන අතර මේ සඳහා දේශප්‍රේමී සියලු ජනතාව සහ සන්ධානයේ හවුල්කාර පක්ෂවල පූර්ණ සහාය ලබාදෙන බවද පවසයි.

Amid attempts to tarnish country’s image : President calls for show of strength

May Day to be made platform :

*Some critics of Sri Lanka fell prey to dollars

*Willing to face any punishment on behalf of motherland

President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared that this year’s May Day while rightfully honouring the workers should also be used as an opportunity to protest against the false propaganda being carried out before the world to belittle and undermine the victory achieved by the country.

Addressing electoral organisers of the UPFA at Temple Trees on Saturday he called on them to make this May day an occasion for a show of strength to voice their solidarity against the injustice perpetrated on the country before the world. “The time has come to show our strength and this should not be confined to expressing worker solidarity on this day but also to demonstrate against the injustice done to the country before the world”, the President asserted.

He said several parties were harbouring a grudge against Sri Lanka for defeating terrorism. “I am, prepared to face any punishment on behalf of the motherland with great honour.”

We will not permit the sacrifices of our heroic soldiers to be undermined by anyone.

The President said today the entire world enjoyed the benefits from the defeat of terrorism in Sri Lanka.

This is despite the claim of by most organisations that the LTTE, the most brutal terrorist outfit in the world, was invincible.

“Similarly you are today aware of the threats directed at us. This is being carried out in a well orchestrated manner before the world community. Certain elements who have descended to the lowest form of politics failing to making a distinction between the country and party politics and not hesitating to denigrate the country due to greed for dollars and influenced by certain political idealogies attempted to paint a wrong picture of the country before the world.

“This was the situation at that time. It was left to us to pull out the country from this morass”. He said “we spent over Rs. 2,000 billion on the North to speed up development there. But today the picture being painted is of displaced persons and the blatant falsehood of child soldiers being tortured”.

President Rajapaksa emphasized that the law applied equally from the Prime Minister downwards and no one was immune to the law.

“We have today released a large number of child soldiers. Similarly suspects have been released in large numbers. They have been rehabilitated and absorbed into society as productive citizens”.

The President also said today not only the North but the entire country was free of terrorism. He recalled how former President Premadasa was killed by a terrorist bomb on May Day.

“We liberated the country somehow and today all enjoy peace and freedom.

We saw how the people moved about freely this New Year attending to their task free of fear and tension. There were times when May Day was not held in this country due to fear of terrorist attacks. Today with total peace, we are confident of holding this May Day on a grand scale”.

Time Magazine survey: President among top 7

A Time Magazine survey has placed President Mahinda Rajapaksa sixth among top 7 world leaders, influential persons, celebrities, including Hollywood stars and sporting icons, leaving US President Barrak Obama trailing far behind at 47th position and other international leaders who failed to figure in the top 7 line up.

President Rajapaksa has been ranked sixth among the 100 most influential persons of 2011 leaving behind all top political heavyweights and Hollywood superstars.

Among those who were ranked below the President were such stalwarts as Hillary Clinton, US Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin and tennis ace Rafael Nadal. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi together with Hollywood starlets Sandra Bullock and Natalie Portman were all pushed way down the list.

Leading the list was Rain with 446,716 votes, while President Rajapaksa obtained 89,759 votes to be just below entertainer Beyonce in fifth position. Others ahead, included, Jay Choy (Susan Boyle (158,696) and Cheng Yen. Barrak Obama trailed behind to a distant 47th obtaining a mere 8,701 preferences outvoted by first lady Michelle Obama who received 16,483 votes. Sonia Gandhi at 97th position hugged the bottom of the list with Ricky Gervais, Christine Loh and Lovon Helm.

The Time Magazine asked its voters to “cast your votes for the leaders, artistes, innovators, icons and heroes that you think are the most influential people in the world”. President Rajapaksa’s elevation among the elite list has been largely attributed to his success in eliminating terrorism, that plagued Sri Lanka for three decades, the only national leader in modern times to have rid his country of the scourge.

Meanwhile ‘Asian Tribune’ adds: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reached much popularity leaving behind all other top political icons and celebrity stars in the world and some Hollywood superstars in 2011.

Rajapaksa is on top of ‘Robin Hood of the information age’, Julian Assange who acquires secret and often controversial documents from government and corporate sources and then releases them to the public via whistle blowing site WikiLeaks.

President Rajapaksa who pioneered Sri Lankan island nation’s crush on terrorism had reached top among the United States rulers, including President Barack Obama, who received Nobel Peace Prize for none other than talking in 2009, American First Lady Michelle Obama, US Vice President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and US potential presidential candidate Republican Party’s most dynamic star Sarah Palin.

With so little power Mahinda Rajapaksa achieved so much and pushed Sri Lanka to greatness during last six years. When he got elected; with a narrow margin over his challenger, his party couldn’t even elect the Speaker of the Parliament; and the ruthless terrorist group LTTE was running wild in the country, bombing buses and public places filled with civilians. Within several years, Rajapaksa managed to win the excess majority of the Parliament to his side, defeated the world’s most ruthless terrorist group (according to FBI) and generated an economic boom in the island nation, while the whole world was tumbling into the worst recession in recent history.

His visionary leadership in Sri Lanka had doubled the per capita income, lead the country to middle income status; made the Colombo Stock Exchange the best in the world and had initiated massive development programmes including ports, highways and large scale leisure projects convincing the peace and harmony to the country.

Rajapaksa’s influence rippled globally, he held his ground against western superpowers who tried to rescue the ruthless megalomaniac Prabakaran, didn’t yield to economic sanctions threats like cutting GSP+ tax incentives by European Union for alleged human rights violations in warfare by Western nations, Rajapaksa defeated western powers at the UN, by forming a novel coalition against western imperial powers. President Rajapaksa’s influence has already altered the course of Sri Lanka and perhaps the whole world as per many Sri Lankans.

In TIME 100 poll, Rajapaksa is also ranked above the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who is being alleged liaisons with younger women in luxurious, so-called “bunga bunga” parties, Burma’s icon of democracy Aung San Suu Kyi, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Director-General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Ahmad Shuja Pasha, an anti-war gadfly 12-term Republican Congressman Ron Paul who is a master of the online money bomb and to be married Royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Rajapaksa is also above the Egyptian democracy advocate and possible presidential candidate, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei who helped fuel the twitter and facebook rebellion that younger Egyptians eventually seized to bring an end to Hosni Mubarak’s oppressive regime. Rajapaksa has also reached top above Wall Street billionaire Warren Buffet and Indian Billionnaire Mukesh Ambani among TIME 100 votes whilst leading the former Boeing executive Alan Mulally who restructured Ford to a US $ 6.6 billion company in last financial year.

The Sri Lankan President has received votes from TIME 100 people polls more than the Brain behind the social-media giant, Facebook’s 26-year-old CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, Physicist Stephen Hawking, Qatar based television Al-Jazeera and Bollywood actor and producer, Aamir Khan who made a profit without superstars from satire on farmer suicides titled Peepli Live.

නිදහසේ අවුරුදු සිරි විඳ ගන්නට දරුවන්ට අවස්ථාව උදාකර දෙමු - ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ

අලුත් අවුරුදු පණිවුඩ

නිදහසේ අවුරුදු සිරි විඳ ගන්නට දරුවන්ට අවස්ථාව උදාකර දෙමු : ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ

අලුත් අවුරුදු අසිරියේ සැබෑම හිමිකරුවන් වන දරුවන්ට නිදහසේ අවුරුදු සිරි විඳ ගැනීමටත් අවුරුදු නැකත් චාරිත්‍ර සමඟ එක්වීමටත් අවස්ථාව උදා කළ යුතු බව ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පවසයි. දරුවන්ගේ සතුට ආරක්ෂා කරදීම සඳහා මතින් ඈත්ව අවුරුදු සමරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටින ජනාධිපතිවරයා එය මේ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද වෙනුවෙන් දරුවන්ටත් සමාජයටත් දිය හැකි හොඳම තෑග්ග බවත් ප්‍රකාශ කරයි. ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ අදහස් පළ කරන්නේ එළැඹෙන සිංහල දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද වෙනුවෙන් සිය සුබ පැතුම් එක් කරමිනි.

ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ පණිවිඩයේ වැඩිදුරටත් මෙසේ ද දැක්වේ.

සිංහල දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද පුරාතනයේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාද්වීපයේ අතිබහුතර ජනතාවක් පවත්වාගෙන ආ මහා සංස්කෘතික මංගල්‍යයයි. මිහිකතට ශක්තිය දෙන සූර්යයාගේ ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය හා බැඳුණු මහා මංගල්‍යයයි. එය ශ්‍රී ලාංකික කෘෂිකාර්මික නිෂ්පාදන ආර්ථිකයේ මහා ජය කාහල නාදය ද වෙයි. අප මේ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද පිළිගන්නේ කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයේ සේම සෑම අංශයකම නිෂ්පාදනය ද සංවර්ධනය ද ඇති කරමින් පවත්නා වූ අවධියක ය. එසේම නිදහස සැපිරූ රටක ය. එබැවින් සම්ප්‍රදායිකව ජනතාව තුළ ඇතිවන නැවුම් හැඟීම් සේම ප්‍රබෝධය ද වඩාත් වර්ධනය වන බව මාගේ විශ්වාසයයි.

මේ සංස්කෘතික මංගල්‍යය වසර දහස් ගණනක් තිස්සේ පැවැත්වීම නිසා එය වඩාත් සුනම්‍ය, අසිරිමත් සහ අර්ථවත් මංගල්‍යයක් ලෙස අද පවතී. අප මේ දායාදය තවත් අර්ථවත් කොට අනාගතයට බාරදිය හැක්කේ ඒ කෙරෙහි අපේ දූ දරුවන් යොමු කිරීමෙනි. එසේ ම මේ අලුත් අවුරුදු සමයේ ද රාජකාරිය වෙනුවෙන් කැප වූ ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාවේ පොලිසියේ සහ සිවිල් ආරක්ෂක බළකායේ සාමාජිකයින්ව ද රාජ්‍ය සේම පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ සියලු දෙනාව ද අප කෘතඥතා පූර්වකව සිහිපත් කළ යුතු ය. ඔබ සැමට සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා ! යි මම ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමි.

ළය පුරා නිදහස් හුස්මක් මුවපුරා නිදහස් හසරැල්ලක් අගමැති දි. මු. ජයරත්න

කඳුළින් පිරි අතීතයේ හිස මතට සතුට නැමැති කිරුළ පැලැන්ද වූ නව වසරක් උදා වී ඇති බව අගමැති දි. මු. ජයරත්න මහතා නිකුත් කළ අළුත් අවුරුදු පණිවිඩයේ සඳහන් වේ. ළය පුරා නිදහස් හුස්මකුත් සහ මුවපුරා නිදහස් හසරැල්ලක් රැගෙන සූර්යයා මීන රාශියෙන් මේෂ රාශියට පැමිණෙන මේ ස්වර්ණමය මංගල්‍යය වෙනුවෙන් රටේ සියලුම ජනතාවට සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා යි හෙතෙම සුබ පැතුම් පණිවුඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටියි.

උතුරු කොනේ සිට දකුණුලක දක්වා සෑම නිවසකම එකම නැකතට එකම මොහොතක එකට ගිනි දැල්වීම ඇතුළු චාරිත්‍ර රැසක් එකට කරන තවත් ජාතියක් නොමැති බවද හෙතෙම ප්‍රකාශ කරයි.තවද එම නිවේදනයේ තවදුරටත් මෙසේ ද සඳහන් වේ. සූර්ය මංගල්‍යය හෙවත්, මේ සිංහල හා හින්දු අලුත් අවුරුදු උදාව දුරාතීතයේ සිටම ලක්වැසියනට කියාදී ඇති පාඩම් බොහෝය. උතුරු කොනේ සිට, දකුණු ලක දක්වා වන සෑම නිවහනකම එකම නැකතකට, එකම මොහොතක එකට ගිනි දල්වන, එකට කිරි ඉතිරෙන, එකට වැඩ අල්ලන මෙවන් අනගිභවනීය සිරිතක් වෙනත් කිසිදු රටකට හෝ ලෝකයේ කිසිදු ජාතියකට නොමැති බව අප තරයේ සිහිතබා ගත යුතුය.

එදා ප්‍රභාකරන් විසින් උණ්ඩයෙන් යටපත් කර දැමූ ඒ ඥාතිත්වය, බන්ධු මිත්‍රාදී හැඟීම් දැන් යළිත් දළුදමා මල් පුබුදන්නට සූදානම් ය. පාර්වතීලාත්, විනෝදනීලාත් තල්වැට පැන නෑගම් එති. දකුණ ඔවුන් පිළිගත යුත්තේ ආදරයත්, සහජීවනයත්,, දයාගුණයත් එක්තැන් කළ වර්ණවත් හැඟුමිනි. මේ අලුත් පිබිදීම, මේ අලුත් බැඳීම, මේ අලුත් සතුට අප භුක්ති විඳින්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා මාතාවට නොපිරිහෙලා තම යුතුකම් කොටස ඉටුකළ එක්තරා දේශමාමක පුත්‍රරත්නයක් නිසාය. හේ, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ නම්, නම් ලද්දේ ය.

සිංහල, දමිළ, මුස්ලිම්, බර්ගර් ආදී සියලු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවාසී දුවා දරුවන්ගේ හදවත් තුළ ලොකුම අයිතිකාරයා එතුමා බව අප මේ මොහොතේත් ස්තුතිපූර්වකව සිහිපත් කළ යුතුය. ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මැතිතුමන් නොවන්නට කිසිඳු ලිපක්, නැකතට දැල්වෙන්නේ නැත. කිරිබතක් තබා කුසගින්නට බතක් පිසගන්නට කිසිවෙකුටත් නිදහසක් නැත. උතුරටත්, දකුණටත් සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා! යි මුවපුරා කියමු. වෙන් වෙන් වශයෙන් අපගේ පුද්ගල අභිමතාර්ථ මෙන්ම, රටක් වශයෙන් ඉදිරි සංවර්ධන ඉලක්ක සපුරා දැහැමි සමාජයක් නිර්මාණය කරවීමට අවශ්‍ය ශක්තිය, දිරිය ලැබේවා! යි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමු. ඔබ සැමට සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා!

New Year messages

Renewal in spirit, new expectations

From ancient days the great cultural festival of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year has brought satisfaction and joy to the vast majority of our people. It is a festival that pays homage to the sun for the strength given to the land and people and is also the annual harvest festival that echoes the achievements of the rural people, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a New Year message.

President Rajapaksa

The message: “We celebrate this New Year at a time when production is progressing rapidly in agriculture and all other areas of development. It is also a time when all enjoy the freedom achieved in our Motherland. Therefore, this New Year will help bring a renewal in spirit and new expectations to the people about future progress.

”The New Year traditions coming down through centuries add to the joy of celebration. We can give this joy to future generations by making our children aware of its importance in our way of life.

”We must create every opportunity for our children who cherish the New Year festivities to join in observing the many rituals and traditions that they are associated with it. Therefore, to ensure the safety and joy of our children in celebrating this event, I appeal to you all to keep away from all intoxicants during this festive season. I trust this will contribute to bringing its joy closer the children and women of our country.

”I extend my deep gratitude to the members of the Armed Forces, Police and Civil Defence Corps, as well as a ll employees of the State and Private Sector who have made a commitment to be at their posts during the festive season. I wish you all Happy and Prosperous New Year!”

---

Let us achieve all development goals

It is as an elder and a friend that I extend my sincere greetings to all citizens of a free country on the occasion of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year which marks the movement of sun god from Pisce to Aries in the Zodiac Prime Minister DM Jayaratne said in a New Year message.

Prime Minister DM Jayaratne

“The dawn of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year or the sun festival has taught Sri Lankans many lessons,” the Prime Minister said.

We should remember that no other country or nation has a noble custom such as the new year customs of homes in all parts of the country from North to South rally round at a single auspicious time to light the hearth, boil milk, commence work and partake of food”, the Prime Minister said.

The message: “That friendship and relationship which was subdued by Prabhakaran by the power of the gun has blossomed once again. We are enjoying this renewal, new link and joy thanks to a patriotic son who has rendered his duty and service to the motherland without hesitation. He is none other than President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

We have to gratefully remember that he occupies a special place in the hearts of the people of all community in this country.

”We would never have enjoyed this new found freedom to perform our new year customs if not for him. He has crowned the people with happiness after their sorrowful past.

”Let us heartily wish the North and South a happy New Year. Let us wish strength and courage to one and all to achieve all individual hopes and aspirations as well as create a righteous nation by achieving all development goals as a nation”.

We are stepping into a period of great prosperity – President

We have today arrived at a time when the country's economic indices are at a high level never seen in our history and stepping into a period of great prosperity. The entire population showed great cooperation and commitment in achieving this economic success, stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"If the benefits of the economic progress are to be distributed among large sections of the population, we should look for solutions that are based on social foundations that give due recognition to our national and indigenous feelings and culture, and protects our national identity," said President at the launch of the Central Bank Annual Report 2010 at the Central Bank auditorium yesterday morning.

Full text of the speech:

I am greatly pleased, both as Minister of Finance and Head of State of Sri Lanka, to participate in the release of this latest Annual Report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

This is the fifth occasion when I have come to receive the Central Bank’s Annual Report. Although the Central Bank is a place I am very familiar with, there is a noticeable difference today in the social and economic environment that prevails from when and where earlier. We live today in an environment that is more free and prosperous and than in the past, as well as where Sri Lankan individuality is protected,and the national cultural aspects greatly embellished. We are today in an environment where economic progress moves together with ethical values and the protection of a green and sustainable Sri Lanka.

While we live under conditions that have an impact on the present and future conditions of our people that can bring about productive changes in all sectors, we have arrived here after a period of great challenge. In 2005, the gross National Income of the country stood at a little over USD 1000. There were many problems facing the country.It was not possible to have a clear image of the country’s future. The number of people leaving the country, the businesses being closed, the investments being taken away, the rising payments for insurance coverage, the reduction in marker relations, the gradual reduction of
the coastline and narrowing of our territory were all taking place,together with the daily decline in the value of the rupee, as well as increasing corruption, highway robberies, crime and other violence that went together with terrorism, that cast frightening shadows on the country where no clear forward vision could be worked out on a long-term basis in any sector of the country.

Due to terrorism that prevailed for more than three decades that led to a background of political instability saw a rise in the levels of one employment and poverty, and also pointed to the necessity for large scale infrastructure development. Taking the entire economy as a whole what could be seen was an environment of great instability.

Our main challenge was to achieve a high level of development that would bring suitable returns in the short time to all sectors of society. In the past, the solutions to the country’s problems were sought within the context of a foreign framework. As such we had to accept solutions that were suitable to those countries.

We observed that a large sector of the economy was in the rural sector. Although, a very large section of the population live in this rural environment and the employment of a large segment of this population was in agriculture, the major benefits of the country’s economy were distributed in the urban sector. Therefore, we realized that if the benefits of the economic progress are to be distributed among large sections of the population, we should look for solutions that are based on social foundations that give due recognition to our national and indigenous feelings and culture, and protects our national identity.

It is on this basis that we launched a large number of massive development projects that will bring benefits to all sectors of
society. Accordingly, the road network was developed giving due priority to the national, provincial and rural needs. This also
enabled us to launch a large infrastructure development projects such as Norochcholai thermal power plant, the Ruhunu Magampura Port, the Colombo- Katunayake expressway , the Southern expressway and the expansion of the Colombo habour.

We also took action to develop agriculture, the fisheries sector, and the small and medium industrial sector and launched large provincial development schemes bringing considerable investments to key sectors of public needs such as housing, drinking water, power, schools,health facilities and education. We also activated important development programs such as Uthuru Wasanthaya for the development of North and Nagenahira Navodaya for the East.

All of these development tasks had to be initiated and carried out while setting apart a large amount of national assets for the
eradication of terrorism. In addition to threats faced by every sector of the economy from terrorism, we also had to repeatedly face the challenges of floods, droughts, and the global financial and economic crises. You are aware that overall impact of each and all of these crises were unprecedented in the history.

We successfully faced up to all of these obstacles. As a result of proper management of the battle against terror, we were able bring to an end a war that lasted through three decades. Similarly, with limited assets we were able to properly manage the economy. In the midst of many obstacles, from the year 2005 we have seen an unbroken economic growth of 6% or more. Prior to they year 2005 never in our records was our country able to achieve an economic growth rate in excess of 6% in two consecutive years. What is necessary for a rapid economic growth is to maintain a high level of economic growth through
several years.

In the year 2009, when the world economy saw negative growth,developed and strong economies were crashing, some emerging economies were declining, we were able to achieve a moderate growth rate of 03.05%. As the Central Bank states in its latest annual report, in the last quarter in 2010 Sri Lanka was able to achieve a growth rate of 8.06%.

In 2010 our economic growth was 8%. The achievements we have gained by now are great. We have today arrived at a time when the country's economic indices are at a high level never seen in our history and stepping into a period of great prosperity. The entire population showed great cooperation and commitment in achieving this economic success. I am truly grateful to all of you for this.

Our expectation is to raise per capita income in our country to USD 4000 by 2016. The per capita income that was USD 2053 in 2009 had risen to USD 2400 in 2010. This shows that we have already achieved considerable progress. Accordingly, it is clear that achieving our targets will not be a difficult task.

Together with this we have now achieved commendable successes in our economy by having a historically high level of our foreign reserves, the low level of interest, a low percentage of unemployment, the lowest level of poverty; going above the targeted level of government revenue for the first time, the annually declining ratio of government debts and budget deficit, as well as the declining rate of inflation that is been maintained on a long term basis. These can be considered major national gains.

I believe that we must all work with great commitment to take these victories forward. Our expectation is to take the assets of this city to the village and to wipe out the gap between the village and the city. In order to provide the same benefits enjoyed in the city the village should be our singular target.

Therefore, I am happy that we are today able to carry out these tasks.Similarly, we are pleased that we are now able to spend the funds that were earlier used to fight against terror for the development of the country and its people. I express my gratitude to all those who contributed to the preparation of this valuable report and wish all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Sri Lanka - World Cup runners up returns

International Cricket Council- World Cup 2011 runners up the Sri Lankan cricket team returned to the Island Sunday morning at the Colombo International Airport amidst multi religious observances.

Sri Lankan Cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara and the team arrived at BIA this from Mumbai after the World Cup final where Sri Lanka was beaten by India for six wickets.

The runners-up were greeted at the Airport by large number of well wishers including government ministers, Parliamentarians and officials.

ICC World Cup Final - Sri Lanka captain says pressure is all on India

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara deflected all the pressure onto India a day before the World Cup final by saying the host team will carry the “weight of expectation.”

India hasn’t won the World Cup since 1983, and hopes are high in the country of 1.2 billion that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s squad can end that wait on home soil and at Sachin Tendulkar’s home ground.

Sangakkara’s team has played all but one of its matches so far in Sri Lanka, but the captain said Friday that playing in India would ease the pressure on his players.

“It cuts both ways I think,” Sangakkara said. “Playing in front of your home crowd adds to the excitement, the passion and the pride that you feel. But the weight of expectation, when you feel that crowd looking at you to do everything right, is also tough.”

The Wankhede Stadium will be full to capacity with more than 33,000 spectators, the vast majority of whom will be cheering for India and its star player Tendulkar, who is seeking a first World Cup win in six attempts.

Even ICC chief executive Horoon Lorgat said last week that it would be a “fairy tale ending” if Tendulkar posted his 100th international hundred in the final at his home ground.

Sangakkara rejected the suggestion that Sri Lanka would be underdogs on Saturday, but said the pressure was on India to fulfill its status as tournament favorite.

“Everyone in the world expects (India) to turn up tomorrow and win this game,” he said. “We have to understand the fact that India for the last year or two years have been tagged as the favorites by almost everyone to win the World Cup.

“I’m sure they’ll be looking at themselves as favorites too.”

Sri Lanka’s final game at home ended with emotional scenes as Muttiah Muralitharan was carried around the ground by his teammates after playing his final international game in the country. The prolific offspinner had taken a wicket with his final delivery.

But Sangakkara said his players won’t be motivated by the prospect of spoiling Tendulkar’s party on Saturday.

“We’re not here to spoil anything,” he said. “Everyone understands the importance of scoring runs in a final, whether it be Sachin or anyone else. One hundred hundreds, it’s the first time a player is going to get there. All of that adds to the expectations for a World Cup final.

“Our job is to ensure that the India team doesn’t score too many runs.” AP reports.

Sri Lankan President left for India

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa this afternoon left for India to watch the World Cup final at Mumbai on Saturday.

Sri Lanka and India will play the ICC Cricket World Cup final on Saturday at Wankhede stadium at Mumbai

Indian media reports say that the Sri Lankan President would arrive at Renigunta airport, by a special Lankan aircraft at 1600 hrs.