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Sports News from Sri Lanka
Enhancing voter participation
Thursday, 16 May 2013 - 3:10 PM SL Time
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Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has launched a special programme to motivate the public to exercise their franchise. Elections are the lifeblood of representative democracy and voter apathy is symptomatic of a severe erosion of public confidence in a country s electoral process and system of governance. Therefore, the Polls Chief s efforts to enhance voter participation in elections need to be appreciated.
Deshapriya has told the media that the people at both the apex and the bottom of the economic pyramid do not care to cast their votes. They are the super rich and the poor, mainly the slum and shanty dwellers. But, we think some methods employed by politicians, however unorthodox and unethical they may be, to incentivise the poor to vote have yielded desired results to a considerable extent. Instead of preaching to the hungry about the virtues of democracy, social justice, equality etc. they shower goodies during elections on the poor some candidates even distribute money, liquor and mobile phones besides dry rations and seek the votes of the poor in return. Thus, they make use of their ill-gotten wealth to mobilise grassroots support and generate voter enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this practice usually taken for granted has helped drug barons, murderers, rapists and fraudsters to get elected by throwing money around. Slum and shanty dwellers account for more than one half of Colombo s population and if they as well as the rich do not vote, there is no way the voter turnout in the city could exceed 40-50 per cent. The same may be true of other urban centres.
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THE NEW POLITICS ASKS FOR NO PCs
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 - 10:47 AM SL Time
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In these pages today, we have interviewed Arun Tambimuttu, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party organizer for Batticaloa, a man who knows of brutality first hand, as both his parents were gunned down by the LTTE for their politics. Tambimuttu s politics therefore is mediated by his yearning for a society free of fascism and the dictatorship of the AK 47.
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K kulam: More posers than answers
Tuesday, 14 May 2013 - 9:54 AM SL Time
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The Indian Supreme Court clearance for the controversial Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu in spite of protests against its commissioning has irked anti-nuclear activists beyond measure. However, it has struck a responsive chord with those who have placed India s energy needs above everything else, demanding that its nuclear power which accounts for 3.6 per cent of its installed capacity for power generation be increased further to help it compete with world economic powers.
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Cost of blind plunges
Monday, 13 May 2013 - 10:58 AM SL Time
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When Leader of the Muslim-Tamil Alliance Leader Azath Salley was arrested recently under the much-dreaded Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), we were told by the government spokesmen that he was a threat to national security as he was inciting the Muslims to violence against the state. In a bid to justify the use of those draconian laws, they cited as evidence an interview he had given to a South Indian magazine and claimed that a statement therein was tantamount to a call to arms! There was high octane performance on the part of the CID, which arrested him and obtained a detention order in record time. (If only the police acted so efficiently in dealing with suspects connected to the government as well, this country would be a much better place!)
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NO RIGHTS-POLICE ENTERTAINED
Sunday, 12 May 2013 - 11:27 AM SL Time
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New revelations indicate that Barack Obama the U.S President`s grandfather was tortured by British soldiers decades ago in their crackdown on the Kenyan Mau Mau rebellion. Much was done to Obama Sr., including the driving of nails under his fingertips coupled with the excruciating slow torture of squeezing his testicles in a vice like contraption.
Yet now the United States led by Barack Obama and the British government are both united in a campaign to hold the Sri Lankan government responsible for human rights violations they say were committed during the last phase of hostilities in 2009. Barack Obama can apparently forgive his grandfather`s torturers because that country was never asked to pay reparations or make amends of any sort with regard to the horrendous treatment of Kenyans during the Mau Mau rebellion.
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Of that not-so-epic celluloid war
Saturday, 11 May 2013 - 10:43 AM SL Time
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In what may be described as a queer turn of events a group of anti-terror activists claiming to be followers of the mythical Lankan monarch, Ravana, who according to legend invented the world s first flying machine or Dandumonara, millennia before the Wright brothers contraption came into being, have sought to wage a cultural war of sorts on Tamil Nadu.
Angered by pro-LTTE activities and unprovoked attacks on Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa s ban on Sri Lankan sportspersons in her state, Ravana s Power, has pressured the National Film Corporation of Sri Lanka to stop the screening of films that star the South India artistes who have lent their voice to anti-Sri Lankan activists. The outfit claims to have won its demand. In fact, the first call for stopping the export of Tamil movies to Sri Lanka came from some Tamil Nadu filmmakers themselves who apparently regained their senses and refrained from pushing for such harebrained action.
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Giving problems different colours
Friday, 10 May 2013 - 11:08 AM SL Time
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Transport Minister Kumara Welgama told Parliament the other day that the government would assign different colours for some categories of vehicles engaged in public transport blue for private buses, red for the state owned buses and yellow for school vans. This is a step in the right direction, though much more remains to be done to develop the transport sector.
However, we hope that the government s decision to have all private buses which far outnumber the ailing SLTB fleet painted blue is not politically motivated. For, blue is the official colour of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Minister Welgama has argued in the House that blue is pleasing to the eye, but there s no accounting for taste and others may prefer green to blue. There is hardly anything devoid of partisan politics in this country.
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Sri Lanka s WC winning stars ripped off by player agent!
Thursday, 9 May 2013 - 10:30 AM SL Time
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A controversial player agent, well-known for his nefarious activities over the years, has attempted to con three members of the 1996 World Cup winning team, The Island learns.
The player agent, who enjoys the support of certain members of the current cricket team, but has been badly exposed in recent months, has attempted to play out as much as US$, 30,000 a source told The Island .
Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya, his opening partner Rumesh Kaluwitharana and former fast bowler Chaminda Vaas were the trio who were affected by the notorious player agent s underhand dealing.
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Private bus operators latest ruse
Thursday, 9 May 2013 - 10:28 AM SL Time
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Now, private bus operators want Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa appointed Secretary to the Private Transport Services Ministry. President of the Lanka Private Bus Operators Association (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijeratne made this request at a media briefing on Tuesday in Colombo.
Gotabhaya, one of the few efficient public officers, was instrumental in ridding the country of its biggest problem terrorism. Therefore, we believe, he is the person best suited for the task of tackling highway terrorism as well. Private bus drivers are the worst culprits where chaos on public roads is concerned, and the LPBOA has admitted that 30 per cent of them are drug addicts. So, no ordinary person is equal to the task of controlling them. Besides, Gotabhaya has helped solve the country s garbage problem to a considerable extent and this singular achievement, we reckon, is an added qualification for the post of Secretary to the Private Transport Ministry, which is stinking to high heavens like the Augean stables, the cleaning up of which requires a Herculean effort. The hapless commuters who are asked to stand and deliver by private bus operators on the highway surely need someone capable of putting his foot down and telling the Mafiosi where to get down, to look after their interests.
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Striking while tariffs are high
Tuesday, 7 May 2013 - 11:57 AM SL Time
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The government may have thought protests against the latest electricity tariff hikes would fizzle out with the passage of time. But, all signs are that they will not go away. Even some of the ruling UPFA constituents have lent their voice to the protesters calling for a tariff reduction. They have apparently seen which way the wind is blowing!
President Mahinda Rajapaksa s May Day promise to grant some relief to electricity consumers does not seem to have had the desired impact on the electorate. Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi has sought to remind the public of power tariff increases during the past UNP governments, especially under President Premadasa s watch. She cannot hoodwink or pacify the resentful electricity consumers by flaying either the late President Premadasa or his son Sajith. The UNP governments blundered and that s why they were voted out of office. The Rajapaksa government was not elected to do what its predecessors did, was it?
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From grandiloquence to obeisance
Monday, 6 May 2013 - 11:44 AM SL Time
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Sri Lanka celebrates its Independence every year on a grand scale politicians wrap themselves in the flag and treat us to patriotic grandiloquence but, curiously, the country remains dependent on foreign powers for survival as ever. It cannot even fix a damaged sewer or dispose of its garbage without foreign help!
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose controversial remedies are considered worse than the economic maladies the developing countries are afflicted with, has reportedly offered to assist this country in restructuring some of the loss incurring state ventures such as the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Mihin Air and Sri Lankan. However, those who are au fait with the agenda of international lending institutions, know that they are not driven by altruism and make no offers as such but lay down constricting conditions for their assistance. So, it is hoped that the government will not yield to pressure it is likely to come under to divest some of the aforesaid institutions.
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Commonwealth curate s egg
Sunday, 5 May 2013 - 2:43 PM SL Time
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Although there was more good news from London yesterday that both the British Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will be attending the November Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka, we do not apologize for returning to the theme of our editorial last week of whether the money that we will spend on hosting this event will bring us benefits that are worth the price. As we said at the time, losing the bid to host the Commonwealth Games here was widely welcomed by a broad spectrum of public opinion in the country resentful of the government s propensity to do the grand by staging such mega-events. In fact, the Commonwealth Games bid itself cost us a pretty penny which was money down the drain. But hosting the event itself would have set us back many times more. The god s smiled down on us and we lost that bid.
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Why target dummies?
Friday, 3 May 2013 - 9:28 PM SL Time
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made a virtue of necessity. On May Day, he promised that the latest power tariff hike would not apply to the low users of electricity. He won kudos at least from a captive audience. He has, in spite of his rhetoric, buckled under pressure. The poor must, no doubt, be looked after, but at the same time relief should be given to others. They, too, have a right to survival.
It behoves the government to take cognisance of the woes of the business community as well. The private sector employs more than six million people and the extremely high electricity and fuel prices are fraught with the danger of causing many factories and shops to go belly up, increasing unemployment and triggering a prolonged inflation regime much to the detriment of the post war economy that needs careful tending.
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Syria: Sinners stoning sinners
Thursday, 2 May 2013 - 9:54 AM SL Time
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President Barack Obama is behaving more like a restless hawk than a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Accusing the beleaguered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of carrying out chemical attacks on the western backed rebel forces, he has threatened stern action. However, having bitten off more than he can chew on the military front and struggling to get out of the Afghan imbroglio, Obama is not likely to resort to direct action against Syria. He is apparently trying to frighten Assad into submission with warnings.
There is nothing Assad wouldn t do to cling on to power. So, his critics may want to believe that he is using chemicals in what has all the trappings of a last ditch battle to keep the rebels at bay. But, one should not make the mistake of falling for US presidents claims hook, line and sinker. Obama s predecessor George W. Bush, it may be recalled, joined forces with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to falsify intelligence dossiers to mislead the world into believing that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction at his disposal and, therefore, Iraq had to be invaded and the threat neutralised. Later, the truth became known but it was too late Iraq had already been bombed into the Stone Age and hundreds of thousands of people including women and children killed.
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