Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

The differences of opinion over the 13th Amendment to the Constitution among the constituent parties of the ruling United People`s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) have come to the surface with Parliamentary Group Leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) threatening to take to the streets, if the government goes ahead with the Northern Provincial Council elections scheduled for September this year.


Speaking to a packed audience at the Public Library Auditorium yesterday, Parliamentarian Rathana Thera said his party would present a private member motion to abolish the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Council system.

The decision by the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to present a motion in Parliament, to remove police and land powers given to the Provincial Councils, before the upcoming Northern Provincial Council election, has embarrassed both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

According to political sources, both leaders are facing a political dilemma...over the issue at present, with the JHU informing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) leadership, to allow its MPs to vote according to their conscience, in the event a motion of this nature is moved in Parliament.

Anyone who`s been hoping for flying cars may not have to wait for reality-bending new physics, or for Harry Potter`s world to be revealed to us muggles. The U.S. company Terrafugia Inc. plans on producing a flying car that can be flown by anyone, and it should be ready as early as 2021.
The TF-X will be a small four-seater hybrid vehicle that will not only be legal to drive on streets and highways, but will also be able to take off and fly in the air. What will set this apart from other designs, including Terrafugia`s current prototype, the Transition, is that the TF-X will not need a runway. In order to take off and land, it will only need about 30 metres of level ground.

Hirunika Premachandra has decided to temporarily step down from politics on the basis that the political climate is not favorable for her.
Premachandra, the daughter of slain politician Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, said that she also needs proper backing to get fully engaged in politics.

Hirunika Premachandra is currently studying law and she says once her law exams are over she will decide on her next step.

It is hard to do politics in Sri Lanka. I have spoken to my family and I will decide about my political future at the right time, she said.

Everybody looked forward to the Rally for Unity a vigil held in Colombo on 28 April 2013 to oppose hate speech. The event was marred and exposed by the reporting of BBC`s Charles Haviland who showed the hypocrisy of the entire exercise About 500 people have marched through the centre of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, protesting against a recent wave of ethnic hatred which has seen hardline Buddhists targeting the Muslim minority . So if the theme in arranging a unity rally was to target one group (without the possible knowledge of the participants) what can we really say about who are inciting hate speech ? Finger pointing at the majority Sinhala Buddhists is nothing uncommon in Colombo. It happens all the time.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) The U.S. Marine Corps, known for turning out some of the military`s toughest warriors, is studying how to make its troops even tougher through meditative practices, yoga-type stretching and exercises based on mindfulness.

Marine Corps officials say they will build a curriculum that would integrate mindfulness-based techniques into their training if they see positive results from a pilot project. Mindfulness is a Buddhist-inspired concept that emphasizes active attention on the moment to keep the mind in the present.

Thrust for centralized power by Sri Lankan president puts Commonwealth summit at risk

Canada, for one, saying the prime minister won`t attend unless Sri Lanka addressed rights issues

The removal of the chief justice of Sri Lanka`s Supreme Court by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sparked international outrage because it seems to many to be another firm step in his establishment of a family dictatorship.

The technology world is mourning the loss of Aaron Swartz, an extremely talented internet activist and programmer. Who was he, and what is his legacy? Simon Sheikh reflects on his friendship with Swartz.

Swartz helped to develop Real Simple Syndication (RSS) at only 14, and was a co-founder of Reddit.

He also had a strong passion for internet freedom and public access to information.

Swartz`s dedication to the idea of public access to information led him to a lot of action and collaboration.

A sudden you tube hit by a popular Korean - Rapper called PSY. They say different versions of this rap song had over one billion hits and it amounted to 20 million hits a day.

It looks good. Watch and see.

Give your input.

Subha naththalak to LNPers.

Senior Minister Mr Tissa Vitarana says that,he will vote against the abolishing of 13th constitutional amendment,if the proposal is submitted to the parliament.
He further says that, it`s the Up country aristocrats who have originally made a request to the white administrators to divide power.
More than 30 parliamentarians of the governing party have prepared and signed a letter to request the President not to abolish the 13th constitutional amendment .
The Minister has further said that, during a discussion, the parliamentarians who have signed the letter have agreed to vote against the proposal to abolish

She`s come undone She didn`t know what she was headed for And when I found what she was headed for It was too late

She`s come undone She found a mountain that was far too high And when she found out she couldn`t fly It was too late

It`s too late She`s gone too far She`s lost the sun She`s come undone

She wanted truth But all she got was lies Came the time to realize And it was too late

She`s come undone She didn`t know what she was headed for And when I found what she was headed for Mama, it was too late

The constitution and the president`s conscience

Is the Constitution or the President`s conscience paramount in deciding the notion of legality in Sri Lanka?

Abandoning the courts� and the law books

A person`s conscience is of course, variable. A Presidential conscience cannot certainly be any different. In contrast, the very core of the concept known as the Rule of Law is its fixed application to all, the powerful and the powerless, a Chief Justice and a common criminal. If we are to be a country governed by the conscience of whichever Head of State who is in office at a particular time, then we may as well abandon our courts, our law books and our self respect as a people bound by the law.

The NSB share deal became a big crisis in the country. It was newspaper headlines every day. So I summoned the relevant people and got them to return the money and cancel the transaction. We quietly covered it up, that is how it should be done after all, he is our man (ape miniha), President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening of the Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka building in Colombo President Rajapaksa said that it was the UNP that first spoke of an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice after the NSB transaction, he said.

A few years ago physicists calculated that the individual quarks inside protons and neutrons only contribute 1% to the mass of these particles. The rest comes from the energy of the quantum vacuum. Also, of that remaining 1%, the quantum vacuum contributes to that, it is thought. Reference here:

http://www.newscientist.com/ar...
This means that all matter including our bodies is a kind of effervescent energy (virtual particles) popping in and out of the quantum vacuum. Where is the `self` in this and what is actually doing the thinking? Pure energy? Somehow the human is kind of tied to the energy in this `quantum sea`.