Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

By Ravi Perera -



Ravi Perera

To a thinking Sri Lankan these are universally distressing times. We can accept economic denials and hardships as part and parcel of life in a poor third world country. Given the tone of the general interaction between man and man in this land, Political corruption as a social phenomenon seems an inevitability. The expectation that the wielders of power will abuse it and the ruled will make an appropriate accommodation with that reality is as old as the days of the kings, as the saying goes. But more recent institutions such as the judiciary and the constabulary , fashioned very much on British models as it were , remained , although much abused by the politicians, as foreign concepts, and maybe due to that fact , somewhat insulated from the darkness without.

Where will they end up? Elephants crossing a new road in the MER

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi

Non- implementation of The Managed Elephant Range (MER) puts wildlife in general and elephants in particular in peril

Grand are the plans for Hambantota, including Mattala as a `showpiece` where development and conservation work together well, but ground-level reality is a far cry from what it should be. The Managed Elephant Range (MER) was very much part of the plans for Hambantota development. However, unplanned development and non-implementation of the MER may spell disaster for the green airport concept that the authorities are keen to promote with regard to Mattala, and the grand tourism development plans under way, the Sunday Times understands.

Sri Lanka`s tourist arrivals rose 21.8 percent in May this year compared to the same period last year, the data released Monday by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.

The month recorded 70,026 tourists arriving in the country compared to the 57,506 arrived in May 2012, Colombo Page reported.

Tourist arrivals recorded a 13.2 percent increase in the first five months of this year with 438,653 tourists arriving in the island.

Sri Lanka`s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha has asked that greater attention be paid in the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, to the role of terrorist support networks that take the form of front organizations, the challenge posed by the abuse of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the propriety of the use or display of terrorist group emblems, insignia and symbols. Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha

He emphasized that they communicate the message, purpose, history, and goals of terrorist organizations and as such contribute to the creation of an organizational culture of incitement and hatred that is dangerously encouraged to be emulated. Noting that while conscious that there remains a tension between the concepts of `freedom of expression` and `counter terrorism` with respect to these issues, it was nevertheless important that these challenges also be addressed squarely in earnest, in order that we arrive at a consensus as to where freedom of expression ends and supporting or glorification of terrorism begins. He added that our failure to do so, will seriously erode the fight against terrorism, and permit the perpetuation of the sense that double standards were being applied with respect to these issues, which turns a blind eye to the actions of some groups, while pursuing others.

Ethics, the Oxford English Dictionary says is about morals. Now we Sri Lankan journalists have been informed that a Code of Ethics is being formulated for us by a group of gentlemen (may be a lady or two as well) under the direction of the Department of Information/Media Ministry for the guidance of journalists in the practice of our profession. Being a long time in the profession we are naturally curious to know who is going to show us the way in kindly light through a new moral architecture that is being designed for us journalists.

Sun, Jun 16, 2013, 10:41 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

June 16, Colombo: A senior police officer arrested and remanded in Sri Lanka for the contract killing of a businessman is likely to be fired from his post, Sri Lanka police officials say.

The Inspector General of Police N.K. Ilangakoon has sent a report to the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa seeking interdiction of Deputy Inspector General Vaas Gunawardena.

Misery confronts orphans of the storm

Nadia Fazlulhaq reports from Balapitiya

Grieving families in stunned fishing viallges wait on empty shores for men who won`t come home, while minister says Met Dept. warning too little, too late.

Thirty-two-year-old Renuka Peiris stares at the ocean as she ponders an uncertain future with four children and an unborn child following the death of her fisherman husband whose boat was swamped by the devastating storm that killed 51 fishermen.
The heavily-pregnant widow and her children are temporarily housed in a small room meant to store fishing equipment in the fishing village at Auburn Place, Dehiwela.

by Dr Dayan Jayatilleka

[Pre-AGM address to the Citizens Movement for Good Governance-CIMOGG]

( June 13, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Let me venture a banal observation. Most of us in this room -and most people we know- would have been positively disposed about the decisive termination of the war in May 2009. Now the term positively disposed covers a continuum from `relieved` to `glad` to `happy`. But I also think that most of us in this room and most of the people we know have a sense of disquiet about the present. If we take our minds back to May 2009, I dare say that none of us really expected to be here in this mood 4 years down the road. That is not what we thought things would be like. That`s not what we thought we would feel 4 years later. So there has been an important gap between expectation and fulfillment.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela smiles for photographers after a meeting with actor Tim Robbins at Mandela`s home in Johannesburg September 22, 2005

As Nelson Mandela, 94, spent his fifth day in Pretoria`s Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, South Africans` alarm at his sudden decline has given way to a concern to preserve the dignity of a man who, to so many, represents the best of them and of all humanity. The respectful tone is apparent in the sparse updates on Mandela`s condition from his longtime friend, Mac Maharaj (also spokesman for President Jacob Zuma), who has been limiting the information he passes on essentially to five words: Lung infection and serious but stable. Zuma himself offered a more hopeful update on Wednesday, telling parliament that his predecessor was responding well to treatment after a difficult few days. There has been little word from Mandela`s family, though his daughters Makaziwe, Zenani and Zindzi have all visited, as has his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The massing ranks of the world`s press have so far also played their part, observing a notable decorum by not crowding Mandela`s relatives and mostly restricting themselves to Maharaj`s occasional statements. Meanwhile South Africa`s press has taken on the role of national grief counselor. It`s time to let him go, was the front page of the Sunday Times this past weekend.

Customs officials arrested a Sri Lankan who attempted to smuggle in gems from Bangkok at Mattala international airport today (June 12.) Sri Lanka News learns that customs officers are still questioning the suspect. He is the first person who was arrested at Mattala for illegal activity.

China`s foreign ports
The new masters and commanders
China`s growing empire of ports abroad is mainly about trade, not aggression

FROM the ground, Colombo`s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away. But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka`s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India`s southern tip.

What a great final it was on Saturday evening!

Attraction is a Hungarian theatre group, with a unique act of creating pictures with shadows of their bodies. Here we see them winning this year`s final. Hope you like it too.

As Amanda, one of the lady judges said: Britain is on its` knees (economically), but I have never been so proud to be British, thanks to you!

Visit YouTube and enter BGT with plenty of videos from the event to chose from

Your MusicElephant

By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator


In Sri Lanka, where there has seldom been good news for the media in recent years, things have taken a further turn for the worse, as well as a turn for the bizarre. With President Mahinda Rajapaksa`s government secure in its 2010 electoral mandate, its leaders have made fresh moves to tighten their control of the press. There is a plan afoot to re-criminalize defamation, and legislation has been proposed for a code of ethics that threatens to give the government a legal basis to quash journalism it deems `unethical.` All this comes ahead of November`s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, which seems sure to go ahead despite calls for boycotts from several quarters because of the government`s poor human rights record.

By Barton Gellman and Laura Poitras, Published: June 6

The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post.

The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley.

Celebrating `World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) last week, the National Telecommunication Service Provider Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) announced the soft launch of its VDSL2 (Very-High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line 2) advanced fixed broadband technology. The addition of this new tech means the company`s broadband users could expect speeds of up to 100Mbps.





The newly introduced VDSL2 technology based fixed broadband, its speed and access capabilities were demonstrated to Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology the Hon. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, iMinister of Telecommunications and Information Technology in the presence of Group CEO, SLT Lalith De Silva, Group CEO, SLT and many other top officials. The initial demonstration held at the Sri Lanka Telecom Regional Office in Kegalle recorded data speeds in excess of 90Mbps.