Ultimatum to President

By W. Siri Ananda-2013-04-12 If President Mahinda Rajapaksa does not agree to abolish the Executive Presidency, a broad front will be formed and a common candidate will be presented to contest the next presidential election, the National Association for a Just Society (NAJS) said. Chief Incumbent of the Kotte Naga Viharaya, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera said after winning the presidential election, all powers held by the Executive Presidency will be handed over to Parliament within a period of 120 days. "A special meeting regarding this matter will be held on 18 April at 4:00 p.m. at the National Library, and leaders of all political parties and trade unions will be invited," the Ven. Thera said. He also said government constituent party leaders, including Leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Communist Party Leader D.E.W. Gunasekara, United National Party (UNP) strongmen, Ravi Karunanayake and Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane, some members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Leader of the Democratic People's Front (DPF), Mano Ganesan and many other prominent figures in politics and academics fields have met and shown their support towards the proposal. Furthermore, Ven. Sobhitha Thera, together with other members of the NAJS made a courtesy visit to the Chief Incumbents of the Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters as well as Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, who showed strong support towards the abolition of the Executive Presidency. Rohana Seneviratne Wins Saraswati Sanskrit Prize 2012 Rohana Seneviratne, lecturer in Sanskrit at the Department of Classical Languages of the University of Peradeniya and currently a doctoral student in Sanskrit at the University of Oxford, UK won the prestigious Saraswati Sanskrit Prize 2012. This is the first time a Sri Lankan won this award. The Saraswati Sanskrit Prize is a biannual award instituted in 2008 by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in India together with the Department of Cultural and Religious History of South Asia (Classical Indology), University of Heidelberg in Germany to recognize the contribution of students in Europe in promoting the understanding of Sanskrit and to foster deeper appreciation of the Indian heritage. At the official award ceremony held in New Delhi on 25th March 2013, Seneviratne received his prize from Dr. Karan Singh, president of the ICCR and titular Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. The prize also included a 10 day visit to India with all hospitality from the ICCR.