Bill Gates commends Ceylon Today and Mawbima

Bill Gates

I like the ingenuity… mosquito-repellent newspaper helps fight dengue in Sri Lanka: http://b-gat.es/1qRwTN7

BY NIRESH ELIATAMBY- July 13, 2014 

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and the world's richest billionaire, commended Ceylon Today and Mawbima for the remarkably innovative world's first mosquito-repellent newspaper.

A joint effort by Ceylon Newspaper (Pvt) Ltd and Leo Burnett Solutions, the mosquito-repellent newspaper was published on 7 April 2014 by Ceylon Today and Mawbima. The story has gone viral on the Internet, and hundreds of newspapers in dozens of countries have published articles about it.

Gates tweeted and commented on his official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BillGates) on Friday: "I like the ingenuity... mosquito-repellent newspaper helps fight dengue in Sri Lanka."

Within 24 hours, Gates' comment received thousands of positive comments and tens of thousands of 'likes'.
Saranga Wijeyarathne, Director Marketing of Ceylon Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd., commented: "The world is talking about our innovation in fighting dengue and raising awareness of this deadly disease.

We've received a huge number of requests for information. Yesterday, the world's largest circulated newspaper, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, contacted us and asked us for photographs and information for an article they are publishing on our mosquito-repellent newspaper."

More details can be found on page 3 in the Latitude section.

D.C. family homeless shelter beset by dysfunction, decay

By Justin Jouvenal, Robert Samuels and DeNeen Brown July 12 at 7:26 PM

The D.C. General emergency shelter is supposed to be a cleaner place to stay than an alley, but records show that a young girl woke up with so many insect bites on her legs and her bottom that she had to be taken to the hospital.

It is supposed to be safer than a crime-ridden street corner, but a log shows that shelter officials were told that two teens pinned a 9-year-old to the floor of a bathroom and one urinated in the boy’s mouth.

It is supposed to be better than life on the streets, but one resident filed a complaint saying a shelter worker lured her to his apartment with an offer of $20. She said he began unfastening his pants and asked her: “What are you going to do for the money?”

The city’s largest shelter for families has been in the spotlight since March, when a janitor there took 8-year-old resident Relisha Rudd off shelter grounds. The girl remains missing and is presumed dead.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) has said he has seen no evidence that the city failed in that high-profile case, but a Washington Post investigation of the facility in Southeast that is home to nearly 800 of the District’s most vulnerable residents has found that Rudd’s case was part of a pattern of serious problems.

Housed in a former hospital built in the early 20th century and located at the bottom of a hill near the Stadium-Armory Metro station, D.C. General shares a litter-strewn piece of land with a clinic for meth rehabilitation and sexually transmitted diseases, a working jail, and the former city morgue.

Despite its intended purpose as a sanctuary, the shelter is too often beset by dysfunction, decay and disease. Sometimes, it is the more than 460 children living there who suffer the most.         Full Story>>>

Malala meets schoolgirl campaigners in Nigeria

Pakistani campaigner Malala Yousafzai visits Nigeria to campaign on behalf of the schoolgirls abducted by rebel group, Boko Haram.

SUNDAY 13 JULY 2014
Teenager Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban, has travelled to Abuja in Nigeria to meet the relatives of schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram three months ago.
She met with members of the activist group 'Bring Back Our Girls', formed by relatives of the kidnapped schoolgirls and activists, to give her support to the movement.

In April 276 schoolgirls were abducted in the north east town of Chibok. Dozens since escaped, but 219 of the schoogirls are still missing.

She told the group the girls "need our support, we need to raise our voices for them so that they can be released and they can be freed, as well as other girls in Nigeria - they also need food protection and security and they have many other challenges when they go to school".

She added: "Thank you do much for telling the world that this is happening here, and not only just knowing but also to tell the world to stand up with you and to raise our voices for those girls".

Malala was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in October 2012. She was an outspoken critic of the Pakistani Taliban's interpretation of Islam that kept women at home and barred girls from school.

Boko Haram means "Western education is sinful", and the group has killed hundreds of students and attacked many schools.

Bangkok editor: appointed Senate fits with Thai-style democracy

By Bangkok Pundit Jul 13, 2014

The Bangkok Post’s news coverage and editorial line has been mainly supportive of the coup although some op-ed columns do have some criticism.*Pichai Chuensuksawadi, who is Editor-in-Chief of Post Publishing and clearly the most influential person at the Bangkok Post, has an op-ed in today’s paper entitled “Let’s admit this is not democracy”. Key excerpts:

For decades we have been telling ourselves we are a democracy. We tell our people that elections mean we are a democracy. This is hammered home repeatedly. Consequently, we tell the world we are a democracy. But in reality, we are not. We have never been. We want it, but we don’t have it.

…

So where do we go from here?

Since the coup, I have heard many comments from a number of people asking whether Thais are ready for democracy and whether Thais (especially those upcountry) truly understand what it means. There have been suggestions, for example, that candidates for elected MPs should only come from the “knowledgeable and educated”. Another is that only taxpayers should be allowed to vote, or that voters should at least be given a test on what democracy means before they are allowed to vote.

These comments reinforce my view that for a start we should be honest with ourselves and admit that we are not yet a democracy. Let’s admit that we will never have a democracy like countries in the West. There’s nothing wrong with that since our history, our culture and our traditions are different.

Can we admit that we are still finding our way towards a form of democratic governance that allows the people, stakeholders, each political group and vested interests to have their space and be involved in the running of the country?

Even if it means adopting, for example, a system where all senators are appointed and seats allocated to the military and bureaucracy in which places are filled by rotation, then so be it. This does not mean that a fully appointed Senate should supersede the elected representatives of the people. This idea may run counter to the democratic principle of elected senators, but past experience has shown that the bureaucracy and the military have and will play a role in governance.

Let’s be honest — is this democratic? No, it is not. But unless we find a political structure that allows all stakeholders their space and say in governance, we will once again be back to where we were before.

BP: BP is unsure how else one can read his op-ed and not come to the come to the conclusion that Pichai is willing to accept a fully appointed Senate because this is just what will happen (in a Thai-style democracy?), as this will lead to a system where all stakeholders have a stake and say. So how much say should each stakeholder get? With elections, each person gets one vote and they can vote for the candidate and/or party they like. No voter is more important than others because they are in the military or of some social status. The share of representatives that any group gets is dependent on the number of votes they get, but in Pichai’s world we should just accept, to paraphrase Orwell, that some people are more equal than others.

In Pichai’s world, we just need to accept the Establishment can have control of the system through a fully appointed Senate. If they control a fully appointed Senate and that Senate directly and indirectly will be appointed to the “independent” organizations, then essentially they will be able to remove elected governments at will. Will this really led to democracy?

The military and those in the Establishment have dominated Thai political life for decades. Thai political culture has developed under military rule. The military has continually intervened in politics when they don’t like the result. The military have been behind the drafting of the vast majority of Thailand’s constitutions and have not allowed democracy to flourish.  Now, the Establishment will be given carte blanche to remove governments. If we didn’t have democracy before – and thus seemingly the coup was not so bad – then does Pichai really believe we will have democracy with the adoption of the fully appointed Senate or it will lead to democracy? He is advocating going back to the past when we have a fully Appointed Senate….

*Although, if you start to talk too much about certain topics and develop a reputation for it, even in a delicate way, then you may no longer find that you can write op-eds for the Bangkok Post. For example, Voranai who wrote a regular op-ed column for the Bangkok Post no longer does with his last op-ed appearing on June 22. There has been no official statement that BP can find. Voranai just states:

@RabichBrown sorry. Corporate decision. No more Voranai.

— Voranai Vanijaka (@voranai) June 29, 2014

BP: From what BP understands, this relates to the fact that Voranai is the Editor-in-Chief of GQ Magazine and the Post Publishing PCL publishes and distributes the Thai Language version of Elle. However, Voranai columns only stopped on June 22 (not even at the end of June with no June 29 column), and Voranai has been the Editor-in-Chief for a number of months (at least since January – see here). So was Voranai suddenly a major corporate threat to Post Publishing? Or…

Media: North Korea again test-fires missiles

July 12, 2014

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, South Korean and Japanese media reported, the latest in a series of test-firings seen as expressions of anger over its failure to win talks on receiving outside aid, and over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

South Korean military officials could not immediately confirm the reports by Japan's Kyodo and South Korea's Yonhap news agencies.

Yonhap quoted an unidentified official with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff saying the missiles were fired from the North Korean city of Kaesong near the border with the South and had a range of about 500 kilometers (311 miles).

North Korea regularly conducts test-firings, but this year has seen an unusually large number of launches. South Korean officials have confirmed about 90 test-firings of missiles, artillery and rockets by North Korea since Feb. 21. More than 10 of them have been ballistic launches.

North Korea has recently also pushed South Korea to accept a set of proposals that it said would reduce bilateral tensions, including the cancellation of regular military drills between Seoul and Washington that Pyongyang insists are preparation for a northward invasion.

Many in South Korea have doubts over how sincere the North is about its push to reduce tensions, and analysts see the pressure for better ties as meant in part to eventually win outside aid and investment. South Korea has rejected the North's proposals, saying it must first demonstrate that it is serious about nuclear disarmament if it truly wants peace.

North Korea likely possesses a small arsenal of crude nuclear bombs and is working to build an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland.

The two Koreas are divided along the world's most heavily fortified border. The Korean Peninsula officially remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Iraq government talks delayed again as fighting rages

BY AHMED RASHEED AND MAGGIE FICK-BAGHDAD Sun Jul 13

(Reuters) - Iraq's parliament failed on Sunday to break a damaging political deadlock which is holding up the formation of new government to tackle an Islamist-led insurgency raging less than 50 miles (80 km) from Baghdad.

After a brief session, parliamentary officials delayed until Tuesday their efforts to reach agreement between the country's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians on the posts of prime minister, president and parliamentary speaker.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose State of Law coalition is the largest individual list in parliament, is seeking a third term but faces opposition from Sunnis and Kurds who say he has ruled for the Shi'ite majority at the expense of minority communities. Even rival Shi'ite parties wish to unseat Maliki.

The political impasse has been given added urgency by the Islamist-led insurgency which swept through Sunni provinces of northern Iraq last month and was only stemmed within a hundred miles from the capital. The fall of northern Sunni cities has encouraged Maliki's opponents to try to force his departure.

The disagreement over Maliki's future appeared to be blocking progress on the other political posts.

Sunni politicians said the main Sunni bloc put forward Salim al-Jabouri, a moderate Islamist, as their candidate for parliamentary speaker, but accused Maliki of effectively torpedoing their proposal.

"We have presented our candidate for speaker and done what we should do," said outgoing speaker Osama Nujaifi. "We hold the other blocs responsible for the delay."

"Once we manage to complete the democratic process to form the government this would help to stop the great destruction happening in Iraq which is jeopardising the country's unity."

Iraq's political elite are under pressure from the United States, the United Nations and Iraq's own Shi'ite clerics to reach agreement so politicians can deal with the insurgency and prevent the country fragmenting on sectarian and ethnic lines.

The U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said the country could plunge into chaos if parliament fails to move forward on a government in Sunday's session. Violent deaths last month reached more than 2,400 -- a level comparable to the worst of the bloodshed seen during Iraq's 2005-2008 sectarian war.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden talked on Saturday with Masoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, and discussed the need for the quick formation of a government and peaceful resolution of territorial disputes, the White House said.

FIGHTING NORTH OF BAGHDAD

With politics in Baghdad paralysed, and Maliki continuing in a caretaker role, the fighting has raged on.

Sunni Islamist insurgents who control large parts of northern Iraq attacked a town north of Baghdad early on Sunday, seizing local government buildings, police and witnesses said.

They said militants in 50 to 60 vehicles stormed the town of Dhuluiya, about 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad at 3.30 am (0030 GMT), taking the mayor's office and municipal council building and fighting to take control of the police station.

Insurgents led by the al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State seized swathes of Iraq's northern provinces in a two-day offensive last month and have also consolidated their grip in western Iraq where they have been fighting since the start of the year.

The Sunni militants were pushed back at Dhuluiya on June 14 by soldiers backed by fighters from the Shi'ite Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, but fighting has continued and they have taken other towns.

The police and witnesses said local police and tribes were battling the militants in Dhuluiya on Sunday. They said four policemen were killed in the fighting, as well as two militants and two civilians.

Insurgents also bombed a bridge linking Dhuluiya to the nearby Shi'ite town of Balad to the west, they said.

On Saturday, government forces launched an assault to repel Islamic State militants who had fought their way into a military base on the edge of Muqdadiya, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of the capital.

Sources at the morgue and hospital in the nearby town of Baquba said they had received the bodies of 15 Shi'ite militia fighters transferred after the morning's fighting.

State TV also reported 24 "terrorists" had been killed. Seven civilians including children from nearby villages were killed by helicopter gunship fire, police and medics said.

The Sunni militants had moved towards the base after seizing the town of Sadur just to the north, another security source and witnesses said. They were equipped with artillery and mortars and drove vehicles including captured tanks and Humvees.

In the western city of Falluja, a hospital received three bodies and 18 wounded people on Saturday after army helicopters bombed the city, government health official Ahmed al-Shami said.

(Additional reporting by Raheem Salman in Baghdad; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Israeli commandos raid Gaza beach as deadly air assault continues

Raid is first time Israeli forces have set foot in Gaza during current conflict, and leaflets warn of large-scale bombing

Palestinians stand in the rubble of Tayseer Batsh's family house in Gaza City, which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Peter Beaumont

Sunday 13 July 2014

Israeli naval commandos have launched an early morning raid on a beach in the north of Gaza City, as the coastal enclave suffered the bloodiest day yet of the six-day Israeli assault, with 54 Palestinians reported killed.

The raid came amid continuing speculation that Israel would launch a ground offensive in Gaza, a move likely to sharply increase the number of civilian casualties. So far, 166 people have been killed including 30 children, according to Gaza's health ministry.

In the worst single incident of the conflict so far, 22 people were killed and 45 injured when two large Israeli bombs slammed into a house in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City where the city's chief of police, Tayseer Batsh, was sheltering.

Most of the injured were returning home from a mosque when they were caught by shrapnel from the blast.

Meanwhile, militants in the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip kept up rocket salvoes deep into Israel.

On Sunday Israel appeared poised to escalate its military campaign still further, leafleting a large area of northern Gaza and sending text messages ordering residents to leave their homes by midday in advance of a large-scale bombing campaign against what it said were rocket-launching sites in Beit Lahiya and Attatra.

As the ultimatum drew near, hundreds fled Beit Lahiya, many heading to UN-run schools which were taking in refugees.

"They are sending warning messages," said Mohammad Abu Halemah, a local resident. "Once we received the message, we felt scared to stay in our homes. We want to leave."

A leaflet dropped by the Israeli military in Beit Lahiya read: "Those who fail to comply with the instructions will endanger their lives and the lives of their families. Beware."

The 2am commando raid was the first time Israeli forces have set foot in Gaza since the beginning of the current campaign.

Hours earlier, Hamas tried to hit Tel Aviv with long-range rockets in an attack it had flagged up widely in advance on social media.

According to the Israel Defence Forces the raid, which set out to destroy nearby launchers, was "accomplished" and unconfirmed reports suggested three members of Hamas had been killed in the ensuing gun battle.

Four Israelis were reported injured during the raid after apparently being spotted approaching and being engaged by waiting Palestinian fighters.

Saad al-Dawla, the night watchman of al-Mathaf hotel, said he was sleeping when the commandos came to the beach a few hundred metres away.

"At the beginning we heard shooting from the Palestinian side. I got up and looked out the window and saw that there were people shooting from the water. Almost immediately an [Israeli] helicopter came and started shooting at the water as well," he said. "Later I heard shelling from the sea and the sounded of a warship's siren. The whole thing lasted about two hours."

Another local resident, who would only give his nickname, Abu Adam, said he had been woken by the sound of fighting coming from the beach. "I was lying on the floor with my children. We could hear the sounds of shelling and gunfire and see the windows lit up by the explosions and the flares."

Earlier in the evening 22 members of the same family were killed when two bombs demolished a house belonging to Majid Batsh, a cousin of the Hamas chief of police Tayseer, with whom he was sheltering.

All that remained of the substantial building on Sunday morning were a few concrete stumps of the pillars that had supported it. A girl aged three was among those killed in the bombing.

"They were my cousins," said Mohammad al-Batsh, 20, a civil engineering student. "I was coming home from mosque when I heard a huge explosion. At first I didn't know where the sound was coming from. The air was full of dust and smoke. It felt like an earthquake.

"When I got here, I saw destruction everywhere. The bodies were so badly burned I could not recognise anyone. Thirteen of the dead came from my cousin Majid's family. He was just a driver. There are five still missing including a pregnant woman."

On Sunday, Palestinians with foreign passports began leaving Gaza through the Erez border crossing. Israel, which is cooperating in the evacuation, said 800 Palestinians living in Gaza had passports from countries including the UK, US and Australia.

Ahmed Mohana, a US citizen, said he had mixed feelings about leaving friends and family behind in the Gaza Strip. "It is very hard. It is very tough," he said. "We are leaving our family, our relatives and brothers and sisters in this horrible situation. We have to do what we have to do."

Israel has launched more than 1,300 air strikes since the offensive began, the military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said on Sunday. Palestinian militants have launched more than 800 rockets at Israel, including 130 in the past 24 hours, the Israeli military said. Several Israelis have been wounded, but there have been no fatalities.

What Hamas Wants, What Israel Needs

Neither side can gain from this war of attrition. But is Benjamin Netanyahu willing to risk a ground invasion to stop it?

• BY NATAN SACHS-JULY 11, 2014

The  war of attrition that's ebbed and flowed between Israel and Hamas since the Islamic radical group forcefully took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 has returned with round three: Operation Defensive Edge.

What Hamas Wants, What Israel Needs by Maria Anderson

UAE donates $52 million to Palestinians under Israeli fire

[file photo of foreign aid being delivered to Palestine]

Saturday, 12 July 2014

The UAE announced on Friday that it would increase donations to $52 million for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have been under continuous Israeli bombardment for the fifth day.

On Thursday the UAE announced it would pay $25 million. An official UAE news agency said that the Red Crescent of the UAE pledged to pay $2.27 million.

The UAE Red Crescent was commissioned to set up a field hospital for the treatment of the Palestinian casualties.

யாழில் தொடர்ந்தும் காணி அபகரிப்பு அளவீட்டை தடுத்து நிறுத்திய மக்கள்!

 TAMILKINGDOM

BY SIVA KUMAR 

யாழ் கீரிமலை நகுலேஸ்வரத்துக்கு முன்பாக 
உள்ள பொதுமக்களது காணியை சுவீகரிக்கும் நோக்கில் அளவீடு செய்யவந்த அதிகாரிகளுக்கும் பொதுமக்களுக்கும் இடையில் இன்று வெள்ளிக்கிழமை முரண்பாடு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

மக்களின் எதிர்ப்பை அடுத்து அளவீட்டுப் பணிகளை அதிகாரிகள் இடைநிறுத்தியுள்ளனர். பொதுமக்கள் 21 பேருக்கு சொந்தமான 183 ஏக்கர் காணியை கடற்படையினரின் தேவைகளுக்காக சுவீகரிக்க நடவடிக்கைகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டன. இதற்கென காணி அளவீடு செய்ய இன்று அந்தப் பகுதிக்கு அதிகாரிகள் சென்றுள்ளனர்.

அதனை அறிந்த காணி உரிமையாளர்கள் அங்கு கூடி தமது எதிர்பபை வெளிப்படுத்தியதுடன் நாடாளுமன்ற, மாகாண சபை, பிரதேச சபை உறுப்பினர்களின் கவனத்துக்கும் கொண்டுவந்தனர். சம்பவ இடத்துக்கு தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்களான மாவை சேனாதிராஜா, ஈ.சரவணபவன் ஆகியோரும் , மாகாண சபை உறுப்பினர்களான பா.கஜதீபன், அனந்தி சசிதரன் மற்றும் தமிழ்த் தேசிய மக்கள் முன்னணியின் செயலாளர் செ.கஜேந்திரன் உட்பட பிரதேச சபைகளின் உறுப்பினர்களும் சென்றனர்.

இதனால் காணி அளத்தலுக்கு எதிர்ப்பு வலுத்ததால் அந்த முயற்சி கைவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது என்று தெரிவிக்கப்படுகிறது. இதேவேளை செய்திசேகரிக்க சென்ற ஊடகவியலாளர்களை கடற்படையினர் மிரட்டினர் என்றும் தெரிவிக்கப்படுகிறது

Despite TNA's Resistance Gen. Chandrasiri Re-appointed As Governor Of North

Friday, 11 July 2014

Despite repeated requests made by the TNA to appoint a non-military person as the Governor of the North, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has re-appointed retired General G.A. Chandrasiri for the same position. 

Chandrasiri has served as the Governor of the North since the end of war.

It is widely known among political circles that the Governor of the Northern Province and Chief Minister of North C.V. Wigneswaran are at loggerheads over many issued concerning the province. The TNA has, on many occasions, requested the President to remove Chandrasiri from the position and appoint a non-military person as the Governor of the North.

General Chandrasiri is a graduate of the Defence Services Command And Staff College, Mirpur and National Defence College, India. He has received armoured warfare training in India, Fort Knox and attended the Senior Command Course in Mhow. He was awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama, Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP), the Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal, the Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal, the Purna Bhumi Padakkama, Vadamarachchi Operation Medal and the Riviresa Campaign Services Medal.

During the final phase of war,  he was appointed Commander Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna, during which his command resisted several attacks on the Jaffna peninsula by the LTTE until a successful offensive by his divisions pushed the LTTE out of the Jaffna peninsula and recaptured the statistic Elephant Pass. Following the end of the war he was appointed by the President as Competitive Authority for approximately 3,000,000 internally displaced personnel and was in charge of the resettlement process

காணாமல்போனோர் தொடர்பில் 

19284 முறைப்பாடுகள் - ஐயாயிரம் 

இராணுவத்தினர் மாயம்

[ சனிக்கிழமை, 12 யூலை 2014, 08:16.04 AM GMT ]

காணாமல் போனோர் தொடர்பான முறைபாடுகளை விசாரணை செய்யும் ஜனாதிபதி ஆணைக்குழுவிற்கு இதுவரை மொத்தமாக 19,284 முறைப்பாடுகள் பதிவாகியுள்ளன.

இவற்றுள் 5000 முறைப்பாடுகள் பாதுகாப்புப் படையினர் காணாமற்போனமை தொடர்பாக அவர்களது உறவினர்களால் வழங்கப்பட்டவை என ஆணைக்குழு தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

கிடைக்கப்பெற்ற முறைப்பாடுகளில் 462 முறைப்பாடுகள் தொடர்பில் ஆணைக்குழுவினால் இதுவரை விசாரணைகள் முன்னெடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

இந்த முறைப்பாடுகள் மேலதிக விசாரணைகளுக்காக சுயாதீன புலன்விசாரணை குழுவொன்றினால் ஆராயப்பட்டு வருகின்றன.

காணாமல்போனோர் தொடர்பான முறைப்பாடுகளை விசாரணை செய்யும் ஜனாதிபதி ஆணைக்குழுவின் ஐந்தாம் கட்ட பகிரங்க அமர்வுகள் இம்மாத முற்பகுதியில் முல்லைத்தீவு மாவட்டத்தில் இடம்பெற்றிருந்தன.

ஜனாதிபதி ஆணைக்குழுவில் இதுவரை முறைப்பாடுகளை பதிவு செய்யாதவர்கள், காணாமற்போன தமது உறவுகள் தொடர்பில் தபால்மூலம் முறைப்பாடுகளை தெரிவிப்பதற்கு அதிக கால அவகாசம் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக ஆணைக்குழுவின் தலைவர் மெக்ஸ்வெல் பரணகம கூறியுள்ளார்.

இந்த ஆணைக்குழு யாழ்ப்பாணம், கிளிநொச்சி, முல்லைத்தீவு மற்றும் மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டங்களில் ஏற்கனவே தமது பகிரங்க அமர்வுகளை நடத்தியுள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கதாகும்.

Constitutional Reform In Sri Lanka: Issues And Prospects

By Jayampathy Wickramaratne -July 12, 2014 

Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne PC

Amirthalingam Memorial Oration, 12 July 2014, London

Let me begin by thanking the UK branch of the Tamil United Liberation Front for inviting me to deliver the Amirthalingam Memorial Oration on the occasion of the 25^th death anniversary of the late Appapillai Amirthalingam, lawyer, parliamentarian, Leader of the Opposition in the Sri Lankan Parliament from 1977 to 1983 and leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).

Appapillai Amirthalingam

Unlike earlier leaders of the Tamil parties, the late Amirthalingam came from a middle-class background and also dabbled in Left politics. I remember him saying at the funeral of Dr. N. M. Perera that he had attended Marxist study classes taken by Dr. Perera while he was a student in the University of Ceylon. He represented the Vaddukkodai constituency in the Sri Lankan Parliament from 1956 to 1970 and the Kankasanthurai constituency from 1977 until 1983 when he refused to take the anti-separatist oath under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution brought in following the tragic events of July 1983. He returned to Parliament in 1989 but was assassinated along with Yogeswaran, a fellow TULF member, on 13 July 1989, exactly 25 years ago. He was neither the first nor the last Tamil politician to be killed by the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

From 1977 to 1983, he was also the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, the first Tamil to hold the position. He performed his role with great acceptance. I remember the excellent speeches he and the late Sivasithamparam made during the debate on the Code of Criminal Procedure Bill. He opposed the imposition of civic disabilities on Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike. At the Kalawana by-election, he supported Sarath Muttettuwegama of the Communist Party.

The topic of my presentation today is ‘Constitutional Reform in Sri Lanka: Issues and Prospects’. In my view, the main constitutional issues to be addressed today in Sri Lanka are democratization and ethnic peace. Unfortunately, there is little democratic space today in Sri Lanka even for a discourse on constitutional reform.

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