- 49
per cent of opinion survey reveals
Devolution
package will not end conflict
Approximately forty nine
percent (49%) of a sample group of a Public
Opinion Survey, do not believe that the proposed
devolution of powers by the government will help
solve the on-going terrorist conflict in the
country, revealed the Head of the Department of
Sociology of the Peradeniya University, Prof. S.
T. Hettige.Prof. Hettige
has carried out the survey of approximately 2000
persons from the different provinces for the
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation.
Thirty two point six percent
(32.6%) of those interviewed has stated that they
did believe the devolution of power will bring
about a solution to the issue while 18.4% had not
been sure. (full
story)
- Setting
up of Elections,police commissions
Citizens
Consultation invites written views
The drafting committee
of the Citizens Consultation has invited written
views and representations from the public on
constitutional safeguards and legislative
provisions which would ensure free and fair
elections.They have also
asked for opinions from a broad cross section of
people on the possibility of depoliticising key
institutions through the establishment of an
independent elections commission, a public
service commission and a police service
commission.
A statement issued by the
Consultation on Free and Fair Elections and
Depoliticisation of Key Institutions says that
representations on the composition, structure,
method of appointment, powers and function, etc.,
of the proposed independent commissions would be
welcome. (full
story)
- High jinks at
Lalith Front
All is not well in the
Lalith Front with a group once closely identified
with the party leader, Mrs. Srimani
Athulathmudali, now attempting to paddle their
canoe in a direction not favoured by the
leadership.This had a
repercussion in a working committee meeting of
the party last week which was expected to deal
with the participation of some members in the
recent UNP convened Citizen's Consultation for
free and fair elections and the de-politicization
of key institutions. (full story)
- Monara wants
ban on flights to Jaffna lifted
Monara airlines has
requested the government to lift the ban on
civilian flights to Jaffna imposed on Thursday,
following the shooting down of a Lionair plane by
the LTTE shortly after take off from the Palaly
airbase on Tuesday.General
Manager of the airline Shanaka Herath said that
their request to the authorities to resume
flights was made no sooner they got to know of
the Defence Ministry ban on Thursday. (full story)
- TULF
extends sympathies to Lionair victims
The TULF in a press
release said yesterday that the disaster relating
to the Lionair flight between Palaly and Colombo
which has resulted in the tragic death of around
fifty five civilians and members of the crew has
caused much anguish and sorrow. (full story)
- Sriyani in
London to produce teledrama
Veteran film star Sriyani Amarasena was here in
London producing a tele-drama. She has just
completed a two-month stint in her new role,
filming the London scenes of a story that runs
between Sri Lanka and England, directed by Sudath
Rohana.The script for
the teledrama has been written by Daya Alwis, and
the cast includes Harry Wimalasena, Sasanthi
Jayasekera, Ramesh Ekanayake, Sheela Madawala,
Anura Hegoda and Reggie Fernando. (full story)
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- Soldiers
who sacrificed their lives will go down in
history - President
President
Chandrika Kumaratunga in a message issued from
London yesterday said that the heroic soldiers
who sacrificed their lives for peace and
integrity of the motherland in the battles at
Mankulam and Kilinochchi will go down in history
as heroes of peace.The
President said that she is pleased to share the
joy of all Sri Lankans including the battle-front
heroes who are celebrating this historic victory.
(full
story)
- Ranil outlines
UNP thinking to U.S. audience
Describing the UNP as a
"new party with a new vision for a new
millenium,'' UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe
told an audience of mainly Lankans domiciled in
the USA that elected institutions like
parliament, provincial councils and local
government bodies "must serve the people and
not the political parties.''Wickremesinghe who was speaking at the
Marriot Hotel in Los Angeles during a fund
raising dinner explained that with this objective
in mind, they proposed to make a fundamental
change in the key institutions of government and
ensure free and fair elections. (full story)
- I won't be a
spoiler candidate vows Cooray
Former Minister
Sirisena Cooray whose future role in national
politics has been the subject of much speculation
since his recent return from Australia said
yesterday that he has been misreported and
misunderstood as a result."I did not say anywhere that I plan
to stand as an independent candidate at a future
presidential election. I was asked in an
interview whether I would stand as the candidate
from Mr. H.R. Piyasiri's new party. (full story)
- Two
special units despatched to arrest gang
Police have
dispatched two special police units to arrest the
gang who escaped after robbing cash and jewellery
worth Rs. 2 million from Ratnaloka noted
Ratnapura on Thursday night, police sources said.The sources said that the gang of
robbers were from outside the area. As such no
one was able to identify them. Most of them were
masked but some of them had their faces open.
The robbers had taken silver
and gold jewellery worth over Rs. 1,900,000 which
were in the showcases of the hotel. They were
unable to detect the whereabouts of the safe
which contained priceless gemstones, jewellery
and cash. They had also taken cash to the value
of Rs. 98,000, the police said. (full story)
- Lionair seeks
assistance of deep sea divers
Following news reports,
Lionair has sought the assistance of Deep Sea
divers and the ICRC with the permission of the
Ministry of Defence, to carry out an underwater
search in and around the coast of Iranathivu to
locate the aircraft and retrieve passengers and
the "Flight Data Recorder" (Black Box),
a Lionair spokeswoman said yesterday.
"Lionair has sent a team to verify the
finding in the area of the ill-fated
aircraft," she said. (full story)
- More
intellectual capital, energy to make SAARC
programme a success
Addressing a gathering
of those involved in South Asian studies at the
Columbia University last month, Foreign Minister
Laksh-man Kadirgamar said that Sri Lanka, as
current chairman of SAARC, would invest a great
deal of intellectual capital and energy in
consolidating the achievements of the association
over the years, implementing the economic and
social programme approved by the Colombo summit
and ensuring that tangible benefits that would
improve socio-economic conditions would accrue to
the region. (full story)
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