June 02, Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today inaugurated a program to construct 250 Mahindodaya Technology Laboratories at the island's schools to teach the newly introduced technology stream for GCE advanced level.
The inauguration ceremony was held today at the Lumbini Maha Vidyalaya in Colombo to vest the first laboratory to be established under the program. Construction of the laboratories will commence from today at 250 selected schools in the country under the 1000 Mahindodaya Schools concept.
 |
 |
 |
The Technology Laboratories are aimed at teaching the engineering and technology skills needed for students who are pursuing the technology curriculum for the GCE Advanced level.
Speaking at the event, the President said there is a major competition to enter popular schools and there is also a competition to enter schools in which technical laboratories have been established.
He said the government takes the responsibility of providing education to all in the process of granting a systematic education to suit the country and it is a right that should be enjoyed by all the children of the country.
Secretary of the Education Ministry Anura Dissanayake has said that 25 million rupees will be allocated for each laboratory and needed technical equipment will also be provided for the laboratories.
A total of 15 billion rupees will be spent on the program, and the funding will come from the Asian Development Bank and the Treasury. It is expected to complete all construction activities within 5 months.
Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena, Deputy Minister Mohanlal Grero and parliamentarians Thilanga Sumathipala and Duminda Silva were among those present on the occasion.
(Photos by Nishanka de Silva)
12 comments:
The creation of the "Technology Stream" leading to the GCE (Adv. Level) certificate and the creation of these 250 Technology Skills Development Laboratories is probably the most important step taken in education in recent times.
It will have a FAR-REACHING IMPACT on Technical Education, in Technical Work Force development, and the Economic Competitiveness of Sri Lanka.
In addition to asking why Foreign Governments want Police and Land Powers to be devolved to the Provincial Councils, let also ask: Why do Tamil Nadu Leaders continually demand unrestricted Fishing Rights in Sri Lankan waters for Indian Tamil fishermen?
The answer is the same as for Land and Police rights: Because it makes their NEXT STEPS to PRY OUT and incorporate a large part of Sri Lanka into a Greater Tamil Nadu that much easier.
LOGISTIC SUPPLY ROUTE for the newly revived Eelamist Insurgency.
Let us recall that over the 30 year period of the Eelamist Insurgency in Sri Lanka, the PRIMARY MEANS of bringing logistical support (trained terrorist cadre, weapons, ammunition, other supplies) to Sri Lanka was by Fishing Boats from India. IN Sheer Volume, cumulative shipments by this route dwarfed the fewer LARGE shipments of heavy weaponry and ammunition by ocean going vessels.
In demanding a "Right" for Indian Fishermen to fish anywhere within Sri Lankan waters, they are not only trying to establish fishing rights for their MUCH LARGER FISHING FLEET at the expense of Sri Lanka, but also the RIGHT to mingle with Sri Lankan Tamil fishing boats and resurrect the old weapons logistics supply route to revive the Tamil Insurgency in Sri Lanka. To this end, the Tamil Nadu government is ACTIVELY PROMOTING and EXACERBATING this conflict.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION to change Sri Lanka's Demographics
In addition, this Fishing Route could also become the means by which a STREAM of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS could be INSERTED into Sri Lanka.
As I have repeatedly pointed out before, the insertion of over 1 million illegal immigrants into Sri Lanka over the last 35 years, has led to an INCREASE in the Tamil population of Sri Lanka despite the EMIGRATION of over 1.5 million Tamils from Sri Lanka to other countries. This is supported by the latest Census. We must therefore ask, did they form the Prabhakaran's human shield and do they now comprise the TNA's support base .... ALL Illegal Immigrants?
With POLICE Power in the hands of the Provincial Council dominated by the TNA, there would be NO government effort to prevent this ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
With LAND Power in the hands of the Provincial Council dominated by the TNA, there would be no government effort to protect against ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS being settled on these lands.
With Land Power and Police Power, registration documents can easily be forged and fabricated to establish that the new illegal immigrants are "long time residents" of Sri Lanka who "owned" that land. If original documents are demanded, they can always claim that they were "destroyed" in the "Eelam Wars" of the preceding 30 years.
IT IS IMPERATIVE that the GOSL DOES NOT BACK DOWN on
1. Protecting Sri Lanka's Offshore Waters and Maritime Resources
2. Denying POLICE and LAND powers to UNREPENTANT Separatists.
Provinces do not need these powers, for Sri Lanka is too small a country for SO MANY HIERARCHICAL LEVELS of sub-national government. They only create
MORE threats to the nation's territorial and societal integrity,
MORE barriers to getting anything done by the long suffering people, and
MORE non-performing parasitic do-nothing politicians and officials to be supported at the tax-payer's expense.
Just GET RID OF the 13th Amendment, and DISMANTLE the Provincial Council System, NOW!
GOOD, but NOT GOOD ENOUGH! Not only POLICE Powers, but LAND Powers should also be DENIED to Provincial Councils.
What we REALLY NEED is for the India-imposed 13th Amendment to be REPEALED and the Provincilas Councils to be uprooted from Sri Lanka. Instead of Provinces which are TOO LARGE relative to the country as a whole.
DISTRICTS administered by GOVERNMENT AGENTS, APPOINTED by the ELECTED National Government, should be adopted as the units of regional administration.
Let us END this interminable DEBATE. The GOSL take the steps needed to CAST OFF these ILLEGAL Indian Shackles, imposed by force under military occupation, that bind the hands and feet of our Motherland.
India should be CATEGORICALLY TOLD to BUTT OUT of Sri Lanka’s Internal Affairs. Sri Lanka won’t mess with India’s underwear, if India keep its nose out of Sri Lankas. Quid Pro Quo!
…………………………….
Sri Lanka again rejects devolving police powers to provincial councils
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 04, Colombo: Sri Lanka reiterating its stance on devolving police powers to provincial councils Wednesday said it is not the policy of the government to provide police powers to any provincial council in the country.
External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris speaking in parliament today said the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has clearly pointed out to India during his discussions with the Indian government that adverse effects will result in the country by devolving such powers.
“We made it crystal clear that devolution of police power is not acceptable,” Prof. Peiris told parliament.
Responding to a question raised by the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe in parliament today on the issues Sri Lankan President discussed with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their recent meeting in New Delhi, the Minister said the constitutional matters have not been discussed in depth with India and only issues that are of mutual interest have been discussed at length.
During the meeting between the two leaders held on 27 May, the Indian Prime Minister stressed on the early and full implementation of the 13th Amendment and going beyond to expedite the process of national reconciliation in a manner that meets the aspirations of the Tamil community for a life of equality, justice, peace and dignity in a united Sri Lanka.
The government has consistently said that it would resort to a power devolution process or introduce constitutional changes only through a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) with an extensive political interaction with all political parties and other stakeholders to discuss all the issues related to power devolution, police and land powers to PCs and security issues of the provinces.
The Sri Lankan parliament in November 2011 approved the setting up of a parliamentary select committee to formulate a political solution to the country’s ethnic issue that is acceptable to all the communities in Sri Lanka.
However, the opposition parties, including the TNA and main opposition United National Party (UNP) have not made their representations in the committee.
Yes Indeed, HANG this Monumental CRIME on the neck of the TNA as a Genocide!
……………………….
Ex-Policemen to Missing Persons Commission: Revisit massacre of 600 policemen
DailyNews.lk
June 4, 2014
The Retired Senior Police Officers’ Association members have urged the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons to pursue the matter regarding the murder of 600 policemen in June 1990.
The Association led by its President C.R. Abeygunawardena held a meeting with Commission Chairman Retired Justice Maxwell Paranagama at the Commission office on Monday during which a memorandum was submitted by the representatives urging the Commission to pursue the matter regarding the murder of 600 Policemen in the Eastern Province in June 1990.
The Association representatives requested the Commission Chairman to ascertain from the Police Department whether the 600 Policemen who were killed by the LTTE in Ampara have been duly honoured by posthumous promotions, payments of salaries until the age of retirement, payment of widows and orphans pensions to the kith and kin and any other compensation to the dependents of the slain officers, a media release issued by the Commission stated.
Association members also urged the Commission Chairman to ascertain from the IGP the results of the investigation referred to in the file containing reports by the CID as per Inquiry No C403/92/CM & PA/IG/75/92 of March 5, 1992. Justice Paranagama assured Senior Police Officers’ Association representatives that the Commission will take up the matter with the Police Department and provide answers to the questions raised by the Association members.
Another Pearl in China's String of Pearls along the Maritime Silk Route? Will it give Modi a CHOLIC FIT?
.........................
Bangladesh to seek Chinese help to build deep sea port
DunyaNews.tv
June 4, 2014
The proposed port on Sonadia Island off Bangladesh's southeast coast would cost billions of dollars.
DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to seek Chinese funding to build a deep sea port in the Bay of Bengal when she visits Beijing later this week, officials said Wednesday.
The proposed port on Sonadia Island off Bangladesh s southeast coast would cost billions of dollars, but Bangladeshi newspapers have reported that Hasina hopes Beijing will pay part of the bill if a Chinese firm wins the contract.
The country s foreign ministry said the port would feature in the bilateral discussions when Hasina travels to China on Friday on a six-day visit.
"During the tour the two nations may discuss Chinese assistance for the Sonadia Deep Sea Port," Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali told journalists on Wednesday at a briefing two days ahead of Hasina s departure for Beijing.
Another senior official in the prime minister s office confirmed that the port project was expected to feature in discussions although he wouldn t say whether any kind of deal would be signed.
The country s largest circulation Bengali daily, Prothom Alo, has reported that state-owned China Harbour is in line to build the port.
It said an announcement to this effect would be made after the meeting between Hasina and her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang on June 9.
A framework agreement, proposed by China, to construct the port could be signed during the tour, it said.
Hasina was keen to award the project to Chinese firms in 2009-14 when she led a coalition government, but held back for fear of upsetting India, a major ally of her government.
If a Chinese company were to be awarded the contract, Sonadia would become the fourth port to be constructed by a Chinese firm in the Bay of Bengal, deepening Beijing s footprint on one of the important sea routes of the world.
Chinese companies have previously built ports in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Myanmar.
Bangladeshi experts said the country badly needs a deep sea port after years of double-digit expansion of its foreign trade. Dhaka s economy has grown six percent a year for more than a decade.
Dhaka s annual trade through its two sea ports currently stands at around $60 billion.
The trip to Beijing will be Hasina s second major overseas trip since she retained power in a January general election which was marred by widespread fraud and an opposition boycott. Last month she visited Japan.
RELIGIOUS CLEANSING by LTTE revealed: Ancient Buddhist Temple in Kilinochchi was destroyed!
..................
Archaeologists find Buddhist ruins in Sri Lanka's former battlefield in North
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 05, Kilinochchi: Sri Lanka Army troops conducting routine operations have come across a site with scattered ruins of a Buddhist temple in the former LTTE stronghold of Kilinochchi, the Army said Wednesday.
At the request of Commander of Security Forces Headquarters in Kilinochchi, Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, a team of archaeologists has arrived at the site and begun extensive investigations.
According to the Army, the archaeologists have unearthed several Buddhist artefacts belong to the historic Polonnaruwa era including slates, ancient bricks and Sri Pada symbols in excavations carried out in Kilinochchi, Sivanagar and Uriththirapuram.
They have succeeded in finding ruins, identical to a Pagoda of 60 ft in diameter and about 12 ft in height, stacks of ancient layers of bricks, slates with Sri Pada symbol, stone posts with prints of Sri Pada in the middle, etc, all the hallmarks that confirm the existence of a Buddhist temple in the Polonnaruwa period.
The archaeologists have declared the site a sacred site, pending further excavations, extensive research and comprehensive evaluation, alerting the security forces as well as government authorities of the new discovery.
According to the information Army obtained from the residents, a small Pulleyar Kovil had occupied the site from the 1940s and been replaced by the Shivam Kovil which was built in 1980s and is still standing.
A Kurukkal (chief priest) in 1965 while clearing the jungles around a Kovil had found a Pagoda, some Buddha statues, stone carvings as well as a Bo tree in the premise but the LTTE who controlled the area for nearly 30 years have allegedly destroyed the Buddhist artifacts.
It has been found that a 4 to 6 foot tall Samadhi Buddha statue and a statue of a lion plus a moonstone had existed at the site. The terrorists had however felled the Bo tree and replaced it with a Palmyrah tree later on before the place was called 'Nagalingam'.
Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commander, SFHQ-KLN, Colonel N.P Akuranthilake, 662 Brigade Commander and several senior officers visited the location soon after its discovery by troops serving there.
Marco,
Sri Lanka is a democracy in which the will of the majority MUST triumph.
The majority of the People of Sri Lanka, with the security and lives of themselves and their descendents at stake, are demanding that the 13th Amendment be REPEALED.
Whatever President Mahinda Rajapaksa may or may not have said in the heat of battle, or its immediate aftermath, as the ELECTED head of the People of Sri Lanka, he MUST BOW DOWN and CARRY OUT the wishes of the majority of the people of Sri Lanka. He is NEITHER A DICTATOR NOR A HEREDITARY KING, but an ELECTED Servant of the People.
If it is difficult for the President to CONTRADICT any statements he has made previously on the issue, or agreements that were forced upon Sri Lanka under DURESS by other countries, let him duck the responsibility to act directly, and pass the decision to the People of Sri Lanka through a REFERUNDUM. That will absolve him of ALL RESPONSIBILITY.
The INCONTROVERTIBLE FACT is, no country can hand over the Governance of a Province to the defeated separatists who fought a murderous war over 30 years, and are still VOWING, and PLOTTING, to resurrect it in collusion with Foreign Enemies.
It is not the survival of the political leaders that is at stake here, but the survival of the undivided Nation that is the REFUGE of ALL of its citizens.
Parents of child soldiers confront TNA protest
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
June 5, 2014
Tamil civilians protested in Mullaitivu yesterday demanding action against those who abducted children during the conflict.
A group of parents as well as relatives of some child soldiers believed killed during the final phase of the army assault on the LTTE, confronted Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members of parliament near the Mullaitivu Pradeshiya Sabha secretariat during a protest by the latter yesterday.
The police prevented a clash between the two groups, though they exchanged words.
Irate relatives of child soldiers accused TNA members of having turned a blind eye to large scale recruitment of child combatants just few weeks before the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009.
Mullaitivu based sources told The Island that the TNA had launched yesterday’s protest to coincide with a case being heard at the Mullaitivu court regarding the disappearance of a group of persons including one-time Trincomalee District LTTE leader Elilan. The LTTEer was married to Ananthi Sashitharan.
Mrs. Sashitharan, now a TNA heavyweight and a member of the Northern Provincial Council has moved court against the disappearance of her husband. She alleges her husband gave himself up to troops as the army overran the last LTTE bastion.
Sources said that parents accused the TNA of collaborating with the LTTE during the conflict. They alleged that Elilan had personally led a group of armed LTTE cadres tasked with seizing children to be used as combatants. Tigers at the time even raided a church where hundreds of children were taking refuge and took away many of them. Civilians accused the LTTE of having abducted at least 300 children from that church alone.
The abduction of children was also reported to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
It has ALWAYS bothered me that the "VICTIMS" who agitating for War Crimes charges against Sri Lanka are wailing ONLY about the deaths of LTTE cadres and human shield hostages in the Final Phase of the war, and not the tens of thousands of people killed in the concentration camps of the Wanni Gulag, 600 police prisoners summarily executed, blown to bits in public places like buses, trains, markets, shops, offices etc, sliced and diced in the dead of the night in ethnic cleansing attacks upon Sinhala and Moslem villages, political opponents hung from lamp posts, shot by motorcycle assassins in broad daylight, and tens of thousands of children kidnapped and brainwashed into unthinking killers with cyanide capsules around their necks.
This demonstration by family members of disappeared people, squarely laying the responsibility on the TNA leaders who served as the LTTE's proxy, and on Ananthi, the widow of one of those murderous terrorist leaders, is a rare event by a people STILL TERRORIZED by the rump LTTE/TNA.
The affrontery of these people who orchestrated the murder of over a hundred thousand people in Sri Lanka to coming forward to POSE as VICTIMS, is absolutely astounding!
It reminds me of the murderer who axed his parents to death, pleading for clemency from the judge during sentencing, BECAUSE HE IS NOW AN ORPHAN!
WE NEED MORE OF THIS TYPE OF DEMONSTRATION to hold these awful murderers ACCOUNTABLE. To hell with RECONCILIATION, I say!
We need DAILY DEMONSTRATION by the families of the 150,000 people who were killed by the LTTE in Sri Lanka during their 30-year rampage to COME FORWARD, DEMONSTRATE and PERMANENTLY CAMP OUT in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, MUllativu in front of the NPC offices, TNA party buildings and party leaders homes. The work of the NPC should be brought to dead halt by these demonstrations.
These DEMONSTRATIONS should be designed to CONFRONT and LABEL the KILLERS and their FOLLOWERS wherever they OPERATE, wherever they LIVE, and should be funded by PUBLIC DONATIONS and led by a PERMANENT ORGANIZATION dedicated to that effort, with/without Government funding.
It is IMPORTANT that we do this, to PREVENT the RESURRECTION of the LTTE and the RE-ENSLAVEMENT of all people of Sri Lanka to the ravages of the Tamil Separatist Terrorists.
These DEMONSTRATIONS should be given the highest level of Public MEDIA COVERAGE Coverage, and PROTECTION of the Forces of Law and Order.
.....Continued 1.....
The Tamil Separatist Terrorists STARTED a WAR, and the law-abiding people of Sri Lanka WON IT CONVINCINGLY and ENDED IT.
The Tamil Separatist Terrorists have now started a Campaign of Permanent Wailing about the deaths of their supporters and hostages, ignoring the far higher casualties they inflicted upon ALL citizens of Sri Lanka, to cement their role asINNOCENT VICTIMS; let the law-abiding people of Sri Lanka WIN THIS BATTLE CONVINCINGLY TOO and END IT DEMOCRATICALLY using the SAME WEAPONS the LTTE/TNA separatists do.
To hell with RECONCILIATION with Permanently Wailing Separatist Terrorists; give them a DOSE of DEMOCRACY IN ACTION; what they can do, we the law-abiding citizens of Sri Lanka ... who know the TRUTH and have lived the TRUTH ... WE CAN DO IT BETTER!
............................
The ‘disappeared’ come to haunt Ananthi
Nation.lk
June 8, 2014
A demonstration by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Mullaitivu supporting a case filed by TNA Provincial Council member Ananthi Sasitharan on behalf of her missing husband on June 5 came to a halt when a group of some 300 persons confronted the demonstrators.
.....Continued 1.....
The Tamil Separatist Terrorists STARTED a WAR, and the law-abiding people of Sri Lanka WON IT CONVINCINGLY and ENDED IT.
The Tamil Separatist Terrorists have now started a Campaign of Permanent Wailing about the deaths of their supporters and hostages, ignoring the far higher casualties they inflicted upon ALL citizens of Sri Lanka, to cement their role asINNOCENT VICTIMS; let the law-abiding people of Sri Lanka WIN THIS BATTLE CONVINCINGLY TOO and END IT DEMOCRATICALLY using the SAME WEAPONS the LTTE/TNA separatists do.
To hell with RECONCILIATION with Permanently Wailing Separatist Terrorists; give them a DOSE of DEMOCRACY IN ACTION; what they can do, we the law-abiding citizens of Sri Lanka ... who know the TRUTH and have lived the TRUTH ... WE CAN DO IT BETTER!
............................
The ‘disappeared’ come to haunt Ananthi
Nation.lk
June 8, 2014
A demonstration by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Mullaitivu supporting a case filed by TNA Provincial Council member Ananthi Sasitharan on behalf of her missing husband on June 5 came to a halt when a group of some 300 persons confronted the demonstrators.
,,,,Continued 2....
This group had demanded that Sasitharan respond on behalf of her husband, S Elilan the former political head of the LTTE in Trincomalee, whose actions had caused their near and dear to ‘disappear’.
The TNA protest led by Northern Provincial Councillor, Ananthi Sasitharan also saw the participation of MP Suresh Premachandran and former MP, M.K. Shivajilingam. The protesters organized by the TNA were forced to flee and seek protection from security forces personnel in the area.
Premachandran refused to comment on the incident but Shivajilingam speaking to The Nation said the Government was trying to shift the blame entirely on the LTTE and avoid a probe on the disappeared persons in its entirety.
Post a Comment