Cannot influence the judiciary

Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayake today said he and the government are keen to get the university students who are under custody released but is not in a position to influence the judges and the students. (YP) Source by: dailymirror

Mahinda’s, Ranil’s cows would consume entire country - Anura Kumara

Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake at a seminar in Kandy last night (04 November) spoke about economic management in a novel way.

“A heard a nice joke that is going around these days….. what will a family do if they receive two cows? The best method would be to sell one cow and buy a bull for that money. In a country such as India it is said that the family would sell one cow and worship the other. But in Pakistan they won’t have a single cow but would keep claiming ownership of the Indian cows. In Italy they would have the two cows but they won’t be able to find the two cows” Anura Kumara quipped.

He then said that, however in Sri Lanka they would sell both cows and buy two bulls. One would be given to Mahinda while the other would be given to Ranil. Then both of them would go on to consume the entire country.

The bulls will eat up all the grass in the country. As such is the countries economy. There is absolutely no plan in our country’s economy, Mr Dissanayake said at the seminar.
Source By: Ada derana

LTTE ban in France to remain

The French Government has reiterated to Sri Lanka that the LTTE is a banned organization, in light of the recent controversy over the erection of a statue of former LTTE Political wing leader Thamilchelvan in a French Town.

External Affairs Ministry Director General of Public Communication and Spokesperson Bandula Jayasekara told the Daily Mirror that the French Government has written to the Local Municipal Council of La Courneuve, the French town in the northeastern suburbs of Paris where the statue is being erected. (D.S)

Source By: dailymirror

Government hospitals of Sri Lanka to get essential drugs soon

Nov 05, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Health Ministry will procure urgently needed essential life saving drugs to ensure smooth functioning of patient care services in all the hospitals in the country.

Considering a proposal submitted by Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, the Cabinet of ministers on Wednesday has approved funds up to a maximum of Rs.500 million for the Health Ministry to immediately purchase the much needed drugs.

The drugs will be procured with the approval of the Ministry Procurement Committee and subject to the conditions stipulated by the Ministry for this purchase, the government said.

Hospital sources say country's hospitals are facing a severe shortage of essential drugs.

Source By: ColomboPage

Fonseka forms new party

General Sarath Fonseka has submitted an application to Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka seeking to form his own party under the name ‘Democratic People’s Alliance with Tiran Alles as the General Secretary.

The new party will be part of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) headed by General Fonseka which also includes the JVP.

Currently Fonseka does not have his own political party although he heads the Alliance. (Daily Mirror online)

Budget proposals for 2010

The 2010 Budget revenue has been estimated at Rs. 817.8 billion and expenditure at Rs.1279.8 billion. The tax revenue is Rs. 729 billion while the non tax revenue is Rs.88.8 billion

BUDGET SPEECH:

1. Honourable Speaker, it is with great honour that I present to this House the Budget for
2010 under the astute leadership of His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

2. At the very outset, it is my fervent duty to thank the people of this country who gave a
resounding mandate to His Excellency the President at the Presidential Election
concluded in January 2010 and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) at the
General Election concluded in April 2010. The landslide victory at both elections is a clear
endorsement of policies pursued by the government since 2005 under the leadership of
His Excellency the President. Almost two thirds of our voting population placed
confidence in the bold leadership of His Excellency the President in the successful
elimination of LTTE terrorism and restoring peace. The mandate from the two elections
was also an expression of whole‐hearted support to the ‘Mahinda Chintana Vision
for the
Future’ ‐ the election Manifesto of the President which promised to transform Sri Lanka
into the ‘Emerging Wonder of Asia’.

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New Parliament sworn in

The new 225 member Parliament was sworn in this morning. The seventh parliament consists of 144 seats for the ruling UPFA while the UNP has 60 seats, ITAK 14 and the DNA of General Sarath Fonseka 7 seats. Source By: daily mirror

My swearing in a humiliation for the government – Fonseka tells Reuters

Sri Lanka’s former army chief said his swearing-in as a member of parliament on Thursday was a “humiliation” to the government, which he said had jailed him illegally to crush his political career.
It was the second victory for General Sarath Fonseka in 11 months, after he as army commander announced to the nation last May that the separatist Tamil Tigers had been destroyed and the Indian Ocean island nation’s quarter-century war had been won.
Then, he and Rajapaksa had stood together as war heroes, but quickly fell out over what Fonseka said were false coup allegations and his sidelining to a job with no real powers.
That culminated with his quitting the army to challenge Rajapaksa in the Jan. 26 presidential election, which he lost by 1.8 million votes. As votes were being counted, troops surrounded his hotel on suspicion he was plotting a coup.
He was arrested two weeks later and subsequently charged with illegal procurement and politicking in uniform, part of Sri Lanka’s military code taken from British military law that makes it illegal for soldiers to engage in politics.

“They are trying to keep me away from my political activities and since we have managed to come to parliament, overcoming all the barriers, I have recorded a victory here which is of course a humiliation for the government,” Fonseka told Reuters by phone.
The former army commander won a seat in this month’s parliament election while in military custody facing court-martial.

As a parliamentarian, he has the privilege to attend sessions in the legislature and his appearance on Thursday was the first time he has spoken publicly since his arrest in February. He was returned afterward to custody at Navy headquarters.
“We have realised that this government will not look after the interests of the people and the country, violating all the principles of democracy,” he said. “So we are all united to defeat this government.

DEFENDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS ?
Fonseka campaigned as a defender of human rights and joined Western governments and rights groups who routinely criticise the government for arbitrary arrests, rights abuses and failing to prosecuting those who have hurt or killed journalists.

The general was criticised at home and abroad for his policy of win-at-any-cost when he was army commander during an offensive that saw thousands of civilians killed. He was also criticised for branding journalists critical of the war as traitors.
“Certain statements were detrimental to the progress of the war and the security of the country,” he said. “The particular statement made by me at that time was that those statements are traitorous, but I didn’t say or brand everybody as traitor.”
Fonseka won a seat in the capital Colombo as head of the Democratic National Alliance, which includes the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. The wider opposition coalition that backed him for the presidential poll split after his defeat.
Journalists were not allowed to bring their telephones into the parliament nor were they allowed to move freely after the session as is ordinarily the case for accredited media.
Fonseka is Sri Lanka’s only four-star general, after a 40-year career in which he was twice wounded.
In 2006, a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber nearly killed him at army headquarters, but he returned to command three months later and began the offensive that crushed one of the world’s most feared and ruthless armed groups in less than three years.

Reuters