Come to courts tomorrow, appeals Lanka-e-News

(August 02, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Following the abduction of Poddala Jayantha, the Secretary of the Working Journalists' Association of Sri Lanka, the police arrested Lanka-e-News journalists Sandaruwan Senadheera and Benet Rupasinghe. They were produced in court in relation to the abduction. The reason for the arrest is Rupasinghe who got the information about the abduction taking action to inform about it to the authorities and the family of the victim.

Later, Poddala Jayantha appealed from the hospital bed not to put the fellow journalist under pressure for an incident they are no linked to in anyway.

Following is an appeal by the Lanka-e-News team.

Dear friends,

The unreasonable court hearing against Lankaenews regarding the deliberate assault of fellow journalist Poddala Jayantha will begin tomorrow,

The editors of Lankaenews have to face charges after being wrongfully linked to this assault, whereas the authorities have no intention whatsoever to bring the real offenders to justice.

Join us for a peaceful protest in front of the Gangodawila court house tomorrow to support us against this tyranny.

Lanka E News

Sri Lanka's new Minister of Tourism to show "big miracles"

(August 02, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's new Minister of Tourism, Nandana Gunathilaka has decided to give up the recently launched tagline "Sri Lanka; Small Miracle."

The Minister has made the President aware that the use of the word "small" is not suitable for a great nation like Sri Lanka. However, Gunathilaka's clan earlier opposed power sharing on the basis that Sri Lanka is a small island.

Lakbima News reported that a promotional documentary film on Sri Lanka Tourism (for marketing purposes) produced by a company named Red Ice, Bombay, claimed a staggering Rs.29 million while Phoenix Ogilvy (Phoenix O&M Pvt Ltd.) the advertising company was paid a thumping Rs.40 million for creating the brand name and producing promotional material, such as brochures and posters. The minister had pointed out that the brand launch at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) cost Rs.17.7 million.

The Minister sees that this as an extravagance. As far as we know, the international marketing of tourism is not "a simple task" as the Minister sees it. "If leading scholars in the country involve in creating a brand name, it could be done within few days," says the Minister. The marketing specialists will definitely be amused with the Minister's naivety.

It is true that the capitalist advertising is too much bragging and full of falsehood. Yet, Gunathilaka's "socialist" option is sure to be failed. International tourism marketing should be based on a science and should not be like the production of "Ayuboweva - Maharajanane" song.

We will not wonder if this new venture will finally end up with a new multi-million contract offered to the advertising company owned by Minister Sarath Amunugama's daughter.

View Sri Lanka; Small Miracle documentary

Sri Lanka heading for a soverign bond issue

(August 02, 2009 Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka state is reportedly planning to sell sovereign bonds to raise funds possibly US $ 500 million soon, government sources say.

In 2007, Central Bank of Sri Lanka  sold $500 million of bonds due in October 2012, at a yield 397.2 basis points higher than U.S. Treasuries of similar maturity.

HSBC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Barclays Capital had arranged Sri Lanka’s debut overseas bond sale.  Investors placed orders for more than three times the amount of debt sold.

The government has already in touch with the HSBC and JPMorgan to arrange meetings with investors in the U.S., India, Hong Kong and Singapore to highlight prospects in the island nation after the end of its civil war.

A movie competition: The Put it On Picture Show Contest

(August 02, 2009 - Lanka Polity)

Have you always dreamed about studying at The New York Film Academy? This is your opportunity, regardless of where you live, work and film. The Put it On Picture Show Contest is awarding just that: a free scholarship to the New York Film Academy and a cash prize of $5,000 USD for the first prize in Best Feature, Best Short, and Best Achievement in Acting categories. Second prize in Best Feature and Best Short is an HD Prosumer digital video camera.


Put it On is a brand new web showcase and gallery for artists in four different areas: fashion, film, music and art. Artists get 1 free GB of virtual storage space, and can chose to make their work available for download or purchase at whatever price they chose. The site is available in 10 different languages through automated translation.

To enter the competition, just submit one film showing your best work. Any topic from any part of the world is acceptable for entry. Videos can be in any language too, but subtitles in English are required. You can submit a film in only one category: either Best Short or Best Feature (longer than 45 minutes).
For more details about the competition, visit Put it On. The competition opened on July 30 and closes for entries on November 26. The top 10 short and feature finalists will be chosen through online voting. A panel of judges including a member of The New York Film Academy and Max Fraser, co-founder of Put it On will announce the winners on January 7, 2010. Best Achievement in Acting will be decided separately by the judges from all the submissions.

De-listing of the armed forces deserters of Sri Lanka; a positive step of post-civil war demilitarization

(August 01, 2009 - Lanka Polity) The government has taken a wise decision to de-list the deserters of the armed forces. It can be considered a positive step towards de-militarization of the society in the post-civil war era.

They can formally retire from service between August 24 and September 14 at centers set up by their respective regiments after producing the necessary documents, Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.

It is believed that there are around 70,000 armed forces deserters throughout the country. Their access to normal life is restricted and some of them are compelled to illegal activities due to this reason. Thousands of deserters have left for foreign employment and they should also be given this opportunity.  

Government is burdened with millions of rupees that cost to coffers to take legal action against these deserters. 

Former Sri Lankan President talks highly about what she herself had failed to do

(August 01, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Press Trust of India reported that the former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga had strongly favored reservation for women in Sri Lanka's Parliament. 

Speaking on women’s vote in politics in India she had said “Sri Lanka is one of the countries in the whole world that has the lowest representation in Parliament, we have only about 13 per cent representation and is not satisfactory".

Actually, the women’s representation in the cabinet is less than 2%.

Chandrika was the President of Sri Lanka since 1994 to 2005 and did next to nothing to change the situation. 

Chandrika Kumaratunga had contended that women by nature were more caring and better negotiators in matter of state and governance, said the PTI report.

However, she is known among her one time associates as a personality with none of the above mentioned qualities. She lost all her luster all of a sudden she had to vest in her powers to her successor current President Mahinda Rajapakse. Almost all of the birds that were flocked around her flew away abruptly to perch on the branch of her successor and many resorted to insult her to curry favor with the new leader. Thus, another aspect of the fate of the women in politics was also shown.

Beware: mosquito repellents cause lung cancer

(August 01, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Although Sri Lanka, a country near equator that suffers immensely due to mosquito-born diseases, widely uses mosquito coils as a repellent, no proper scientific research has never been conducted about the side effects of the chemicals used in them.

The sale of mosquito coils have excalated sharply in recent years in Sri Lanka. We have observed that
the companies that market mosquito coils spend lavishly to stop researches regarding the side effects of the mosquito repellents. On the other hand, the media is also highly dependent on the advertisement income of these companies and the voice against the mosquito coils is internally suppressed. 

Doctors do not recommend any mosquito repellent but the mosquito net, but the low income groups have no other option to use coil in slums and refugee camps etc., there are no proper sleeping places to use a mosquito net.

The scientists – Bob Krieger, Travis Dinoff and Xiaofei Zhang of the department of entomology – sampled coils from Indonesia and Asian markets in Southern California and found that the contained "S-2" or octachlorodipropyl ether, banned for sale in the United States, reported the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in 2003.


"It is very possible that the coils are exposing users to bischloromethyl ether, also called BCME, a potent lung carcinogen," said Krieger. "High exposure can occur if the coils are used overnight, as they often are."