TNA meets Sri Lanka President; Chief Minister to take oath before the President

Sri Lanka's major Tamil constituent Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan paid a courtesy visit to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa today at the President's official residence Temple Trees.

The meeting was held this morning but the information regarding the discussion was yet to be released to media by either of the parties.

Meanwhile, the TNA announced today that the Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran would swear in before the President on October 07.

The councilors of the Northern Provincial Council will take oaths before the Chief Minister and the parliamentarian R. Sambanthan on October 11, TNA media spokesman Suresh Premachandran said.

Sri Lanka's Udugama police violate human rights of a man who violated animal rights

When I watched this video, I recalled the past I was taken like this in police and military vehicles hands and legs bound and pushed under the seats in 1989. There was nobody to talk about my rights except ICRC.

 I am lucky that I am alive but many that were taken like this simply disappeared. Some were even tied to vehicles alive and dragged.

Today in Sri Lanka there are so many people to represent the rights of cattle but no other animal. When they see a crocodile, often they harass it like a criminal and kill. They harass the elephants like this throughout their lives and think its pious.

The way this cow was transported to the slaughter house was clear violation of animal right. But the end result is no different even it is transported in a SUV.

My point is can the police harass a man, beat him with bamboo sticks and force him to kiss the arse of the animal even if he has committed an offense?

A mob also joins with the police or perhaps the police join with the mob to harass these men right within the premises of Udugama police station.

These police officers are engaged in clear violation of human rights.

Fonterra's Fonterrorism

Finding traces of DCD in milk powder created a huge controversy in Sri Lanka and that affected even the dairy farmers in New Zealand that supply milk to the multi national Fonterra, the world's largest dairy exporter,.

From Sri Lanka's part, as the consumer, we do not essentially need to accept whatever they sent to us. We have the right to question what they are giving us and it is not a bad idea to maintain a warning that they have to take us serious as stakeholders and highly regard the quality of their products. .

A spokesman of Sri Lanka Ministry of Health said yesterday that seven batches of milk food imports that were held in the Colombo port would be released to the market since tests proved they are negative for DCD.

The Industrial Technical Institute (ITI) has informed the Food Advisory Committee of Ministry of Health that the tested seven samples of the milk food stocks were tested negative for DCD.
Accordingly, the Food Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health has decided to release the milk food to the market.

The Food Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Health met yesterday under the patronage of the Chairman of the committee secretary of the Ministry of Health Palitha Mahipala.

After the ITI found that two batches of Fonterra's anchor brand milk powder contained traces of DCD in the samples, the Health Ministry banned the sale, distribution and promotion of imported milk powder until further notice.

Fonterra was questioning the country's technical capacity to test for DCD.  New Zealand depends on the dairy industry for a quarter of its total exports.

The real international controversy over Fonterra was related not to DCD but to  botulism-causing bacteria. The contamination announced earlier this month has led to product recalls in countries from China to Saudi Arabia. Fonterra has come under attack at home and abroad for dragging its feet in disclosing the discovery of the bacteria.

China becoming Si Lanka's tourism lifeline

Sri Lanka government's economic lifeline tourism seems moving from lucrative European market, in which the country failed, to China as the government's tarnished international image hinders expansion into high end tourism markets.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau says that the Chinese tourist market has improved immensely during the first six months of the year 2013.

Accordingly, the number of tourists that arrived in Sri Lanka during the first six months of the year 2013 increased to 16,582 from 9622 from the same period of the previous year.

The increase is a growth of 72.3 percent, the bureau says.

The Assistant Director of the Tourism Promotion Bureau Yuvaraj Athukorala said to media that the attempts of the country to tap the Chinese tourism market had gathered momentum.

512,281 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka in the first six months of the year 2013 and it is an increase of 13.1 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

Solution for religious hatred

There are enough temples, churches and kovils etc. in this world.

Therefore ban construction more.

That is one solution for the situation.

A permanent solution for the religious hatred is giving up religion.

Follow me men, I blog for it.

Sri Lanka major opposition working committee pardons two rebel MPs

Sri Lanka major opposition United National Party (UNP) media spokesman Gayantha Karunatilake said that the working committee of the UNP had decided yesterday to reinstate the suspended memberships of the Puttalam district MP Palitha Range Bandara and Kurunegala district MP Ashok Abesinghe.

The leader of the party, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe reported to the working committee that he had met the two MPs and discussed a settlement. The two MPs had agreed to grant the support to the party in line with the party constitution, the party leader said.

Accordingly, the disciplinary action against these two MPs would be terminated and the party would consider to reinstate them in the electoral organizer positions they earlier held, UNP media spokesman said.

The two MPs were accused of taking part in a meeting organized at the Hyde Park, Colombo, by the United Bhikku Front with the participation of Sarath Fonseka, going contrary to the Working Committee decision not to participate in the meeting.

SriLanka's opposition demands parliamentary debate and an independent probe on Weliweriya killings

Sri Lanka's opposition Chief Whip John Amaratunga today demanded a debate in the parliament in regard of the deaths occurred in Weliweriya in Gampaha district in military involvement to disperse a group of people agitating for the right of safe drinking water.

Government Chief Whip Dinesh Gunawardane, Minister, said that the final decision regarding the debate may be taken at the meeting of the leaders of the parliamentary groups held today.

Delivering a special statement in the parliament today, the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe questioned why the Army was called to disperse a civilian agitation in a non-major town.

He demanded an independent investigation about the incident.

In response, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the military called to manage the violent protest had to take self defensive and civilian security measures in the context of protestors attacking the personnel with Molotov Cocktail and shooting.