Sunday October 08th, 2006

Norway’s special envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer during his visit to Sri Lanka last week caught amidst his numerous rounds of discussions. - Pic by Ishara S. Kodikara

NEWS

Focus on Human Rights
President to meet co-chairs tomorrow
Amidst hopes of a resumption of peace talks later this month and an escalation of hostilities in the East last week President Mahinda Rajapaksa will meet the co-chair representatives on Monday.
The discussion will focus on the current situation in the country and the President will brief the co-chairs on the humanitarian issues and how the co-chairs could help in this endeavour.
Highly placed government sources said that the Human Rights conditions in the country had improved and abductions in Colombo has stopped after the government appointed a high level probe team.
One suspect who had been arrested had confirmed that he had connections with the Karuna group. Two more suspects had been arrested in Vavuniya after a CWC politician tipped off the police, he said.

New IGP says he will act on abductions
The Newly appointed IGP Victor Perera yesterday said he would come hard on complaints made against the abduction of Tamil businessmen after he assumes office.
He also said that his immediate priority since assuming office on October 12, would be to improve welfare of his rank and file.
My immediate priority would be to improve all the welfare measures for the department’s lower grades where they even lack quarters not only in the outstations but in Colombo city as well, he told The Nation.

Dengue in India will not affect SL
Health authorities said that Sri Lanka is out of danger of the dengue outbreak in India although they are concerned about the November and December outbreak that usually arises every year as it had occurred in the past.
“We will not be affected as there is an outbreak in India. We have taken necessary precautions and we are only worried about the November and December outbreaks that can arise after the rains. But our health authorities are ready to face any sort of outbreak but there is no need to be any unnecessary fear that Sri Lanka will also face a dengue outbreak.” Dr. Lakshmi de Silva of the dengue control unit said.

Four INGOs allowed to stay back
The government had agreed to restore the visas of personnel belonging to four NGOs amongst the six international NGOs that were asked to leave the country last week after they had lodged protests with the Sri Lankan government, The Nation learns.

Solheim invites Hakeem to Norway
Norwegian Minister of International Development and former Special Envoy for the Sri Lankan peace process Eric Solheim last week invited Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Chief Rauf Hakeem for discussions in Norway.
The invitation is to discuss the difficulties facing Muslims in the north east of Sri Lanka and the progress in the peace process and follows a visit to Oslo by a delegation from Muslim Peace Secretariat last month.

Transferred STF cop to take Hakeem to task
STF Chief Inspector S. N. Gunaratne who was transferred following the massacre of 10 Muslim construction workers in Pottuvil, is to file action against his transfer from the Sastraweli STF camp and file defamation charges against Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem, on Wednesday.

POLITICS

Ingredients in place for a political solution
For a political solution to an intractable conflict, the first step is that the relevant parties must realise that a military solution was not possible.

Was the mask really off, Mr. President?
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is quite well known in political circles for his diplomacy. He is renowned for his ever-smiling countenance that can hide the most delicate secret. Even his detractors will agree that he has the perfect face for the job, a mask that conceals almost everything and reveals nothing.

NEWS FEATURES

Govt. of National Consensus
Mixed reactions from politicos and civil society
Sri Lanka’s two main political parties, the UNP and the SLFP are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding before October 15, 2006. The two parties are to make a joint statement with regard to consensus reached on several subjects.

42m WTM budget in question
Public money being plundered by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) is gathering steam and SLTB Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara seems to be weathering the storm with the influence of his former brother-in-law, who is the Tourism Minister.

Visible smears in oil Lanka exploration
Oil experts describe this as an insult to the professionals working with Chinese and Indian oil companies who are well versed in the industry to scoff at such an amateurish proposal to pay upfront US$ 100 million for license for an exploration block in the Mannar Basin which is deeper than 3000 metres and identified by the industry as a deep water frontier with no history of shallow water production or discovery.

RIGHT OF REPLY
Lets do things differently this time; lets talk
This refers to a Comment by Mr. Malinda Seneviratne, Deputy Editor Features, The Nation, and leading member of the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT - the JHU front organization) carried on page 12, The Nation, 17 September 2006.

Treasury Secy’s conduct in to SLIC privatisation questioned
The investigation in to the discrepancies regarding the privatisation of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation has taken an interesting turn with a former Chairman of the Public Enterprise Reform Commission (PERC) accusing the Secretary of the Finance Ministry of “acting in conflict of interests”.

INTERVIEWS

“She is still my sister”
JVP Leader Somawansa Amerasinghe’s moment in the political limelight has refused to fade after his comments about the SLFP being like a ‘prostitute’ was followed up by scandalous allegations regarding his sister. In a wide ranging interview with Ashoka Weerasinghe this week, the JVP Chief vows to stand by his sister no matter what the inquiries bring to light and claims to be resilient to media ....

COMMENT/INTERVIEW

SPORTS

Speedy Petes run past St. Anthony’s
St. Peter’s surprised St. Anthony’s with speed and team-work to record a smashing 30 points to 13 win and book a berth in the schools under-20 knock-out final at Royal College Sports Complex, Reid Avenue yesterday.
The Peterite threes moved the ball around freely and their forwards were equal to the task in keeping with the pace of the game. The Anthonians impressed in the first half and so did the Peterites who managed to lead 8-0 through an unconverted try by winger Viduranga Karunaratne and a penalty by Harsha Weerakkody.

Sri Lanka to host ICC events
Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) interim committee took a decision last week to upgrade ten cricket venues to international cricket standards.
These venues according to SLC sources are being upgraded with the expertise extended to them by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The ICC, ‘The Nation’ learns has shown a keen interest in using Sri Lanka as the venue for its future tournaments. It is with this in mind that the world governing body for cricket is extending a helping hand to upgrade the cricket stadiums in this country.
The ICC has so far hosted three of their tournaments in Sri Lanka with success – the under 19 World Cup in 2000 and 2006 and the Champions trophy in 2002.

Ashes turn to go Down Under
HOBART, (AP) - After public outrage over its original snub, Australia’s southern island state of Tasmania has been added to the itinerary for a tour Down Under by cricket’s famous Ashes urn.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodian of the fragile 4-inch (10 centimeter) urn and the former world governing body for cricket, overturned its original decision to omit Tasmania from the tour.
Tasmania had been the only one of Cricket Australia’s six member states not originally included on the tour, which starts Oct. 21 in Sydney _ about a month before the first test match between Australia and England starts in Brisbane. Tasmania will not host any of the five test matches, which are spread around Australia’s five mainland state capitals.

Point Blank
Troubles across the border
The game of cricket has been replete with controversies from time immemorial. The storm surrounding umpire Darrell Hair better known as Hairgate has now been replaced by the one concerning the International Cricket Council (ICC) and India and the fiasco over the Pakistani captaincy.
India with its vast global television audience has got the ICC cornered by refusing to sign the Members’ Participation Agreement (MPA), a document which lays down guidelines and restrictions that the players must follow for major ICC tournaments, including those that deal with ambush marketing.

Roger’s law
Sri Lanka’s newly appointed under-19 cricket coach Roger Wijesuriya said that lack of discipline in batting and bowling among other things had contributed to the downfall in school cricket standards today.
“I don’t see anything radically wrong with school cricket in this country, it is just that a few minor things have to be put right for it to raise its head once again,” Wijesuriya told ‘The Nation’.
“Batsmen don’t bat 2-3 sessions and get a century and bowlers don’t bowl 20-30 overs to get wickets. This shows they lack the staying power and discipline to work hard for success,” said Wijesuriya who will take over his new assignment from the first of next month.

Colombo