The Government yesterday
said it appreciated the efforts of the Co-chairs to
resume peace talks and re-affirmed President Mahinda
Rajapakse’s August 22 declaration that the Government
remains ready to engage in talks with the LTTE following
a clear commitment by the LTTE Leader to a comprehensive
and verifiable cessation of hostilities.
UNP frontliner Milinda
Moragoda has reacted angrily to an attempt to target him
over his recent meeting with President Mahinda Rajapakse.
The former Minister emphasised that the meeting took
place with the knowledge of UNP leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe.
A Saataka-Bell tie
up? President Mahinda Rajapakse
hugs leader JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, as MPs
Wimal Weerawansa, and Dalas Alhapperuma look on, at
Temple Trees yesterday. (AP)
TULF President V. Anadasangaree has been designated
for the 2006 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh prize for the
Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence. He will be
awarded the $100,000 prize in Paris on November 16
NEWS
Military solution not the answer – British HC
British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott yesterday
said it appeared that the armed forces had got the
better of the fighting on land and sea, in the last
few weeks, but it would be a serious miscalculation to
believe that the country’s problem could be solved
militarily.
The National Trade Union
Centre said if the reduction in the payment of the
cost living allowance announced in the 2006 Budget was
due to the Government’s thinking that the working
class should also contribute something towards the
present security situation in the country, they would
welcome it but, at the same time, would suggest that
the President and Cabinet Ministers too should
contribute towards it by drawing only the salary
payable to an ordinary Member of Parliament.
The acceptance of unconditional Peace talks by the LTTE may be
the beginning of a post war period . Yet we must be realistic
and not get lost in euphoria. We have to recognize that the
trauma of the last few decades have left us, without doubt,
saddled with much distrust among the communities and among the
various segments of the body politic.
There are two contrasting job
descriptions of the post of Secretary-General (SG) of the
United Nations which falls vacant at the end of this year. One
is by the first incumbent of this position, Trygve Lie of
Norway, who famously called it "the most impossible job in the
world". The other is by the first, and so far only, Asian SG -
U Thant of Myanmar (formerly Burma) - who wrote, "The
Secretary-Generalship is not the most impossible job in the
world, although it is certainly one of the most difficult. It
is without any question one of the most rewarding."
A
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) initiative to bolster
growing bilateral relations with India was entrenched
when India’s Finance Minister P. Chidambaram launched
the Indo - Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ILCCI)
yesterday.
The
Annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting is a
platform for pushing forward the development policies
conceived by the Commonwealth. I thank all Heads of
Government and Finance Ministers of the Commonwealth
countries for selecting Sri Lanka for this year’s
meeting.
The Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL), on Tuesday,
presented Sri Lanka’s medal winners at the recent 10th South
Asian Games in Colombo with cash, medals and goody bags.
Sprint
‘Queen’ Susanthika Jayasinghe and ace sprinter Rohan
Pradeep Kumara pose with their trophies at the
athletics award ceremony held at Hotel Galadari on
Tuesday.
(Pic by Chandrasiri Weerasinghe)
INSIDE
A
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) initiative to bolster
growing bilateral relations with India was entrenched
when India’s Finance Minister P. Chidambaram launched
the Indo - Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ILCCI)
yesterday.
The
Annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting is a
platform for pushing forward the development policies
conceived by the Commonwealth. I thank all Heads of
Government and Finance Ministers of the Commonwealth
countries for selecting Sri Lanka for this year’s
meeting.
