President Mahinda Rajapakse
and his wife Shiranthi partici-
pating in a colourful Thai
Pongal ceremony at Temple
Trees yesterday.
(Pic by Sudath Silva)

• We cannot allow Sri Lanka to be divided
  – British MP Dr. Kim Howells
  Speaking on the conflict in Sri Lanka at the adjournment debate in the House of Commons in UK last week, the Minister for the Middle East Dr. Kim Howells said the LTTE should renounce terrorism and demonstrate a real commitment to democratic principles if it is to be regarded internationally as a legitimate political movement.
   

• Terror strikes won’t deter military thrust
  Last week’s LTTE terror attacks on poor rural communities in the Moneragala district costing 43 lives will not deter the military thrust against remaining Tiger strongholds in the Vanni, authoritative governmental sources said yesterday.

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• What Is To Be Done?
  
  The government should understand that the
  above mentioned two measures; the war against separatism and power sharing package are complementary strategies in maintaining a united Sri Lanka. Moreover, only such a two-prong approach can guarantee the current regime’s long-term political survival.
   

• Political Watch
  The devolution debacle
  The main opposition UNP did not participate in the APRC and neither did the third biggest party in parliament, the JVP. So Hamlet is being staged without the prince and even the ghost. Professor Vitarana says that the UNP provided them with a position paper which they used in their deliberations. But providing a position paper is not the same as the UNP and SLFP putting their signatures on a final set of proposals.
   

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• The best of two worlds
  
  Very few people know nowadays, and most have forgotten, that this kind of selfless giving has its precedent in Buddhist traditions in the notion of ‘dana paramita’ or exemplary giving. In Derrick’s case he has begun to realize that one way of living one’s ripening years is to spend whatever spare or sparse income one has to alleviate pain and suffering even in a small way, and without the ulterior motivations of fame, political advantage or even public praise.
   

• A tribute to Pundit Amaradeva
  
  I have remained a keen listener to Amaradeva and developed a great admiration for him and it was during those later years that I was able fully to fathom the depth and worth of Amaradeva, both as an artist and as a human being. I recall in particular two songs which still haunt me, and which I can still recite line by line, 55-40 years after they were first sung.
   

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• Massive leak in tyre import duty plugged by Customs
  A massive rip-off of Customs revenue through the under invoicing of vehicle tyre imports has been stopped by a government decision to introduce a new duty structure for tyre imports based on weight-based duty of Rs.80 per kg. or 28% of the invoiced value, whichever is higher.
   

• JKH confident of excellent returns from
  refurbished Maldivian resorts
  Keells Hotels Limited, which has invested USD 10 million in refurbishing and reconstructing its Maldivian properties, re-launched two of these resorts under the Chaaya brand last weekend hopes to earn around USD 2 million on its Maldivian operation next year on four resorts in the Maldives, JKH Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunawardena said yesterday.
   

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• Sir Edmund Percival Hillary
  
  They spent only about 15 minutes at the summit. They unsuccessfully looked for evidence of the 1924 Mallory expedition.[18] Hillary took Tenzing's photo, Tenzing left chocolates in the snow as an offering, and Hillary left a cross that he had been given.[11] Because Tenzing did not know how to use a camera, there are no pictures of Hillary there.[19]
   

• Jetwing launches drive to save Planet Earth
  Jetwing will promote this project at each of their hotels giving the opportunity for hotel guests to contribute to the project, by making an investment on minimum of one tree that will be planted at the forest project at Jetwing Hunas Falls. Guests investing in the project will receive their JEEP Carbon credit certificate.
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• Chess legend Bobby Fischer dies
  
  Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American
  chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.
   

• Fearing distractions and spying
  China make Olympic athletes keep low profile
  "It seems inevitable that I will see you guys less and less in the coming months," 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang, the world record holder and Olympic and world champion, told reporters at his training camp a few weeks ago. Liu, who has sponsorships with Nike and Visa, rivals NBA star Yao Ming as the country's most visible athlete.
   

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