Over 10,000 children screened

Teams to carry out assessment programs               

The Government has laid emphasis on the protection and care of conflict affected and displaced children by deploying teams consisting of specialized personnel from the fields of health, child care, law enforcement etc. to address their emotional, physical, psychological and social needs.

N. Ram   

‘Every square centimetre has been mined by the LTTE and de-mining has to be certified by the U.N. If something happens, I am responsible.’  

President Mahinda Rajapaksa highlighted his determination to re-settle “as soon as possible” the close to 300,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict with the LTTE. In an extended interview given to The Hindu in Colombo, he laid out his road map of what needed to be put in place to ensure the safety and meet the basic needs of those who are to be sent back to their villages. He also sketched his vision of reconciliation and development, which emphasised that in post-conflict Sri Lanka there was no place for “racism” and anything that “creates a disturbance among our three communities…Sinhala, Tamil, or Muslim.”

Statement by Dr. H.A.P. Kahandaliyanage, Secretary, Ministry of Healthcare & Nutrition of Sri Lanka at the High-Level Segment ECOSOC,  Geneva, 6^th July 2009

Report on “South Asia Regional Ministerial Meeting on Financing Strategies for Healthcare”, 16–18  March 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Dinisha Fernando

The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is holding a session in Geneva from the 6^th to the 30^th of July. The High-level segment, which begins today, will include ECOSOC’s Annual Ministerial Review in Geneva this July, with the theme for 2009 "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health."  Ministerial reviews evaluate the progress made by member states towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (examples of which include goals to halve poverty and prevent the spread of AIDS) towards their 2015 target date along with other similar objectives and to promote further movement towards the achievement of these goals.

The National  Archeological Week will get underway from July 7-13 with a two day exhibition and a seminar at Mayurapada Vidyalaya, Narammala in the North Western Province (Wayamba).

The national symposium of this event at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute will be patronised by the Minister of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage,Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene.

‘We’re spending on electricity, on roads, on water. We can’t send them back to a place where there are just jungles.’   

By Anusha Ondaatjie 

July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Hatton National Bank Ltd., Sri Lanka’s second-biggest non-state lender by assets, plans to add branches and finance rebuilding in the island’s north and east following an end to three decades of civil war.

N. Ram

The photographs by Thilak Bandara – taken during our visit on July 1, 2009 to some of the Zone 1 IDP camps on the outskirts of Vavuniya town in Sri Lanka’s mainland North – speak for themselves. They are testimony to the Sri Lankan government’s efforts, with international assistance, to care for a brave and resilient Tamil community, which will be resettled and rehabilitated in the next few months through an ambitious programme.

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: For the first time since a section of the Tamil groups in Sri Lanka took to arms 30 years ago to fight for their rights, representatives of all political parties came together here on Thursday at the inaugural meeting of the newly constituted All-Parties Committee (APC) for Development and Reconciliation chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

A historic meeting of all political parties represented in Parliament, and others too, to discuss the development and reconciliation needs of Sri Lanka, following the defeat of terrorism, took place in Colombo today.

Colombo, July 3 (DPA) The British government has relaxed travel restrictions on its citizens visiting Sri Lanka nearly five weeks after Tamil separatist rebels were defeated to end a more then 30-year war in the South Asian country, the British high commission in Colombo said Friday.

The government of Sri Lanka expressed gratitude to Maldives government for the support extended by the Maldives at the UN Human Rights Council Special session on Sri Lanka held on 6 – 27 May 2009.

Ananth Krishnan

BEIJING: Mindful of New Delhi’s concerns about Beijing’s increasingly close strategic relationship with Colombo, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Thursday stressed that Sri Lanka’s growing ties with China had no bearing on the country’s “unique” relationship with India. He described Sri Lanka’s relationship with the two countries as “two tracks on a railway-line running independently”.

Milinda Moragoda took oaths as the Minister of Justice and Law Reforms in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at President’s Office, today, July 2.  

President Rajapaksa appointed Mr. Milinda Moragoda, the former Minister of tourism to fill the post left vacant by the death of late Minister Amarasiri Dodangoda.

Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, MP, Senior Advisor to H.E. the President of Sri Lanka, is presently in Indonesia on a good will visit on the personal invitation extended by H.E. Dr. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. He was accompanied by Mr. Dhammika Perera, Chairman, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.

By Dayan Jayatilleka 

There is nothing that our enemy, the Tiger international network and the pro-Tiger, pro-Tamil Eelam Tamil Diaspora would like better, than to see a gap open up in the partnership between Sri Lanka and India; a gap that they will seek to manipulate in consonance with their Western patrons and friends. The non-implementation of the 13th amendment will open up such a gap. The implementation of the 13th amendment is not a give away or dilution of our military gains. It is the necessary political accompaniment of them and the guarantee of the consolidation of our military victory. It is in our national interests and a guarantee of our national security.

Communiqué  Of The Coordinating Bureau Of The Non-Aligned Movement On The Situation As A Result Of The Coup D’état Against The Constitutional President Of The Republic Of Honduras

The Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), expresses its strongest condemnation of the Coup d’état carried out in the early hours of yesterday morning, Sunday 28 June, against the Constitutional President of the Republic of Honduras, a sister nation that is a full member of the Non-Aligned Movement.

LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran overestimated the ability of European nations and the Tamil Diaspora to enforce a ceasefire as they had done in the past. This time, Sri Lanka was not going to listen to anyone.  

War Game | Nitin Gokhale

When television channels across the globe began beaming visuals of Velupillai Prabhakaran’s body on 19 May, there was shock first and then, disbelief.

Dressed in battle fatigues, his dog tag and his favourite revolver still on him, Prabhakaran’s skull was partially blown off, his eyes wide open even in death. Was he surprised? Shocked? Or simply frozen in fear when death came?

He told the state Assembly on Wednesday that it would be unrealistic to talk of a separate country for Sri Lankan Tamils anymore and that it would be best to press for a fair deal for them within Sri Lanka.

Published by editor Sri Lanka

Colombo, 02 July, (Asiantribune.com): Ladies and gentlemen,We are at a critical juncture in our history. We have the unique opportunity to bring our people together and make this blessed island a better place for all. As the Bard said, time and tide waits for no man. We must grab this chance and ride the tide as it rushes in, said Dr. Palitha Kohona.