S.B. Dissanayake is UNP’s Chief Ministerial Candidate

The UNP nomination papers for the Kandy district in the Central Provincial Council election was handed over nomination today to Kandy District Secretary Gotabhaya Jayaratne by UNP’s Chief Ministerial Candidate S.B. Dissanayake and district leader Lakshman Kiriella.

www.dailymirror.lk

GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination results out soon

The Examinations Department will issue the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination result in a few days.

The examination was held in August. “The A/L results would probably be issued by late December,” Examinations Commissioner General Anura Edirisinghe said.

The examination was held at 1,818 centres throughout the country of which 243,819 candidates sat the examination.

Out of the 243,819 candidates 199,062 are school candidates while the rest 44,757 are private candidates.

The result of school candidates will be sent to schools and private candidates will receive their result at their private addresses. The answer script evaluation process has already been completed.

The Examinations Department has commenced entering the data regarding results into the computer system. Results will soon be available from Department of Examinations web site http://www.doenets.lk.

www.dailynews.lk

Golden Key crisis: Seylan Bank director board dissolved

The monetary board of the Central Bank has dissolved the board of director of Seylan Bank. Operations of Seylan Bank have now been brought under the Bank of Ceylon.

CB said in a statement today (Dec. 29th), “The attention of the Monetary Board has been drawn to the recent events in the Ceylinco Group and the difficulties being encountered by Seylan Bank PLC with regard to deposit withdrawals and ensuing liquidity problems.”

“The difficulties of Seylan Bank PLC presented a potential danger to the stability of the financial system,” it said.

The CB said it was retaining the current chief executive officer and employees.

BoC has been tasked with carrying on the business of the bank and to appoint a new board of directors to the bank.

The Ceylinco Group has already announced that it was planning to sell out of Seylan Bank to repay depositors of Golden Key Credit Card Company, which ran into a liquidity crisis.

The sale of Seylan shares ix expected to proceed while the BoC performs a caretaker role in running the bank.

www.lankadissent.com

Wedding of the year: Here are the photos everyone was waiting for!

Please don’t feel jealous.

(Dasa Hapuvalanage – Lankadeepa, Dec 29)

(Anjana Indrajith – Lakbima, Dec 29)

Suicide bomber kills 6 in Wattala, near Sri Lankan capital Colombo – military

A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed six paramilitary guards and wounded more than a dozen others in a residential area of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Sunday, officials said.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the Tamil Tiger rebel targeted a security checkpoint near a market in the northern suburb of Wattala. Five people were killed at the scene, he said.

A health official said 19 people were admitted to hospital, and one person had died of injuries.

A Reuters witness said the site of the blast had been cordoned off. Military officials said those killed belonged to the civil defence force, an official organisation run by the military. The checkpoint was near a crowded market.

(Reuters)

Supreme Court in Sri Lanka: All what you need to know

I tried addressing some of the common questions in my article in tomorrow’s Rivira (Dec 28, 2008). Mainly aimed for those appearing for law entrance, but will be useful for common readers too, especially in the present circumstances.

If you don’t want to buy you still can reach it at http://www.rivira.lk/2008/12/28/rivitarana2.htm.

Mahinda maama marries Weerawansa nangi

Our Mahinda maama is more like a Moghul emperor. His greed knows no boundaries. Having a private harem, with other beauties like Ellawala akka and Devananda akka has not prevented the naaki manamalaya from eyeing young and dynamic Weerawansa nangi. By the way, who said “Naaki vise – Getath use”?

The news of their wedding is no surprise, as Anjana Indrajith of Lakbima correctly notes. Mahinda maama’s nocturnal visits to Weerawansa nangi were well known, even when the latter was officially married to another somnambular oldie – Somawansa seeya. Now she is divorced, Mahinda maama does the right thing by properly marrying her. We hope Ellawala akka is not too jealous. After all, there are things Ellawala akka, in spite of her big mouth, cannot perform.

We have no presents, but like to give an advice to Mahinda maama. He has to be careful when dealing with someone like Weerwansa nangi whose job is to raise the skirt for right price. God only knows with how many Weerawansa nangi has slept in the past. A visit to STD clinic before the much publicized wedding is sure to save some trouble for Mahinda maama.

Now, that said, will everyone join me to sing ‘Jayamangala gatha’ in unison?

Merry Christmas!

I wish Merry Christmas for all Catholic/Christian readers of my blog!

Is Sri Lanka heading for Anarchy?

A more competent and mature leader might have handled the situation better, but those are certainly not adjectives to describe our present rulers. So yesterday, for the second time, they stubbornly ignored the Supreme Court directive to reduce the petrol prices to Rs. 100, which it easily can, without incurring any losses. This can lead to a serious crisis between the government and judiciary.

Curbing tax will no doubt reduce the government revenue. Still it can easily live with what it earns. All what needs to go are the extravagances. Are these appropriate times for government ministers to indulge in extravagances? Can’t Rohitha Bogollagama cut down his pleasure trips by half? Can’t jumbo foreign entourages be reduced? Can’t the royal dinners at Temple Trees made less frequent? Why not the rulers themselves give an example to masses by tightening their belts a bit while public enjoy the benefit of the reduction of crude oil prices in world market?

Ignoring a Supreme Court decision is one of the worst precedents given in a democratic society. What example Kurakkan uncle sets to masses by ignoring the decisions of the highest court of the land? Does he, a lawyer by himself, imply that the government can do whatever it likes ignoring the law of the land? Or is he trying to imitate Prabhakaran by humiliating the judiciary?

It is even sadder that state media, especially Rupavahini and ITN, are used to project Chief Justice as a conspirator. We saw yesterday at least two senior ministers, including the Prime Minster himself taking pot shots at the judiciary. This will lead nowhere but anarchy. Government needs to listen to the wisdom of the judiciary.

At least he could have learnt from the mistakes of his dear friend Musharraf, but learning is not easy for Kurakkan uncle. The corridor he takes now leads to the same door Musharraf made his exit unceremoniously and dejected. Sadly he will make Sri Lanka another Pakistan before doing so. We had first indication yesterday. Stock market nearly crashed. Looks like the economy is going to hit us long before anybody steps into Killinochchi.

Do we, as a nation, have any hope when our elected leaders act in this stupid manner?

Heavy casualties after fierce clashes in North

There are reports of heavy casualties after fierce clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka. Both sides say they killed scores of each other’s fighters. On Wednesday the military said it had launched a series of airstrikes against rebel positions.

Fighting has gone on for weeks around the key rebel-held town of Kilinochchi. Independent reporters are banned from the war zone and it is impossible to confirm either side’s claims. Each is accused of routinely understating their own casualties while overstating those of the other.

The Sri Lankan army says that it killed 120 rebels and wounded 250 around the town of Kilinochchi on Tuesday. It says that 25 of its troops were killed and 10 are missing. On Wednesday the defence ministry said that fighter jets and helicopter gunships straffed rebel positions around Kilinochchi. It says that “more and more Tiger fortifications and hideouts have been eliminated”.

The pro-rebel TamilNet website says that 130 soldiers were killed during a “multi-front offensive” by the army around Kilinochchi. It said that more than 300 soldiers were wounded in a “heavy battle that raged throughout the day”. It did not give details of rebel casualties. A spokesman for the rebels on Tuesday told the BBC that the army’s offensive in the north of the country had been met with “fierce resistance”.

The spokesman, S Puleedevan, said the army offensive had received a “severe blow” around Kilinochchi and that about 40 soldiers had been killed and 100 wounded in the latest fighting. The rebels later claimed they had killed 130 government soldiers and wounded more than 300. The rebels say that troops were forced to withdraw after nine hours of heavy fighting and that they recovered various weapons from the bodies of the dead soldiers.

The government denied the claims. The Sri Lankan army also said on Tuesday that it had gained control over a 5km (three-mile) area of rebel trenches west of Kilinochchi – their administrative and political headquarters which in recent weeks has been under siege from the army. “Troops are now consolidating defences in the area,” military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The army said that heavy fighting on the outskirts of Kilinochchi and other rebel-held areas of the north began early on Tuesday morning with artillery and heavy mortar attacks at “identified terror locations”.

news.bbc.co.uk