Mahinda blasts CBK for ‘insulting’ SLFP in foreign media

From The Nation 

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has dismissed allegations made by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in her recent interview with The Hindu newspaper that his government had been a ‘police state’.

Issuing a strongly worded statement titled ‘For the Special Attention of all SLFP and UPFA voters,’ Rajapaksa called on Kumaratunga not to allow her personal hatred of him to blind her and added that she owed it to members of her own Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ‘not to go around the world insulting and running down her own party’.

“Throughout the interview with The Hindu, Mrs Kumaratunga expressed her elation and glee at being able to defeat the SLFP led UPFA government of which I was the president and she dwelt garrulously on her own role in the conspiracy. No Indian would ever see a former leader (or a Central Committee member or Patron) of the Congress Party or The BJP expressing joy at the defeat of his or her own political party in that manner,” Rajapaksa further said in his statement.

Rajapaksa also lashed out at ‘positively insulting’ comments made by Kumaratunga regarding her own party citing her remarks that she faced difficulties in looking around for an SLFP front ranker to contest against him because “it was difficult to find anyone in the SLFP who wasn’t known to be corrupt or a murderer”.

“When the co-Patron and a sitting Central Committee member of the SLFP tells the foreign media that members of her own party are virtually all rogues or murderers, that reflects very badly on our party. There are ministers in the present government who still consider themselves to be members of the SLFP. How can these SLFP ministers face their UNP colleagues in the cabinet when their own party Patron and CC member goes around the world referring to them as rogues and murderers?” Rajapaksa asked.

Commenting on the use of Viber to prevent calls being monitored, Rajapaksa insisted his government had never monitored calls.

Full Statement

It is with much regret that I read certain comments made by former president Chandrika Kumaratunga to The Hindu newspaper in India a few days ago. All I can do in the present circumstances is to tell Mrs. Kumaratunga not to allow her personal hatred for me to blind her and that she owes it to our members not to go around the world insulting and running down her own party.

It is with much regret that I read certain comments made by former president Chandrika Kumaratunga to The Hindu newspaper in India a few days ago. Mrs Kumaratunga is a former leader of the SLFP and a current member of the Central Committee and co-Patron of our party and whatever she tells the foreign media while on overseas trips, reflects on our party and our country. Throughout the interview with The Hindu, Mrs Kumaratunga expressed her elation and glee at being able to defeat the SLFP led UPFA government of which I was the president and she dwelt garrulously on her own role in the conspiracy. No Indian would ever see a former leader (or a Central Committee member or Patron) of the Congress Party or The BJP expressing joy at the defeat of his or her own political party in that manner.

While that alone would be cause for much shame and embarrassment for all members of the SLFP and the UPFA, some of the things that she said about our party are positively insulting. She had told The Hindu that she had difficulties in looking around for an SLFP front ranker to contest against me because “it was difficult to find anyone in the SLFP who wasn’t known to be corrupt or a murderer”. When the co-Patron and a sitting Central Committee member of the SLFP tells the foreign media that members of her own party are virtually all rogues or murderers, that reflects very badly on our party. There are ministers in the present government who still consider themselves to be members of the SLFP. How can these SLFP ministers face their UNP colleagues in the cabinet when their own party Patron and CC member goes around the world referring to them as rogues and murderers?

Besides, almost all the SLFP stalwarts Mrs Kumaratunga refers to were MPs and ministers in her government as well. I took over the party that she left behind. So her statement to The Hindu amounts to an admission that she too presided over a party full of murderers and rogues. The irony is that though no charge of wrongdoing has been proven against the SLFP members Mrs Kumaratunga hurls accusations at, she herself has been found guilty of an irregular land deal by the Supreme Court. There are many serious allegations of similar nature against Mrs Kumaratunga. There were times she had to reverse certain actions due to public outrage. Whether such a person has the moral standing to go around the world, accusing prominent members of the SLFP of being corrupt is a matter for the people to decide.

In this interview with The Hindu, Mrs Kumaratunga has also said that the SLFP led UPFA government of 2005-2015 was ‘a police state’ and that the conspiracy to overthrow the SLFP led government was hatched using a special software called Viber to prevent their calls from being monitored. My government never monitored any phone calls. If we did, the same equipment would now be available to the present government. Such equipment cannot be bought or operated privately. Once again, it is incongruous for Mrs Kumaratunga to be talking of a police state because she ran one of the most repressive governments in living memory. Members of her presidential security division were convicted by the courts for harassing and terrorising artistes Rookantha Gunatilleke and Chandralekha Perera in the presence of their own children. The doings of underworld figures like Beddagane Sanjiva who were prominent members of her security unit have been extensively reported on by the press. Mrs Kumaratunga’s transgressions in this regard are too numerous to recount here.

When I took over from Mrs Kumaratunga in 2005, there was a separate state in this country in all but name. Terrorists were ruling about a third of the country. For more than a decade, the country had seen very little development. During my tenure, I am proud to say that I concentrated on solving the country’s problems. I saw to it that terrorism was eliminated and that the country was developed. I did not spend my time persecuting my political opponents or go around the world maligning my own party and bringing disgrace upon my country. All members of the SLFP should be mindful that Mrs Kumaratunga’s statements about our party only goes to strengthen our opponents at our expense. We should be working to strengthen our party not to weaken it further.

Mrs Kumaratunga broke away from the SLFP in the 1980s and went against the party and her own mother but I stood by Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike and protected the party. Mrs Kumaratunga also worked against the SLFP and the UPFA at the presidential elections of 2005, 2010 and 2015. At the last parliamentary election, even though many people wanted me to contest from another party, I thought of the party and did not abandon the SLFP, but Mrs Kumaratunga publicly asked voters to vote against the SLFP/UPFA and for the elephant. All I can do in the present circumstances is to tell Mrs Kumaratunga not to allow her personal hatred for me to blind her to the fact that she is a former leader of the party and co-Patron and sitting Central Committee of the SLFP and that she owes it to our members not to go around the world insulting and running down her own party.

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Sri Lanka's historic election that voters lost

By Our Political Correspondent

From Economynext. 

By our Political Correspondent. 

CHEATED VOTERS:  A smiling Harsha de Silva taking his appointment letter from President Maithripala Sirisena, after an election where voters lost.

ECONOMYNEXT - The naming of deputy ministers of the new government has kept pace with the record-setting cabinet and confirmed that voters were the clear losers at the August 17 parliamentary election.

The business community had high hopes of seeing Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickremaratne getting key positions where their knowledge on monetary and fiscal matters could have been fully utilised.

Harsha has been given a subject foreign to him – Foreign Affairs -- while Eran as deputy of State-owned enterprises may be able to make a partial contribution, although his area of expertise is policy making.

Apart from them, the induction of 19 non-cabinet rank state ministers and 22 deputy ministers read more like a list of wanted criminals and left even senior ruling United National Party (UNP) stalwarts wondering what had hit them.

Tourism deputy minister Nimal Lansa's house was raided in October 2011 by the STF which was said to be looking for illegally assembled motor vehicles and narcotics.

Shortly after the STF raid, which was carried out along with similar searches of homes of Lansa loyalists in Negombo, the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited him, hugged him, posed for pictures and dropped the case.

The current Prime Minister and then opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was a vocal critic of Rajapaksa's action and said the presidential intervention showed that "rule of law in the country has deteriorated and there was no decorum in the police force."

It would have been more appropriate to give Lansa something within his area of expertise.

However, Priyankara Jayaratane has got the right subject Law and Order, given his experience in barging into the Karuwalagaswewa police station in June last year to free a suspect in custody.

Jayaratne's chief security officer was the main accused in a LKR 10 million robbery in Colombo in 2013, at the time the biggest heist in the capital. It was carried out at the Nawaloka car park.

Jayaratne also figured very prominently in the Weliamuna investigation into corruption at Sri Lankan airlines. Jayaratne could now fly high as he controls the investigators, including those of the CID and the FCID.

Arundika Fernando who was hauled up before courts for making false statements about abducted journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda is made deputy minister of Home Affairs.

Several MP's who camped inside the parliament chamber during the 100-day government have been rewarded with deputy ministries. T. B. Ekanayake who famously wore shoes without soles at a ceremony attended by Chinese president Xi Jinping is now minister of Lands.

In June, Ekanayake was questioned by the FCID for four hours about misappropriation of money from the Central Cultural Fund.

Sumedha Jayasena who signed twice a no-trust vote against Ranil Wickremesinghe in June is now deputy minister of Wildlife. She had famously obtained state land for her family at rock-bottom prices and also was involved in a tiff with a DIG over the arrest of illegal sand miners in her electorate.

Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene who aggressively pushed James Packer's casino project in Colombo is state minister of Finance. The UNP which accused him of getting kickbacks from Packer's Crown will have to go to him for their decentralised budget allocations.

Ranjan Ramanayake, a vocal critic of the corruption under the Rajapaksa regime,  was made deputy minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, but promptly shared his displeasure over most of his fellow deputies.

“…saddened by some of the appointments but I don't have a control over it, but I will not stop my fight against them,” he said on twitter in a clear move to distanc

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‘‘පවසන්නෙමි ජනපතිඳුනි            මේ     වැකිය

සැනසෙන්නෙමි මිනිසුන් මැද හිටි            හැටිය

නවතින්නෙමි මේ ලෙස ගමනක්             නැතිය

පිළිගන්වමි මගෙ අස්වීමේ                 ලිපිය‘‘

‘‘ඇත්තයි මුළු රටම හඬගානා                   පුවත

තිත්තයි කොළ පාට රටටම කළ               විපත

කැත්තයි උදැල්ලයි හුරු මිනිසගෙ           සැපත

සත්තයි හදනවා නිල් යුගයක්                 නැවත‘‘

‘‘නිරතුරු දඹුල්ලට සිරි සැප ගෙන          දැම්මා

තනතුරු නැතත් වැඩ කරනෙමි නැත      නිම්මා

පක්ෂය නැතිව මොන දේ දුන්නත්          නම්මා

ලක්ෂය දුනත් පාවා දෙනවද                  අම්මා‘‘

‘‘කියනෙමි ඔබට සිත ළතැවුල් ඉවත         දමා

තවමත් ඔබට හැක එක්වනු නොමැත        පමා

අගමැති සමග නුදුරෙම එමි වන්න            සමා

අද යමි දඹුල්ලට තනතුරු මෙහිම              දමා‘‘

‘‘බුලත් කොළය යළි රට මුදුනට           ගෙනෙමු

සුරත් ලකුණෙ මහින්ද අගමැති                 කරමු

මළත් දුකක් නෑ පක්ෂය මත                  මැරෙමු

යළිත් රළපෙළක් මුහුදක් වී                   නැගෙමු‘‘

SL Plans Naval Dockyard at China-built Hambantota Port

By PK Balachandran

COLOMBO:The Sri Lankan cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal by the Minister of Ports, Arjuna Ranatunga, to do a feasibility study and prepare a plan to build a naval dockyard at the Chinese-built Hambantota port in the island’s deep south.

Built with a Chinese loan of US$ 316 million in 2010, the port has been lying virtually unused.

It received heavy flak from the opposition United National Party (UNP) and the media after the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) reported in 2013 that  only six ships had called at the port in 2011, and 18 in 2012.

In 2013, however, it was reported that 100 ships had called since November 2010. In 2012, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government had declared that Hambantota port will be a Free Port with exemption from all levies except handling charges. It was also declared as a transshipment port for light commercial vehicles and vessels carrying such vehicles had to dock there.

And yet, the usage was much below expectations. The poor earnings and also the hefty annual interest payments on the Chinese loan taken for the project invited heavy criticism. The annual interest payments were:  LKR 2,208 million or US$ 16.5 million in 2012; LKR 2,479 million or US$ 18.5 million in 2013; and LKR 2,233 million or US$ 16.7 million in 2014.

Despite these onerous commitments, the Rajapaksa government went in for Phase II of the project with a Chinese loan of US$ 818 million. It also gave China exclusive rights over four of the berths to be constructed in Phase II.

When there was a change of government following the January 8, 2015 Presidential election, the new dispensation led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe considered turning the port into a ship breaking yard. And now, the cabinet wants to build a naval dockyard there.

Video - ‘ප්‍රසන්න සිල්වාට වටකර ගහන්න එපා‘

මේජර් ජනරාල් ප්‍රසන්න සිල්වා මහතා මුල්කරගෙන ඇතැමුන් දේශපාලන වාසි තකා නොයෙක් ප්‍රකාශ කර අනවශ්‍ය ප්‍රසිද්ධියක් ලබාගන්න උත්සාහ කරන බවත් මෙවැනි ක්‍රියාවලින් ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාව නිලධාරීන් මෙන්ම විශ්‍රාමික හමුදා නිලධාරීන්ද දැඩි කලකිරීමකින් සිටින බවත් ‘අපි රණවිරුවෝ‘ සංවිධානයේ කර්නල් ජයවිලාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතා අද (23) කොළඹ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී පැවසීය.

ප්‍රසන්න සිල්වා වැනි නිලධාරීන් ජිනීවා මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසම නමැති දංගෙඩියට රැගෙන යාමක් මින් සිදුවන බවද ඔහු පැවසීය.

‘ප්‍රසන්න සිල්වා මහතා 35 වසරක හමුදා සේවා කාලයක් නිමකර මේ වසරේ විශ්‍රාම යාමට නියමිත නිලධාරියෙක්. ඒ මහතාගේ මුළු හමුදා සේවා කාලයම කැප කළේ රට වෙනුවෙන්. යුද්ධයේදී ඒ මහතා මරණාසන්න තුවාල පවා ලැබුවා. වචනයේ පරිසමාප්ත අර්ථයෙන්ම ඔහු හොඳ සොල්දාදුවෙක්.‘ 

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Priceless paintings at Art Gallery vanished?

From SL Mirror

A large number of valuable paintings that were kept at the National Art Gallery, Colombo, had vanished during the Rajapaksa regime, reports say.

Around 250 paintings were kept at the National Art Gallery, with only 82 remaining at the present.

Most paintings have been removed from the gallery under the guise of restoring them, reports add.

Around 12 paintings have been taken to Parliament and are being kept on the 3rd floor, 'Sri Lanka Mirror' learns.

Meanwhile, the paintings remaining at the National Art Gallery too, are under the threat of being damaged due to lack of proper care.

Also, no one is aware of the plight of the painting named 'Palaayaama' (The fleeing) which was done by a foreigner.

The artwork, which features a cart, is singular as the cart appears to be coming right at the viewer, despite the angle it is looked at.

Meanwhile, many works of renowned Sri Lankan painter - George Keyt too, are under the threat of being damaged, painters say.

හිටපු ඇමැතීන් දෙදෙනකු නිල වාහන 5 ක්‌ තාමත් භාරදී නෑ

නිලන්ත මදුරාවල 

හිටපු සංස්‌කෘතික හා කලා කටයුතු ඇමැති ටී. බී. ඒකනායක සහ හිටපු ජාතික උරුමයන් පිළිබඳ ඇමැති ආචාර්ය ජගත් බාලසූරිය යන මහත්වරුන් නිල වාහන වශයෙන් පාවිච්චි කළ ප්‍රාඩෝ රථ දෙකක්‌ සහ ඩබල් කැබ් රථ තුනක්‌ මෙතෙක්‌ සංස්‌කෘතික රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයට භාරදී නැත. (ණ්‍ය 6721, ණඡ - 1916, ණඨ - 8877, Jඔ - 6504, ඡෑ - 0771 යන අංකයන්ට අයත් මෙම වාහන වහාම භාර දෙන ලෙස හිටපු ඇමැතිවරුන්ට ලිතව දැනුම් දී තිබේ.

අමාත්‍යාංශයට ලැබී ඇති තොරතුරු අනුව මෙම වාහන මැතිවරණ කටයුතු සඳහා යොදාගෙන ඇත. නිල වාහන මැතිවරණ කටයුතු සඳහා යොදා ගන්නේ නම් රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂයක ගෙවීමක්‌ කළ යුතු බවට වත්මන් ආණ්‌ඩුව තීරණයක්‌ ගත් නමුත් මෙම වාහන සඳහා එම ගෙවීම් හෝ කර නැත. මෙම සුඛෝපභෝගී වාහන මාස කිහිපයක්‌ තිස්‌සේ හිටපු ඇමැතිවරුන් සිය පරිහරණයට යොදාගෙන තිබේ.මෙම වාහන භාර දෙන බව හිටපු ඇමැතිවරුන් දැනුම් දී ඇතැයි මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අප කළ විමසුමකට පිළිතුරු දුන් සංස්‌කෘතික රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් එච්. ඩී. එස්‌. මල්කාන්ති මහත්මිය පැවසුවාය.

ඔක්‌කොම එකතුවෙලා ආවත් මම තනියම විවාදයට සූදානම්

බැඳුම්කර සිද්ධිය ගැන ඇමැති සේනසිංහගෙන් අභියෝගයක්‌

මහ බැංකු බැඳුම්කර නිකුතුව සම්බන්ධයෙන් විපක්‍ෂයේ ඕනෑම ජගතෙකුට තමන් සමග විවාදයකට එන මෙන් අභියෝග කර සිටින්නේ යෑයි අධිකරණ නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය සුජීව සේනසිංහ මහතා පවසයි. හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ, ඩිව් ගුණසේකර හෝ ජී.එල්. පීරිස්‌ ආදී ඕනෑම අයකුට මෙය විවෘත අභියෝගයක්‌ බව සේරසිංහ මහතා නිවේදනයක්‌ නිකුත් කරමින් කියා සිටියි.

විපක්‍ෂයේ පිරිස්‌ විසින් බැඳුම්කර ගනුදෙනුව සම්බන්ධයෙන් මාධ්‍ය ඉදිරියේ නොයෙකුත් කරුණු ගෙනහැරපෑවද තමා මෙන්ම අගමැතිවරයාද ඒ පිළිබඳව විවාදයකට හෝ සාකච්ජාවකට එන ලෙසින් කළ ඉල්ලීමට කිසිවෙකු ප්‍රතිචාර නොදක්‌වන්නේ යෑයි සේරසිංහ මහතා සඳහන් කරයි. එසේම මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් තමන් සමග විවාදයකට පැමිණීමට සූදානම් යෑයි අභියෝග කළ ඩිව් ගුණසේකර, බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන, විමල් වීරවංශ සහ සුසිල් ප්‍රේමජයන්ත යන කිසිවෙකුත් මේ දක්‌වා එවැන්නක්‌ සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් නොවූ බවත් අවශ්‍ය නම් අදාළ මාතෘකාව යටතේ වෙන වෙනම හෝ නැතිනම් මේ සියලු දෙනා සමග තමන් තනිවම වුව විවාදයට සූදානම් බවත් සේනසිංහ මහතාගේ අභියෝගයේ සඳහන් වේ.

වෙබ්කාරයෝ ටික තුරන් කරලා දාන්න ඔනේ. - හිටපු බුද්ධි අංශ ලොක්කා කියයි

පසුගිය 20 වන දින කුරුණෑගල, ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු මහතාගේ නිවසේ පැවැති සාකච්ඡාවකදී, දිනපු ගමන් වෙබ් කාරයන්ව තුරන් කර දැමිය යුතු බව හිටපු බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානියා වූ කපිල හෙන්දවිතාරන විසින් පවසා ඇති බව අප වෙත වාර්තාවේ. මෙම සාකච්ඡාව සඳහා ගොඨාබය රාජපක්ෂ, චන්ද්‍රා වාකිෂ්ඨ, කීර්ති ගජනායක ඇතුළු පිරිසක්ද සහභාගි වී තිබේ.

මෙහිදී ගොඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ විසින් පවසා ඇත්තේ පුවත්පත් හා ටීවී රේඩියෝ වලින් තමන්ට ප්‍රශ්නයක් නැතත් වෙබ් අඩවි කිහිපයක් විසින් පවත්වාගෙන යන රාජපක්ෂ විරෝධය, මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාරයට බරපතල හානියක් සිදු කරන බවය.

පසුගිය කාලයේ රාජපක්ෂ විරෝධී වෙබ් අඩවි තහනම් කර, වෙබ් කරුවන් කිහිපදෙනෙකු අත් අඩංගුවට ගැනීම් සිදු වූවත් ඔවුන් ඒ කටයුතු නැවැත්තුවේ නැති බවත් එය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී ඉතා තදින් බලපෑ බවත් මෙහිදී වාකිෂ්ඨ හා ගජනායක විසින් පෙන්වා දී තිබේ.

මෙවර තමන්ට ලැබී තිබෙන බුද්ධි අංශ වර්තා අනුව සන්ධානයට දිනන්නට නොහැකි වුවත් යම් කිසි විදිහකින් දිනුවොත් ඉස්සෙල්ලාම මේ වෙබ් කාරයන්ව තුරන් කළ යුතු බව හෙන්දවිතාරන පවසා ඇත. ෆෙස්බුක් සමාජ ජාලයට රාජපක්ෂ විරෝධී පුවත් මුදා හරින්නේද මේ වෙබ් කාරයන් කිහිප දෙනා බවත් ඔවුන් වැඩි දෙනෙක් එජාපය හා එක්ව මේ කටයුත්තේ නියැලෙන බවත් හෙන්දවිතාරන නම් ගම් සහිතව පවසා තිබෙන බව අපහට මෙම තොරතුරු ලබා දුන් අය පැවැසීය.

මහින්දට PEACOCK මන්දිරය දෙන්න ගිය ASP, රාජිතට LIMOUSINE රථය දෙන්න ගිහින් කිච වේ

ව්‍යාපාරිකයෙකු සහ රාජපක්ෂ රෙජීමයේ නයිජිරියානු හිටපු තානාපති ASP ලියනගේ තමාට අයත් ලිමොසින් රථය අමාත්‍ය රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතාගේ මැතිවරණ කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් ලබා දීමට ගත් උත්සාහය අමාත්‍ය රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතා ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කර තිබේ.

තමාගේ ලිමොසින් රථය සිය දියණිය වන ගිත්මි ලියනගේ සමග ASP ලියනගේ විසින් අමාත්‍ය රාජිත සේනාරත්න මහතාගේ නිවසට ලියනගේ විසින්ම සකසාගෙන අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ප්‍රචාරක දැන්වීම්ද සමග රැගෙනවිත් තිබේ. එහිදී රාජිත අමාත්‍යවරයා එක හෙලාම ඔහුගේ පරිත්‍යාගය ප්‍රතික්ශේප කරමින් කියා ඇත්තේ මෙහි (ලිමොසින්) ගියොත් මට තියන ඡන්ද ටිකත් නැතිවෙයි යනුවෙණි.

පහතින් දැක්වෙන්නේ සැබෑ සිදුවීම වසන් කරමින් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂලාගේ හිතවතුන් විසින් නිර්මාණය කර ෆේස්බුක් ඔස්සේ ප්‍රචාරණය කළ ඡායාරූපයන්ය.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moves step closer to becoming world's richest person

The Telegraph - By Andrew Trotman 

31-year-old overtakes 89-year-old Ikea founder to move up to ninth in Bloomberg's billionaire list

Mark Zuckerberg has moved a step closer to becoming the richest person on the planet.

The Facebook founder has moved up to ninth place in Bloomberg's billionaire list , overtaking Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad.

Mr Zuckerberg, 31, has a fortune of $43.1bn, a rise of $8.6bn in the year so far.

Facebook 's shares hit a record high of $98.39 on Tuesday as analysts prepare for what they believe will be bumper results next week.

The social network's second-quarter figures are expected to show a booming video advertising business, as well as strong growth at Instagram, Facebook's picture sharing website.

The shares have risen 25pc so far this year and more than 160pc from their flotation price in 2012. Facebook now has a market capitalisation of $275bn.

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad

Meanwhile, 89-year-old Mr Kampard has seen his wealth drop by $2.8bn in 2015, to stand at $42.2bn.

Ikea revealed in January that global profits had flatlined at €3.3bn, with income in the UK falling by 10.5pc.

Mr Zuckerberg is now just $300m behind Larry Ellison in Bloomberg's list. The Oracle  founder is worth $43.4bn. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in seventh place with $43.5bn.

However, Mr Zuckerberg is still far behind the richest person in the world. Microsoft  founder Bill Gates has a fortune estimated at $85.2bn.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates

He is followed by Inditex  owner Amancio Ortega with $70.8bn and investor Warren Buffett with $67.6bn.

The highest-placed female in Bloomberg's list is Christy Walton. The widow of John T Walton, the second son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, has a fortune of $36.8bn.

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දයාසිරි මහින්දට එරෙහි මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාරයක

'පසුගිය වසර ගණනාවක් පුරා විවිධ පුද්ගලයන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යැව්වා තමන්ගේ ගම,නගරය සංවර්ධනය කිරීමේ අරමුණෙන්. එත් වැඩක් වුනේ නෑ. අපි මෙවර හරි මිනිස්සු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යවමු.. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යැවිය යුත්තේ කාර්යශූර, උගත්, බුද්ධිමත් පිරිසක් මිස ජනතාව ලබා දෙන බලයෙන් වංචාවට, දූෂණයට, මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය බෙදාහැරීමට අනුබල දෙන්නන් නොවන පුද්ගලයින් බව ජනතාව මතක තබා ගත යුතුයි.' යැයි වයඹ පළාත් ප්‍රධාන අමාත්‍ය, දයාසිරි ජයසේකර මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේ අද (23) කුරුණෑගල කටුපොත ජනතාව හමුවූ අවස්ථාවේදීය.

"..පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යැවිය යුත්තේ කාර්යශූර, උගත්, බුද්ධිමත් පිරිසක් මිස ජනතාව ලබා දෙන බලයෙන් වංචාවට, දූෂණයට, මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය බෙදාහැරීමට අනුබල දෙන්නන් නොවන පුද්ගලයින් බව ජනතාව මතක තබා ගත යුතුයි.

මේක ජනතාවට ලැබුනු මහගු අවස්ථාවක්. නමුත් ඔවුන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගොස් කල කී දේවලින්, මේ රට වසර 30 යුද්ධයෙන් මුදවාගෙන රට එක්සේසත් කල, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලෝකයෙන්ම සංවර්ධන වේගය අතින් පළමු තැනට ගෙන්න ක්‍රියා කරපු ප්‍රබල ආණ්ඩුවක් බිද වැටීමට හේතු වුනා.

අද තරුණ පරම්පරාව ගොඩාක් බුද්ධිමත්, ඔවුන් දැන් පක්ෂයකට බැදිලා වැඩ කරන්නේ නෑ. අද වන විට සාම්ප්‍රදායික මැතිවරණ රටාවෙන් මිදිලා පුද්ගලයා බලලා මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාරයේ යෙදෙන තත්වයක් උදාවෙලා තියෙන්නේ. රටේ ඉදිරි අනාගත ගමන් මග ගැන තීන්දු තීරණ ගත යුත්තේ, වැඩිහිටියන්, නංගිලා මල්ලිලා දැනුවත් කරලා නිසි මාර්ගය පෙන්නන එක දැන් පැවරිලා තියෙන්නේ දැන උගත්, බුද්ධිමත්, රටට ආදරය කරන තරුණ ඔබ අතේ.."

දයාසිරි ජයසේකර මහතා මෙහිදී නොකියා කියන්නේ තමන්ගේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයට වැදී තම මනාප ටික කොල්ලකාගෙන පාර්ලිමේන්තු යෑමට සිටින දූෂණ චෝදනා එල්ලවී ඇති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ජොන්ස්ටන් ප්‍රනාන්දු වැන්නන්ට මනාපය පාවිච්චි නොකළ යුතු බවය.

කෙසේ නමුත් කුරුණෑගල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ මනාප පොරය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ හා දයාසිරි රාජපක්ෂ අතර වඩා උණුසුම්ව ඇති බව වාර්තා වෙමින් පවතින අතර රජපක්ෂ මහතා සිය මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාරයට ජයසේකර මහතාව හවුල් කර ගැනීමෙන් වැලැකී සිටින අතර ජයසේකර මහතාද ශ්‍රී ලනීප දිස්ත්‍රික් බලමන්ඩල ‍රැස්වීමකටවත් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට ආරාධනා නොකරයි.

Video: More legal teeth to probe financial crimes: Rajitha

Chinese company rejects reports of funding Sri Lankan politicians

From Xinhua

The China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC) on Thursday rejected reports that it had offered financial assistance to any politician during Sri Lanka's January presidential elections.

In a statement, the CHEC said the allegation made by local media was misleading and has bought disrepute to an international level company.

"The CHEC calls on all the relevant Sri Lankan officials and parties not to misunderstand their responsible and cooperative partner, and not to send a wrong signal to the investors from China and all other countries," the CHEC said.

"We also urge them not to hurt the hearts of a company which has worked so hard for Sri Lanka's development and prosperity for the past 17 years," it said.

The company said as a large international infrastructure company which operates in more than 80 countries, the CHEC went in accordance with the laws and regulations of these countries and it is CHEC's firm policy not to get involved in politics and the elections of any country.

Read the following article - Lanciburiwa

http://lanciburuwa.blogspot.com/2014/10/world-bank-banned-chinaharbour.html

ජවිපෙ, අයිටීඑන් එකට ලක්ෂ 08 ගෙව්වාට විමල් පරල වෙලා

ඊයේ (22) ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ විශෂ සමුළුව ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනියෙන් සජීවීව විකාශය කිරීම සඳහා ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 08 ගෙවීම සම්බන්ධයෙන්  විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා එම පක්ෂයට දොස් පවරා ඇත.

ඔහුට අනුව ජවිපෙ රුපියල්  ලක්ෂ 08 ක් තරම් 'අති විශාල' මුදලක් ගෙවීම ගැටළුවකි. එය ජවිපෙ අරමුදලින් ගෙවා දැමීමට තරම් වත්කමක් එම පක්ෂයට නැතිය. එම නිසා වීරවංශ මහතා විශ්වාස කරන්නේ එම මුදල වැ‍ය කළේ පක්ෂය විසින් නොව වෙනත් කිසිවකු විසින් ඒ ගෙවූ බවය. ඒ සම්බන්ධ තොරතුරුද ඔහු සතුව ඇති බවත් කියති. 

සන්ධානය අද පැවැත් වූ මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී වීරවංශ මහතා මේ බව පැවසීය.

ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ හිටපු පූර්ණකාලීනයකු, දේශපාලන මණ්ඩල සභිකයකු වන වීරවංශ මහතාට ජවිපෙ අරමුදල් ගැන සෑහෙන දැනුමක් තිබේ. ජවිපෙ කියන්නේ වානිජ්‍ය ව්‍යාපාරයක් නොවන නිසා එහි වියහියදම් සියල්ල සාමාජිකයන්ගෙන් හෝ හිතවතුන්ගෙන් ලැබෙන මුල්‍යාධාර හා මන්ත්‍රී වැ‍ටුප් අරමුදලෙන් සිදුවෙයි. මෙම සමුළුවට වැය වුණේද එම සොච්චම් අරමුදල් බවට සැකයක් නැත. එසේත් නැත්නම් ඒ වෙනුවෙන් කිසිවකු හෝ බර පැන දැරුවාද විය හැකිය. එහි කිසිදු වරදක් නැත.  ඒ බව විමල් ද දන්නේය. විමල් කීවා ලෙසම මෙම සමුළුවට වැය කළේ  පක්ෂයට ලැබුණු මුදල්ය.

විමල්ගේ රුපියල්  ලක්ෂ 1300 ක පමණ වන මැතිවරණ ව්‍යාපාරයෙ බර පැන  පෞද්ගලික ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් දරනවා මිසක ඔහුගේ හෝ ඒ හාමිනේගේ  බැංකු ගිණුමෙන් වැය වන්නේ නැති සේම මේද එසේ සිදුවූවා විය හැකිය.  ගැටලුව තිබෙන්නේ කාගෙන් මුදල් ලබා ගත්තත් තමන් ගේ ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය කවර දිශාවකට තල්ලුවන්නේද කියන කරුණ මතය.

ජවිපෙ එජාපයේ න්‍යායපත්‍රයට හෝ මේ මොහොතේ අනුගත වූවත් එයි රටට සිදුවන්නේ  යහපතක් නම් ඒ ගැන ජනතාවට  සතුටට හේතුවක් විනා එය විමල්ලාගේ තක්කඩි දේශපාලනය ගැන වන පසුතැවීමක් ලෙස වන්නේ නැත.ඒ තත්වය ‍රැක ගැනීම ජවිපෙ වගකිමකි.

අනෙක් වැදගත්ම කරුන නම් ජවිපෙ තම සමුළුව විකාශය කරවා ගැනීම වෙනුවෙන් ස්වාධීන රූපවහිනියට මුදල් ගෙවීමය. විමල් කියන ලෙස ජවිපෙ එජාපයේ සීනුව බවට පත්ව තිබේ නම් මෙම සමුළුව නොමිලයේ ප්‍රචාරය විය යුත්තකි. විමල්ලාගේ කාලයේදී ඒ කියන්න රාජපක්ෂවරුන්ගේ යුගයේදී මෙම නාලිකාව ඇතුළු රජයේ සියළු මාධ්‍ය  සන්ධානයේ ප්‍රචාරක කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් මුළුමනින්ම යොදා ගනු ලැබුවේ නොමිළයේමය. අදත් සන්ධානය මේ ණය ගෙවා නැත. ඒ තබා ප්‍රවෘත්ති විකාශනය, ටෙලි නාට්‍ය හා වෙනත් පොදු වැඩසටහන් සියල්ලම පාහේ පක්ෂයේ ප්‍රචාරක කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් නිර්ලජ්ජිත ලෙස යොදා ගනු ලැබුවේය. 

මේ අනුව වීරවංශ, පරලවීම මෙයද හේතුවක් වී තිබෙන බව පැහැදිලිය.

Exports struggle, imports soar

From Daily FT

The country’s exports sector continue to struggle, with May data showing an overall marginal decline though apparels have outperformed as soaring imports further widened the trade deficit.
In April, exports slumped to their lowest level in two years and in May, the performance couldn’t turn positive as the sector ended with a 0.1% decline. This was despite the apparel sector reporting an encouraging 7.5% growth.
Some viewed the flat growth in May as an encouragement especially after the dip in April.
On a cumulative basis, export earnings during the first five months of 2015 increased marginally by 0.2%, year-on-year, to $ 4.47 billion.

Whilst exports struggled, imports continue to soar, recording a 17.2%, year-on-year, to $1.58 billion in May led by vehicle imports.
Consequently the deficit in the trade account in May 2015 widened substantially by 49.7% to $703 million in comparison to $470 million in May 2014, which the Central Bank said was the lowest monthly value recorded during the year 2014.
On a cumulative basis, trade deficit during the first five months of 2015 increased by 10.2% to $3.4 billion.
Releasing external trade data, the Central Bank said yesterday earnings from exports further moderated in May 2015 to $883 million, recording a marginal decline of 0.1%, year-on-year.
Despite the significant improvement recorded in exports of textile and garments, lower performance in tea, sea food and gem, diamond and jewellery exports contributed to this decline.
Tea exports, which were severely affected by the lower demand from Russia and the Middle East, declined for the eight consecutive month in May 2015, recording a drop of 12.1% compared to the corresponding month of 2014. Tea exports to Russia and the Middle East declined by 19.2% and 9.7%, respectively, during May 2015 compared to the corresponding month of 2014.
Seafood exports which dropped continuously from October 2014, recorded a further decline of 39.3% in May 2015, compared to the corresponding month in 2014. This reduction was mainly due to the significant decline of 74.8% in sea food exports to the EU market, the main seafood market of Sri Lanka as a result of the ban on seafood imports from Sri Lanka to the EU market with effect from 13 January 2015.
Export earnings from gems, diamonds and jewellery declined by 29.8% year-on-year to $25 million. Petroleum products and, machinery and mechanical appliances also contributed for the drop in exports during the month.
Export earnings from textiles and garments, which account for about 45% of total exports and declined in March and April 2015, increased by 7.6% during May 2015, reflecting an increase in exports to the USA and non-traditional markets such as Canada, China, UAE and Australia. However, textiles and garments exports to the EU market declined by 11.8% in May 2015, continuing the declining trend observed from March 2015.
On a cumulative basis, export earnings during the first five months of 2015 increased marginally by 0.2%, year-on-year, to $4,471 million. The leading markets for merchandise exports of Sri Lanka during the first five months of 2015 were the USA, UK, India, Germany and China accounting for about 51% of the total exports.
Total import expenditure in May 2015 increased for the second consecutive month recording a significant increase of 17.2%, year-on-year, to $1,585 million led by vehicle imports, which include personal motor vehicles categorised under consumer goods and commercial vehicles categorised under investment goods. Imports of motor vehicles for personal use, increased by 87.1%, year-on-year, to $93 million, while transport equipment increased by 117.2%, year-on-year, to $72 million mainly due to the increase in importation of auto trishaws.
In addition, import of machinery and equipment, and textiles and textile articles also contributed significantly to the growth in imports. Import expenditure on machinery and equipment increased by 21.8% during the month, mainly due to higher imports of machinery and equipment parts, printing machinery and medical and laboratory equipment.
Import expenditure on textiles and textile articles increased by 16.3%, year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in fabrics such as knitted or crocheted fabric, woven fabric of cotton and tyre cord fabric. Meanwhile, import expenditure on fuel declined by 7.8%, year-on-year to $264 million in May 2015, reflecting 14.1% reduction in refined petroleum bill as a result of a 30.1% decline in import prices. However, expenditure on crude oil imports increased by 11% due to a substantial increase in import volume, despite the decline in the import price.
Meanwhile, import expenditure on fertiliser and dairy products declined by 20.9% and 40.7%, respectively, while rice imports which recorded a significant growth since April 2014, also declined by 23.8% in May due to the increase of Special Commodity Levy imposed on rice to Rs. 40 per kg from Rs. 20 per kg with effect from 26.03.2015.
On a cumulative basis, expenditure on imports during the first five months of 2015 increased by 4.3%, year-on-year, to $7,868 million mainly led by consumer goods imports followed by investment goods imports. During the period from January to May 2015, the main import origins were India, China, Japan, UAE and Singapore accounting for about 60% of the total imports.

EU fish ban bites $ 75 m income for Sri Lanka: Govt.

Sri Lanka has suffered a revenue loss of $ 75 million (68 million euros) because of a European Union ban on fish caught by Sri Lanka-flagged vessels since January, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka was a significant exporter of swordfish and tuna to countries in the EU, which blacklisted Sri Lanka in January for failing to combat illegal fishing.
Brussels accuses Sri Lanka of allowing vessels to fish the Indian Ocean without marine satellite positioning equipment, making it virtually impossible to monitor their movements.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mahishini Colonne said the Government had been taking steps to address the issues raised by the EU.
Among them are fitting vessel monitoring systems on high sea fishing vessels, maintaining and updating a register of high sea fishing licenses, banning vessels using harmful fishing methods and prosecuting those found to be fishing illegally.
Colonne said a technical evaluation mission from the Office of the Director General of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in Brussels is expected to visit Sri Lanka in October and discuss further steps toward lifting the ban.
The EU warned Sri Lanka about breaking international rules on illegal fishing in November 2012. The bloc said it only accepts stocks caught at sustainable levels and certified as legal by the exporting country.
Environmental groups have welcomed the trade restrictions, noting that the move would also prohibit EU fishing vessels from working in Sri Lankan waters.
The EU slapped similar restrictions on Belize in March 2014 and removed them in December after the Latin American country adopted new legislation to combat illegal fishing and showed signs that it was respecting its international obligations.

GS says drunken man was the culprit

Grama Seva Niladhari caught in the Akuressa election rally incident involving former President and Kurunegala district UPFA candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa, said today a drunken person who was behind him had grabbed the hand of Mr. Rajapaksa.

GS Officer W. Wijesinghe, attached to the Telijjawila, Wandagoda Division of the Matara district, said this drunken person put his arm behind, and that at the same time, the crowd started showing. Then, he said Mr. Rajapaksa slackened his hand from this grab.

“According to video footages, many assumed that I was grabbing the hand of Mr. Rajapaksa. I received several telephone calls from here and abroad inquiring about this incident,” he said.

He also said state intelligence authorities had started recording statements from him.

Elaborating further on what happened, he said, “I went to the Akuressa town that day to pump fuel for my motorbike. Then, it started raining. I came to know that Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa was coming. I wanted to have a glimpse of him. Mr. Rajapaksa was proceeding towards the stage. Then, a drunken man behind me tried to grip the hand of Mr. Rajapaksa, with ringed fingers. The crowd was jostling at the time. Mr. Rajapaksa tried to untighten the grip at once. That is it. Yet, it went viral on the internet. Newspapers also published it. Most think I am the one who had a grip of Mr. Rajapaksa’s hand. Today, I am in a predicament not being able to walk on roads freely. I am exhausted after giving too many statements. I never though this will spin out of control to this extent. I do not know the person who was behind me at that moment.

A team of intelligence officials headed to his home yesterday to record a statement. (Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk) 

SLTB buses not obtained under my name – Susil

From Ada Derana

UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha says that it is unreasonable to direct accusations at only him regarding the payments to be made for SLTB buses used during the Presidential Election and balance sheets also concern the President, as he is the incumbent Chairman of the party. 

  

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet announced today that it has decided to file legal action against the UPFA General Secretary due to the failure to pay Rs 142.5 million owed to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), for buses used by his party during the presidential election. 

However, Premajayantha emphasized that nowhere has it been stated that the buses were obtained under his name and pleaded that accusations not be made against him by highlighting the party. 

He therefore requested that legal action be taken against those who had obtained the buses and paid an advance. 

Premajayantha also questioned as to how the Cabinet is doing things which should be done by the Attorney General’s Department and the Police. 

"Mahinda Chinthana Had To Be Discontinued": Rajapaksa!!!!!

From Asian Mirror

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the UPFA manifesto will focus on a fresh approach at the country’s development.

 

Answering a question at the Q & A session on his official Facebook page this morning, Rajapaksa said that Mahinda Chinthana had to be discontinued. “We have used the Mahinda Chinthana that had to be discontinued after 08th of January” he explained.

 

“We have started to look at things in a fresh manner and there would be new ideas which are essential for the development of the nation which we will adopt during the next 5 years” Rajapaksa further said.

 

He said that the UPFA manifesto will reveal the difference that will be brought under the new government.

 

Meanwhile, answering another question, he said that his first tsk would be to restart the development work which had stalled.

UPFA Manifesto To Be Released On July 27: Premajayantha

From Asian Mirror

The United People’s Freedom Alliance election manifesto will be released on July 27 at an event in Colombo, UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha said today.

 

Speaking at a press conference in the Opposition Leader’s Office, he said that the manifesto will mark a fresh approach by the UPFA.

 

He also said that the UPFA had prepared a manifesto with programmes to improve the lives of the youth aged between 18-35 years. The manifesto will address problems of all sectors including estate workers, self-employed, health workers and education sector.

Video - Patali Champika Ranawaka on LTTE & MR co-operation etc.