l c 3 p 9 fighting cancer reveals he is havez 10 t e a
TRANSCRIPT
Responding to ‘Channel 4 News’ allega-tion that the government of Sri Lanka haddeliberately denied food to those trappedon the Vanni east front during the finalphase of the Vanni offensive, navy head-quarters yesterday said that the a food shipreached the North less than a week beforethe LTTE collapsed on the banks of theNanthikadal lagoon on May 19, 2009.
Navy headquarters spokespersonCommander Kosala Warnakulasuriya toldThe Island that four vessels, Sinhabahu,Green Ocean, Binhtan and City of Dublinhad been deployed to move 2361.315 MTfood items from Trincomalee toPuthumathalan, where the LTTE made itslast stand. The SLN spokesperson said that
food shipments were made from Feb. 17,2009 to May 14, 2009 as the army fought itsway into rapidly dwindling area held byterrorists.
WFP-led overland food convoys came toa halt on Nov. 23, 2009 as fighting escalatedon the Vanni east front. According toPresidential Task Force for Resettlement,Development and Security in the NorthernProvince, the WFP carried 12 overland foodconvoys beginning Oct, 2008 to Jan 23, 2009,before heavy fighting forced a halt to over-land supply convoys.
Commander Warnakulasuriya said thatsupplies to Puthumathalan from Feb 17 to
May 14, 2009 comprised wheat flour (1095MT), dhal (273 MT), vegetable oil (92 MT),sugar (97 MT), medical items (3.5 MT),samaposha (1MT), cerelac (1.05 MT), sprats(1 MT), green gram (2 MT), rice (698 MT),pumpkin/carrot (19.21 MT), potato (05 MT),
Vol. 30 No. 194 Saturday 2nd July, 2011, 24 pages Rs. 20 Registered in Sri Lanka as a Newspaper - City Edition
TOS LANKA WINSRECOGNITION AT
PRESIDENTIALEXPORT AWARDS
CHAVEZ
REVEALS HE IS
FIGHTING CANCER3 109SRI LANKA MOOTS MULTI
DEPARTMENTAL BODY TO SUSTAINLONG TERM EXPORT UPSWING
A CLASH OFTERRORISMS?
John Lennon's former person-
al assistant has claimed that the
former Beatle became a closet
conservative in later life.
by Nick Allen, Los Angeles
According to Fred Seaman, who
worked for the musician for two
years before his assassination in
1980, Lennon was not a fan of Democratic
US President Jimmy Carter, and would
have supported his Republican rival
Ronald Reagan."John, basically, made it very clear that
if he were an American he would vote for
Reagan because he was really sour on
Jimmy Carter," Mr Seaman told film-
maker Seth Swirsky in a documentary
called "Beatles Stories."
He said Lennon had met Reagan in the
1970s at a sports event, adding: "He did
express support for Reagan, which
shocked me. I also saw John embark in
some really brutal arguments with my
uncle, who's an old-time communist. He
enjoyed really provoking my uncle."
Mr Seaman accepted that Lennon, a
leading figurehead of the peace move-
ment, may have been winding people up.
He said: "Maybe he was being provoca-
tive … but it was pretty obvious to me he
had moved away from his earlier radical-
ism."He was a very different person back
in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he
wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on
that guy and was embarrassed by that
guy's nativity." The remarks in the documentary were
first reported by the Toronto Sun newspa-
per.However, left wing commentators
immediately cast doubt on whether
Lennon had become a conservative, ques-
tioning Mr Seaman's credibility.
They cited the fact that in 1983 Mr
Seaman pled guilty to stealing some of
Lennon's journals and was given five
years probation.
He was later sued by Yoko Ono for
breaching a confidentiality agreement
and apologised in a statement to a
Manhattan court room, saying: "I now
realise how much pain and embarrass-
ment I have caused."
© The Telegraph GroupLondon 2011
John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono in August 1980
Did John Lennon
become a closet
conservative?
Saturday 2nd July, 2011
BY LANKA NESIAH
1961 was a landmark year in the histo-
ry of the University at Peradeniya.
Sir Ivor Jennings, the first Vice
Chancellor, had envisaged an
autonomous residential university, per-
haps numbering not more than 3500
when all the faculties became functional
at Peradeniya. But, sadly, his vision for
Peradeniya to be 'one of the finest small
universities in the world', began to erode
after his departure in 1955. There were
two major pressures on the University of
Ceylon in the latter part of the fifties –
one was to increase the intake of stu-
dents and the other was on the introduc-
tion of Sinhala and Tamil as media of
instruction. Jennings foresaw the need
for both and, no doubt, had he still been
around he would perhaps have been able
to handle these pressures without sacri-
ficing the enviable academic reputation
built up at Peradeniya. In 1960, the
University at Peradeniya was forced to
introduce teaching in the national lan-
guages in the Arts Faculty; and in the fol-
lowing year, the year in which I entered,
forced to accept non-residential students,
a landmark departure from Jennings'
vision of a residential university.
The introduction of instruction in the
national languages, in addition to
English, and the increase in the intake of
undergraduate students were both neces-
sary measures but both were undertaken
without adequate planning. With English
being withdrawn as a medium of instruc-
tion in the secondary schools in the
fifties, many who entered the University
by end of the fifties decade found them-
selves unable to follow lectures in
English. By 1960, ir was decided to begin
teaching students in the Arts Faculty in
Sinhala and Tamil, in addition to
English. A sub-department of English
had been set-up around 1958 or 1959 to
provide an intensive course in English
for new-entrants but, for various reasons,
this proved inadequate; but the more
serious problem was that many of the
senior academics were not competent
enough to deliver lectures in Sinhala or
Tamil and some of them found opportu-
nities in foreign universities and thus
began a steady trickle of an academic
exodus.The spread and quality of education
in our secondary schools had taken a
quantum leap with the upgrading of 'cen-
tral schools' in the forties and early
fifties throughout the country. Thus, larg-
er numbers were qualifying for universi-
ty admission.Wijewardene Hall
was built and opened
in 1961 but clearly,
there was inadequate
accommodation for
the increased num-
bers of Arts students and the students of
the Science and Medical Faculties who
were being moved from Colombo to
Peradeniya in the academic year 1961-62.
A new category of “external students”
was thus created for those entering the
Arts, Law and Oriental Studies faculties
in 1961. These were those who had quali-
fied for admission but could not be
accommodated as residential students. I
was in that batch and we were unique in
that, I believe from the following year, all
were treated as internal students, some
residential and some non-residential. So
the 1961 Batch at Peradeniya made histo-
ry, though it may not have been the histo-
ry which the founding fathers of the
University like Jennings may have been
proud.This year marks the fiftieth anniver-
sary of that landmark year. A few of us
have got together to celebrate this
anniversary by inviting all those who
entered the University of Ceylon
Peradeniya in 1961 to a batch re-union
over lunch on Sunday 17th July 2011. We
trust all our batch-mates will make it a
point to be present at this event, to revive
old memories and to renew or strengthen
old friendships.When Professor H A de S Gunasekera
who was Professor of Economics in 1961
died some years ago, H A I Goonetlleke,
in his tribute to him, wrote:
“To be young and alive at Peradeniya
in the fifties and even the sixties was to taste
the heady wine of academic freedom and
the intoxicating vigour of dialectical dis-
course.”Ian Goonetileke was in 1961 the intel-
lectually towering figure in the Library.
Although at that time the Deputy
Librarian, Goonetileke had an interna-
tional reputation as Sri Lanka's foremost
bibliographer.The vigour of dialectical discourse
that Ian Goonetleke wrote about was
quite evident during our time.. I remem-
ber attending a series of intellectually
stimulating evening seminars on Science
and Religion held in the Science Faculty.
I particularly remember lively and some-
times heated debates on the question of
rebirth in which Professor K N
Jayatilleke, the Revd (later Bishop)
Lakshman Wickremesinghe and a young
assistant lecturer Canagaratna (brother
of AJ, 'the rooted cosmopolitan') made
forceful contributions. I also remember
some evening debates at Sanghamitta
Hall. It was a treat to listen to lecturers
like Doric de Souza, W S Karunaratne
and Fr Ignatius Pinto, all of whom
were past masters in the cut and
thrust of debating. We also had
many politicians and academics
addressing us in the Arts
Theatre. The politician's
lectures were usually
punctuated withwhistles, catcalls
and hoots from the audience. But the
noisy receptions were received with both
good humour and equally devastating
repartee. It did not end up with the
Police arresting and remanding hooting
students.The Open Air Theatre used to be a
hive of activity during our time. It is sad
to see the state of that today. We had the
privilege of attending inaugural per-
formance of two outstanding folk theatre
– Sinhabahu produced by Professor
Sarachchandra and Ravanesan produced
by Professor Vithiananthan – at this
venue. Some parts of both will be staged
at our batch re-union 0n 17th July. Jayani
Kasturiarachi (now Pinnawela, who was
the lead singer in Sinhabahu, will lead
the singing some of the lyrics from
Sinhabahu and Professor Maunaguru,
the lead actor in Ravanesan, will be stag-
ing some episodes from Ravanesan with
his troupe of artistes from the Eastern
University. We are proud to count both
Jayani and Maunaguru among our batch
mates.July 17th 2011 promises to be an excit-
ing time for tha batch of ’61. An organis-
ing committee headed by Tilak
Ranavirajah (Arts) as Chairperson, S M
Banduseela (Science) as Secretary and
Athula Nanayakkara (Agriculture) as
Treasurer has been working hard to
make the event a meaningful one for all
concerned. In addition another sub-com-
mittee headed by M P M Jaleel (Arts) as
Editor has been working on producing a
souvenir with many articles from scores
of batch-mates reminiscing on their time
at Peradeniya. Tickets for the event need
to be purchased well in advance and
those who wish to participate must con-
tact S M Banduseela at [email protected].
I may end this note by borrowing from
the title of book written by a senior who
reminisced on her time at Peradeniya –
those were days we wished would never
end.
A BLACK HOLE OF A
HELL HOLE, ‘KALUVARAI
PURAHANDA’, A NOVEL
BY ARUNASIRI HETTIGE
Thousands of peoplecheered her every stepof the way as she went
on a walkabout in the centreof Ottawa, and many of themchanted her name, rock star-style.
SAT MAG
But, the people spend billionsper year to maintain the govern-ment.
Government spends Rs.19 mn. peryear on drugs for cancer patients
PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE
MIDDLETON'S ROYAL TOUR OF
CANADA: KATE GIVEN
The Island www.island.lk
JVP Parliamentarian Anura KumaraDissanayake said that 240,000 tons ofdiesel from the United Arab Emirates(UAE) had been imported without anytenders called. He said that theSecretary to the Petroleum Corporationhad no authority to deal with a private compa-ny.
MP Dissanayake added that in the first
week of May, the authorities had beenwarned that fuel was needed by June10. Tenders had been invited on May 5for 20,000 tons of fuel and opened onMay 25. Only Reliance Company fromIndia had made a bid and it had been
cancelled and tenders called again with onlyReliance applying, but saying that there was
Tourists prepare a Chinese Communist Party flag for souvenir photos in front ofcommunist leader Mao Zedong's sculpture at Yan'an Revolution MemorialMuseum in Yan'an, in northwestern China's Shaanxi province, Thursday, June30, 2011. Yan'an is celebrated as the birthplace of China's communist revolu-tion. Communist forces led by Mao Zedong, ousted from bases in the south,retreated to Yan'an during the Long March and from there plotted the revolutionthat brought them to power in 1949. China marks the 90th anniversary of theCommunist Party on July 1, 2011. (AP
JVP queries tenderless import of fuel
Minister of PetroleumResources SusilPremajayantha said that
the problems relating to petrole-um contamination, which mostlyaffected motor cycles and threewheelers, had been sorted out’and no further complaints hadbeen received.
He told The Island on Friday(01) that 20,000 tons of refined fuelhad been bought urgently and by thetime that it reached the filling stationstheir tanks were empty. The fuel mayhave mixed with the residue at the bot-tom of the tanks causing problems formotorists.
Minister Premajayantha said that insome instances there could have beenwater leakages. He said that steps hadbeen taken to inspect every bowser thatleft Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela.
New stocks of refined fuel had beenreceived on June 30 and after theirrelease to the markt, no complaints ofcontamination had been received, he
said.Minister Premajayantha said
that an inquiry had beenlaunched into the complaintsreceived by the Ceylon PetroleumCorporation (CPC) and samples offuel from filling stations thatmade complaints of contamina-tion had been tested.
UNP’s National ListParliamentarian Harsha De Silva
told The Island that the Public UtilitiesCommission (PUC) should have inquiredinto this matter and that it was not toolate even now.
The UNP MP said that there were var-ious allegations against the PetroleumCorporation and its officials includingfraud that had not being inquired into.
He said that the PUC should probethose matters and put the public’s mindat ease. He said that he did not knowwhether the PUC had the authority toinvestigate such matters and that thegovernment had to take the blame forthe sorry state of affairs.
UNP calls forinvestigation
BY LAL GUNESEKERA
SLN responds to Channel 4 News allegations:
The police department, whichlast made changes to its uniformin 1976, in the run up to the Non-Aligned conference staged here
that year, is once againon the verge of intro-
ducing a new uni-form.
Police sources,however cautionedagainst expecting a
major change as in1976 when it did away
with shorts worn by con-stables from the colonial period.
A senior officer at police head-quarters told The Island that thechange mooted by previousInspector General of Police Dr.Mahinda Balasuriya is likely to beeffected within this year.
Cops to geta facelift via new uniformBY NORMAN PALIHAWADANA
The Elephant Pass saltern would have,after its reopening, the capacity to generatenearly 3,000 employment opportunities,Secretary to the Ministry of TraditionalIndustries and Small EnterpriseDevelopment, V. Sivagnanasothy said. “It isexpected to boost the national economy,” hesaid. Once reopened, the saltern would beable to produce nearly 70,000 tons of saltannually.
Currently, feasibility studies were beingconducted to re-open the saltern and theproject proposal would be finalised soon, hesaid.
Currently demining teams had almostcleared 95 per cent of land in the area.
Responding to a query Sivagnansothysaid the Ministry of Traditional Industriesand Small Enterprise Development wouldaccelerate the re-establishment of theAchuveli Industrial Estate by developing 25acres immediately. “Construction of theadministrative block of the premises isalready underway and the EnvironmentImpact Assessment is also being donealong with water and soil quality testing,”he said. By 2012 internal road networks,electricity and many other facilities wouldbe available at the industrial estate, hesaid.
The ministry has already received Rs.199 million for the development of thepremises, Rs. 174 million from the govern-ment of India as a grant and Rs. 25 millionfrom the Sri Lankan government.
Sivagnanasothy said that currently the
Elephant Pass saltern toproduce 70,000 tons ofsalt annually
Power piratescough up Rs.3.3 mn
BY IFHAM NIZAM
Raids in the Trincomalee Districthave helped the CEB rake in Rs. 3.3mn by way of fines.
Power and Energy Ministrysources told The Island on Friday(01) that districtwise raids had beenintroduced last year by Power andEnergy Minister Patali ChamikaRanawaka and they had contributedRs. 100 mn to the CEB.
The raids in the Trincomalee dis-tricts were carried out from June 25to 27. The Flying Squad nabbed 79persons who pirated power.
The Power and Energy Ministryrequests the public to reportinstances of power piracy to the spe-cial raids unit of the CEB bydialling 1987.
CEB sources said raids onpower pirates would be stepped up.
Financial Review
How come ICRC evacuated over 12,000 persons if forces denied access to Tiger territory?
Susil
Anura
BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO
Contaminated CPC fuel:
Problem over, says government
Opposition leaderRanilWickremesinghe isscheduled to meetUN Chief Ban Ki-moon on July 5, inNew York, the InnerCity Press reported
yesterday. Wickremesinghe is current-ly on a visit to the United States, wherehe participated in a meeting of theInternational Democratic Union.
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s tophuman rights official criticizedChina on Thursday for failing toarrest Sudan's president so that hecan be brought to trial on warcrimes charges.
U.N. High Commissioner forHuman Rights Navi Pillay toldreporters in Geneva she was "dis-appointed" that China welcomedSudan's President Omar al-Bashir during avisit this week, rather than arrest him toensure he stands trial.
Pillay said that "the whole world favours
trial" for al-Bashir on charges ofwar crimes, crimes againsthumanity and three counts ofgenocide, the first time the world'spermanent war crimes tribunalissued genocide charges.
China has a duty to enforce war-rants by the InternationalCriminal Court, she said, despite
the fact that it's not a member ofThe Hague, Netherlands-based tribunal.The Sudanese leader defiantly rejects thecharges and the authority of the court.
China should arrest al-Bashir – UN
Navi Pillay
Govt. spends Rs. 19 mn per year ondrugs for cancer patients
The government purchases drugs worthover 9 mn rupees under special proceduresannually for cancer patients, the spokesmanfor the Health Ministry said on Thursday(June 30). Quoting the Health Minister, hesaid that over hundred documents weresigned every week for the release of thosedrugs.
The Minister, who was speaking at aworkshop held for medical personnel on
antibiotics, in Polonnaruwa, said the gov-ernment spent another ten million rupeeseach year to purchase certain types ofdrugs to treat cancer patients. Over ten tofifteen requests were approved each weekfor the release of these drugs from the med-ical stores.
However, in a majority of the hospitals
BY PABODHA HETTIGE
ISLAMABAD, Jun 30 (APP): ThePakistan government has spon-sored the construction of a three-storied state-of-the-art schoolbuilding in Sri Lanka’s Gampahadistrict to support the educationsector developmental drive of theSri Lankan government. PakistanHigh Commissioner to Sri LankaSeema Ilahi Baloch on Thursdayhanded over a cheque for the con-struction of building in Pasyala,Gampaha to the Minister ofEconomic Development BasilRajapakasa at the Sri LankanPresidential Secretariat.
The school named asBabussalam Maha Vidyalaya,
Pakistan funds schoolbuilding in Sri Lanka
Ranil to meet moon
Ranilmoon