Strike a total flop

Posted on May 21, 2013 by admin

The strike action planned for today by a few Trade Unions affiliated to Opposition was a total flop.  According to statistics obtained by the ,  attendance to duties by employees at enterprises today exceeds 93.5% which is 3.5% more than daily attendance.

 

A few Trade Unions affiliated to Opposition political parties attempted to  resort to trade union action today (21) demanding the withdrawal of the increased electricity tariff.  The joint trade union alliance leaders said that the real reason behind the attempt was to gain petty political mileage and not to protest against the electricity tariff hike.

 

Meanwhile, trade union leaders affiliated to health and education sectors Roy de Mel and N Hadapangoda too said that workers affiliated to their sectors have  denounced any disruptive action .

 

Public Administration P.B.Abeykoon speaking to news.lk said that 503 workers have reported for duty today whereas only 435 attended office yesterday.  He also said that no has been caused to normal functions of  the institutions coming under the purview of his ,  Government Agent Offices, Divisional Secretariats etc.

 

Ariyadasa Pathirana of Sri Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (Ports Authority) said no work at any of the ports in the country was disrupted today as the workers were totally against any strike action.

 

“ Transport Board will operate 5,000 buses during the period while trains will operate on schedule, “SLTB Deputy Chairman L.A. Wimalarathna said.

 

According to Sri Lanka Private Bus Owners Association  there is no bus strike today as all buses registered under their Trade Union are not supporting any strike.  Sri Lanka Transport Board and Sri Lanka Railways have added more buses and trains to their operations so that there will not be any transportation disruptions today.

 

It is quite evident that the working class of the country has the fullest confidence in the , the government and they will not contribute to any act which will cause disruption to the country’s .

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‘The Last Phase’ screened

Posted on May 21, 2013 by admin

‘The Last Phase’, a documentary film depicting the true life story of a former female LTTE cadre during the final stages of the humanitarian operation was screened at a glittering function held at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel in Colombo this evening (20th May).

 

Defence and Urban Development Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa graced the as the chief guest.

 

The 45 minute documentary is directed and edited by Jeevan Chandimal, a veteran in the local film industry. The documentary revolves around the life of a former LTTE female cadre who grew up at ‘Senchcholai’, the LTTE run orphanage for children. ‘Jayawadanee’ was brought up in an environment that was deliberately planned to portray the other side as the necessary evil. She like many others grew up with guns around her. Though she was an exceptional student she was not allowed to pursue higher education. Instead she was made to join the terrorist outfit as a medical cadre.

 

Her ordeal during the final stages of the war left her with indelible scars. Her family bears witness to unspeakable acts of cruelty being committed upon people by the LTTE during the last stages of the war. In the final stages when they were trying to cross over to the they get separated in a shell blast until they are reunited with the help of the security forces months later. Jayawadanee and her seven day old child both sustain serious injuries in the mortar blast directed at them by the LTTE in order to stop them from fleeing to safety.

 

Presented by Richard Mundy and Anjani Perera the documentary follows the life of the main character, Jayawadanee through her ordeals from childhood to the final moments of the war at the earth bund. The authenticity of the story is supported by actual footages of Senchcholai and the final stages of the war.

 

At a time when the nation celebrates four years of with the end of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group this documentary attempts to penetrate the dark mysteries of death, horror, violence and crimes against with credible and authentic real life evidences.

 

Interestingly, it is only the final phase of this prolonged human suffering of a nation that has been brought under international scrutiny.

 

was fighting a separatist terrorist outfit that invented the radicalization process which introduced suicide terrorism to the world. Jayawadanee’s experience is an eye opener for the uninitiated who continuously hound the for accountability.

 

Sri ’s post war revival is unique. Nowhere in the world has a country rehabilitated former combatants, built houses, provided jobs and looked after them except in Sri . In doing so it has given an example to the world.

 

A panel discussion headed by Prof. Sharya Scharenguivel, Head of Department of Private and Comparative Law, UoC, Mrs. Wasantha Senevirathne,Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the UoC Mrs. Rose Wijesekera , Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UoC was also held during the event.

 

A large number of invitees including ambassadors, Chief of Defence Staff, tri forces heads, think tanks, academics, senior government officials, NGO heads and local and foreign media personnel were present at the occasion

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Sri Lanka to amend proposed names for cyclonic storms

Posted on May 21, 2013 by admin

The Sri Meteorological  Dept. Director General S.H.Kariyawasam said that it has been decided to amend the names proposed by Sri for tropical cyclones due to the controversial storm created by naming the recent cyclone as ‘Mahasen’.

 

he World Meteorological Organization (WMO) provides to all users worldwide. For international navigation purposes, it constantly updates all prevailing weather systems, and resort to naming each weather system for identification purposes, he explained.

 

“The WMO established panels for each ocean basin in countries worldwide. The panels for tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea did not use specific names before 2004. However, since 2004, weather systems even in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea were named to facilitate easy exchange of data.

 

These advantages are important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases and ships at sea, Kariyawasam said.

 

The panel of tropical cyclones for the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea called for names for cyclones, from the meteorological agencies of the eight member countries in the region, namely, Maldives, Bangladesh, , Myanmar, , Oman, and .

 

The names so collected are listed in alphabetical order and tabled. “The cyclone before ‘Mahasen’ was called ‘Neelam’, as suggested by Pakistan, and according to alphabetical order, the next country was Sri Lanka, which submitted ‘Mahasen’,” he said. According to procedure, once a cyclone develops, a name is used according to the table for data purposes.

 

The proposed names from Sri Lanka in line after Mahasen include Priya, Asiri, Gigum and Soba. The next tropical cyclone within this region is to be named Phailin, a name suggested by Thailand.

 

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Monster Tonardo tears through Oklahoma City

Posted on May 21, 2013 by admin

Sky News – A massive tornado has torn through a densely populated suburb of Oklahoma City, utterly destroying everything in its path – including an elementary school where young children survived a “direct hit”.

 

Several children have been pulled alive from the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School in the hours after the devastating, mile-wide tornado reduced the building to heaps of rubble and twisted metal.

 

Rescuers were passing the rescued children down a “human chain” to get them to medical personnel for treatment.
Roughly 500 students attend that school in the suburban town of Moore. It is unclear whether any had been evacuated before the twister hit, but local media is reporting some children were taken to a nearby church.

 

Firefighters are at the scene digging through the school’s debris to reach any children possibly trapped inside.
KFOR-TV reports that at least four people are dead after the devastating storm struck mid-afternoon. The Weather Service has given the twister a preliminary EF-4 classification, with winds up to 200mph.
Moore’s hospital was badly damaged, and there were also unconfirmed reports that a second school was destroyed.

 

Several other tornado warnings were also in effect following the devastating twister.

Monday’s mid-day twister came just a day after two people were confirmed killed by a tornado nearby.

 

Residents of Moore had been urged to take shelter as the violent storm moved through the area.

 

The broad, dark funnel cloud was on the ground for 35 minutes before dissipating.

 

KFOR-TV’s news helicopter showed huge swaths of buildings and homes completely levelled, with nothing but wreckage left. Some homes were taken down to their concrete slabs.

 

Sky News US Correspondent Dominic Waghorn described the damage, saying “whole neighbourhoods just wiped off the map, homes literally stripped to their foundations”.

 

Aerial footage showed vehicles crumpled and overturned in piles of debris on the motorway, and buildings that were unrecognisable jumbles of rubble.

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