No changes to Rs. 25,000 fine for traffic offenses

The Cabinet spokesman and Minister Rajitha Senaratne today reiterated that there would be no changes on the proposed fine of Rs.25,000 for seven traffic offenses.

While speaking to the media at the weekly Cabinet press briefing at the parliament complex, Minister Senaratne said even the government’s decision was also the same and there would not be any rollback of the proposed fine.

“We will never give permission for drivers to kill people. Since the date the decision was taken there is a slight decrement of road accidents. I think the accidents would be less if the law was implemented,” he added.

“The proposals were made to take legal actions for overtaking from the left side, speeding and to place speed limits. First of all, decisions should be taken on implementing the legal situation of overtaking from the left side and speeding,” he said.

He said the President had not said anything on changes to proposed the imposed fine of Rs.25,000 for seven traffic offenses during the discussion with the Bus Owners’ Associations held at the parliament complex on Saturday (3).

He said it was fair to impose a reasonable fine for overtaking from the left side and speeding but there would be no relief for the other five offenses. He had also requested the government to take legal actions strictly against persons who damaged the Sri Lanka Transport Buses (SLTB) during the private bus strike.

“128 SLTB buses were damaged during the strike and the police should have arrested 128 people who were held responsible for them. But the police could not arrest that much of people. The police have no connection with the people in those areas. In that case there is no use of the police,” he said.

He said most of the bus strikers were the ones who had worked according to a certain political agenda and added that most of the members of the bus associations were used to take part in poster campaigns during the previous elections under their names.

Plane crashes after take-off in Pakistan

A plane belonging to Pakistan's national carrier has crashed shortly after take-off from the country's north with about 40 people on board, officials said.

The Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed in a village near the town of Havelian, about 75 kilometres (45 miles) north west of the capital Islamabad, senior police officer Khurram Rasheed said.

There were no immediate details on casualties but Pakistan's interior ministry dispatched a team with experts on identifying bodies through DNA tests.

State-run Pakistan Television showed a huge fire rising from the site of the crash, while v illagers were seen standing nearby.

Shortly before the crash was confirmed, airline spokesman Daniyal Gilani said the ATR-42 aircraft carrying around 40 passengers and crew had lost touch with the control tower.

A local police official, Khursheed Tanoli, told state-run TV that the plane went down in a village in the north west and that rescuers are trying to reach the site of the crash.

The army said it dispatched troops and helicopters to the location.

6.8 quake hits off Sumatra, Indonesia

An undersea earthquake off Indonesia's Aceh province has killed at least 24 people, authorities said.

The 6.4 magnitude quake struck near the town of Sigli on Sumatra island destroying dozens of buildings.

Indonesia's meteorological agency said there was no risk of a tsunami.

In 2004, Aceh was devastated by a tsunami caused by a massive undersea earthquake that killed 120,000 people in the province.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck just offshore at 05:03 local time (22:03 GMT Tuesday) at a depth of 17.2km (11 miles). Many people are thought to be trapped in the rubble.

Local authorities say heavy equipment is being used to search for survivors.

The quake shook the nearby provincial capital of Banda Aceh and prompted many people to flee their homes and workplaces across the region.(BBC)

Controversy over Salu Sala letter to school principals

Salu Sala has sent letters to school principals asking them to place orders for uniform material.

The letter, signed by a co-ordinating officer, carries annexed thereto, a copy of a circular issued by the Education Ministry Secretary S. S. Hettiarachchi to Zonal Directors and Principals.

The Education Ministry Secretary initially recommended Salu Sala for the supply of material for school uniforms, but due to the resulting confusion, he decided against recommending any institution and withdrew his circular.

Following the receipt of the letter, the principals have started to make arrangements for purchasing uniform material from the supplier mentioned in the letter.

It has been revealed that the uniform material will be supplied by another institution owned by a private entrepreneur through Salu Sala.

Triple Murder in Ambalangoda

Three members of the same family including a 4-year-old child were shot dead by an unidentified gunman in Idamtota, Ambalangoda yesterday night.

According to Ambalangoda Police sources, the victims were at their shop at Idamtota in Madampagama, when this gunman arrived there. He is reported to have called them out and opened fire at them killing them.

"The mother was holding her four-year-old child when she was fired at by the gunman," Police sources said. The victims were identified as Indika Soyza, (35), Devika De Soysa (27), and Randika Soyza (4).

World’s tallest Christmas tree: a wasteful expenditure

The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith hitting out strongly against the World’s tallest Christmas tree on Galle Face Green has called it a ‘wasteful expenditure’.

He asked that it be stopped and that money be used to build homes for the homeless or to provide scholarships to poor children.
The Archbishop also emphasised that the Bishop’s Council had agreed to work together with other religious leaders to strengthen the family unit in Sri Lanka. This proposal had also been approved at the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference held this year.

The Archbishop of Colombo pointed out that several other religious leaders including Ven.Prof. Bellanvila Wimalaratne Thera had also participated and expressed their views.

The Archbishop of Colombo also said that he did not know how much a venture such as the World’s Tallest Christmas tree sponsored under the Arjuna Ranatunga Welfare Fund would in reality cost.

The tree is to be built using iron, old wood material, chicken wire mesh and vinyl flowers. It is to be 325foot and was started on August 18 and is scheduled to be completed by December 22. The tree would be displayed for 10 days from Christmas day.

The sponsors have stated that the workers from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority have volunteered their labour for the project.

Bodu Bala Sena advocates Executive Presidency

Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary General Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanansara Thera yesterday said that Sri Lanka should stick to the constitution introduced by President J.R. Jayewardene and maintain the Executive Presidency without changing it.

Addressing a press conference at the Bodu Bala Sena Office at Kirulapone, Ven. Gnanansara Thera said his organisation would assemble bhikkhus in their thousands in Colombo and create an awareness about the shortcomings in the proposed new constitution to enable them to go back to the villages and educate the people about them at grassroots level.

Communities should join hands to defeat and foil the new constitution trap, he said. He said Sri Lanka should be governed by a dictatorial system founded on the dhamma.

“As such the executive powers of the presidency should be further increased,” he said. The thera said Minister Patlai Champika Ranawaka should place his views on the new constitution before the people.

“Ideas and views of people like Ranawaka, Ven. Ratana Thera, Dinesh Gunawardena, Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansawould also be vital to be taken into account by mooting a public discussion on the matter,” he said. He said there was such a surfeit of websites operating today that one could not properly distinguish between the truth and untruth published in them.

Jayalalithaa was dearly loved by her people

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said that Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was a leader “dearly loved by her people.” In a tweet following Jayalalithaa’s death on Monday, Sirisena expressed his condolences to “her loved ones and the people of Tamil Nadu.”

Speaking in the Northern Provincial Council on Tuesday, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran, said that Jayalalithaa set an example to women by the determined way she fought male chauvinism to reach the top.

Referring to a TV interview Jayalalithaa had given to Indian actress-journalist Simi Garewal, Wigneswaran said that Jayalalithaa’s life showed how circumstances could change one’s life radically. Circumstances had transformed a studious, soft spoken girl from a well heeled family into an “iron lady”, he said.

“Under Jayalalithaa’s leadership Tamil Nadu progressed in the economic, social and other fields. She was interested in Tamil, and in the Tamil people, and took up their issues pointedly. She wanted the Tamil people of Sri Lanka’s North and East to be able to govern themselves. Arrangements were being made for me to meet her, when she took ill,” Wigneswaran said.

The Spokesperson for the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mahishini Colonne, said in a tweet: “As the people of Tamil Nadu grieve the loss of their beloved leader Jayalalithaa Ji, we in Sri Lanka share their pain. May Amma rest in peace.”