Thursday, August 30, 2012

Don't send Lankan house maids: Lebanon ambassador



 [ Thursday, 30 August 2012, 03:37.38 AM GMT +05:30 ]

SriLankan ambassador to Lebanon urge not to send Lankan house maids towards Lebanon.
At present Lebanon face continues crisis in the country which would lead for the local war. Due to this I urge to stop sending Lankan housemaids with immediate effect.
Terrorist group have currently captured the road of Beirut airport. Flight services were halted in the country.
85000 Lankans are currently serving in Lebanon. During the time of tense situation steps would be taken to send back to the country said the ambassador.

කුදන්කුලම් න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාරය ගැන අනතුරු ඇඟවීමක්



අවසාන යාවත්කාලීන කිරීම :  2012 අගෝස්තු 29 බදාදා - 15:32 GMT | BBC Sandeshaya

යෝජිත කුදන්කුලම් න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාරය
දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ කුදන්කුලම් ප්‍රදේශයේ න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාරයක් තැනීමට කටයුතු කිරීම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අහිතකර විය හැකි බව පරිසරවේදීහු පෙන්වා දෙති.
කොළඹ පැවති පරිසර සමුළුවක් අමතමින් පරිසර නීතිවේදී ජගත් ගුනවර්ධන කියා සිටියේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂීන් පැමිණෙන මාර්ගයේ යෝජිත කුදන්කුලම් න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාරය පිහිටා ඇති බවයි.
"සංක්‍රමණික පක්ෂීන් ගේ සිරුරු කොටස් සහ වසුරු හරහා න්‍යෂ්ටික අපද්‍රවය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණෙන්න ඉඩ තිබෙනවා" යැයි නීතිවේදී ජගත් ගුනවර්ධන කියා සිටියේය.
මේ න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාරය තැනීමට එරෙහිව කටයුතු කිරීමට ජාත්‍යාන්තර පරමාණුක ආරක්ෂණ නීතිය යටතේ කටයුතු කිරීමට හැකියාවක් ඇතත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ කටයුතු
අමාත්‍යාංශය මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිද්‍රාශීලී පිලිවෙතක් අනුගමනය කරමින් සිටින බව නීතිවේදී ජගත් ගුනවර්ධන ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.
කුදන්කුලම් න්‍යෂ්ටික බලාගාරය පිළිබඳව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල සංවාදයක් ඇති විය යුතු බව පරිසර සමුළුව අමතමින් තාක්ෂණවේදය පිළිබඳව මහචාර්ය හේ. ශ්‍රීයානන්ද පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

Sri Lanka Day Expo 2012: Marketing Sri Lanka's image in California well received



Thu, 2012-08-30 03:08 — editor
Daya Gamage reports to Asian Tribune
Santa Monica, California 29 August (Asiantribune.com):

Dr. Walter Jayasinghe, President Sri Lanka Foundation California addressing the gathering. Richard Bloom, Mayor of Santa Monica and Sri Lanka Consul General for western States Dr. Hector Weerasinghe on the podium

Marketing Sri Lanka's image abroad using the basics of public affairs, public diplomacy and strategic communication, as Sri Lankan watchers have observed, seems to be a dueling task for Sri Lankan authorities. This obstacle was overcome in the populous city of Santa Monica in California on Saturday, August 25 by the launching of Sri Lanka Day-Expo 2012 which attracted non-immigrant Americans from the length and breadth the State of California many of whom once entertained mixed feelings about this South Asian nation which they connected to terrorism, suicide bombers and human rights abuses.
This Asian Tribune reporter got a glimpse of the thoughts entertained by the Americans who attended this California's foremost Sri Lankan organization Sri Lanka Foundation-organized and sponsored Sri Lanka.
To one American couple Sri Lanka is governed by a repressive regime. To another the minorities have no space and are brutalized by the regime. War crimes and human rights issues came up in between.
But most of the American to whom this writer talked were unaware of the brutality the separatist movement Tamil Tigers unleashed for decades. They were unaware of the fact that refugees belonging to the minority Tamil community after the terrorist movement was defeated were all settled and given government patronage to have upward mobility of their lives.
When explained to an American who was fairly knowledgeable about Sri Lankan scenario that the government's main objective was to socially and economically uplift the Tamil majority districts in the north and east of Sri Lanka he entertained extra interest in probing much deeper.
And Asian Tribune provided the answers.
This was all possible for this writer to interact with a fairly large group of Americans due to the initiative taken by California's premier expatriate organization Sri Lanka Foundation to organize the Sri Lanka Day-Expo 2012 that brought many aspects of Sri Lanka to the people of California.
Most of the credit should go to Dr. Walter Jayasinghe, the founder and president of the organization.
As the president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa commented in his message to the launching of the Expo 2012 this event brought together an exceptional gathering of Sri Lankan businesses, products and services and cuisines in a remarkable showcasing of Sri Lanka's investment opportunities, trade and commerce possibilities, and cultural and tourist attractions.
The very large gathering, especially the non-immigrant Americans, had a very rich insight into Sri Lanka's centuries-old traditions, civility, cultural practices, her interaction with the international community, enormous trade, investment and commerce with the United States and the country's openness to the wide world.
The Sri Lanka's Consul General for the Western States of the United States Dr. Hector Weerasinghe, who just completed one year in his diplomatic assignment, uses his down-to-earth public affairs, public diplomacy and strategic communication skills to market his country's image in this part of the nation.
This writer who has been in such capacities for well over two decades recognized Dr. Weerasinghe's skills in promoting Sri Lanka in the United States, and marketing what Sri Lanka has achieved since the defeat of the terrorist Tamil Tigers in 2009.
The Consulate General staff were available for the smooth operation of the event which had a diplomatic fervor.
The Sri Lanka Day-Expo 2012, six years in succession, was an excellent even that exposed Sri Lanka to the Americans some of whom were ill-informed or under-informed about Sri Lanka.
The colorful parade with Kandyan and Kavadi dancers, depicting the glorious Kandy Perahera (Pageant), youthful dancers made the daylong event - started at ten in the morning that went into the wee hours - gave extra boost to the event.
The Sri Lankan cuisine were for everyone's palate, and the Tea Board provided the delicious Ceylon Tea.
During the late afternoon, there were song and dance on the podium. The announcers continually provided many aspects of Sri Lankan life, culture and her long history. This segment attracted the non-immigrant Americans to get a better understanding of this South Asian nation.
These events turned them to this writer to raise many questions and find answers about the current situation in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Day-Expo 2012 brought Sri Lanka directly to the Americans of Southern California and to the broader segment of the Americans in this most populous state of the United States. And, it brought the expatriate Sri Lankan community together for a common purpose - enjoying the fellowship and marketing Sri Lanka.
- Asian Tribune -

Sumithra Peiris’s “Sakman Maluwa (The Garden)” screens at the Magic of the Far East Film Festival in Tel Aviv.



Thu, 2012-08-30 03:00 — editor
Tel Aviv, 30 August, (Asiantribune.com):


The Sri Lankan film “Sakman Maluwa (The Garden)” directed by Sumithra Pieris was screened at the First International Migrant Workers Film Festival organised by the WIC Group from 24th to 26th August 2012 at the Cinematheque in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Aviv, three day film festival titled “Magic of the Far East” focused on films from South and South East Asia.
The Gala event hosted on 24th August 2012 enabled the Embassy of Sri Lanka to showcase Sri Lanka’s culture to the invited guests which comprised of representatives of the diplomatic community, Israeli government officials, cinemagoers and film critics. Traditional Sri Lankan refreshments including pure Ceylon tea cocktails were also served.
The Embassy liaised with the organizers of the Film Festival for the screening of the movie “Sakman Maluwa” with the generous support of the Sri Lanka National Film Corporation.
- Asian Tribune -

A session on ‘ Art of Well-being ‘ :Organized by the High Commission in Ottawa



Thu, 2012-08-30 02:05 — editor
Ottawa, 30 August, (Asiantribune.com):


The Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa, Canada organised an interactive session on Art of Well-being – a spiritual journey using ancient wisdom of Sri Lanka at the prestigious Libraries and Archives Canada in Ottawa. The session was followed by a display and promotion of Ceylon Tea as a health drink.
The event was attended by more than 150 guests, which included Diplomats, government officials, those in the business & travel sector and the general public.
The guest speaker at the event was Nalaka Hewamadduma who possesses a wide knowledge and experience on Mind-Body Wellness. In various workshops he has conducted, he focused on integrating the theory and practice of these ancient healing sciences with the newer developments of Organizational and Life-style Management.
During his presentation Mr. Hewamadduma captivated the audience with his techniques on the art of well-being based on the principles of ancient Sri Lankan healing wisdom and spoke of new scientific discoveries that are based on these ancient practices.
The High Commissioner Chitranganee Wagiswara in her welcome address said that, the event was something different from the usual promotional events. The subject of well-being she emphasised was of interest and important to all human beings. She added that even today in the 21st century, we could draw on our ancient cultural practises, which have been handed down from generation to generation.
She also spoke of Ceylon tea which has a brand name in the global market due to its unique flavour, colour and aroma. She also spoke of some of the health benefits of tea.
At the end of the programme, a reception was hosted with Sri Lankan food and Ceylon tea, and samples of Tea from Sri Lanka were distributed among the guests.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board and the President and CEO of the MTI group in Ottawa, Mr. Sarath Amarakoon who is involved in marketing Sri Lankan products including tea, provided complimentary tea for this function.
- Asian Tribune –