Nepal President endorses child goddess

Nepal’s Maoist president has endorsed the choice of a three-year-old girl to be worshipped as a goddess, officials said Monday, upholding an age-old tradition despite his government’s atheist stance.
The selection of the child goddess, or Royal Kumari, had for centuries required the approval of Nepal’s kings, but the abolition of the monarchy earlier this year brought about a shift of protocol.
“In Nepal’s changed political context, President Ram Baran Yadav has taken the responsibility of approving the Kumari as he’s now head of state,” said Hemraj Subedi, an official on the board that selected the girl in Kathmandu.
Three-year-old Matine Shakya was chosen to replace the current Royal Kumari, 12-year-old Kumari Preeti Shakya, because the older girl is close to puberty, after which she will be considered ritually unclean. The Maoist government has maintained the tradition of living goddesses despite being officially atheist.
Nepal is the world’s newest republic after rebel Maoists ended their civil war two years ago, won landmark polls in April and quickly pushed through the abolition of the planet’s last Hindu monarchy.
The Kumari, which means virgin, must meet 32 strict criteria — including having a “chest like a lion” and “thighs like a deer” — as well as pass tests that include being in a room with sacrificed buffalo and not crying. There are three Kumaris in medieval towns in the Kathmandu Valley, but the Royal Kumari in Kathmandu is considered the most powerful and had the closest links with the former monarchy.
“The new Kumari is currently undergoing special private rituals carried out by Hindu and Buddhist priests and will officially start on Tuesday,” said Subedi.
The Royal Kumari stays locked up in an ornate, dusty palace in the centre of Kathmandu’s old quarter, only allowed out for a handful of festivals — a practice challenged by some human rights lawyers in Nepal’s Supreme Court. In August, the court ruled the Kumari had the right to attend a school, but the new living goddess will be educated inside the palace, the official said.
Kathmandu, Monday, AFP

Court orders arrest of Sakvithi, six others

Gangodawila Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Wasantha Jinadasa yesterday issued arrest warrants for Sakvithi Ranasinghe and six others including veteran media personality Edwin Ariyadasa.
According to the report filed by the Special Crime Investigation Unit of the Mirihana Police, 1,870 complaints have been received in connection with the swindling of over Rs.one billion by the suspect Sakvithi Ranasinghe.
The Magistrate also granted permission to further question four male and three female suspects who are in Police custody.
The Magistrate ordered the Police to summon the Central Bank Governor and the managers of seven state and private banks to court and submit a report regarding it.
He also ordered the Police to produce Dharshani Maduwanthi who is now in remand custody before court on October 20. ( Daily News)

Karuna Amman to take oaths as MP

TMVP Leader Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, popularly known as Karuna Amman, will take oaths before Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara as a Member of Parliament today from the UPFA National List.
He fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Wasantha Samarasinghe, who contested the recent provincial council election. Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan was born in Kiran, a village in the Batticaloa district in 1966. He joined the LTTE in 1983 and became a top commander.
He participated in several rounds of peace talks as a member of the LTTE delegation after the Ceasefire Agreement was signed in 2002.
In March 2004, he broke away from the mainstream LTTE along with thousands of cadres loyal to him after alleging that the LTTE leadership was favouring Northern cadres and
people and ignoring the interests of the Easterners who had made huge sacrifices for the organisation. He has alleged that Prabhakaran intentionally dragged out peace talks so that the LTTE could use the cessation in hostilities to re-arm and re-group.
He claimed that the LTTE has lost 70 per cent of its fighting capacity after his group separated from the LTTE.
He formed a political party named the TMVP which contested local government and provincial councils polls in the East. The TMVP’s deputy leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan is now the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province.

Major General Janaka Perera – Meaningless political end to a meaningful military career

A war hero and great son of mother Lanka, Major General Janaka Perera has fallen due to a wrong decision that has cost his own life together with number of innocent people. In his distinguished career in the army, he has served the nation as a heroic, but his tragic death is meaningless end in a contradicting path.Major General Janaka Perera is one of the distinguished generals serving our mother land. As a Colonel, Janaka Perera took a significant role suppressing the JVP insurrection of 1987-89 and this earned him both praise and blame in the South. In the following years he played a significant role in combating the LTTE terrorists in the North, especially in the Jaffna and Welioya areas. LTTE terrorists faced their most pathetic military debacle in their long futile struggle when they attacked Welioya Army camp which was then under the military leadership of Major General Janaka Perera. It was reported that almost all the tiger carders who engaged in that attack were trapped in and killed in the battlefield with minimum destruction to the government forces. Later, Brigadier Pererea played a major role during Operation Riviresa which led to the liberation of the Jaffna peninsula, during which he commanded the 53 Division.Following the fall of Elephant Pass in April 2000 which forced the SL Army units in Jaffna to fall back due to lack of fixed defense positions, Perera was appointed Overall Operations Commander (OOC) and tasked with countering the LTTE offensive, along with Major General (now Lt. General) Sarath Fonseka. When immature political leadership (CBK government) was appealing for foreign intervention to flee, the military leadership of Janaka Perera and Sarath Fonseka counter the terrorist offensive effectively serving thousands of Sri Lankan youth who are now battling the final war against terrorists.While then UNP politicos were busy distributing Sirrens to lead the fleeing the Sinhalese from then so called border villages, Major General Janaka Perera had a clear vision and therefore provide not only security but also development to the Weli Oya area so that the people of the area has no reason to flee in fear of terrorists.Major General Janaka Perera ended his elite military career as a war hero who devoted his military life for integrity and freedom of mother land. However, he became a victim of bankrupt political leadership of Ranil Wickramasingha. He was previously offered the post of UNP organizer for Maharagama electorate that is renowned for patriotic and heroic people, but wisly Janaka Perera rejected the offer.When indifferent UNP leader Ranil Wickramasingha was desperate for some avenues for his political survival, he was looking for people range from Sannasgala (who is infamous for exam cheating, copyright violation, INGO links) to Ranjan Ramanayaka ( a petty sookiri star), it is unfortunate that Major General Janaka Perera accepted the offer to contest for the chief ministry post for North Central province.It was not only a contradicting political decision, but a risky one too. UNP leader Ranil Wickramasingha is known to be a feeble character who will never even think of fighting against terrorism. Ranil is only renowned for holding the white flag for his mere survival. It was very evident that Major General Janaka Perera has no political role to play in UNP government under Ranil Wickramasingha, but merely a part of last minute survival drama of indifferent leader. However, battle hardened Janaka Perera was not matured enough to understand this reality. Major-General Lucky Algama has already paid his his price when he was assassinated in UNP political rally in Ja Ela when he was canvassing for Ranil Wickramasingha in presidential election in 1993.It is pity that former war hero has lost his life while trying to serve a political movement which has trait this country. It is even more shame that at this tragic death of former war hero, there will not be a single person in his political party (UNP) who will call his assassinators as terrorists. UNP will try to get even the last opportunity to point fingers at all the parties other than the true enemy (the terrorists) to cement their traitorous political path.It is sad that there are still handful of followers to this political party which has not identified its enemy in the form of terrorist even after they have completely prune their potential political leadership starting from R. Premadasa, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayaka, Ranjan Wijayarathna, Weerasingha Mallimaracchi to Janaka Perera and many more.Ranil Wickramasingha got the UNP party leadership because LTTE killed all the senior UNP leadership. Still he does not have the slightest leadership quality to fulfill his goal by convincing the public even at desperate times. More and more secondary UNP leaders will sacrifice their life while this feeble character enjoying the dignity of ‘leader of UNP’ and ‘leader of opposition’ posts. Those who lost their life while serving the UNP leadership will not even get justice for their death because the UNP leadership has no guts even to point the finger directly towards the enemy and call him by its due name (Terrorist) !( News from-Lanka Rising)

Sri Lanka: Bombing draws EU condemnation

Brussels, 6 Oct. (AKI) - European Union external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Monday deplored the suicide bombing in northern Sri Lanka which killed 27 people and injured over 80."I am deeply shocked by the suicide attack at the United National Party office in Anuradhapura this morning. "I condemn in the strongest possible terms this appalling act of terrorism which cannot be justified under any circumstances," said Ferrero-Waldner.A popular retired army general, Major-General Janaka Perera, was among those killed by Monday's deadly blast in Anuradhapura, some 200 kilometres north of the capital Colombo.Perera was the main opposition United National Party's provincial leader and was attending the opening ceremony of its new offices in the ancient tourist town.The Sri Lankan government and army blamed the attack on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who for decades have waged a war to create a separate homeland for the country's Tamil minority.The attack came as the Sri Lankan military continues to close in on the Tamil Tigers' northern stronghold of Kilinochchi. Fighting on Sunday killed 17 rebels and wounded 30, while one soldier was killed and eight were wounded, the military said. And on Monday, air force jets bombed a strategic Tiger Tamil artillery position on the northwestern coast, the air force said.About 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in the mid-1970s.

Prior notification required for journalists arriving in the country – Foreign Ministry

While clarifying the position of the Government of Sri Lanka which led to non-issuance of a letter recommending that "media accreditation" be granted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Mr. Gerrit Jan Rohmensen, a Dutch passport holder arrived in Sri Lanka today (06), the Ministry informs that a media personnel should make the request prior to his or her arrival in to Sri Lanka.
Issuing a statement the Ministry of Foreign affairs informs that any foreign Media Personnel visiting Sri Lanka must contact Ministry of Foreign Affairs Public Communication Division for Press Accreditations.In the case cited, the said journalist had obtained a tourist visa on arrival in the island. He had subsequently sought the intervention of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Sri Lanka to obtain media accreditation. He had submitted articles written by him in Dutch, but the ministry claims that the English translations themselves were 'laced with heavy doses of Dutch words'.