Harin creates a stir
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harin Fernando’s speech in Parliament during the debate on the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on the Easter Sunday attacks has created a stir, it is learnt.
It is also learnt that India has raised objections over certain statements made by Fernando during his parliamentary speech where he accuses Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being an extremist.
Fernando claims in his speech that Modi won the 2019 election in India after propagating extremism.
He further blamed politicians for promoting extremism to further their political agendas.
Following Fernando’s speech, it is learnt that representatives of the Indian Government in Colombo have raised objections to the comments with the SJB leadership.
Amusing April Fool’s One of the best April Fool’s Day jokes this year was presented by Weligama Urban Council Chairman Rehan Jayawickreme. His joke resulted in many members of the Opposition as well as the Government making a series of telephone calls to confirm the story. “I have decided to leave the SJB (Samagi Jana Balawegaya) and join the @PodujanaParty (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna). I am doing this to preserve what’s left of my country. I may be called a hypocrite but that’s life,” Jayawickreme tweeted. Soon after the tweet was posted, the first to get activated were members of the governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) inquiring after the reason behind Jayawickreme’s decision and when he plans to make the move official. The next series of telephone calls were from SJB members including the Party Leader. However, all who called Jayawickreme were speechless when he responded with a laugh saying: “Happy April Fool’s!” “Happy April Fool's Day Twitter universe! I was going to drag this joke but my phone has been ringing nonstop and I can’t handle the pressure of lying,” Jayawickreme tweeted in the afternoon.
Disgruntled minister The human-elephant conflict (HEC) and the electric fences aimed at resolving the issue have now caused friction among members of the Government. This was revealed by comments made by a state minister. “When I raised the issue of the human-elephant conflict that has burdened our people, the Subject minister is telling me not to be a hero in front of the people. I’m actually sad that we have cabinet ministers who are unable to understand the difficulties faced by the people,” State Minister Piyankara Jayaratne had said at a public meeting. “If we cannot serve the people after getting elected to Parliament from their votes, what is the value we place on the votes cast by the public? The human-elephant conflict keeps intensifying in Anamaduwa. If we are elected by the people and maintained by public funds, why cannot we serve these people?” the disgruntled Minister had questioned.
Good news country Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera last week said that former US President Barack Obama used to refer to Sri Lanka as the “good news country”. “Sri Lanka was celebrated by all the countries. I know for a fact that during our time, President Obama used to call Sri Lanka the ‘good news country’. I still remember in 2016 when we attended the G7 Summit in Japan. After the main meeting, (former) President (Maithripala) Sirisena was invited and we went in and sat down in advance before the other world leaders arrived. I was seated behind President Sirisena and it still brings me tears when I recall how every leader who walked into the room, once they saw President Sirisena, they walked up to him and shook his hands and then went to their seats. Obama, (David) Cameron, (Angela) Merkel, (Justin) Trudeau, (Shinzo) Abe, and all the leaders of the G7 first came right up to the Sri Lankan Head of State and shook his hands and then started talking about the issues,” Samaraweera said during a news conference. “That was the kind of acceptance we managed to build within such a short time but unfortunately, we have lost it and now those who made Sri Lanka feel loved by the world are being called traitors and those who actually did the treacherous work are pretending to be patriots,” he added.
[caption id="attachment_128262" align="alignright" width="411"]
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa cooking roti at home[/caption]
MasterChef
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa recently decided to try his hand at some cooking while spending some leisure time at home.
A video as well as photographs of the young minister preparing roti were widely shared on social media last week.
Rajapaksa’s wife, Limini, is also seen standing behind him, supporting his cooking endeavour.
[caption id="attachment_128263" align="alignleft" width="210"]
The post by Daham Sirisena on social media[/caption]
Daham to the fore
Former President MP Maithripala Sirisena’s son Daham Sirisena recently came forward to express his concerns over an issue that involves his hometown, Polonnaruwa.
Daham made a public statement on social media of a move to halt the intercity train service to Polonnaruwa that was launched during President Sirisena’s tenure.
Expressing concerns over the move, Daham had also noted that he would personally follow up on the matter and work to ensure that the train service would be continued to benefit the people of Polonnaruwa.
Good merit State Agriculture Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa last week laid the foundation stone to build a bridge across the Pubbara Oya in Medagama in Bibile after his vehicle was recently swept into the river during high current while travelling across a shoe bridge recently. Rajapaksa recently managed to narrowly escape disaster when the Defender vehicle he was travelling in was caught in a current and dragged into a river. Rajapaksa was returning to Monaragala after attending an event in the Medagama area in Bibile when the incident had happened. The Defender was passing through a low culvert over the Pubbara Oya when the water level had suddenly risen, due to heavy rains experienced in some parts of the island, pushing the vehicle into the river. People who were in the area had immediately intervened and helped the State Minister and passengers to safety and no one was injured in the incident. After the rescue, Rajapaksa said that he was rescued by the divine intervention of Lord Kataragama, the deity popularly worshiped in the area. After laying the foundation stone, Rajapaksa had said: “I was saved even after being swept into the river due to my good deeds. Neither I nor my family members can be easily killed because of our good deeds. That’s why Gotabaya Rajapaksa survived a suicide attack in the past.”
Mahanama’s new book Former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Roshan Mahanama had recently announced the publication of an extended version of his biography, “Retired Hurt”, which was first published in 2001. Mahanama has made this observation while responding to a Twitter post that had tagged a photograph of the cover of his first biography. The former Sri Lanka cricketer had said that his next publication would contain details of his “game” after retiring from professional cricket. Some of the contents of Mahanam’s “Retired Hurt” were subjected to criticism by certain sections of the Australian media – the reason being Mahanama’s decision to express his stance on an incident related to a statement made by Australian cricketer Glen McGrath about former Sri Lanka Cricket Captain Sanath Jayasuriya.
Amusing April Fool’s One of the best April Fool’s Day jokes this year was presented by Weligama Urban Council Chairman Rehan Jayawickreme. His joke resulted in many members of the Opposition as well as the Government making a series of telephone calls to confirm the story. “I have decided to leave the SJB (Samagi Jana Balawegaya) and join the @PodujanaParty (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna). I am doing this to preserve what’s left of my country. I may be called a hypocrite but that’s life,” Jayawickreme tweeted. Soon after the tweet was posted, the first to get activated were members of the governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) inquiring after the reason behind Jayawickreme’s decision and when he plans to make the move official. The next series of telephone calls were from SJB members including the Party Leader. However, all who called Jayawickreme were speechless when he responded with a laugh saying: “Happy April Fool’s!” “Happy April Fool's Day Twitter universe! I was going to drag this joke but my phone has been ringing nonstop and I can’t handle the pressure of lying,” Jayawickreme tweeted in the afternoon.
Disgruntled minister The human-elephant conflict (HEC) and the electric fences aimed at resolving the issue have now caused friction among members of the Government. This was revealed by comments made by a state minister. “When I raised the issue of the human-elephant conflict that has burdened our people, the Subject minister is telling me not to be a hero in front of the people. I’m actually sad that we have cabinet ministers who are unable to understand the difficulties faced by the people,” State Minister Piyankara Jayaratne had said at a public meeting. “If we cannot serve the people after getting elected to Parliament from their votes, what is the value we place on the votes cast by the public? The human-elephant conflict keeps intensifying in Anamaduwa. If we are elected by the people and maintained by public funds, why cannot we serve these people?” the disgruntled Minister had questioned.
Good news country Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera last week said that former US President Barack Obama used to refer to Sri Lanka as the “good news country”. “Sri Lanka was celebrated by all the countries. I know for a fact that during our time, President Obama used to call Sri Lanka the ‘good news country’. I still remember in 2016 when we attended the G7 Summit in Japan. After the main meeting, (former) President (Maithripala) Sirisena was invited and we went in and sat down in advance before the other world leaders arrived. I was seated behind President Sirisena and it still brings me tears when I recall how every leader who walked into the room, once they saw President Sirisena, they walked up to him and shook his hands and then went to their seats. Obama, (David) Cameron, (Angela) Merkel, (Justin) Trudeau, (Shinzo) Abe, and all the leaders of the G7 first came right up to the Sri Lankan Head of State and shook his hands and then started talking about the issues,” Samaraweera said during a news conference. “That was the kind of acceptance we managed to build within such a short time but unfortunately, we have lost it and now those who made Sri Lanka feel loved by the world are being called traitors and those who actually did the treacherous work are pretending to be patriots,” he added.
[caption id="attachment_128262" align="alignright" width="411"]
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa cooking roti at home[/caption]
MasterChef
Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa recently decided to try his hand at some cooking while spending some leisure time at home.
A video as well as photographs of the young minister preparing roti were widely shared on social media last week.
Rajapaksa’s wife, Limini, is also seen standing behind him, supporting his cooking endeavour.
[caption id="attachment_128263" align="alignleft" width="210"]
The post by Daham Sirisena on social media[/caption]
Daham to the fore
Former President MP Maithripala Sirisena’s son Daham Sirisena recently came forward to express his concerns over an issue that involves his hometown, Polonnaruwa.
Daham made a public statement on social media of a move to halt the intercity train service to Polonnaruwa that was launched during President Sirisena’s tenure.
Expressing concerns over the move, Daham had also noted that he would personally follow up on the matter and work to ensure that the train service would be continued to benefit the people of Polonnaruwa.
Good merit State Agriculture Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa last week laid the foundation stone to build a bridge across the Pubbara Oya in Medagama in Bibile after his vehicle was recently swept into the river during high current while travelling across a shoe bridge recently. Rajapaksa recently managed to narrowly escape disaster when the Defender vehicle he was travelling in was caught in a current and dragged into a river. Rajapaksa was returning to Monaragala after attending an event in the Medagama area in Bibile when the incident had happened. The Defender was passing through a low culvert over the Pubbara Oya when the water level had suddenly risen, due to heavy rains experienced in some parts of the island, pushing the vehicle into the river. People who were in the area had immediately intervened and helped the State Minister and passengers to safety and no one was injured in the incident. After the rescue, Rajapaksa said that he was rescued by the divine intervention of Lord Kataragama, the deity popularly worshiped in the area. After laying the foundation stone, Rajapaksa had said: “I was saved even after being swept into the river due to my good deeds. Neither I nor my family members can be easily killed because of our good deeds. That’s why Gotabaya Rajapaksa survived a suicide attack in the past.”
Mahanama’s new book Former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Roshan Mahanama had recently announced the publication of an extended version of his biography, “Retired Hurt”, which was first published in 2001. Mahanama has made this observation while responding to a Twitter post that had tagged a photograph of the cover of his first biography. The former Sri Lanka cricketer had said that his next publication would contain details of his “game” after retiring from professional cricket. Some of the contents of Mahanam’s “Retired Hurt” were subjected to criticism by certain sections of the Australian media – the reason being Mahanama’s decision to express his stance on an incident related to a statement made by Australian cricketer Glen McGrath about former Sri Lanka Cricket Captain Sanath Jayasuriya.