without 2/3 majirity and janamath vicharna no validity of allowing Tamil national anthem
see
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=423066374520021&set=vb.100004499866946&type=2&theater
all 100 days devoted to giving tamil for the votes they gave
Rainbow govt. avoids answering questions
The growing habit of the rainbow government to avoid answering questions raised by the Opposition, including those raised under Standing Order 23-2 was questioned by many opposition legislators, several times during Parliamentary sessions last week.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Parliamentarian and Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva brought to the notice of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa that the government is blissfully neglecting in answering their questions of national importance, as some questions raised in February 2015 remained unanswered in March too.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Parliamentarian and Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva brought to the notice of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa that the government is blissfully neglecting in answering their questions of national importance, as some questions raised in February 2015 remained unanswered in March too.
Ceylontoday, 2015-03-22 02:00:00
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Rainbow govt. avoids answering questions
BY Gagani Weerakoon
The growing habit of the rainbow government to avoid answering questions raised by the Opposition, including those raised under Standing Order 23-2 was questioned by many opposition legislators, several times during Parliamentary sessions last week.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Parliamentarian and Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva brought to the notice of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa that the government is blissfully neglecting in answering their questions of national importance, as some questions raised in February 2015 remained unanswered in March too.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Parliamentarian and Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva brought to the notice of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa that the government is blissfully neglecting in answering their questions of national importance, as some questions raised in February 2015 remained unanswered in March too.
In the same way that war and terrorism became a mantra to justify everything and avoid some issues, this government too seems to have a favourite escapade and that is corruption. Rather than going ahead with necessary work in order to realise the dream of having good governance it seemed like this government is also busy in comparing how lesser demons they are when compared to those in the previous government.
This was very evident during debate on the controversial Treasury Bond issue where Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran is accused of being involved in a conflict of interest case. When observing arguments and counter arguments, it was not surprising if one thought that Sri Lanka's Legislature is consisting of foreigners than locals.
Central Bank Governor
Apart from many other allegations against the Central Bank Governor, the main Opposition UPFA demanded the government to table his visa and citizenship details in Parliament. Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva queried as to how Mahendran, despite being a Singaporean citizen became a dual citizen in Sri Lanka which is prohibited according to the law of that country.
When the matter came up for the third day as well, the answer given by the government was that Mahendran who is a citizen of Singapore had to sell Treasury Bonds to pay the debts taken by former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa who is a USA citizen.
Apart from many other allegations against the Central Bank Governor, the main Opposition UPFA demanded the government to table his visa and citizenship details in Parliament. Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva queried as to how Mahendran, despite being a Singaporean citizen became a dual citizen in Sri Lanka which is prohibited according to the law of that country.
When the matter came up for the third day as well, the answer given by the government was that Mahendran who is a citizen of Singapore had to sell Treasury Bonds to pay the debts taken by former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa who is a USA citizen.
"How can a Singaporean citizen be appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank? Isn't there a Sri Lankan citizen with necessary qualifications to fill this post?" MP Lalith Dissanayake charged demanding to know the eligibility of a foreign national holding such a significant post at the Central Bank.
MP Dissanayake further alleged that the controversial transaction entered into by the Central Bank Governor would result in a further loss of Rs 9 billion to the country.
An individual's citizenship not an issue
In response Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said that an individual's citizenship was not an issue when considering eligibility to the post of Governor of the Central Bank referring to the first governor of the Central Bank, John Exter, who was an American economist and citizen.
"Did you question the former Economic Development Minister's citizenship when he stole from the people and fled to America? Apparently he has fled the US now and gone to Vietnam. Your allegation of a loss of Rs 9 billion to the country is not true. The current Central Bank Governor had to sell Treasury Bonds to repay loans taken by US citizen and Economic Development Minister of the Rajapaksa government," he said.
Despite Parliament sessions engulfed in Treasury Bonds and genuineness of the government that chants good governance as a mantra, it did not fail to give interesting details about certain members.
One such was when JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka asked the Finance Minister to reveal the details of ethanol imports to the country in the last three years.
Minister Karunanayake said that 25,631,014 litres of ethanol had been imported in 2012, 10,821,764 litres in 2013 and 13,663,498 litres in 2014.
MP Dissanayake demanded to know the volumes of liquor produced and perfumery products that were manufactured using ethanol that was imported during the last three years.
The minister said that imported spirits had been used for manufacturing liquor and they had been blended with locally produced spirits. He said using the imported ethanol, 119,881,427.700 litres of perfume were manufactured in 2012, 136,577,603.090 litres in 2013 and 158,581,975.250 litres in 2014.
MP Dissanayake: This country has only 20 million population, but 158 million litres of perfume had been produced. How could this happen? Did the people bathe in perfume or did they drink perfume? It is clear that ethanol was imported on the pretext of producing perfume to be blended with locally produced spirits.
Minister Karunanayake: After we came to power we seized a container load of ethanol. We do not know who imported it. The consignment had been brought from Malaysia. We are investigating it. It is clear that around 25-30 containers of ethanol were imported monthly.
MP Dissanayake: Perfume is stored in small bottles but according to these figures each family should have used at least two barrels of perfume.
Minister Karunanayake said that from January 2013 to August 2014, the Pelwatte Sugar Company had produced 10,788,735,450 litres and the Sevanagala Sugar Company 6,492,438,100 litres of ethanol.
In the middle of an
ethanol river
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the incumbent government would not give liquor licences to any politician. "If the need arises, we may impose taxes and take over some of the licences. We thought that Parliament is in the middle of Diyawanna Oya. Now, I wonder whether we are in the middle of an ethanol river."
Meanwhile, there was an uproar in Parliament once United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) parliamentarian Sarath Weerasekara rose to his feet to declare that the decision by President Maithripala Sirisena to allow National Anthem being sung in Tamil language was incorrect.
Weerasekara was almost cornered to a wall as legislators from both opposition and government ranks belittled his statement as a racist remark.
His colleague Dilan Perera who is known for his liberalistic opinions, shot back saying it was because of the sorts that spread extremist and racist ideas during past regime that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had to go home defeated.
He also demanded those who are having such ideologies must join the likes of Bodu Bala Sena as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is not the place to spread racism.
"If the National Anthem is to be sung in Tamil then it should be done with the approval of a two-thirds majority in Parliament and a referendum should be conducted. If not, it will be a betrayal of the country and the Constitution," Weerasekara said.
Democratic National Alliance MP Sunil Handunnetti responded that the National Anthem was written in Tamil as well as Sinhala and questioned as to what prevents it from being sung solely in Sinhala.
Leader of the New Left Front, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, said at this point that the National Anthem written in Tamil was the same as the Sinhala version. He suggested that the Anthem should be sung in Sinhala where there is a Sinhala majority and in Tamil where there is a Tamil majority.
"It can be sung alternatively in either Sinhala or Tamil, depending on the populace in the location where it is sung. However, when it comes to State and National functions it must be sung in Sinhala," Nanayakkara suggested.
It seemed that like many others who opposed the idea, Weerasekara too had failed to identify that it is only a Tamil translation of the same National Anthem that is allowed by the government, a practice that was there since 1952 till 10 December 2010, the year in which the use of National Anthem in Tamil was banned through a circular that followed a Cabinet decision.
Ananda Samarakoon
The original song Namo Namo Matha was written and composed by Ananda Samarakoon in 1940, and was then adopted as the national anthem in 22 November 1951 by a committee headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The anthem was translated into the Tamil language by M. Nallathamby.
The original song Namo Namo Matha was written and composed by Ananda Samarakoon in 1940, and was then adopted as the national anthem in 22 November 1951 by a committee headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The anthem was translated into the Tamil language by M. Nallathamby.
Initially it was written as a singing lesson for the students of Mahinda College, Galle, where Samarakoon had been teaching music. The song however became very popular throughout the 1940s and three years after Sri Lanka's independence, it was chosen to be the National Anthem. It was sung as the National Anthem for the first time on the Independence Day of 1952.
The first stanza of Namo Namo Matha, Apa Sri Lanka was changed in 1961 to the present form, Sri Lanka Matha, Apa Sri Lanka, apparently without Samarakoon's consent. The Second Republican Constitution of 1978 gave Sri Lanka Matha constitutional recognition.
There are National Anthems in other countries in the world that are sung in more than one language. For instance the National Anthem in Canada is sung in English, French and in Inuktitut, in Belgium in French, Dutch and German, Switzerland National Anthem in German, French, Italian and Romansh, South Africa in Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and in English and New Zealand in English and in Māori
(source internet)
First few lines of the National Anthem in Tamil go as;
Sri Lanka Thaaye - Nam Sri Lanka
Namo Namo Namo NamoThaaye
Nallelil Poli Seerani
Nalangal Yaavum Nirai Vaanmani Lanka
Nyaalam Puha Lava Lavayalnadhimalaimalar
Narunjolaikollanka
Namathurupuhalidamenao Lirvaai
Namathuthiyelthaaye
meaning:
Thou Mother Lanka, oh Mother Lanka we salute, salute, salute, salute Thee!
Plenteous in prosperity, Thou,
Beauteous in grace and love,
Laden with grain and luscious fruit,
And fragrant flowers of radiant hue,
Giver of life and all good things,
Our land of joy and victory,
Receive our grateful praise sublime, we worship, worship Thee.
Oh Mother Lanka! We salute, salute, salute, salute Thee!
Sri Lanka Thaaye - Nam Sri Lanka
Namo Namo Namo NamoThaaye
Nallelil Poli Seerani
Nalangal Yaavum Nirai Vaanmani Lanka
Nyaalam Puha Lava Lavayalnadhimalaimalar
Narunjolaikollanka
Namathurupuhalidamenao Lirvaai
Namathuthiyelthaaye
meaning:
Thou Mother Lanka, oh Mother Lanka we salute, salute, salute, salute Thee!
Plenteous in prosperity, Thou,
Beauteous in grace and love,
Laden with grain and luscious fruit,
And fragrant flowers of radiant hue,
Giver of life and all good things,
Our land of joy and victory,
Receive our grateful praise sublime, we worship, worship Thee.
Oh Mother Lanka! We salute, salute, salute, salute Thee!
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