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Build new structures to achieve full potential of SAARC - President

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Thursday, 29 April 2010 03:48

“Let us within our own grouping be bold enough to introspect. We must take measures to improve the existing mechanisms through review, rationalization and re-invigoration. If there is a need, we should not hesitate to build new structures and mechanisms, to enable SAARC to reach its full potential,” said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his address to 16th SAARC Summit at Thimphu, Bhutan today.

Having a common South Asian voice in issues of Climate Change, with those who historically contributed to climate change now sharing the burden of mitigating it; continued cooperation in the battle against terrorism; taking economic progress beyond statistics to reach the village level where most South Asians live, carrying out policies that strengthen the rural sector and prevent the unwelcome movement from village to city; and, the search for South Asia’s own home grown solutions to current and future problems were among the highlights of the President’s address.

Thursday, 22 April 2010 10:28

General Secretary of the People’s Alliance (PA), Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne was sworn in as the Prime Minster before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees a short while ago.

Mr. Jayaratne entered parliament from Gampola electorate following the General Election in 1970 from the United Front led by Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

Born in June 7, 1931 he is one of the earliest members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party when it was founded in Kandy in 1951. He was educated at Doluwa Maha Vidyalaya where he was later a teacher. He was later postmaster at Doluwa, Gampola from 1960-62.

He was defeated in the General Election of 1977 and later re-elected from the Kandy District. In the 1989 General Election, he obtained 54,290 votes; the highest polled by a candidate of the district from the SLFP and was a member of the opposition in the parliament.

He was a key member in organizing the People's Alliance and in the General Election of 1994, he was elected again with the highest number of votes from the Gampola electorate and appointed Minister of Land, Agriculture and Forestry in the cabinet of Prime Minister Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

Following the election in 2000 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Food and Corporative. With the General Election victory of the PA in 2004, he was appointed Minister of Post and Telecommunication and Upcountry Development and later in 2005 he was appointed Minister of Post and Telecommunication and Rural Economic Development under President Mahinda Rajapaksa. From 2007 to date he has been the Minister of Plantation Industries.

In 2001 he was elected Chairman of the Asia Pacific Region of Food and Agriculture Organization.

Mr. Jayaratne is the 20th Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

President greets Amitabh Bachchan

Wednesday, 21 April 2010 05:50

President Mahinda Rajapaksa met with leading Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan, Brand Ambassador of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) at Janadhipathi Mandiraya (President’s House) in Colombo this evening ( April 20).

Mr. Bachchan is in Colombo for the official launch if IIFA 2010, the largest annual event of Bollywood cinema which will be held in Colombo in June this year.

At the meeting which lasted 45 minutes, President Rajapaksa and Mr. Bachchan discussed aspects of the Indian and Sri Lankan film industries, with emphasis on developing good cinema of the whole sub-continent, combining the assets and talents of both India and Sri Lanka.

Mr. Bachchan was the guest of President and Madame Shiranthi Rajapaksa.

The Bollywood legend told the President that of all the welcomes he had received over the past 10 years with IIFA, the reception he had received in Sri Lanka was by far the very best. He was also very appreciative of the opportunities for film production available in Sri Lanka, in the current situation of peace and stability that prevails in the country.

President Rajapaksa said the Government was keen to develop the Sri Lanka film industry and saw many possibilities of partnership with India in this regard. Mr. Bachchan was impressed by the work already done in establishing the Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele-Cinema Park, at Tissamaharama, which is a brainchild of the President.

Mr. Bachchan and President Rajapaksa were agreed on the need and possibility of building bridges of understanding through the cinema, and the Indian star said he was struck by the integration of the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim cultures in the welcome dance forms that he saw, which showed the peoples’ desire to live in peace and harmony. He was also very positive on the prospects of tourism development in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan President and Mr. Bachchan also discussed cricket which both of them follow keenly, and Mr. Bachchan said he was struck by the very good performance of all Sri Lankan players in the current IPL series. President Rajapaksa said that part of this success was the encouragement given by to rural youth to participate in cricket and intentional sports by the Government.

Also present at the meeting were Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President, Mr. Gamini Senarath, Additional Secretary to the President, Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. George Michael, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Mr. W. B. Ganegala, Secretary Ministry of Media and Information, acclaimed film starts of Sri Lanka Malani Fonseka and Ravindra Randeniya and Ms. Jacqueline Fernandez, a former Miss Sri Lanka; and Mr. Joseph Sabbas and Ms. Shefani Munshi, of Wizcraft Enterprises International of India.

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