Create Gotabhaya Regiment to Honour Defence Secretary
THE COLOMBO Buddhist Theosophical Society has requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to create a new Regiment called “Gotabhaya Regiment” in the Sri Lanka Army in honour of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for the great national service rendered by him in giving proper guidance to the Security Forces in annihilating LTTE terrorism which had been a scourge for well over 30 years. The society in a congratulatory message sent to the President for liberating this country from terrorism and re-uniting it under a single flag, said his mission got a tremendous boost due to the indefatigable services rendered by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who himself was a war veteran.
WITH THE objective of receiving an update, in relation to living conditions, facilities and pending re-settlement programmes of Settikulama-based Relief Village (Manik Farm) Internally Displaced Persons, a six member delegation of Supreme Court judges paid a visit to the area during the weekend. Supreme Court Judges, Ashoka de Silva, P.A Rathnayake, Jagath Balapatabendi, K. Sri Pavan, S.I Imam and Ms. Chandra Eakanayake on arrival at the entrance to the Relief Village were received by Major General G.A Chandrasiri, Competent Authority for IDPs in Northern Province who conducted them later to the field auditorium in the Relief Village complex. 
NEARLY after an absence of about thirty years, Mannar town and its environs received tranquility and bliss of Poson (June 7-9) commemoration when hundreds of Mannar civilians joined their hands together with Army soldiers and the Police to commemorate the arrival of Ven Mahinda Thero in Sri Lanka with the message of Buddhism. People of all walks of life including Tamil and Muslim civilians and businessmen, accompanied by their spouses, sons and daughters and family members thronged Mannar private bus stand in the heart of the town, as dusk fell in the past three days, to witness Poson lanterns, illuminations and other decorations, largely put up by Army soldiers serving the peninsula. Arrangements received the overwhelming support of the Police and the public.
FOREIGN MINISTER Rohitha Bogollagama in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV on June 4, 2009 said that our future spokesmen in terms of the reconciliation process would be Tamil civilians who were held captive by the LTTE and now cared for by the Government in welfare villages. Excerpts of the interview are given below. Presenter: First of all on the Navy seizing a ship laden with medicine, food and other supplies they claim its carrying provisions for the defeated rebels, the mission organisers say it is for Tamil civilians. Do you know anything about it? Minister: Obviously any ship coming into territorial waters of a country has to be cleared in terms of its requirement for clearance.
SRI LANKANS in Paris gathered in hundreds to felicitate war heroes and remember those who laid their lives for the motherland at a solemn ceremony held at the International Buddhist Centre at la Bourget in Paris on Sunday. In a rare show of unity and solidarity, many Sri Lankan associations and political party branch offices joined hands to praise the members of armed forcs and the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the successful military operation to eliminate terrorism and restoration of territorial integrity of the nation.
COLOMBO: CANADIAN Member of Parliament (MP), BOB RAY who relentlessly supported Tiger terrorists and their supporters in CANADA was to be deported shortly after he was not allowed into Sri Lanka across the COLOMBO International Airport last night (9). He was held by Immigration and Emigration authorities at the airport on charges of aiding and abetting terrorism while working against the interests of Sri Lanka. 
JAPANESE special envoy Yasushi Akashi who paid a visit to the Internally Displaced People’s welfare villages at Settikulam, Vavuniya yesterday (9), expressed his satisfaction at the welfare facilities provided to the IDPs. He commented that much progress had been made in the development of facilities to the IDPs in the welfare villages, District Secretary Vavuniya Charles told the Daily News yesterday. Yasushi Akashi , a former UN Under Secretary General on Humanitarian Affairs was appointed Special Representative to Peace Building, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction by the Japanese Government in 2002. 
THE GOVERNMENT has allocated Rs. 800 million for the development of Musali Divisional Secretariat Division on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and 90 percent of resettlement process in the division was completed by the Government, said Presidential Senior Advisor and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Northern Development Basil Rajapaksa. He was speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate the resettlement of over 2,120 people of 551 families in their original homes in the Musali DS division in Mannar yesterday (9) under the resettlement of displaced civilians phase II.
PRIME MINISTER Ratnasiri Wickramanayake yesterday presented a Bill to Parliament to appoint a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who shall be responsible for the coordination of activities between the Armed Forces and the Defence Ministry and for the establishment of the Committee of the CDS. The President will appoint the CDS from among the persons presently serving as the Army Commander, the Navy Commander or the Air Force Commander as the case may be, the Bill said.