by ShamindraFerdinando

Defence SecretaryGotabhaya Rajapaksasaid UPFA supportersshould not take theupcoming parliamentaryelection lightly, but go allout to win it with a two-thirds majority.

He urged UPFA sup-porters to canvass forvoters among their fami-ly, friends and relatives.Now that a 30-year warhad been won, the coun-try needed political sta-bility to ensure rapiddevelopment of the econ-omy, he added.

Addressing a series ofpublic rallies in the

Katana electorate onSaturday (March 20) insupport of Dr.SudarshiniFernandopulle, who is inthe fray in the GampahaDistrict at the April 8

poll, Defence SecretaryRajapaksa said that a sta-ble political environmentwould facilitate the swiftimplementation of theMahinda Chintanaya toachieve what a bloodywar had denied SriLanka for three decades.

“Our tourism industrysuffered badly. Thetourism sector in theMaldives flourished atthe expense of ours, butwe have become afavoured tourist destina-tion again,” he said.

He added that the warhad denied local fisher-men an opportunity tooperate in Sri Lanka’sown waters,

Vol. 29 No. 109 Monday 22nd March, 2010, 36 Pages Rs. 20 Registered in Sri Lanka as a Newspaper – Late City Edition

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The Island www.island.lk

The excesses of the current electoral system

12

19Ravi

The former Army Chief of Staffand one-time Security ForcesCommander in Jaffna told The Islandthat the resettlement programme

should never be apolitical issue, buta process aimed atthe restoration ofcivil administra-tion in the war-torn areas.

At last week’slaunch of the UNPgeneral electioncampaign inJaffna, UNP and

Opposition leader RanilWickremesinghe said a victory forhis party would pave the way for asystematic resettlement effort in theNorth. He also promised to do awaywith what he called unnecessaryhigh security zones in the North, par-ticularly in the Jaffna

Nadya Suleman, who gavebirth to octuplets last year andnow has 14 children under theage of eight, could be evictedfrom her California home.

The mother of octupletsborn through IVF last year

could be evicted from herCalifornia home over failure topay the mortgage.

Nadya Suleman, 34,caused worldwide controversywhen it was revealed that she

Octuplet mother faces eviction,unable to pay mortgage

Nadya Suleman and her octuplets

April 8 polls: Rapid developmentdepends on political stability - Gota

Ranil promises effective resettlement scheme

Rehab, resettlement projects on track, says government

Gotabhaya with Sudarshini at Katana

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Responding to a recent UNPpledge to launch an effec-tive resettlement scheme

in the North, Northern ProvinceGovernor Maj. Gen. (retd) G. A.Chandrasiri said yesterday (21)that the rehabilitation, recon-struction and resettlement pro-gramme launched by the govern-ment at the end of the war hadbeen successful.

He said that their efforts hadeven been appreciated by theTamil community and the inter-national community.

UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera, appearing inSwarnavahini's Mega Star, a popular reality televi-sion programme, on Saturday (March 20) sang theVictor Ratnayake hit, Pembara Madhu mage to thesatisfaction of judges except Rosy Senanayake,who appreciated her colleague’s singing, whilebeing critical of a sensual dance act on stage.

Jayasekera received applause from MinisterMervyn Silva, Shirley Wyjayantha and RajivSebastian, though Western Provincial CouncilOpposition leader and UNP candidate in ColomboRosy Senanayake faulted Jayasekera for not beinghimself.

Dayasiri’s dancing girls leave Rosy miffed

The JVP yes-terday set up itsmain politicaloffice atUddupiddy, VVT,in the Jaffna dis-trict.

A senior partyspokesman told The Islandthat JVP leader SomawansaAmarasinghe and NationalList MP RamalinghamChandrasekeran had beenpresent at the launch.According to him, they hadalso set up the DemocraticNational Alliance (DNA) officewith the participation of candi-dates contesting the April 8General Election on the DNAticket.

JVP eyes Tamilsupport in Jaffna

by Lalith Chaminda and S.K.Kaluarachchi

The police are looking for an army deserter,who has fled Pitigala, after throwing a handgrenade at a wedding reception, injuring threepersons on Saturday. The victims are receivingtreatment at the Karapitiya hospital.

The police identified the suspect as a broth-er of the bride. He had left the reception follow-ing a heated argument and returned with agrenade, which he lobbed at a group of persons,the Pitigala police said.

Malli’s ‘lethal gift’inujres three atAkka’s wedding

Dayasiri flanked by Mega Star competitors

By S. Venkat NarayanOur Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI,March 21: The man-agement of the DelhiDaredevils hasrushed its injuredCaptain GautamGambhir and keypaceman AshishNehra to Sri Lanka ina chartered plane forayurvedic treatment.

The suggestionthat they be sent toColombo came fromthe team’s Sri Lankanplayer TillakaratneDilshan.

Close on the heels ofthe tragic death of theKalutara boy, comesanother heart rendingreport of a two-day oldboy drowned in theSalwathura River inAmbalangoda onSaturday. His mother (47),who had just returnedfrom West Asia, hadthrown him into the river.

Amother,whothrewher twoand halfyear-oldson intothe Kalu

Ganga on March 11, wasremanded till March 26(Friday) by the KalutaraAdditional MagistrateNamal Perera on March14.

Two-day oldbaby throwninto river

Kalutara babydies: Motherremanded

Somawansa

Indian cricketers, rushed to Lanka for Ayurvedic treatment

Gambhir

Nehra

Even my blood is green, former beauty queen tells Mervyn

‘Govt. needs two-thirds to step up devel-opment’

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Chandrasir