News
PM says humanity triumphed with cricket 25 years ago
By Rex Clementine
Delivering a moving speech, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that along with cricket, humanity triumphed 25 years ago as the national cricket team became World Champions beating Australia by seven wickets in the final in Lahore.
At a function held at Temple Trees to felicitate the members of the World Cup winning squad, PM Rajapaksa drove home some pertinent points. “I remember just before the World Cup, we had to deal with an issue as Australia and West Indies refused to play in Colombo, claming security reasons. It is India and Pakistan that came to our aid, setting aside their differences . We could see South Asian Solidarity 25 years ago.”
“When stones were being thrown at our players during the semi-final in Calcutta against India, one of our young players, Upul Chandana, went up to the captain Arjuna Ranatunga and told him to remove Aravinda de Silva from the boundary rope. Instead, he volunteered to go to the boundary telling the captain that if a stone hit Aravinda he would be hurt and miss the final.”
“When we won the World Cup, our government was in power with Chandrika Kumaratunga as President. I remember, the first thing Arjuna did upon landing in Colombo was to visit the residence of former Minister Gamini Dissanayake, who had been killed by the LTTE. That is to say thank you for his services to cricket. These incidents show that through cricket humanity triumphed. That is a big message for all of us.”
Members of the South Asian Journalists Forum have gathered at the University of New Delhi for a two day conference themed ‘Peace and Co-operation’.
Journalists from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India are attending the conference hosted by the University of Delhi in collaboration with the India Chapter of SJF, and will deliberate on how the media can act as a catalyst for regional stability and mutual coexsistence.
A tree plantation campaign was also held at the Ghandi Bhawan premises of the University to mark the event and symbolize growing regional ties.
The Sri Lanka delegation is led by President of SJF’s Sri Lanka Chapter Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi.
The Governor of the of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, along with the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghvi, met with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on Thursdy [February 05] at the Parliamentary Complex to discuss the arrangements related to the exposition of the Devnimori Sacred Relics of Lord Buddha, which have been brought to Sri Lanka under the patronage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India.
These sacred relics of Lord Buddha were discovered during archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s at the historic Devnimori site in Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Until now, these relics had never been taken outside India. As a result of discussions held between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Sri Lanka, the people of Sri Lanka have been granted this rare opportunity to venerate these sacred relics.
The exposition of the relics is being held for a period of seven days, from February 05 to February 11, at the Gangaramaya Temple in Hunupitiya, Colombo. Discussions were held between both parties regarding the arrangements related to this event.
The discussion was attended by Samar Nanda, Joint Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Culture; Dr. Satyanjal Pandey, Acting High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka; Abhijit Halder, Director General of the International Buddhist Confederation; along with several others.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) GHARIAL made a port call in Colombo for operational turnarounds on 04 Feb 26. The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the visiting ship in compliance with naval traditions.
Commanded by Commander Gaurav Tewari, INS GHARIAL is a vessel with a length of 124.8 meters.
During this visit, ten (10) Bailey Bridges, brought by ship, through the coordination of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, will be handed over to the Disaster Management Center. These bridges will provide temporary transportation links while bridges damaged across the island by adverse weather conditions are repaired.
The crew’s itinerary features scheduled goodwill activities with the Sri Lanka Navy, alongside visits to several tourist attractions across the island.
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