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| Sunday, 16 February 2003 |
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Firearms not returned by MPs More than one thousand small firearms which were issued to members of parliament by the police between the years 2000-2003, have not been returned. Police sources said that CID had issued these weapons to the MPs for their personal security. The MPs were asked to return the weapons but they do not seem to respond positively, the police said. The police up to now were able to collect only 50 per cent of the weapons. To retrieve the weapons from the MPs has become a difficult task for the police, reportedly, because they do not seriously consider its importance, police said. - CW *************** Lunstead - new envoy to Sri Lanka, Maldives Colombo, February 9, 2003 - President George W. Bush intends to nominate Jeffrey Lunstead to be Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This was announced recently by the White House. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Dr. Lunstead is currently Director of the Office of Environmental Policy at the Department of State. Prior to this, he served as the Afghanistan Co-ordinator in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs and as the Director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs. Dr. Lunstead is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and earned his Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania. *************** National flag to greet ceasefire anniversary More than 100,000 national flags will be flown in houses, vehicles, shops, and both private and public institutions on February 22, to mark the first anniversary of the ceasefire agreement between the government and LTTE. This is part of an array of programs organised by the People's Peace Front (PPF) to celebrate the anniversary. PPF Co-Secretary Milton Perera said that they have also arranged to distribute 20,000 hand bills on the agreement and the current situation in the North and East, near Fort Railway Station on Saturday. Banners will be put up in all the towns and cities in the country and a few radio programmes will also go on the air to educate the public. PPF also said that 150 volunteer organisations working with the PPF will join them. *************** PM chief guest at CWC convention The 33rd annual convention of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), led by Minister of Housing and Plantation Infrastructure, Arumugan Thondaman, is on, in Kandy. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will take part as the chief guest on the final day session today at the Kandy Bogambara Ground. Opposition MP Anura Bandaranaike and JVP Publicity Secretary Wimal Weerawansa MP will also attend the final day session as distinguished guests. PK *************** Nature's beauty on canvas "Upali 2003" an exhibition of paintings by Upali Ubayasekara will open at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery tomorrow 5.30 p.m. and will continue until the 19th. The exhibition will include oil and watercolour paintings of landscape, nature and wildlife. Upali Ubayasekera is a Director of Commerce at the Department of Commerce. He has served as a Trade Representative in Bangladesh, Singapore. Germany and Sweden. He took to painting in 1981 while away from home and soon discovered a talent for painting landscapes and other natural forms of beauty. His debut exhibition "Upali 94" was held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1994, while he was Acting Ambassador and Trade Secretary at the Sri Lankan Embassy is Sweden. Born in the village of Mudunkotuwa in Ratnapura Upali Ubayasekara studied at Sivali Central College, Ratnapura and later obtained an Honours Degree in Economics from the then Vidyodaya University. He had written several books in Sinhala including the first book on export marketing and also translated several international popular children's books into Sinhala. The launch of two children's books translated by Ubayasekara, Jostan Gaarder's Hello, is anybody there and Roald Dhal's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" will also take place at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, where Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake will be the Chief Guest. |
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