Sri Lanka focuses on early childhood development

The Sri Lankan government paying special attention to early childhood development has declared the National Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Week to create awareness among public on the importance of the early years of a child's life.


Ministry of Child Development an Women's Affairs along with the UNICEF has launched the ECCD Week from December 14 - 21 with the 'importance of investing in early childhood' as the main theme.

In a special message to mark the event President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that his government is committed to give special attention to early childhood development through establishing a separate ministry for this work.

He has commended the Children's Secretariat of the Ministry of Child Development and Women's Affairs for declaring a National Week to create awareness among the young and old on Early Childhood Care and Development.

The UNICEF says the period of early childhood years starting from conception till the age of eight is when the crucial physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of a child takes place and essential support is required during this period to ensure that a child survives and thrives.

UNICEF Representative, Reza Hossaini has noted that the earliest years of a child's life has a great impact on his or her immediate well-being and future.

"Improving early childhood practices is of fundamental importance as we strive to ensure children become healthy, happy, and productive members of society," he has said. [...]

Sri Lanka's ex-rebel leader says Tamils yearning for peace, calls for diaspora to help

A former senior commander of Sri Lanka's vanquished terrorist outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) turned deputy minister said the LTTE could not be revived and the former LTTE cadres would never want to join a terrorist outfit again as they have suffered enough due to the war.

Giving evidence before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Monday (13) Deputy Minister of Resettlement Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan known as Karuna Amman while in LTTE said the Tamil diaspora backed by the Norwegians and international organizations funded the rebel group's arms purchases.

"The LTTE basically used foreign money to buy weapons. Through the TRO they earned a lot of money. Those countries knew clearly that the LTTE used the money for purchasing weapons," he said.

He told the Commission that some sections of the Tamil diaspora are not aware of the current situation in the country.

"Rather than shouting slogans, they can collect money and help IDPs in the country," he said.

"People in the Wanni were yearning for peace and would not want to have another war as they had gone through untold suffering," he said.

Muralitharan pointed out that the government has launched many developments projects including vocational training and rehabilitation in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the rehabilitated LTTE cadres are living in peace.

Economic and educational development along with equal rights to the people could bring harmony among all communities, he said.

Muralitharan [...]

Manmohan: aware of corporates' nervousness

Cabinet Secretary will look into issues related to phone tapping
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday acknowledged that the government was aware of the "nervousness" of India Inc on tapping of phones by the authorities and assured the corporate sector that the government would tighten the monitoring system and ensure that such procedures and mechanisms were not misused.

Dr. Singh said he had asked Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar to look into the issues related to phone tapping and report back to the Cabinet within the next one month.

"I am aware of the nervousness in some sections of the corporate sector arising out of the powers conferred upon governmental authorities to tap phones for protecting national security and preventing tax evasion and money laundering," he said.

Dr. Singh, who was delivering the inaugural address at the "India Corporate Week 2010," said: "While these powers are needed in the world that we live in, they have to be exercised with utmost care and under well-defined rules, procedures and mechanisms so that they are not misused. We must also look for solutions through technology to prevent access of telephone conversation to systems outside the institutional framework of government. Legal mechanisms already exist and they are in place. They need to be strengthened for more effective enforcement."

The government would provide "a level-playing field for private businesses, free from fear or favour." It was committed to " [...]

Dozens Killed in Bangladesh Fire

A fire at a garment factory north of Dhaka killed 24 people and injured dozens more on Monday, in the latest blow to the country's largest industry.

The fire at a 10-story factory in the Ashulia industrial area, about 16 miles from the capital, started on the ninth floor around lunch time when most of the workers were outside. Local reporters who had canvassed area hospitals said that at least 24 people were killed. Factory officials said they knew of about 20 deaths.

About 5,000 people worked in the building, producing pants for customers in the United States and Europe, said Delwar Hussain, a deputy managing director at the Ha-Meem Group, which owns the factory. Fire officials were still fighting the fire, which also spread to the top-most floor, into the evening as family members gathered at the compound to look for their relatives.

It was not immediately clear which specific Western retailers were supplied by the factory. Garment factories employ about 3 million Bangladeshis, most of them women, to make clothes for stores like Wal-Mart, H&M, and J.C. Penney.

The fire comes days after three people were killed in labor protests. Workers have said they were protesting because some factories had not implemented a government-mandated 80 percent increase in the minimum wage, to 3,000 taka or about $43. The government passed an increase minimum wage in August, the first hike since 2006.

It was unclear what caused the fire at the Ha-Meem fact [...]

Sri Lanka to arrest 50,000 Army deserters

Sri Lanka Ministry of Defense says that operations will be commenced soon to arrest 50,000 Army deserters.

The Ministry has decided to arrest all of them without providing amnesty to surrender and resign in future.

The Ministry has come to this stern decision since police investigations reveal that these deserters are linked to number of crimes in the country.

Sri Lanka police this week killed seven robbers who attacked and killed two police officers and injured several more when police charged the gang fleeing after looting a jewelry shop in Warakapola. Six of the seven robbers were identified as Army deserters.

Sri Lanka President presents medals to war heroes

President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Commander-in-Chief of Sri Lanka armed forces presented medals in a special ceremony at Temple Trees Tuesday morning to a representative group of one thousand war heroes of the tri services and police who contributed to the humanitarian operation in the North and East.
At the ceremony Tri service Commanders, the Inspector General of Police, 680 Army personnel, 170 members of the Navy and 85 members of the Air Force as well as 65 police personnel received medals for their service to the country. Prime Minister D.M Jayarathne, Secretary to President, Lalith Weerathunge, Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella, Rauf Hakeem, Secretary Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Senior Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, Senior Tri-Service and Police officers and their spouses attended the occasion.

[...]

Senior Sri Lankan minister accuses trade unions of not working in the best interest of the workers and public

A senior Sri Lankan minister has said that trade unions in the country were not keen to serve their membership or the people, but were trying to attain political objectives.


Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has told the media that some 100,000 health sector employees are involved in 104 trade unions and that only 54 of the trade unions are active.

Sirisena has added that a few health sector trade unions with a handful of members were trying to disrupt the healthcare system in state healthcare institutions.

According to the Minister, the government would not be in a position to provide a 100 percent successful health service to its people as long as the health sector employees have a negative mentality.