Hemantha Samarakoon, a senior offi-cer in the Sri Lanka AdministrativeService, assumed duties as the Secretaryof the Western Provincial Council onWednesday (15.02.2012) at the CouncilSecretariat of the Western Province, atthe Independence Square, Colombo 07.The former Council Secretary, LalithKannangara was appointed Secretary atthe Ministry of Productivity Promotion.Chairman of the Western ProvincialCouncil, Sunil Wijerathne, Secretary ofthe Provincial Ministry of Health, M. C.L. Rodrigo, who served as the acting sec-retary of the Council Secretariat of theWestern Province and the wife ofHemantha Samarakoon, Mrs. DeepaKolonnage were also present.

Home NewsThe Island Saturday 18th February, 2012 3SATURDAYFORTUNE

Date 11-02-2012 Bonus No 31

Draw No. 2300Winning No:

Z- 03-27-36-54Ranwarama - X 06-40-48-68

VASANASAMPATHA

Date:16-02-2012 Draw No. 908 Bonus No. 40

P- 16-27-37-47

SUPIRI VASANASAMPATHA

Date: 15-02-2012Draw No. 687Super No. 19

02 S-11- 34 - 47

JATHIKASAMPATHA

Draw No: 201Date 15-02-2012

Lucky No. 09Winning Nos:W-7 -8 -2 -5 -5

JAYODADate: 13-02-2012Draw No. 828Winning Nos:T- 10-24-42-54

GOVI SETHADate: 13-02-2012 Draw No. 846

W - 14-21-33-58

JANA JAYADate: 12-02-2012Draw No.305Super No. 0902-17-20-52

NIYATHA JAYADate: 14-02-2012

Draw No.25M- 38 - 45 - 49- 65

MAHAJANASAMPATHA

Date: 17- 02- 2012

Draw No. 2512Winning No: Q

6-2-4-6-1-3

DEVELOPMENT FORTUNE

Draw No: 1372Date 17-02-2012

Main DrawZodiac symbol - LeoWinning Nos:14 - 32- 52 - 55

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday returned from Singapore following a two-dy official visit. During the tour, President Rajapaksa met Singaporean DefenceMinister Dr. Eng Hen at the Shangrila Hotel.

The undergradu-ates of theAestheticsUniversity of SriLanka yesterdaylaunched a protestagainst the recentfuel hike and thekilling of a fisher-man in Chilaw,who was protest-ing against thefuel hike onWednesday.Picture shows theprotestors shout-ing slogans andcarrying placardsopposite the uni-versity.Pic bySujatha Jayaratne

Samarakoon new WPC Secy.

Train fares too are likely to beincreased because the RailwayDepartment is unable to absorb

Saturday’s massive fuel price increase,says the All Ceylon Railway Employees’General Union.

ACREGU Secretary SumathipalaManawadu said that the government, byincreasing fuel prices sharply, had bur-dened the public who were already suf-fering from the high cost of living.

“Increase in train fares will nowbecome a continuous process, rising asand when fuel prices are jacked up,” headded.

“When the fuel price is increased bythe government, there will be a rise in

cost of all other items, including thoseof food, automatically as the dealerswould have to spend more on transport.

“Burdening the masses for the pur-pose of continuing the large scale devel-opment projects commenced by the gov-ernment is not at all acceptable. If theGovernment could do away with theunnecessary expenses, the fuel priceneed not be increased.

“Trains daily carry nearly 5 millionpassengers and the Railway Departmentburns up nearly 3 million litres ofdiesel. With the fuel price hike, theRailway Department would have to bearan additional Rs.72 million per month,”he said.

In 2010 Railway had tolerated Rs. 3.173million in losses, he added.

Manawadu added that the govern-ment had increased fuel prices and bur-dened the people in order to cover itslosses gained due to unwanted expendi-ture and wrong economic policies.

The ACREGU demanded that the gov-ernment bear the additional cost ofexpenditure of the Railway Departmentdue to the fuel price hike.

Meanwhile Transport Ministrysources said that the Railways had noimmediate plans to increase fares. TheSLTB and Private Bus operators haveincreased bus fares by 20 percent effec-tive midnight Monday.

Train fares too willincrease – ACREGU

BY MAHEESHA MUDUGAMUWA

Final arguments in case againstDevananda on Feb. 21

The MadrasHigh Court onThursday postedfor February 21final argumentsand orders on awrit petition seek-ing a direction tothe Union and Stategovernments toarrest the SriLankan Ministerfor TraditionalIndustries and SmallEnterprises Development,Douglas Devananda, over amurder case pending beforea sessions court here, accord-ing to Feb. 17 datelinedHindu report.

In the public interest liti-gation petition filed throughcounsel, M. Radhakrishnan,the petitioner P. Pugalenthi,secretary of the Tamil NaduPeople’s Rights Forum, herealleged that the Minister wasinvolved in three criminalcases which were pendingbefore ChennaiCourts.

Pugalenthisubmitted that inJune 1994, theAdditionalSessions Judge,

issued a proclamationwarrant againstDevananda treatinghim as an abscondingaccused in the murdercase. The case, regis-tered by theChoolaimedu policehere, pertained to thekilling of one

Thirunavukkarasuin 1986.

Meanwhile, whenthe matter came up before aDivision Bench comprisingJustices K. Mohan Ram andG.M. Akbar Ali, AdditionalSolicitor-General of India M.Ravindran filed a communi-cation from the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (Legal andTreaties Division) that ifDouglas Devananda was onan official visit/mission rep-resenting his country, hemay be granted immunityfrom arrest/prosecution.

NEW DELHI, February 17:The political crisis that threat-ened The Maldives ended onThursday evening with Indiabrokering a peace deal.

The Maldives will now go tothe polls by year-end, a wholeyear ahead of schedule, to electa new President. Till then, anational unity governmentcomprising all political partieswill run the country. Oustedformer President MohamedNasheed’s MaldivianDemocratic Party (MDP) toowill join such a government.

These are the broad con-tours of the India-brokereddeal that has been accepted byall parties to the dispute.

This arrangement wasacceptable to new PresidentWaheed Hassan Manik andNasheed, who quit office onFebruary 7 in the wake of apolice mutiny.

Some of the smaller parties,whose leaders appear to wieldinfluence that is vastly dispro-portionate to their strength inthe Majlis (Parliament), did notinitially agree to early elec-tions. This delayed the depar-ture of Indian ForeignSecretary Ranjan Mathai, whospecially flew to Male onWednesday to talk to all partiesto help evolve a Maldivian solu-tion acceptable to all stakehold-ers.

He returned home in theearly hours of Friday afteramicably settling the issue.

Talking to reporters beforeleaving Male for home late onThursday evening, Mathai saidhe came to the Maldivian capi-tal as part of India’s continuedengagement to be of assistancein finding a way forward.

He called on PresidentWaheed Hassan Manik, andmet the leaders of all the mainpolitical parties, including the

MDP’s Nasheed, AbdullaYameen of the PPM, andThasmeen Ali of the DRP. Healso met the Chief Justice ofthe Supreme Court, and theSpeaker of the People’s Majlis.

“I reiterated our belief thatthere is need for a Maldivian-led process for reconciliationand resolving political differ-ences through constitutionalmeans,” Mathai said.

“There was a degree of con-vergence on how mattersshould be taken forward. Theparties also agreed to the needfor maintenance of constitu-tional order. The President hascome out with a roadmap foran inclusive political process,which provides a very goodbasis for the Parties to resolvetheir differences,” the topIndian diplomat added.

As a result of his discus-sions, the Maldivian leadersagreed to the following formu-lation: “In the interests ofnational reconciliation and toencourage harmony betweenour citizens, the Governmentof National Unity will hold dis-cussions with all relevant par-ties to conduct elections by anearly date. The Government ofNational Unity will worktowards the conditions thatwill permit such elections totake place including any neces-sary constitutional amend-ments.”

The MDP called off the rallyit was to hold in Male today.President Hassan sent a letterto MDP president Ibrahim Didirequesting him to inform,before February 20, the party’sdecision on joining the nation-al unity government. He urgedthe MDP to join the govern-ment that he was striving toform.

India brokers deal inMaldives: Fresh pollsby year-end

Douglas

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN Our Special Correspondent

BY RAVI LADDUWAHETTY

The price of Bread is currently underreview and is likely to be increasedby between Rs. 3 and Rs. 10 per loafif no subsidy is given by theGovernment.

“There has been no firm deci-sion to increase the price of breadand other bakery products at thisstage, but it is most likely thatthere will be an increase inthe event that the governmentfails to provide us with somesort of relief through a sub-sidy,” Vice President of the All CeylonBakery Association Bandula Perera toldThe Island last night.

He also said that the Association hadsought an appointment with Commerceand Consumer Affairs MinisterJohnston Fernando but the appointmenthad not been given by the Minister’s

office at the time this edition went intopress.

He said that the Association wouldnot be in favour of increasing breadprices and associated products,which he said, would further add tothe burdens of the people at thisstage. He added that such an

increase would be inevitable if thegovernment does not come up with

a proposal to subsidize the indus-try.

“We would be least interestedin burdening the people but on

the other hand, how could oneexpect us to continue in this mannerwith the cost of the baked loaf risingheavily? He queried. He added thatwheat flour, magarine and oil, all ofwhich were imported, were more costlywith the devaluation of the rupee.

Minister Johnston Fernando was notavailable for comment.

Bakers review prices,hope for subsidy

A memorial service for the life of Rev. (Dr.) D. G. S. Dhinakaran, on his fourth deathanniversary, will be held on Monday (20) at Christ Church, Galle Face at 5.00 p.m.

Memorial service