A book celebrating fifty years of Mr. Anton Marcus as a Trade Unionist will be held in Colombo next week.

Mr. Marcus is currently the Joint Secretary of the Free Trade Zones and Public Employees’ Union.

The book entitled ‘Humanist Without Borders’ alongside its Sinhala version, will be launched on June 17, at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo from 3.30pm.

The books are penned by political columnist and analyst – Kusal Perera.

Emeritus Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda and the former president and general secretary of New Zealand’s ‘First Union’, Mr. Robert Reed, will deliver guest lectures.
Speaking to ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ in this regard, Mr. Kusal Perera said:

“My effort in profiling Anton in this book that traverses the fifty years of his trade union life is in the context of Sri Lankan politics. It’s because he himself is a political creature. Therefore my reading said, despite all rights, decency, dignity enshrined in the Constitution, in International law and for all that Anton fought for, it was no easy task in a world of the filthy rich whatever honourable labels one would tag them with.”

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable who allegedly slapped newly-elected Mandi MP and actor Kangana Ranaut at the Chandigarh airport for “disrespecting farmers” has been arrested, sources said on Friday.

A police case was filed against the accused constable, Kulwinder Kaur, and she was also suspended after she allegedly slapped Ms Ranaut on Thursday. The actor was on the way to board a flight to Delhi when the incident happened.

The paramilitary security personnel said she was triggered by an old statement from Ms Ranaut.

She gave a statement… that farmers are sitting there for ₹ 100. Will she go and sit there? My mother was sitting there and protesting when she gave this statement…,” she said, referring to the farmers’ protest in 2020 against the three farm laws passed by the Centre.

During the height of a nationwide agitation, Ms Ranaut had remarked in a social media post that an elderly woman at a protest site was being paid ₹ 100 to sit there. After facing widespread backlash, the actor deleted the post.

In a video, recorded by onlookers at the airport, the Mandi MP can be seen escorted to the security checkpoint where the incident occurred. However, as she reaches the area, an argument breaks out and she is then escorted away. The video does not capture the alleged slap.

Hours after the incident, the actor took to X and shared a video message about what occurred at the airport.

“The incident happened at the security check-in. The woman guard waited for me to cross. She then came and hit me… started throwing expletives. I asked (her) why she hit me. She said, ‘I support farmers’. I am safe… but my concern is terrorism is rising in Punjab. How do we handle that?” she said in the video.

The actor faced online backlash in February 2021 after she responded to a post by singer Rihanna on the farmers’ protest. “Why aren’t we talking about this?”, the pop icon said while sharing a video of the farmers protesting.

Ms Ranaut hit out at the post by labelling the protestors as “terrorists”. “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers, they are terrorists who are trying to divide India, so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like the USA… Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies,” she said.

However, she later deleted that post.

The farmers’ protest that began in 2020/21 made headlines in India and across the world. Ms Ranaut made several posts slamming the protests and raising questions over the legitimacy of the agitation, often hitting out at the protesters.

During her campaign, her convoy was blocked by agitators in Chandigarh over her comments.

(NDTV)

The “Ravi – Cinema Half-Century Self-Reflection” ceremony was held yesterday (June 05) at the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall in Colombo to honour veteran actor Ravindra Randeniya for his five decades of service to Sri Lankan cinema.

Randeniya, who began his career with the 1974 film ‘Taranga,’ has appeared in over 100 films and received numerous awards, including the Swarna Sankha O.C.I.C. Best Actor award and the Darshan Suri Award. 

Two biographies of Randeniya, written by Gamini Weragoda and Uditha Devapriya, were launched during the event.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who presided over the event, praised Randeniya’s contributions to cinema and recalled their political collaboration.