News

”Entering on tourist visas to a former Tamil Tiger administered region RNW spoke to locals, on subjects as diverse as business, sport and the UN’s development role. During one such conversation in a restaurant they were spied on and reported to the police, who later that night arrived at the hotel for a midnight interrogation. […]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday voiced concern over the plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka and said United States was looking at some innovative and creative ideas to break the impasse over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.Hillary, who called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the secretariat in […]

By Ranmali Bandarage Monthly ‘visiting hours’ at the female ward of Sri Lanka’s notorious Welikada Prison are as traumatic for the inmates as they are for their family and friends. A tiny room, measuring 10 feet by seven feet, is divided in half by a mesh counter. On one side, mothers, fathers, children and relatives jostle […]

UNP to launch “public movement against alliance curse.”by Zacki JabbarRupees 2.3 billion has been squandered on importing sub standard petrol, but nearly two months later the government was yet to commence a proper investigation into the fiasco, the UNP said yesterday.General Secretary of the UNP Tissa Attanayake, addressing a news conference in Colombo, said that […]

By Lakmal SooriyagodaLack of transparency in the Executive has led to many problems in the country, said former chief justice Sarath N. Silva yesterday. Addressing a seminar entitled, “Is the Executive, a Challenge to the People’s Sovereignty?” in Colombo, the former chief justice alleged that there was no openness or transparency in the Executive. “Though […]

Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari who met a top delegation of the British Tamils Forum (BTF) last weekend in London, has said that the BJP was very serious on taking up the ‘Sri Lanka issue’ in the Indian Lok-Sabha. BTF leaders V Ravi Kumar and S. Pathmanathan, who led the BTF delegation to the […]

By Shamindra FerdinandoSri Lanka Police Inspectors’ Association is pushing for action against UPFA Galle District MP Nishantha Muthuhettigama for abusing the Officer-in-Charge of Akmeemana police recently.A spokesperson for the 8,000-member strong association told The Island that they expected Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa to take the SLFP politician to task. Asked whether the association intended to launch […]

By  Sandun A. Jayasekera in ChavakachcheriPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday that the government had no intention of taking advice from Europe or any other power to resolve the country’s problems.Addressing an election rally in Kilinochchci in support of the UPFA candidates contesting the local government elections in Jaffna, he said, “We do not intend to […]

19 July 2011 / By Lakmal SooriyagodaThe Colombo Fort Magistrate today ordered the Colombo Fraud Investigations Bureau to arrest and  present in Court ITN journalist Sudharman Radaliyagoda who is alleged to have provided  forged document to two scrap iron traders  to obtain 1828 tonnes of scrap iron from Sri Lanka Telecom. The Court earlier ordered […]

By Saman Gunadasa A lengthy editorial in the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka late last month highlighted the nervousness in the country’s political and business circles that President Mahinda Rajapakse is aligning the country too closely to China, with potentially damaging consequences.The occasion for the editorial was Rajapakse’s attendance for the first time at the […]

While Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has endeavored to work in the spirit of co-operation with the Sri Lanka Government, the Government has yet to address the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of all displaced Tamil families, continued to unlawfully repossess the land from Tamil people, and has failed to craft a political solution within the framework of […]

”The National Peace Council calls for the Tamil people to be provided with the right and opportunity to elect their representatives through a free and fair election. Any conclusions regarding the state of mind of the Tamil people and their attitude to the government can be judged only if a free and fair election is […]

(LeN)Two opposition party leaders made two announcements. These announcements were made by two of the greatest Heroes which this country has ever produced and of whom the country is proud of. One was by no less a person than the all time war Hero , former Army commander who won the war for the country […]

Senior Indian officials have claimed that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first ever trip to Chennai will be a strictly non-governmental visit with no discussion on Sri Lanka.But a senior official in the Barack Obama administration, who will accompany Clinton, has said that Sri Lanka would definitely figure in the discussions between the […]

”For the eight lanes of the New Delhi-Gurgaon expressway there are 32 toll gates (and lanes). And how many toll gates and lanes are there on the eight-lane Southern Expressway? No extra lanes. No toll gates. No toll plaza, except on the State Engineering Corporation website.”  By Rohan Samarajiva There is a reason for applying […]

Asia Report N°209 18 Jul 2011 Two years since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka is further from reconciliation than ever. Triumphalist in its successful “war on terror”, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to acknowledge, let alone address, the Tamil minority’s legitimate grievances against the state. […]

Colombo/Brussels, 18 July 2011: President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s authoritarian and Sinhalese nationalist post-war policies are undermining prospects for reconciling Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities, weakening democracy for all Sri Lankans and increasing the risk of a return to violent conflict. Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Harder than Ever, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, analyses how […]

According to sources within the Presidential Secretariat , the Executive President is once again making illegal preparations to embarrass the supreme court and override the independent judiciary.The present Attorney General (AG) Mohan Peiris who is reaching 60 years this August is to go on retirement . However , the President , it is learnt is […]

‘Interpol misused to punish opponents’Interpol supposed to chase criminals across borders is being used by some countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Russia and Venezuela to punish political dissenters and opponents, a new investigation done by a Washington-based journalists’ consortium finds. “What our investigation found is that Interpol’s Red Notice system is being abused by […]

By Piyasena DissanayakeUNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe called upon the government to tell people the reasons it had spent four times more money than architect’s estimate to construct Sooriyawewa Cricket Stadium in Hambantota.Addressing a party rally at Akurana on Saturday (16), Wickremesinghe said that architects had estimated the construction cost at Rs 1200 million […]

There are positive signs in the direction that the trade union action of the university teachers would come to an end soon. However, the fundamental issues raised by the University Teachers’ Association remain unresolved although the government responded positively to their demands on salaries and working conditions. The fundamentals are incorporated in the demand for […]

The Tamil National Alliance says it may pullout from contesting the upcoming local government elections in Jaffna if its members continue to face harassment and intimidation.TNA MP M.K Sivajilingham told News Now.lk that several TNA members had urged that the party withdraw from the polls but a final decision has not been taken. He said […]

Sunday, 17 July 2011Many candidates of the ruling party are engaged in election violence and violations but the Commissioner of Elections or the Police are unable to control them says the General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva.While his party contests the election without asking for preference votes or without any personal goals for its […]

By Indika Sri AravindaThe Human Rights Commission (HRC) is unable to inquire into 2,000 complaints received due to the lack of funds to operate the Commission, a member of the HRC Prof. Ananda Mendis said.The Presidential Secretariat has already been informed about the matter in writing.The financial crisis has resulted in delays in inquiring into […]

” The key challenge faced by democratic forces in Sri Lanka in the context of this reality is to reaffirm the democratic rights of the Tamil people by removing military rule and installing a civilian administration in those areas, while in the south, we need to debunk triumphalism by exposing the realities of the war.” […]

By Frederica Jansz In an unprecedented move China has given President Mahinda Rajapaksa 9 million USD (approx. one billion rupees) as a grant in March this year to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to use at his discretion. According to highly places sources at the External Resources Department of the Treasury these monies were part of a […]

”There are two underlying messages to Sri Lanka in the statement. One is India’s stance that in addressing Tamil grievances, the Sri Lanka government “must move towards a new system of institutional reforms, where the Tamil people will have a feeling that they are equal citizens of Sri Lanka, and they can lead and live […]

On Friday night, the Channel 4 video was screened in Capitol Visitors Centre, Congressional Auditorium in Washington DC, for members of the United States Congress. The Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International-USA, the International Crisis Group, and Open Society Foundations were responsible for organising this event. U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human […]

Government of Sri Lanka has expressed opposite opinions regarding the newest country, the South Sudan. Sinhala nationalist groups in Sri Lanka have been campaigning against the establishment of South Sudan as an independent country and have supported the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir  in recent times. Now in new turn of events Sri Lanka President has […]

 It is reported that former IGP Dr. Mahinda Balasooriya is visiting Jaffna to engage in government’s election campaign.According to our correspondent the former IGP is engaged in the election campaign using government vehicles to bring victory to the ruling party at the local government election to be held on the 23rd of this month.Despite being […]