newslanka.org

Neil Buhne, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka
arrived early Tuesday morning. Later in evening he met External
Affairs Minister G.L Peiris, according to External Affairs ministry sources. Robert O. Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asian Affairs, also arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday
evening .

Neil Buhne, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka
arrived early Tuesday morning. Later in evening he met External
Affairs Minister G.L Peiris, according to External Affairs ministry sources. Robert O. Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asian Affairs, also arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday
evening .

Jaffna Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high command has requested Sri Lanka Electricity Board Jaffna to supply electricity to the site where Tiger Heroes’ Resting Home had stood in Koappaay before being obliterated by SLA recently as it intends to construct a big permanent base for its 512 Division, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA, constructing [...]

Oorkaavattu’rai magistrate Tuesday ordered the body of the family consultant nurse Saravanai Tharsika allegedly killed by Sinhala doctor Thilagaratne in Veala’nai government hospital in the islets of Jaffna 10 July to be exhumed and sent to Colombo Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) for fresh medical examination as the victim’s mother had said that she suspects [...]

Sri Lanka’s Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that Sri Lanka government
has decided to set up a Media Development Authority to help media to
enhance its professionalism and efficiency further. The government is
to introduce media guidelines in accordance with media ethics to
promote professionalism and the skills of journalists in Sri Lanka, he added.

The United Nations Panel on Sri Lanka met for the first time in New York Monday at the UN’s North Lawn building, Inner City Press (ICP) reported. The meeting of Panel members Marzuki Darusman, a former Attorney General from Indonesia, Yasmin Sooka, Memver of South Africa’s Truth Commisssion, and Steven Ratner, Law professor at Michigan [...]

A gang of more than eight persons arriving on motorcycles Saturday night at the residence of the Jaffna Prison officer, Nanthakumar alleged of assaulting the Sinhala doctor suspect in Jaffna prison, attacked him and damaged his household goods and furniture, according to a complaint made to Maanippaay police by Nanthakumar. Many persons including high [...]

The mother of Sravanai Tharsika, the family consultant nurse allegedly killed by a Sinhala doctor in the islets of Jaffna, complained in Oorkaavattu’rai magistrate court Monday that unidentified persons on motor cycles had come to her house several times and threatened her and her family with death if they pursue in any way with the [...]

According to Rajapaksa regime’s Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms minister and Communist Party leader, Dew Gunasekera, the wives of the senior members of the LTTE, K.V. Balakumaran and Yogaratnam Yogi are among the widows needing rehabilitation, The Island reported Monday. Both the LTTE leaders were reportedly seen reaching internment camps run by the Sri Lankan military, [...]

The United Nation’s Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Neil Buhne, who was recalled by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon early this month, is heading back to Colombo, with a ‘special message’ from Ban to be delivered to the Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa led Government, the government owned Dinamina newspaper said in its front page. [...]

National Peace Council (NPC) in its media release 16 July titled ‘Discriminatory Practices are Detrimental to Reconciliation’ called on Sri Lanka government to ensure that there is no discriminatory targeting Tamils. “The re-commencement of the practices of registering Tamils with the police and of conducting search operations that target them have been widely reported in [...]

The fisheries societies in Vadamaraadchi protest against Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupying Jaffna peninsula for refusing to reopen and deepen the fishing jetties in Vadamaraadchi North and East, which had been closed by SLA during war. 11,200 families living in nearly fifteen villages in Vadamaraadchi North and East depend entirely on fishing and are affected [...]

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers intimidate the resettled civilians in Paduvaankarai area in Batticaloa district and take away their home produce without paying money, according to complaints made by the affected civilians to Sri Lanka government authorities. Despite complaints to government officials the SLA soldiers continue to rob the poor civilians of what they had [...]

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers intimidate the resettled civilians in Paduvaankarai area in Batticaloa district and take away their home produces without paying money, according to complaints made by the affected civilians to government authorities. Despite complaints to government officials the SLA soldiers continue to rob the poor civilians of what they had managed to [...]

While the United Nations charter guarantees “the sovereign equality of all its Members,” evolving legal doctrines dealing with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are leading to the theory that the national sovereignty is not absolute, but is qualified by peremptory norms determined by jus cogens or “compelling law.” Despite persistent opposition from Sri [...]

While the United Nations charter guarantees “the sovereign equality of all its Members,” evolving legal doctrines dealing with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are leading to the theory that the national sovereignty is not absolute, but is qualified by peremptory norms determined by Jus Cogens or “compelling law.” Despite persistent claims by Sri [...]

Thousands of Chinese convicts have been pressed into service in projects by state-run Chinese companies in Sri Lanka, a strategically important country for China, which is seeking a role in the Indian Ocean. Chinese convicts also have been taken to a microstate in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives, where the Chinese government is building 4,000 [...]

Two men abducted and assaulted two employees of the National Savings Bank in Ka’luvaagnchik-kudi in Batticaloa district Thursday evening who had complained to police of the robbery of three million rupees Thursday morning by armed men who had grabbed the bag from the person who had just withdrawn the cash, sources in Batticaloa said. Ka’luvaangchik-kudi [...]

Many of the uprooted families to be resettled in Periyapa’ndivirichchaan in Mannaar district brought and lodged in Periyapa’ndivirichchaan Mahaa Viththiyaalayam have not been supplied with any materials to clear their lands in which they are expected to resettle, sources in Mannaar said. Meanwhile, Periyapa’ndivirichchaan Mahaa Viththiyaalayam where the families are staying is to start functioning [...]

Sailors and marines from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbour, visiting Trincomalee last week were engaged in repairing broken bathroom sinks and toilets at the base hospital in Moothoor, said the official website of the United States Navy Thursday. Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan media reported Sunday that Sri Lanka shared her experience in [...]

Ms. Pathmini Sithamparanathan, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian of Jaffna district and her husband Sithamparanathan, lecturer at Jaffna University and two others were injured Saturday around 2:30 p.m when the van in which they were returning from Colombo to Jaffna collided with another vehicle on A9 road in Kodikaamam in Thenmaraadchi. The injured are [...]

Unidentified armed men on motorcycle opened fire Saturday around 7:30 a.m on a young woman riding bicycle and killed her, near Kodikaamam Tiger’s Heroes’ Resting Home in Thenmaraadchi, sources in Chaavakachcheari said.

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have installed a Buddha statute in Pa’ndivirichchaan, a traditional Tamil village two km from Madu St. Mary’s Church in Madu Assistant Government Agent division in Mannaar district. Residents uprooted during SLA offensive two year back have been recently resettled in Pa’ndivirichchaan.

A forty-year-old house maid employed in a flat in New Chetty Street in
Kotahena area in Colombo city was found dead. The owner of the
flat and her employer had told Kotahena Police that she had
committed suicide by hanging. However, the police arrested her employer
and detained the for further inquiry as they
suspect foul play, police sources said.

Chairman of Ceylinco Consolidated, Lalith Kotelawala, was confined to house yesterday for more than 12 hours after a group of angry Golden Key depositors surrounded his Bambalapitiya residence demanding him to immediately pay the depositors the lost deposits allegedly swindled in a massive scandal. More than 20 angry depositors stormed into Kotelawala’s residence [...]

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa led government has decided to extend an invitation to both the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) for discussions with regard to proposed constitutional reforms. The invitation follows a reported successful round of talks with the country’s main opposition, the United National Party (UNP).

Board of Directors of Vallai ‘Ceylon Spinning & Textile Mills Ltd.’ located in Uduppiddi in Vadamaraadchhi inaugurated the re-establishment project of the above concern by unveiling its name board defying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) orders to keep out of the site on claims that it is reserved as ‘Army Land’, Vadamaraadchi sources said. SLA [...]

Jaffna High Court magistrate Friday released the Sinhala doctor suspected of involvement in the killing of Saravanai Tharsika, a female Family Consultant Nurse, found dead hung by a rope in Veala’nai government hospital, sources in Jaffna said. The petition seeking the suspect’s release on bail submitted to Oorkaavattu’rai Court by police Thursday had been rejected [...]

A website titled ‘The Defense of Raj Rajaratnam,’ “provides factual information regarding the defense of Mr. Raj Rajaratnam, founder of New York-based hedge fund Galleon Group, with respect to U.S. vs. Raj Rajaratnam and Daniele Chiesi; and SEC vs. Galleon Management, LP, Raj Rajaratnam et al. Mr. Rajaratnam intends to establish his innocence at trial [...]

Arguing the reasons why Sri Lanka is making “fanciful” claims that “as many as half of all Tamil boatpeople have “links” to the Tigers,” Gordon Weiss, UN spokesperson in Sri Lanka during the war, says “Its [Sri Lanka's] government is dominated by racist ideologues who promote the notion of the Sinhalese as a “chosen people.” [...]

Sri Lanka Government has decided to hold the next out station Cabinet meeting in Ambilipitiya, the Lankadeepa newspaper said Friday. This follows this week’s Cabinet meeting held in Ki’linochchi, the former headquarters of the LTTE. The significance of holding cabinet meetings in cities across the country is to primarily showcase the fact that [...]

Sri Lanka Government has decided to hold the next out station Cabinet meeting in Ambilipitiya, the Lankadeepa newspaper said Friday. This follows this week’s Cabinet meeting held in Kilinochchi, the former headquarters of the LTTE. The significance of holding cabinet meetings in cities across the country is to primarily showcase the fact that [...]

“The verdict on Sri Lanka should come as a warning to other armies fighting on their own soil”, says Thursday’s editorial of Pakistan’s influential newspaper Dawn, commenting on UN’s efforts of war crimes investigation and Sri Lanka’s opposition to it. “The war was conducted by the army but had the full backing of the president [...]

Sri Lanka government has speeded up constructing several new Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and bases around Jaffna town. Hundreds of SLA soldiers are working day and night constructing a big base on the coastal area government land between Pa’n’nai and Kurunakar, sources in Jaffna said. A big SLA base is already under construction in [...]

Two unidentified men who arrived in a motor bike robbed three million rupees cash
from a person who came to deposit in a bank in Ka’luvaagnchik-kudi in
Batticaloa district Thursday morning. The robbers are alleged to have
grabbed the bag with the cash as the victim was about to enter the
bank branch, police said.

Intention of taking the Sinhala doctor suspect in the killing of Sarvanai Tharsika in Veala’nai government hospital out of Jaffna peninsula came to light when Oorkaavattu’rai police requested permission from Oorkaavattu’rai court to transfer the case to Anuradapura court Thursday claiming safety of the suspect, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Jaffna prison authorities and Oorkaavattu’rai [...]

Four upcountry Tamil women have committed suicide Wednesday and Thursday
according to reports from Bogawanthalawa. Three of them are residents
of Bogawanthalawa and one from Pusselawa, police said.

Sri Lankan Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Thursday said High Security Zones of the Sri Lankan military in strategic locations will remain although the war had ended and people have been claiming ownership of their land. The Sri Lankan minister said even super powers such as the USA were having High Security Zones. Colombo’s [...]

Tamil Nadu police arrested Wednesday Vaiko, the leader of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam, Pazha Nedumaran of Tamil Nationalist Movement, Viduthalai Rajendran of Periyar Dravidar Kazhakam and 160 activists including 23 females as they marched in protest towards the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai demanding the closure of it. Mr. Pazha Nedumaran, in a [...]

Though Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the brother and senior advisor to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had said several million
rupees of money have been allocated for the development of
Batticaloa district the funds have not reached the Batticaloa
district secretariat, according to district government officials.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has no authority to appoint an Expert
Panel to inquire into war crimes and human rights violations, said
Sajith Premadasa, Hambantota district parliamentarian of the main
opposition United National Party (UNP). The son of former president, aspiring to become the next leader of the UNP said the international community was exploiting the [...]

Resettled uprooted Tamil families in Maanthai west DS division in
Mannaar district have been experiencing acute shortage of drinking
water as the Sri Lankan government has stopped non-governmental organizations
earlier engaged in such humanitarian services. No NGOs or other
social service organizations are involved in supplying drinking water
to the resettled villagers, civil officials told media.

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials stopped Tuesday the initial efforts by Uduppiddi Welfare Society (UWS) and other public organizations to renovate Valvai weaving centre which had ceased to function for more than twenty years due to war, UWS representatives said. The organizations have decided to meet Friday to explore ways of overcoming the SLA obstruction, [...]

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said that Sri Lanka will march ahead towards prosperity with or without the much hyped Generalized System of Preferences (GSP +) concession. Cabraal was quoted in the state owned Dinamina Sinhala daily as saying, “for 30 years, Sri Lanka was plagued by a war, today this [...]

Following the visit of Malaysian corporate brokers, the Singapore Business Federation led by its Deputy Mission Leader V K Rajan and 14 members of the team visited their business counterparts in Colombo, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FCCISL) this week to discuss possibilities of joint ventures. The Singapore delegation was interested in manufacturing beer [...]

The recently resettled people in Vanni were forced to remain indoors Wednesday as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, Special Task Force (STF) commandos, Sri Lanka police and the President’s Special Security Force soldiers took control of A9 road and the main streets in the districts of Ki’linochchi and Mullaiththeevu as a part of security measures [...]

The Sinhala doctor arrested by police Tuesday suspected of involvement in the killing of Tharsika from Charava’nai, a family consultant nurse Saturday in Veala’nai government hospital in the islets of Jaffna, was produced in Oorkaavattu’rai magistrate court Wednesday. Magistrate Vasanthasenan directed the police to place him in Jaffna Remand prison until 21 July. The [...]

The Sinhalese doctor arrested by police Tuesday suspected of involvement in the killing of Saravanai Tharsika, a Family Consultant Nurse Saturday in Veala’nai government hospital in the islets of Jaffna, was produced in Oorkaavattu’rai magistrate court Wednesday. Magistrate Vasanthasenan directed the police to place him in Jaffna Remand Prison until 21 July. The police, [...]

“All should understand that the Sinhala people also have to bear the burden of foreign loans Sri Lanka has to borrow to develop the North which was destructed by Tigers,” Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed in a public meeting in Ki’linochchi Wednesday after having held the Cabinet Meeting in Ira’naimadu Sri Lanka Army (SLA) [...]

“All should understand that the Sinhalese people also have to bear the burden of foreign loans Sri Lanka has to borrow to develop the North which was destructed by Tigers,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a public meeting in Ki’linochchi Wednesday after having held the Cabinet Meeting in Ira’naimadu Sri Lanka Army (SLA) head quarters [...]

Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has begun the preliminary work on the construction of a big base in a 1200 acre land in Koa’ra’laippattu North Divisional Secretariat division in Batticaloa district denying the people of this area their livelihoods besides affecting them socially and economically, sources in Batticaloa said. The Minister of Economic Development who presided [...]

On the 15th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, Samantha Power, Director of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of the National Security Council in the Obama administration on her way to deliver message from President Obama in Srebrenica-Potocari memorial said, “as a factual matter, as a historical matter – it is very difficult to see lasting [...]

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupying Ki’lnochchi has stopped the supply of water to the paddy fields cultivated under Akka’rayan Ku’lam in Ki’linochchi district by resettled civilians claiming the water in the reservoir is reserved for its supply of drinking water, the resettled civilians said. The paddy cultivated by the resettled civilians face the risk of [...]

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has strengthened security in and around Ki’linochchi in Vanni as President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to hold his cabinet meeting in Ira’naimadu SLA Vanni Head Quarters Wednesday, sources in Ki’linochchi said. Traffic along A9 road has been cut down while hundreds of SLA soldiers and police personnel are posted at several [...]

A decomposed corpse of a male was recovered from Nadukkudaa in
Thalaimannaar coast Monday by the Thalaimannaar Police. The
corpse was later handed to the Mannaar general hospital for further
investigation.

257 members of 110 uprooted Tamil families have been staying in
Periyapa’ndivirichchaan Maha Viththiyaalayam buildings in Madu AGA division in Mannaar district since Saturday without food to elders and milk food to children. They were brought down from temporary shelters in Vavuniyaa and were left in the school building by civil authorities to find their own [...]

The arrest by a special team of Chennai police of Seeman, a popular film director and leader of Naam Thamizhar movement at Chepauk in Chennai Monday night along with thirteen of his supporters have drawn the attention of the media in Tamil Nadu including The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle and Expressbuzz.com. The gruesome way the [...]

The Government Agent (GA) for Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni, Imelda Sukumar, officially assumed duties as GA Jaffna district Tuesday in place of outgoing Jaffna GA, K. Ganesh. Interference into the appointment of Jaffna GA by interested influential politicians had been the cause for the haphazard decisions of the Secretary to Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) [...]

A Tamil doctor from Colombo was among the 74 people killed in the bomb attack in Uganda, claimed by al-Shabaab, a group with links to al-Qaeda. The victim, Ramrajh Krishna, a father of two girls, had returned to Uganda after visiting his family in Colombo.

Hundreds of family consultant nurses, public health officers, midwives and other health service employees picketed Jaffna Public Health Service (PHS) office from Tuesday early morning and agitated demanding immediate investigation into the killing of Tharsika, a family consultant nurse, found hung inside Veala’nai government hospital Saturday morning. The agitators further demanded the immediate arrest of [...]