Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran responded to a question raised by a journalist on his view on the controversial actions of the Northern Province Education Minister who refused to raise the national flag at an event earlier this month.
The Northern Province Chief Minister stated that even though the National flag of a country cannot be disrespected, every citizen is entitled to their own individual opinion.
State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe today while calling to appoint Presidential Commissions to inquire into ship deals, Mig deals, spectrum deals and advertising firms, said that he is badly disappointed about the President.
He further said that he called Arjun Aloysius only to write the book about the Bond issue and challenged the CID to prove that he called to commit a fraud.
Tamil Nadu Mechanised Boats Fishermen Association president P. Sesuraja also alleged that the Sri Lankan Navy personnel snapped nets of 75 boats. November 21 is World Fisheries Day.
More than 1,700 Indian fishermen were allegedly chased away on November 21 by the Sri Lankan Navy which also “snapped” fishing nets of 75 boats off Katchatheevu islet.
Last September, a young man was brutally murdered in Dambulla. He was found dead near the city’s central bus stand, with the weapons used for the act found in the vicinity. Mainstream media headlines screamed—not against the act itself, but about his identity. From transgender, to transvestite and cross-dresser, the headlines focused more on his gender, with the rest of the text highlighting how he would ‘loiter’ around town late at night.
The victim was a 34 year old who used to work on educating his community about STDs. This incident, however, highlights more than the insensitivity and sensationalist-discriminatory tactics adopted by the media; it also brings to focus the community
Why is there so little interest about a political solution among the people throughout the country? How is it that the reactionary forces in the South and the North have taken the upper hand in the public domain and gaining ground in rejecting the constitutional
reform process?
The problem I would argue is the lack of political vision of both the Government leadership and the TNA leadership. Three valuable years after regime change have been wasted without engaging and mobilising the people towards a political solution. Furthermore, the constitutional reform process was delinked from the everyday concerns of the people and their social and economic aspirations.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today stated that mistakes can happen, but the government will continue forward with good governance as it has nothing to hide.
The Premier was speaking to reporters outside the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, probing the Central Bank treasury bond scam, after appearing before the commission this morning following a request made to testify.
Wickremesinghe stated that for the first time a Prime Minister appeared before a commission to make a statement.
Sri Lanka’s new Foreign Exchange Act No 12 of 2017 has come into effect from today.
New Act covers matters including classes of capital transactions, opening and maintenance of accounts, permitted investments and granting of loans and advances.
It also has provisions about capital transactions undertaken outside Sri Lanka by persons resident in Sri Lanka and capital transactions undertaken in Sri Lanka by persons resident outside Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is due to leave on an official visit to India tomorrow, the Prime Minister’s office said.
He will have a bilateral meeting with the Indian Premier Narendra Modi in New Delhi and will also call on the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind during his stay in New Delhi.
Wickremesinghe will be taking part at the opening ceremony of the 5th Global Conference on
Governor Bogollagama, Member of Parliament Moulana, teachers, staff and students, good afternoon and as-salamu alaykum. I’m delighted to be here today to formally open this beautiful addition to the Bathuriya Vidyalaya school, and most importantly, to meet with some of the engaging young people who are studying here. And let me thank the students who performed for us for their songs about unity and coexistence.
The future of Sri Lanka is its youth, and that future depends on access to a quality education in a safe and nurturing environment. Originally built in 1976, this all-girls school was selected by the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) for upgrades based on recommendations
Most Venerable Anunayake of the Asgiriya Chapter Wendaruwe Sri Upali Thera said, at a religious event, at the Sri Dalada Maligawa, attended by the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had not been defeated. Instead, he had been allowed to relax and take over the reins of government in the future, the prelate said.
The Thera said the people now felt the need for Rajapaksa as the leader more than ever before.
State Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dilip Wedaarachchi says making the blue economy a reality, the fisheries industry would be made the third largest foreign exchange earner in the country by the year 2020.
The Minister pledged to make the aquaculture industry in the fisheries sector to earn the third largest foreign exchange while creating 100,000 employment opportunities by 2020.
He said that the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development has a clear vision and a program.
Hatton National Bank Plc entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with International Executive Service Corps (IESC), which will implement the US Agency for International Development’s (US AID) funded youth entrepreneurship and advancement programme called ‘YouLead’.
The four-year project aims to transform youth employability in Sri Lanka and work closely with private sector partners to vastly improve technical and vocational education and training.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted the outcome of the third Universal Periodic Review on Sri Lanka at the 28th session of the Universal Periodic Review.
At the session the President of the Human Rights Council Joaquín Alexander Martelli proposed to the working group to adopt the recommendation section of the draft report and the UPR of Sri Lanka was adopted.
If Mahinda Rajapaksa was opposed to the creation of a new Constitution, he should have expressed his opposition at the time it was suggested without trying to stir communal tensions now by interpreting it as an effort to divide the country, Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan said in Parliament yesterday.
Joining the debate on the Second Reading on the budget proposals for the fiscal year 2018, Sampanthan appealed to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to cooperate in ensuring reconciliation in the country.
The government says steps will be taken to bring back Sri Lankans being held in refugee camps in Australia after attempting to illegally enter Australia by boat.
Speaking in Parliament Minister of Foreign Affairs Tilak Marapana said the process has been delayed due to issues surrounding establishing citizenship.
The Minister was responding to a question raised by United National Party Parliamentarian Buddhika Pathirana.
The Sri Lankan government does not condone any form of torture, Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam told the third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sri Lanka in Geneva on Wednesday.
Responding to questions and concerns raised by other nations, Mr. Kariyawasam said Sri Lanka seeks to work with all including bilateral partners as well as international organisations, to seek assistance in terms of sharing experience and expertise as well as technical support to ensure the elimination of torture and to prosecute anyone responsible.
Sri Lankan police arrested 19 people after a clash between "extremists" from the majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities in which four people were injured, a spokesman said on Saturday.
Tension has been growing between the two communities this year, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and vandalising Buddhist archaeological sites.
Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D. M. Swaminathan has, in a letter to TNA and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, said Mullaitivu land issues raised by the former have already been addressed.
A spokesperson for the ministry yesterday told The Island that Minister Swaminathan was in touch with relevant administrative, military and civilian representatives. The ministry made available a copy of Minister Swaminathan’s letter to Opposition Leader Sampanthan. It read:
First programme called the ‘Small Scale Industries (SSI) Credit Scheme’ was implemented almost 40 years ago
In the absence of a “National Education Policy”, these ‘on the run changes’ allow discrimination of rural youth
Proposal to establish three new medical faculties in three State universities is another big fake
Much has been said and more talked about Mangala’s maiden budget, the 72nd budget in Independent Ceylon and now Sri Lanka. Yet there’s enough left that can be said and should be said about his budget for year 2018.
Ambassador of Norway to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther and Country Director of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka, Jørn Sørensen signed an Agreement to extend Government of Norway’s support to the resettlement of the communities in the newly released Myliddy harbour area in Jaffna District.
UNDP will work with the Government authorities to gradually Restore Myliddy Pier as a strategic Fishing Hub with immediate intervention to clear the Boat Access Ways. The support is amounting to Rs. 150 million.
A corruption case filed against former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and seven others for allegedly causing a Rs.11.4 billion unlawful loss to the government by giving permission to Avant-Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to operate a floating armoury was fixed for trial by the Colombo Chief Magistrate's court, today.
Chief Magistrate Lal Ranasinghe Bandara fixed the case for trial on February 26 and March 26.
Revelations pertaining to acts of corruption at various levels including by politicians, professionals and technocrats in publicly funded mega infrastructure development projects such as those pertaining to the Uma Oya, Central Expressway and Colombo Harbour are to be made soon.
Speaking about his book titled 'Construction Corruption; a Threshold of Human Misery' which is to be launched as an electronic book on 21 November at the Janakala Conference Hall of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka at 5:00 p.m., Dr. Chandana Jayalath said
The Second Round of Senior Officials’ Talks between the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade concluded in Canberra.
The Senior Officials’ Talks is a structured platform to review the bilateral relations between the two countries and to discuss regional and international issues of common interest and concern.
The Propaganda Secretary of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) Ganesh Velayutham recently said that a favourable solution can be expected on 29 November, with regard to the issue of three PTA detainees, Darshan, Sulakshan, and Thiruvarul, who have been on a hunger strike, at the Anuradhapura Prison, for the past 40 days.
Velayutham stated that the PTA detainees had submitted a writ application to the Court of Appeal urging it to intervene and not allow the cases to be heard at the Anuradhapura Court.
The Jaffna High Court has asked Army chief Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake along with two other state officials to appear in court on Saturday, over the disappearance of 24 Tamils since their arrest in 1996 by security forces during the internal conflict with the LTTE.
Judge Ilancheliyan ordered them to appear in court when a case filed by parents and relatives of the 24 missing persons was taken up on November 15.
