Political officer Mahendra Ratnaweera attached to the British High Commission in Sri Lanka and acting manager advocacy of the Sri Lanka Press Institute Namal Perera travelling by car, on their way home from work were stopped and attacked by unknown persons. The Sri Lanka Press Institute said a group of people carried out the assault. It is not clear who they were. The two men were both seriously injured in the attack and taken to Colombo hospital. The assault took place on the busy highway, in the vicinity of an army installation, the government Information Department and the security checkpoint.
Sri Lank'a inflation of 25 per cent during April is the highest rate of price rise in Asia, the Financial Times has reported quoting a study by the London-based HSBC Bank.
According to HSBC Bank’s Global Research report – “Sri Lanka Inflation: How High will it Go?†, Sri Lanka has the highest annual inflation in Asia with April figures touching 25 per cent while Vietnam at 21.4 per cent has the second highest inflation rate in the region during the month.
At least 43 South Indians, including a 79-year-old man and six women, are languishing in Lankan jails for more than 8 years, according to a Chennai-based human rights group.
"There are 40 Tamils and 3 Malayalis now imprisoned in Lanka. They are behind the bars for allegedly trying to smuggle narcotics into the island nation. In addition to these people, there are many fishermen who were held by Lankan Navy. They are languishing in various jails in Sri Lanka without any legal support. Some of them have spent 15 years in jails," alleged Mr G Subramanaian, co-ordinator of organisation for protection of Indians' rights abroad (OPIRA).
Canada’s banking watchdog today announced that they have added the World Tamil Movement (WTM) to its terrorist financing watch list, alerting all banks, credit unions and insurance companies operating in Canada to scour their client lists and immediately report any findings to authorities.
This move by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions came about two months after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) seeking court approval to seize the World Tamil Movement’s bank accounts. The WTM is considered the nation’s leading front group for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which the Canadian government deems a terrorist organization.
Jaffna Member of Parliament Mr.Selvarajah Kajendren, strongly condemned the areal bombings on civilians' areas in Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu district and called on the International community to take necessary steps to pressure the Sri Lankan Government to stop its indiscriminate areal bombing on highly populated Tamil areas.
