Photograph: BBC Sinhala Sri Lanka’s justice minister met with Buddhist monks from the extremist Bodu Bala Sena organisations in Batticaloa on Wednesday.
A renewed amnesty by the Sri Lankan army has led to more than 3,000 deserting soldiers returning and obtaining legal discharge, reports the Ministry of Defence . The amnesty, which was declared on the 1st of December, has seen the reporting of 3 officers and 2983 soldiers of the army, 1 officer and 256 sailors of the navy and 7 officers and 113 airmen, in less than three weeks. The amnesty period will last until the end of this month. This is the second such time this year the Sri Lankan government has declared a general amnesty for military deserters. Previous amnesties have seen tens of...
Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that his government would not be removing any military camps from the North-East, as he lashed out at the media during a speech in Malaysia. Mr Sirisena told a group of Buddhist monks in Kuala Lumpur that “government is not trying to divide the country or remove army camps from the North,” according to The Island . "Websites and social media propagate baseless stories about our country, which mislead Sri Lankans living overseas who read them to keep themselves updated on developments in their motherland", he added. The Sri Lankan president...
Starting in 2017, January 8th to 14th will be recognized as National Integration and Reconciliation Week. The week will be implemented with “the view of improving peace, harmony and fraternity among people and to implement various programmes in all schools, media, public and private institutions demonstrating the importance of national integration, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers,” states the government website . The proposal was made by President Sirisena in his position as the Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation.
The Japanese government is to provide a naval craft and training to Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror reported. The announcement came as the Japanese vice minister of defence, Hiroyuki Miyazawa visited the island, attending the 'Japan-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Dialogue 2016' in Colombo. "Japan would extend its fullest support to boost defence cooperation between both countries and to strengthen maritime security of Sri Lanka," Mr Miyazawa reportedly added. Sri Lanka's state minister, Mr Wijewardene said the visit by the Japanese official would "further strengthen bilateral defence ties between...
The chief minister of the Northern province, C V Wigneswaran on Monday called on the government to implement pledges it had made to the Tamil people without delay. “The government should implement without delay the pledges made regarding the Tamil people while entering into pacts,” Mr Wigneswaran said at a press briefing held outside the Jaffna library. Highlighting former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's pledge to Ban Ki Moon that he would ensure the welfare of the Tamil people, Mr Wigneswaran said, "It is good to examine whether the present government has honoured these pledges." "Another pact...
Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Tuesday called on Indian Prime Minister Norendal Modi to send a “firm, clear and unambiguous message” to the Sri Lankan government following further arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy. "A firm, clear and unambiguous message should be sent out by the Centre to Lanka to ensure that this trend needs to be reversed and that the Centre is firmly committed to protect the livelihood of the poor and innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu engaged in fishing in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay," said Mr Panneerselvam.
The commander of Sri Lanka’s air force visited India this week, becoming the first official in his position to officiate over a commissioning parade of the Indian Air Force.
The Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF) 2017 is to be held from January 27th to the 29th, for the 8th consecutive year. Named “Gateway to the North,” the trade fair is widely attended by all stakeholders in the supply chain and procurement process, and will comprise of both local and international vendors. A 75-member special delegation from India will also be attending the event, with the Consulate General of India in Jaffna endorsing it. K Pooranachandran, the Co-Founder of JITF and the past President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yarlpanam, says that the fair is an...
Sri Lankan military personnel handed out poultry to disadvantaged families in Kilinochchi on Friday. The distribution programme which was run by Major General Sarath Weerawardena poultry to fifteen families. The ongoing involvement of the Sri Lankan military in economic development in the North-East has been heavily critised by the Tamil political figures and organisations across the North-East.