Sri Lanka and India today reviewed the defence cooperation between the two nations in their annual Indo-Sri Lanka Defence Dialogue, reports Colombo Page. An Indian defence delegation, led by India’s Defence Secretary Mohan G Kumar participated in the talks which took place in Colombo. The Annual dialogue has been reviewing and expanding areas of interest between the two nations defence establishments since 2012.
Tamil Guardian interviewed the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council C V Wigneswaran in London last week.
The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday pledged compensation for the families of two Tamil students at the University of Jaffna who were shot dead by the police last month. The decision came following a meeting with the president, prime minister and minister of resettlement, the Colombo Page reported. The president also ordered that the post mortem report of the deaths be brought forward.
Locals in Batticaloa found human skeletal remains within an area of land that was previously used by the Sri Lankan military as a base. The remains were found while locals were digging for sanitation in a house opposite the Mariamman temple in Murakkoddaanchenai. Locals believe that the area may reveal further remains as many Tamils went missing after being taken to the former military base during the 1990s. The police have been informed of the incident.
The Northern Provincial Council on Tuesday launched a tree planting initiative to span across the month of November in memory of all those who died in for the Tamil homeland. The opening event was attended by the chief minister C V Wigneswaran, the NPC ministers, P Ayngaranesan and Kurukularaja, and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP S Sritharan.
A photograph of the Sri Lankan president and members of the military were hung on walls of newly built houses that were formally handed over to displaced Tamils on Monday. The smiling face of Maithripala Sirisena, who was in the North-East to officially hand over the houses at a ceremony, is placed above a photograph of military commanders with the words, "men in green are friends indeed."
The leader of the European Parliament delegation to Sri Lanka urged Sri Lanka to improve its human rights conditions, including the replacement of its anti-terror laws to regain the EU Generalised System of Preferences Plus trade concessions. Speaking in Colombo after meeting government officials and representatives of civil society, Ms Jean Lambert said discussions had taken place on whether or not Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism laws met international standards. Ms Jean added that a decision would be finalised in May 2017, reports Reuters. "On GSP+, MEPs stressed that the decision on Sri Lanka's...
Villagers in Batticaloa have found human skeletal remains in lands that were formerly occupied by a Sri Lankan army base. Sources in the village said that skeletal remains were found on the land whilst they were digging to build a toilet on Saturday. Villagers fear that the site could be a mass grave site, which was then built on by the Army as part fo the resettlement programme for displaced people. Local police have cordoned of the site for further forensic examination. See video of the grave site here .
The office of the Tamil newspaper, Virakesari in Jaffna was attacked this morning, with bottles were thrown at the premises by unidentified persons. No one was injured during the attack. The attack comes as the situation in the North-East remained tense following the killing of two Tamil university students by Sri Lankan police on October 20.
Sri Lanka's Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Saturday prohibited a Tamil website for alleged 'incitement', the Sunday Times reports. The decision was made based on a complaint by the media and justice ministry, the TRC director reportedly told the paper. "The complaint was that the website was carrying false propaganda about judicial decisions given in the north, criticising judges and lawyers and posting news inciting the public in the north," the director was quoted as saying. "The particular website was using Sri Lanka Telecom as the service provider and the site had been blocked...