• Media should 'put country first' - Media Ministry

    May 04

    The Acting Media Minister and Acting Cabinet Spokesperson, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena instructed the media to "put the country first" on Friday.

    Citing the recent controversies at Dambulla and over milk, Abeywardena stated that those who had publicised these issues had wanted to bring such issues to an international arena in order to create problems for Sri Lanka.

  • Canadian Tamil found murdered in Vanni

    The body of Anthonypillai Mahendrarasa, 53-year-old Canadian citizen, was found at Kanchipuram Lane near Paranthan Junction in the Kilinochchi district of Vanni, Tamilnet reports.

    Mahendrarasa was reportedly visiting the area to reaffirm his ownership of land he owns in the Kumarapuram - currently occupied by the Sri Lankan military.

  • Former LTTE cadre commits suicide in military run camp

    Suganthy Sivalingam, a former senior LTTE cadre, committed suicide by self-immolation on Thursday night at a military run 'resettlement' camp in Vadamaraadchi, Tamilnet reports.

    She had been subjected to severe mental torture during her detention at the military's 'rehabilitation' camp.

  • 2 SLA soldiers dead after shots fired in Jaffna
    Two soldiers from the Sri Lankan Army were found dead after exchanging gunfire with each other in Jaffna, early on Friday.

    The two soldiers were attached to the 51 Division and were on duty at a sentry post situated on Stanley Road. A dispute arose and one of the soldiers shot the other before turning the gun on himself.
  • Chinese lanterns flood Sri Lankan markets for Vesak
    As the Buddhist festival of Vesak is observed on Saturday, Sri Lanka’s traditional lantern market, which usually flourishes during this period, has found itself under competition from a new rival; the Chinese.

    Cheaper, readymade and easier to store, demand for Chinese-made lanterns has taken off in Sri Lanka, leaving the domestic market in the lurch.
  • Sampanthan attempts to defend himself

    Commenting on recently taken photographs of waving the Sri Lankan flag with UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the TNA R. Sampanthan defended his actions to Charles Haviland, BBC correspondent for Sri Lanka.

    According to tweets posted by Haviland on Saturday, Sampanthan dismissed concerns regarding his actions stating that it was the national flag.

  • US official reviews demining efforts in North-East

    Walter D. Givhan, US State Department official on political-military affairs reviewed demining efforts in the North-East over the past week.

    Discussing the situation with local NGOs, Givhan reviewed the challenges faced and ongoing support needed.

  • Press in Sri Lanka remains ‘Not Free’ - Freedom House
    The annual press freedom report from US-based NGO Freedom House, has found that media freedom in Sri Lanka has fallen, with the country continuing to be classed as “Not Free”.

    Sri Lanka remains ranked just one place above Afghanistan in the Asia-Pacific rankings and behind states such as Iraq in the global rankings. Classified as “Not Free”, Sri Lanka joins countries such as China, Iran, North Korea and Somalia.
  • Sri Lanka slams both London’s leading mayoral candidates
    As voting gets underway to decide London’s next mayor in the UK on Thursday, Sri Lanka has come out to condemn both leading candidates in the election.
  • Rajapaksa pilots Sri Lanka's airlines

  • Sampanthan campaigns at May Day rally

  • Activists in New York demand 'Justice for Trinco 5'

    Over 700 activists attended Amnesty International's annual 'Get on the Bus for Human Rights' event in New York on Friday, calling for justice, accountability, and an end to human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Tibet.

    Activists called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the Trinco-5 killings of Ragihar Manoharan and his fellow four students in Trincomalee on 2nd January 2006.

    J.S. Tissainayagam, a former Sunday Times journalist imprisoned by the Sri Lankan government in 2008, spoke at this year's event, detailing the Sri Lankan government's failure to deliver justice and his own ordeal during detention.

  • Australia urged to address asylum seeker torture concerns
    Human Rights Watch and Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Australian government to raise the issue of asylum seekers being tortured, when Immigration Minister Chris Bowen visits the Sri Lanka later this week.

    With Australia “working closely” with Sri Lanka regarding asylum seekers fleeing the country, the Minister is set to visit Sri Lanka from May 2nd to 4th.
  • Sri Lanka indignant at UK after FCO report

    The UK has no right to accuse Sri Lanka of not doing enough to address accountability of the war, said Sri lanka's deputy external affairs minister Neomal Perera on Tuesday after the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office released a report on Monday concluding that significant progress was still needed.

  • Currency intervention threatened with Sri Lanka stumped
    The Secretary to the Treasury has told reporters that Sri Lanka may revert back to intervening in the country’s exchange rates, after the fast falling rupee hit record lows this week, leaving Sri Lankan officials perplexed.

    P. B. Jayasundera told reporters,
    "I honestly can't see any rationality behind the behaviour of either in the exchange rate or interest rate."

    "If the element of speculation goes beyond a tolerable level that is the time the market should intervene not by just simply releasing foreign exchange, (but) probably with the announcement of two rates. If that is what speculators are looking for, the government is quite competent in managing it."
    The rupee has fallen 12.3 percent since February, after the government gave in to IMF pressure and halted their policy of artificially propping up the rupee. Sri Lanka is estimated to have spent more than $2.6 billion to help support the value of the rupee, depleting its reserves by almost a third.

    See our earlier posts:

    Sri Lanka’s emerging economic crisis (18 Mar 2012)

    Prices rise as Mahinda Economics unwinds (16 Feb 2012)

    Mahinda Economics (21 Sep 2011)

    It hit a record 133.5 to the dollar last week, but has since recovered slightly to just over 130. However, Jayasundera was wary of the ruppe falling to the 125 to the dollar mark, stating,
    "There is no economic or fundamental reasons for the rupee to go beyond 125 a dollar. There is no reason why the rate goes beyond this because the policy actions are already in place."
    Meanwhile, Sri Lanka may delay plans to stop the supply of dollars to meet oil import bills, originally set for May. The plans would have forced the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to buy dollars from the market rather than the state-owned Central Bank, increasing pressure on the rupee.
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