The Sri Lankan military has arrested around 4500 deserters from the army, air force and navy in 2017, the military spokesperson Brigadier Roshan Seneviratne said. "Eight officers and 4410 other rank personnel have been arrested till yesterday [27th July 2017] since the end of the General Amnesty on midnight 31st December 2016," he was quoted by Adaderana as saying. "Eight officers and 3529 other rank personnel of the army, 805 navy and 76 air force deserters have been taken into custody." The military had conducted a general amnesty last year, where over 8800 personnel presented themselves...
The Sri Lankan government released 77 Tamil Nadu fishermen on Saturday, PTI reported. The fishermen had been detained over the past few months by the Sri Lankan navy accused of crossing over into Sri Lankan waters. "They will be handed over to the Indian High Commission," Nishantha Dhanasinghe, the commissioner general of prisons was quoted by PTI as saying.
Sri Lanka signed on the US$1.1 billion Hambantota port city deal with the state owned China Merchant Port Holdings on Saturday following months of delays. The deal, which was initially embarked on by the Rajapaksa government, was met with protests from Buddhist monks and Sinhala voters who accused the current government of clandestinely selling the country to China.
The outgoing Canadian High Commissioner has paid a farewell call on the TNA leader as she prepares to leave her Sri Lanka posting. The High Commissioner, Shelley Whiting, paid a farewell call on R. Sampanthan “to discuss past reforms, ongoing needs and opportunities and reconciliation,” the Canadian High Commission said on Twitter.
The Nallur Kandasamy Kovil's annual Thiruvizha officially commenced on Friday with the inaugural flag-raising ceremony. The historic temple's festival will last 25 days and traditionally sees thousands flock to Jaffna from across the Tamil homeland as well as around the world.
Sri Lanka would like to see much more Chinese investment said Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake to Xinhua. Speaking to the Chinese news agency, Mr Karunanayake said Sri Lanka had strong ancient ties with china with the relationship being at its strongest level present. “We appreciate the investments that are coming in from China, but we would like to see much more,” he added. Mr Karunanayake said that Sri Lanka was happy to be one of the par of China’s trade and infrastructure network scheme that aims to connect Asia with Europe and Africa.
Sri Lanka will sign a $1.1 billion deal on Saturday to lease the southern Hambantota port to China on Saturday, reports the New York Times. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed that the deal would be signed this weekend, speaking at a press conference on Friday. “We will sign the Hambantota agreement tomorrow. We are giving the country a better deal without any implications on security,” said Mr Wickremesinghe. Mr Wickremesinghe’s confirmation comes amid several local protests and opposition from politicians arguing the move would be a threat to national security. According to Co-...
The Sri Lankan army is to receive Rs 148 million towards the construction of a new army complex in Mullaitivu as an incentive to release 100 acres of private land in Kepappilavu. The new complex is reportedly earmarked for 'state land'. "Once the money is allocated from our Ministry, the private lands will be released within six months. But the representatives of the Keppapilavu village stressed that the six months plan was too long and wanted the lands released much earlier," the minister for resettlement, Mr Swaminathan was quoted by Ceylon Today as saying. "We have conveyed that to the...
The wife of the former Sri Lankan president, Shiranthi Rajapaksa on Thursday evaded a summons by the Criminal Investigation Department over the murder of the rugby player Wasim Thajudeen. Her son, Yoshitha Rajapaksa has been summoned to appear before the CID tomorrow, Colombo Page reported. Ms Rajapaksa had been called to give evidence regarding a jeep from the Siriliya Saviya Foundation that had been handed over to her son, Yoshitha.
Sri Lanka's local election monitors, PAFFREL and CaFFE on Thursday expressed concern over the Cabinet's decision to postpone Provincial Council polls from the agreed date of October 2017. "If the government intended to conduct elections to all 9 provinces, the government must disclose the time frame it expects to hold polls to all provinces whether it would be after September to October of 2017 or after October 2018, after April 2019 or October 2019?" PAFFREL Executive Director, Rohana Hettiarachchi was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. "Suspicion was building up among the people that the...