India and Sri Lanka will have the next round of discussions on the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) starting August 9th, the minister of development strategies and international trade, Malik Samarawickrama told parliament on Thursday. “The talks will begin on August 9 and will be completed only in December,” he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, rejecting allegations by the JVP leader that the agreement would be signed in August. “The final document will be tabled at least one month before the signing,” he added.
Six men, including three former Sri Lankan navy personnel have been indicted on the Thursday over the murder of the Tamil politician Nadaraja Raviraj in 2006. Mr Raviraj, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP at the time, was shot dead by gunmen on a motorbike in November 2006, in Colombo. Three men have absconded the proceedings, including two paramilitary men with Karuna's group.
The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council called for an inquiry into the violence between Sinhala and Tamil student at Jaffna University on Saturday, and said the “underlying causes” of the tensions must be resolved. “Such incidents should not be viewed from a purely criminal law standpoint,” said the Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran, in a statement co-signed with the leader of the opposition of the NPC S Thavarasa. “We must first try to find out the underlying causes that led to their violent behaviour... This would ensure that such incidents will not be repeated.” The unprecedented move to issue a joint statement was acknowledged by the two, who said “We have both come together to issue a joint statement to show the world that the Northern Provincial Council views such incidents beyond the mundane political differences that usually engulf us”.
Sri Lankan soldiers involved themselves in yet another Hindu temple festival in Jaffna this week, as the military continued to bear a heavy presence in civilian life in the Tamil North-East. At the chariot festival of the Sri Gnana Durga Amman temple in Thenmaradchi, in the Jaffna district on Wednesday, troops from the 52nd battalion of the Sri Lankan military were seen pulling the chariot.
The Government of Sri Lanka and the World Bank signed agreed a $55 million loan to Sri Lanka to improve urban services, preserve cultural and environment assets and improve liability in Jaffna said the World Bank in a press release yesterday. The credit will add development of rapidly urbanising Jaffna to the existing Strategic Cities Development Project (SCDP) added the statement . The World Bank Senior Urban Development Specialist and Task Team Leader of the project Zhiyu Jerry Chen, said, “Building trust among citizens and service providers is a challenge and an outcome we hope to achieve...
Norway, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday signed an agreement to extend the country's support to resettled families in North-East, including "improving access to justice". Trincomalee and Jaffna districts were highlighted as areas of need, with particular reference to Tellipalai and Sampoor. UNDP Sri Lanka, with support of the Government of Norway, will strengthen its work on improving access to justice and livelihood opportunities of the recently resettled communities in the district. "Under this partnership, UNDP Sri Lanka, through the support of the...
Charges have been filed against 13 Tamils in Switzerland who are accused of allegedly raising $15.2 million in funds for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during late 1990s until early 2000s. "They have been indicted with supporting or being members of a criminal organisation, fraud, false certification, and money laundering," the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was quoted by Reuters as saying on Wednesday. See more here .
The Jaffna Uni Student Union leader was released on bail on Wednesday after being detained by police following violent clashes between Tamil and Sinhala students at the university. D Sasintharan was produced before the courts on Wednesday morning and released with 2 lakhs surity. A trial date has been set at Jaffna Magistrate Court for August 25th.
The former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa said the government's Office of Missing Persons Bill was designed to "persecute" Sri Lanka's armed forces and said that MPs who vote for it would be responsible for betraying the country and armed forces. “In the midst of all the political and economic chaos in the country, the government has placed before parliament draft legislation to set up an OMP. This is one of several institutions to be established ‘to deal with the past’ in terms of the UNHRC resolution that the Yahapalana government co-sponsored with the Western powers in September last year,” he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying in a statement.
The European Union discussed the implementation of the UN Human Rights Council resolution with Sri Lanka this week at the 20th meeting of the EU - Sri Lanka Joint Commission, which took place on July 19th in Brussels. "The parties noted the progress made and indicated that further measures would be pursued and progress would continue for the implementation of the resolution," the EU said in a statement following the meeting. "Progress with regard to the release of land and the normalisation of the life in the North and East of the country, the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the release or prosecution of detainees held under the PTA, and the establishment of the transitional mechanisms for truth, reconciliation, justice and reparations were also discussed."