Photographs Amnesty society UCLU

To a packed room of London university students, panellists Thusiyan Nandakumar of the Tamil Youth Organisation UK (TYOUK), Fred Carver of Sri Lanka Campaign, Madurika Rasaratnam of Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) and Alan Keenan of the International Crisis Group (ICG) discussed the question - 'Sri Lanka: Genocide?'.

The event held on 13th November was chaired by Professor Neil Mitchell (International Relations, UCL) and hosted by the Amnesty International society at University of College London University (UCLU).

Criticising the conduct of the Sri Lankan state over the past three years, Alan Keenan of the ICG described the government's killing of civilians as "not accidental". The "machine" the Sri Lankan government used to fight the LTTE said Keenan, "what we might call state terror" has been "actively chugging along since the end of the war." He continued, "the hope was that with the end of the war, the apparatus to destroy dissent would be put away or could be slowly cranked down. Unfortunately it hasn't."

Following on from Keenan, Madurika Rasaratnam of TAG argued that the current issues highlighted were "not a departure from the norm, but rather a development of Sinhala Buddhist state formation".

She continued,

"The idea of genocide is useful to understand the past, the present and the future of Sri Lanka. The label of genocide captures the process that has occurred in the post-independence Sri Lanka. If you look at post-2009 and the policies that were in place in the 60s and 70s there is absolute continuity."

The Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev has told visiting Mahinda Rajapakse that Kazakhstan would stand by Sri Lanka against all international pressure.

"We enjoy good relations of confidence and mutual understanding. I am confident this meeting will give a new impetus to cooperation between our states in various spheres- economy, politics, and culture," President Nazarbayev said.

Sri Lanka's Consumer Affairs Authority has filed cases at the High Court against two of the island's flour companies, Prima Group and Serendib Co., for increasing the wheat flour price without approval from themselves.

 

The increase in flour prices, led to bakers increasing the price of bread to Rs 2.

The Sri Lankan government has declared that the ban on trading imported cars by public servants has now been lifted, allowing government officials to sell vehicles that they have imported.

The lifting of restrictions, announced under the 2013 budget, was announced by the Ministry of Finance, allowing public servants to trade their vehicles any time after importation, a practise that had reportedly been occurring underhand previously.

A local politician, who is accused of murdering British tourist Kuram Shaikh Zaheer, has been released on bail, the Daily Mirror reported today.

The Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman of Tangalle, Sampath Vidanapathirana, was released by a court on Monday, along with seven other suspects.

Sri Lanka's first satellite will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Chinda on 22nd November, reports ColomboPage.

The announcement was made by none other, than the little less well known - Rohitha Rajapaksa - President Mahinda Rajapaksa's youngest son on Saturday.

Sri Lanka’s post-war boom may not be living up to economic expectations, reports Reuters; the island has failed to attract adequate foreign investment and home-grown businesses also not investing, with critics put down to the Rajapakse ‘dynasty’ keeping a tight grip on all economic and industrial institutions.

See here Reuter's full report.

Some extracts:

“The government reported $1 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, a record, but even officials accept that is not enough. More worrying, because it raises questions about the reliability of official data, the United Nations put FDI at just $300 million last year, its lowest level since 2005."

“There are several possible explanations, but critics say that by making Sri Lanka something of a personal fiefdom and dragging his feet on reconciliation between the ethnic minority Tamil-dominated north and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist population, Rajapaksa shoulders some of the blame.”

A group of 50 men have been deported from Australia to Sri Lanka, after having been classed as failed asylum seekers.

The recent return of the group of men brings up the total number “involuntarily” returned to 282, since August the 13th alone.

Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen’s office said in a statement,

"Without a valid visa they had no legal right to remain in Australia and were removed at the earliest opportunity,

Sri Lanka has announced that "eight to ten" offshore oil blocks would be offered for bidding as early as next month, in the Cauvery and Manner basins.

The announcement by Saliya Wickramasuriya director general of the island's petroleum exploration office, follows the discovery of two potential gas reserves by Cairn Lanka in Mannar last year.

Acting in compliance with the government’s ‘Deyata Sevana national tree planting campaign’, Sri Lanka’s ‘peacetime’ Army have been converting the land, formerly used for Internal Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, into an orchard, reported ColomboPage.

The Army run project, will initially plant 1,000 saplings at Manik Farm. The army has also launched another 225 acre joint agricultural project with a private company, Prima Ltd.