Day: 20 August 2014

TNA to seek Modi’s backing over 13A

Karu

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) says it will urge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj to push for the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the constitution. TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran said that the party will look to several key issues with the Indian Government, including the 13thAmendment to the constitution, during a visit to New Delhi beginning tomorrow. The  Government has refused to fully implement the 13th Amendment especially a clause which calls for police powers to be devolved to the provinces. Sumanthiran reporters at a media…

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Ranil flays MR’s panel

Karu

By Saman Indrajith UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday demanded to know from the government the complex issues that had arisen with regard to the proceedings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Disappearances and Missing Persons, causing the need to obtain services of a panel of experts. Making a special statement in Parliament, the Opposition Leader said: “In answer to a question asked by me under Standing Order 23(2), G L Peiris, Minister of External Affairs stated that the Chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Disappearances…

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Lanka concerned over some groups

Karu

The Ministry of Defence says since the LTTE’s defeat, some groups have begun to engage in activities that stem far beyond self-protection and there is information that some of these groups have even tried to link up with global Islamic terrorist organizations and so the situation requires careful monitoring. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, writing for the Center for Complex Operations in the US, said that one of the concerns in the post-war environment is the increasing communalism amongst ethnic groups, which, if left unaddressed, could result in the rise of…

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Ban tells Lanka to help UN-led probe

Karu

UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon has urged Sri Lanka to assist the investigation on the war led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Ban ki-moon’s spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that the Secretary‑General fully supports the High Commissioner for Human Rights and commends the leadership she’s demonstrated to assist Sri Lanka in advancing accountability and reconciliation. “The Secretary‑General encourages Sri Lanka to cooperate with the inquiry led by the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, that was established by the Human Rights Council.  He reiterates…

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Where are the Commission reports?

Karu

The Government has spent as much as Rs.270 million on 17 Presidential Commissions appointed between 2005 and 2013, but the reports of most of them have still not been presented to Parliament, it was revealed yesterday. Government gave these details in response to a question asked by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the number of Presidential Commissions appointed during the period under review, the amount of money spent on each of them and their purpose. These Presidential Commissions were appointed to look into matters such as…

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Israeli soldiers to rape and kill the girls in Gaza?

Karu

Israeli media has pointed out that Israel should adopt the Sri Lankan experience to wage war in the Gaza strip and avoid negotiation with whom they term as “terrorists” In an opinion article published in Jerusalam post, Michael Freund said Sri Lanka never considered peace negotiations with the LTTE. “The truth is that there is precedent for the defeat of terrorist organizations through the determined use of military power” Freund says. He seems to justify the killing of the 40,000 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan forces in May 2009…

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