by Nirmala Kannangara Yoshitha Rajapaksa at FCID Investigations carried out by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) have unearthed how the grand aunt of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa offspring – Daisy Forest – had paid millions of rupees to nine individuals to acquire a land to extend a family property at Dehiwela – Mt. Lavinia. Daisy Forest, aunt of Mary Laud Wickremasinghe alias Shiranthi Rajapaksa, is now under an intense probe as to how she collected Rs. 49.52 million to purchase a 30-perch land at Mt. Lavinia and a land…
Read MoreDay: 12 October 2016
Sri Lanka: Chauvinist response to large Tamil protest
By Pani Wijesiriwardena 12 October 2016 A large protest in the Sri Lankan town of Jaffna, involving thousands of working people and youth, took place on September 24 against the continued suppression of the democratic rights of Tamils and the military occupation of the island’s north. The demonstration triggered a hysterical response by the Sinhala-dominated political and media establishment in Colombo. All the Sinhala political parties, along with the Buddhist hierarchy, vociferously condemned the Jaffna action, branding it as an attempt to revive the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam…
Read MoreUN Rapporteur tells Lanka to focus more on current situation
The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Rita Izsák-Ndiaye has urged Sri Lanka to focus on the current situation with regard to human rights and minority issues, rather than dwelling on the past. Rita Izsák-Ndiaye said this when she met with the Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M Swaminathan, the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs said. Izsák-Ndiaye, who is in Sri Lanka to assess the current situation of the national, ethnic and religious minorities, stated that more focus should be placed…
Read MoreSampanthan, Lead The Tamils Towards A Genuine Solutions
By V. Anandasangaree – V. Anandasangaree My fourth letter in the series is not going to be that palatable to you. You have not taken serious note of the Judgment delivered on the 25th of August at the Ottawa Ontario Federal Court, in the case heard in Toronto Ontario, referred to in my last letter to you. The said case was an appeal filed by a Sri Lankan asylum seeker, for Judicial Review of a decision of the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (ID). The Honorable Mr.…
Read MoreBrexit could knock almost £800 off annual wage of UK’s poorest workers
Brexit could knock almost £800 off the annual wage of the country’s lowest-paid workers by the end of the decade, a major new report has found. The research concluded that an uncertain economic outlook in the wake of the UK’s European Union referendum could drive down average pay growth, with a direct effect on how the minimum wage is set. It comes after Treasury papers showed Britain could lose up to £66bn a year if it pursues the hard Brexit option – leaving the single market and EU customs union.…
Read More“Siva Senai”(Sivas Army)Launched in Vavuniya to Protect Hindus of Sri Lanka , After Consulting Indian Right-wing Hindu outfits like Shiv Sena,RSS and VHP,
By Meera Srinivasan A group of Hindus in Sri Lanka has launched ‘Siva Senai’, an organisation to “protect Hindus from threats from other religious groups” in the island. A ceremony was recently held in Vavuniya, a Tamil-majority town located in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Clarifying that the organisation had no direct links to Shiv Sena, the right-wing political party in Maharashtra, the group’s Chief Organiser Maravanpulavu Sachithananthan told The Hindu: “But we have their support.” The organisation which, he said, was in its formative stages would campaign for an anti-conversion law…
Read MorePresident Sirisena Blasts Bribery Commission and Police for Charging Gota on missing Rs. 11.5 billion in revenue!
By Dharisha Bastians President Maithripala Sirisena slammed the Bribery Commission and two Police divisions for what he called their “hauling” of the former defence secretary and naval commanders to court earlier this month. In a shocking outburst that laid bare a widening chasm between the Head of State and other Government agencies and political actors within the ruling coalition, President Sirisena charged that the Bribery Commission, the CID and the FCID were working to a political agenda. Military commanders who had executed the war and the former Defence Secretary had…
Read MoreEx-Refugees’ Chief To Head UN…
by N. Sathiya Moorthy Antonio Guterres In the normal course, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s three-day India visit should have made great news in the Sri Lankan media and for the people. But it was not to be. Instead, the nation is shifting its focus between issues of constitution-making, starting with Northern Province Tamil Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran’s seemingly toughening position on ‘unresolved’ aspects of Centre-State relations in the ethnic context. When PM Ranil landed in Delhi, Sri Lanka’s position on the ‘indefinite postponement’ of the Islamabad SAARC Summit, following…
Read MoreNo houses for Northern IDPs Massive protests imminent
BY Lankesh Gooneratne The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North will stage a massive protest demonstration demanding houses if the government does not implement housing projects meant for IDPs with immediate effect, sources told Ceylon Today. Sources also said over 20,000 persons will engage in protests demanding houses in the North. Furthermore, over 97,000 applications have been received when a model house of the 65,000 housing project was opened for the public. When President Maithripala Sirisena visited the model house, he had been impressed with the structure, and the…
Read MoreSPB magic, live in Jaffna
The massive concert marked five decades of the charismatic singer’s career It was 4.30 in the evening on Sunday and thousands had already queued up outside the municipal grounds here for a show that was to begin two hours later. Jaffna has had its share of high-profile visitors from abroad, mostly politicians and diplomats, but none that has held a huge audience captive for five hours. The excitement began that morning, when playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam’s chopper landed in Jaffna. Eager fans had gathered near the landing area, looking skyward…
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