Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

Former refugee Prapaharan Thambithurai was sentenced to six
months in jail Friday after pleading guilty to raising money for the
Tamil Tigers, a terrorist group dedicated to creating a separate Tamil
state in Sri Lanka. Continue Reading

Sri Lanka’s state owned corporations  and companies which account for a large portion of the nation’s economic output and employ a large, some might say disproportionately  large, share  of the work force   have  been decapitated.  Which is to say their heads have been removed.

While this might sound alarming, fear not, for new heads have  been grafted onto these companies  from different bodies.   This Frankenstein situation   may sound horrific but the reality is  that  most of these corporations weren’t doing particularly  well with their old heads.  So there is every chance they will do better, or at least not significantly worse with their new CEO’s, Chairpersons, etc. Continue Reading

Approximately 8.5 million rupees collected last July by school children for the Uthuru Mithuru Fund, never found its way to development projects in the North.

The Fund was established by the Education Ministry ostensibly for the construction of a railway station at Elephant’s Pass.

Children in schools in the south were asked to donate to help their uthuru mithuru or northern friends.  The money donated by the school children was supposed to be used for development projects in the North, primarily the reconstruction of the Railway line to Jaffna.  But now almost a year after the funds were collected construction has yet to commence and the money is, according to the former Minister for Education, tied up in various accounts scattered across the country. Continue Reading

With inflationary pressure building up on the economy fuelled by increasing commodity prices, market sources didn’t expect a sharp decline in interest rates in the foreseeable future, with one predicting that the benchmark 364 day Treasury (T) Bill yield will not fall lower than ½ % in the next 2-3 months.

Last week’s primary T Bill auction saw the 364 day tenure fall by a nominal two basis points (0.02%) to 9.23%.

A slow rate decline will affect bank credit to the private sector, the engine of growth, which witnessed credit growth to the private sector increasing by a marginal 4% quarter on quarter, in the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Continue Reading

One year after the end of the war between the security forces and the LTTE, 73,000 displaced persons still remain in IDP camps in the North.
Following the end of the war, the resettlement of the war-displaced became a post war crisis faced by the country, which also raised widespread international concern. The announcement and celebrations of liberation were soon overcome by calls to rehabilitate and resettle thousands of persons displaced in the North and East due to the three decade-long war. Continue Reading

Prapaharan Thambithurai pleaded guilty to charges in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday. (Jane Wolsak/CBC)
The first person charged under Canada’s post-Sept. 11 law against raising funds for a terrorist group pleaded guilty in a Vancouver courtroom on Tuesday morning.
Prapaharan Thambithurai of Maple, Ont., admitted raising money from Tamil immigrants in the Vancouver area, knowing that some of it would end up funding the banned Tamil Tigers. Continue Reading

Strict disciplinary action will be taken against the provincial councillor for the North Western Province, Shantha Abeysekara, who assaulted and severely injured UNP MP Palitha Range Bandara last week, confirmed UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya.

“The police inquiry into the matter is still going on and once the investigations into the matter are complete, we as a party will take necessary action against Shantha Abeysekara”, said Jayasuriya.

The Puttalam police, along with top members of the UNP, continue to carry out investigations into the incident, where Bandara was attacked by a group of armed men in Chilaw over an intra-party rivalry.

“The police so far have arrested five people – including UNP candidate Shantha Abeysekara, and they were produced before the Chilaw magistrate last week. They have now been remanded until April 23. There are several other suspects as well and investigations into this matter are still ongoing”, said Police Spokesman SP Prishantha Jayakody. Continue Reading

The UNP claimed on Saturday that the arrest of one of the party’s candidates for the Colombo District and former journalist Susil

Kindelpitiya is a clear case of political persecution carried out against opposition politicians by the government.
Kindelpitiya was arrested on Friday (2) by the Mirihana Police on a complaint lodged by a woman claiming to be one of Kindeplitiya’s mistresses, accusing him of abusing and threatening her. Kindelpitiya was arrested on Friday in Welikada along with another young woman and a navy deserter who were with him in the vehicle. According to the police, he had also had in his possession a 7.62 pistol.

Police Spokesperson SP Preshantha Jayakody said the Colombo Aluthkade Magistrate on Saturday remanded Kindelpitiya till April 16. Continue Reading

58,700 policemen are to be deployed countrywide to maintain law and order during the general election, according to Police Spokesman Prashantha Jayakody. 19,500 military personnel will be coordinating with police as well, IGP Mahinda Balasuriya revealed in a press conference on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 7620 candidates will be contesting this general election compared to 5698 in 2004, according to Additional Commissioner W. P Sumanasiri. Of these, 301 will be independent candidates.

36 parties have registered, which is also an increase from the 2004 general election figures. An estimated 11,098 polling booths will be set up around the country. Continue Reading

Sri Lankan authorities have detained Sarah Malani Perera, a Sri Lankan-born resident of Bahrain, at the Katunayake Airport for publishing two books allegedly offensive to Buddhism. She was leaving after a three-month holiday in Sri Lanka.

Perera, who was born to Buddhist parents,  converted to Islam in 1999. The books, titled Darkness To Light and Questions And Answers, were seized at the airport.

According to the family of the detained woman, the owner of the cargo company handling the shipment contacted police to claim that the book was offensive to the Buddhist religion.

Continue Reading