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The Indian government today informed the Indian supreme court that convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case cannot be released and that it rejects the proposal of the Tamil Nadu government requesting for their release. 

The solicitors appearing for the government said the release could set a dangerous precedent adding that the prisoners do not deserve to be set free. 

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21,  1991  at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber of the LTTE, identified as Dhanu, at a poll rally. Fourteen others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed in the explosion.

Arputhammal, the mother of the AG Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, urged the Tamil Nadu government for the mercy killing of her son, after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the state's plea for the release of the convicts.

Kovind rejected the Tamil Nadu government’s request to release the seven prisoners, including Perarivalan, in the Rajiv assassination case. The convicts are V. Sriharan alias Murugan, A.G. Perarivalan, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas, Ravichandran and Nalini.

In its May 1999 order, the top court had upheld the death sentence of four convicts -- A G Perarivalan, Murugan, Santham and Nalini -- in the assassination case.

In April 2000, the Tamil Nadu governor had commuted the death sentence of Nalini on the basis of the state government's recommendation and an appeal by former Congress president and Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia Gandhi.

On February 18, 2014, the top court had commuted the death sentence of Perarivalan to life imprisonment, along with that of two other prisoners - Santhan and Murugan - on grounds of a delay of 11 years in deciding their mercy pleas by the Centre.

The apex court had in March this year dismissed a plea by Perarivalan seeking a recall of the May 1999 verdict upholding his conviction. The charge against Perarivalan was that he had purchased two nine volt battery cells meant for detonating the bomb.

Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest prime minister of India at 40, when he assumed office after his mother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984.

Source : Indian Media

Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga, concluding a four-day official visit to Sri Lanka, said that Switzerland will ensure that the nation’s newly formed Office of Missing Persons (OMP), as well as the Human Rights Commission, can conduct their work. 

During her visit, Sommaruga met President Maithripala Sirisena, as well as Government ministers, representatives of the national human rights commission, and several civil society organisations. 

TNA leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan said that while the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has clearly improved since 2015, there are still problems and the population was “impatient” for progress. Sommaruga responded that this was “understandable”, but that “a new constitution, reconciliation, and democratisation takes time.” She added that with upcoming elections there comes a “risk that polarisation in Sri Lanka will increase again.”

On Monday, Sommaruga signed a memorandum of understanding in the capital Colombo with the Sri Lankan interior minister, Seneviratne Bandara Nawinne, solidifying their intention to facilitate and extend cooperation, according to the justice ministry. This agreement “also helps us address specific issues directly, so that we can remind the authorities and politicians of their responsibilities,” said the justice minister.

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is said to have been removed from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). During Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure, she was appointed as the only Advisor to the party while after the appointment of the current President she was made a member of the Advisory Committee of the SLFP. 

While the committee was recently dissolved, Rajapaksa and Kumaratunge were appointed as advisors once again. Kumaratunga was also representing the Central Committee of the SLFP.

However, sources say she was not invited for the central committee meeting held on  August 8, while she claimed she only heard of it when several members inquired from her regarding the meeting. 

“Honestly I did not know of the meeting and neither did I receive an invite,” she said adding that several party members had inquired from her regarding the incident. “I am surprised and I think someone has said something untoward about me” she claimed.  
         

Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera urged the striking railways' employees to end the strike and come for discussions while strongly condemning the trade union action taken yesterday which severely inconvenienced the public. 
 
Minister of Finance said that the government strongly condemns the unannounced strike launched by the railway trade unions yesterday when the government has already appointed a special commission to revise the salaries of the state sector workers including the railway employees.
 
Arrangements have been made to deploy additional Sri Lanka Transport Board buses and also the Army has deployed their buses to transport the commuters. The train season ticket holders can ride the SLTB buses free the government announced. 
 
Permission was also given for the private bus owners to ply on any route disregarding route permissions and the cost of operating extra buses is set to be provided by the Finance Ministry. A special bus service by the Army was also launched to provide transportation to the students sitting for the GCE Advanced Level examination.
 
However, the unions have vowed to continue the strike action till their demands are met.

More corrupt practices of the Former Basnayake Nilame of the Kataragama Devalaya, D.P Kumarage whose services have been halted after being accused of financial corruption is now coming to light. 

According to sources, the Devalaya has been left in debt amounting to Rs. 16.8 million after he had taken a loan from a bank claiming it is for the Kataragama Devalaya Perahera during his tenure. Investigations have also revealed that he had made away with two vehicles belonging to the devalaya as well.  

An audit is ongoing regarding alleged corruption of Kumarage sources said with his services being temporarily halted till its conclusion.

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship Qian Weichang arrived at the port of Colombo on a goodwill visit yesterday. The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the ship in accordance with naval traditions.
 
Upon its arrival at the Colombo harbour, Senior Captain Dong Yan and Commanding Officer of the ship, Commander Zhang Juyong met the Commander Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne at the Western Naval Command Headquarters and held a cordial discussion on matters of mutual interest. Mementoes were also exchanged to mark this occasion. Senior Colonel Xu Jiawei, Military, Naval & Air Attaché of Embassy of China in Sri Lanka, was also present at the event.
 
During the four-day visit, the ship’s crew is expected to visit some of the places of tourist attraction in the island and take part in several events organized by the Sri Lanka Navy.
 
The 129m long and 17m wide vessel which has a displacement of 4,900 tons is manned by 158 officers and sailors. The Chinese ship is scheduled to set sail from the Colombo harbour on the 11th of this month.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 hit Indonesia’s Lombok island on Thursday, causing some buildings to collapse, according to witnesses and the Southeast Asian nation’s meteorology and geophysics agency.

The latest quake was felt strongly on the island and followed a 6.9 quake on Sunday that killed at least 131 people and damaged thousands of houses.

A Reuters witness said the latest quake sent people into the streets in panic and caused buildings to collapse.
 
Source: Reuters

Twenty-seven Sri Lankan refugees who have been living in Indian refugee camps returned to the island today. The group were among the many that fled the country during the war. 
 
They have arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in three flights belonging to the Sri Lankan Airlines; UL- 122 departed from Chennai at 10.55 a.m. with 07 refugees, UL-138 departed from Madurai at 11 a.m. with 07 refugees and UL-132 departed from Trichy (Tiruchirappalli) with 13 others.
 
On arrival, they were received by the officials of the Department of Immigration and Emigration and handed over to the State Intelligence Service for further investigations and taking statements. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Ministry of Resettlement and Rehabilitation had reportedly rendered their support to bring back these refugees to the country.

The Mannar magistrates court has issued an interim order barring local and foreign media from Media barred from photographing and video recording at Mannar Mass Grave. Mannar Magistrate T.G Prabhakaran issued this order yesterday when permission was sought to conduct further investigations in to the skeletal remains found.

The order was issued as media entering the excavation site was hampering its progress. As a result media organizations will have to seek approval from the magistrate to photograph and record at the site going forward.

Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Army announcing arrangements in place for conduct of the Army’s forthcoming flagship event, ‘Colombo Defence Seminar - 2018’ during August 30 - 31 at BMICH opined that this interactive sessions would provide an effective forum for all stakeholders attending the Seminar to understand that no Army in the world could single-handedly find any solutions unlike before since conflicts themselves are connected to a vast sphere of unprecedented nature.

He made these observations during the inaugural Media briefing on ‘Colombo Defence Seminar - 2018’, held on Tuesday (7) afternoon at Hotel Galadari, attended by Major General Dampath Fernando, Chief of Staff, Major General Ajith Wijesinghe, Military Secretary, Major General Aruna Wanniarachchi, Director General Training and Brigadier Sumith Atapattu, Director Media at Army Headquarters.

“Our message to this effect has gone worldwide attracting defence partners, strategists, policy-makers, security experts and analysts to this annual forum who are capable of collectively evaluating fast-changing global concerns and exploring ways and means of challenging such issues. We segmented the sessions in such a way that different groups at the end of the second day would have the chance of producing their own findings through syndicate presentations. We expect about 100 foreign experts for this year’s sessions,” he added.
 
Lieutenant General Senanayake also in reply to a Media query told the gathering that Asia Pacific region, being very much prone to natural disasters, would pave way for a collective understanding on issues confronting all nations in the region and the world at large. “Threats are always changing and different capacities are needed to face them. That is why the Sri Lanka Army, moving away from the conventional, is trying to make it a capacity-based one,” he elaborated.
 
This year’s ‘Colombo Defence Seminar’, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence is set to shed light on a wide spectrum of global and regional concerns and would mark a turning point in this sphere. Final arrangements of the Seminar are now underway under the supervision of the Commander of the Army and executed by a special committee, headed by the Director General, Directorate of Training at the Army Headquarters.

Veteran actor Indrajith Nawinna passed away at his residence in Nikaweratiya yesterday after a prolonged illness. He was 70 at the time of his death. Nawinna had contributed to many films as well as teledramas in the Sri Lankan entertainment industry.
 
 ‘Badde Gedara’, Ambu Daruwo’, ‘Wana Wadule Wasanthaya’ and ‘Katu Imbula’ are several well-known teledramas which the actor contributed to with his stellar acting. A father of three, Nawinna has acted in more than 30 films and 100 teledramas.
 
His remains currently lie at his residence at Jayanthi Mawatha, Nikaweratiya. Funeral will take place at the Balagollagama Public burial grounds on Friday, August 10 at 3 pm

Four railway officials have been interdicted in connection with yesterday’s train accident at Pannaliya off Polgahawela, Spokesman for the Civil Aviation and Transport Ministry said.

Over 20 people were injured when a train travelling along the Colombo, Kandy main railway line collided with a stalled train near the Polgahawela Station, around 75 kilometers from capital Colombo on Monday evening.

The stalled train had been travelling from Colombo to the central hills of Kandy when it broke down on Monday afternoon.

Police said the other passenger train which was also travelling to Kandy had collided with the stalled train leading to certain compartments being damaged resulting in injuries.

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing and those injured have been rushed to the Polgahawela Hospital.