News

The Fundamental Rights (FR) Petition filed by former IGP Pujith Jayasundara has been re-fixed for support on July 31 by the Supreme Court. The petition was taken up before Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare, S. Thurairaja, and L.T.B. Dehideniya this morning (24).

Jayasundara had filed the petition against him being sent on compulsory leave by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The Court observed that Director of the State Intelligence Service Nilantha Jayawardena and Secretary to the President, Udaya R. Seneviratne, had filed affidavits with regard to the subject matter on June 21, 2019, hence, the court was in need of a reasonable time to consider them.

However, attorney Viran Corea representing IGP Jayasundara told court that he had not received such affidavits so far.

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando and former Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis, who were also among the respondents to the petition, were represented by President's Counsels Anuja Premaratne and Shanaka Ranasinghe respectively.

India's NDTV, citing three intelligence letters sent to police chiefs in the southern Indian state of Kerala, said that ISIS was now urging its “operatives” to carry out attacks at their home countries.

Senior Indian officials reportedly named several states as being the most threatened. According to police, at least 100 people are believed to have joined the ranks of the Takfiri terrorist group from Kerala over the past years, while around 3,000 are currently under surveillance.

ISIS may also target key installations in Kochi, Kerala’s most populous city with 2 million people, another letter accessed by NDTV said. The southern state lies close to Sri Lanka, where terrorist attacks in April claimed the lives of over 250 Christians celebrating Easter.

The attacks sparked new concerns about a resurgent ISIS, which once controlled vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria but gradually lost them.

The terrorist group was declared militarily defeated in 2017. Over the years, many members of the terrorist group have returned to their home countries — including in Europe — to carry out terrorist attacks.

A special Bodhi Pooja to wish good health for Pohottuwa’s proposed Presidential candidate, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was held on Sunday evening at the Pepiliyana Sunethradevi Rajamaha Vihara.

Rajapaksa who underwent surgery at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital is currently recuperating in the country prior to his return to Sri Lanka.

According to Dilith Jayaweera’s media organizations, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party convention is to be held on August 11 where Mahinda Rajapaksa will be appointed as the SLPP leader who then will announce Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s candidacy.

According to reports, the information had been revealed by SLPP National Organizer Basil Rajapaksa at a recently held party meeting.

As per the plan formed, the group is set to travel to Anuradhapura on Monday to worship at the Ruwanweliseya. They will then continue on to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, the Kirivehera in Kataragama arriving in Colombo to meet Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. The group is also expected to visit the Chilaw Munneswaram Kovil thereafter.

Accordingly, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his supporters from Monday - Friday that week will visit religious places across the country and meet with religious leaders to receive their blessings.

Basil is said to have taken the decision due to the pressure exerted by the ‘Jathika Chinthana’ group led by Prof. Nalin De Silva The Leader reported. De Silva had recently announced that Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be named as the SLPP presidential candidate. He claimed the only candidate chosen is Gotabaya Rajapaksa. De Silva made these comments at the special meeting called by the ‘Jathika Samatha Balawegaya’ in Colombo on June 19. At the event, De Silva had claimed the blessings or approval of either Mahinda Rajapaksa or his brother Basil Rajapaksa is not needed for Gotabaya to be named as the next Presidential candidate.

De Silva and the ‘Jathika Chinthana’ group have been attempting to influence the decisions being made by the Joint Opposition and the SLPP. They have also launched a nationwide campaign to engage with opposition powers to this end.

(Xinhua) - China on Wednesday donated a batch of security equipment to the Sri Lankan Parliament to ensure the safety of the public and legislators following the recent terror attacks in the country.

The security equipment, which is worth Rs. 33 million (187,000 USD), including three state-of-the-art portable X-Ray machines and five walk-through metal detectors, were handed over to Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya by Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan.

Karu Jayasuriya, while thanking the Chinese government and its people, said the donation of the security equipment to the Sri Lankan Parliament was "very valuable" following the terror attacks.

"During the time of any natural or tragic calamity, China has been one of the first countries who has always stood ready to help Sri Lanka. We are grateful to the Chinese government and its people," Jayasuriya said.

Ambassador Cheng said after the brutal terrorist attacks on April 21 in Sri Lanka, the Chinese government and its people have been standing together with the Sri Lankan side and firmly supported Sri Lanka to safeguard its national security and stability.

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka also issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the urgently needed security equipment provided by China will better secure the safety of the MPs from all political parties, as well as the Parliament staff, journalists and visitors.

"Currently, the Chinese government is studying implementing the requests raised by the Sri Lankan government case by case according to the priority," the statement added

Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been issued summons to appear before the Presidential Commission probing state sector corruption on July 8.

I.M.K.B. Illangasinghe, Education Ministry Director (Supplies) told the Presidential Commission today (24) that the Minister had instructed his colour photo to be published along with his message on all school text books.

As a result, it was revealed that the government had to incur an additional cost of around Rs 160 million in order to print a page containing the colour image of the Minister.

Mr. Illasinghe also told the Commission that the government prints around 40 million text books per year and that the printing of this special page had costed Rs 4 each.

A complaint against the printing of these text books had been filed by parlimentarian Wijedasa Rajapaksa. (Sunday Times)

U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is unable to visit Sri Lanka as previously announced due to unavoidable scheduling conflicts during his upcoming visit to the Indo-Pacific region that includes accompanying President Donald J. Trump to the G20 Summit in Japan, US embassy in Colombo said

The embassy statement added that Secretary Pompeo regrets that he is no longer able to visit Colombo at this time. He hopes to travel to Sri Lanka at a later date to underscore our strong partnership with Sri Lanka, which is rooted in a commitment to democracy, economic growth and a free, open Indo-Pacific region.

The United States remains committed to these objectives and looks forward to building on our longstanding partnership.

The Attorney General has requested the Chief Justice to appoint a three-member judge bench of the Permanent High Court at Bar to hear the case over the Welikada Prison riot in 2012, the Attorney General’s Department said.

A case is due to be filed against three defendants with 33 indictments including the murder of several inmates of the Welikada prison in the year 2012. IP Neyomal Ranagajeewa, former Commissioner of the Welikada prison, Emil Ranjan Lamahewa and Imaduwage Indika Sampath who was attached to the Prisons Intelligence are the three defendants.

The Attorney General has specified to the AG that the indictments due to be filed against these defendants should be taken up before a special tripartite bench and not a jury. He further said that the third defendant in the case Imaduwage Indika Sampath has been avoiding the police.

Growth in Sri Lanka’s economy picked up to 3.5% in the first quarter from 1.8% in the previous three-month period, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said yesterday.

Economic growth in the island nation’s 2018 fourth quarter had slowed to a nearly four-year low as a 51-day political crisis took a toll on the industrial sector.

The political crisis created panic and uncertainty among investors, who dumped Sri Lankan government bonds and other assets, sending the rupee currency to record lows.

The industrial sector, accounting for more than a quarter of the economy, had contracted 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

“Under our government, we took the real growth to the villages ... the economy in the first quarter grew at 3.5% against 1.8% last quarter, which was hit due to the political crisis,” Samaraweera told Parliament.

The sluggish quarterly growth dragged the country’s annual expansion to a 17-year low of 3.2% in 2018, compared with 3.4% in the previous year.

Last month, central bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy said he expected the economy to grow by 3% or less this year, dented by the impact of the Easter Sunday bombings.

The central bank was preparing a downward revision to its earlier projection of 4% growth.

Sri Lanka’s economic growth is expected to slump to a nearly two-decade low this year, a Reuters poll showed, as tourism, foreign investment and overall business activity eased sharply in the wake of the bombings.

Security in Sri Lanka has been ramped up since the April 21 attacks by Islamic militants, who killed over 250 people including 42 foreign nationals in churches and hotels across the country. Tourism, which accounts for 5% of the country’s gross domestic product, has suffered as travellers from around the globe cancelled hotel and flight bookings.

Rs. 48000 million through 'Gamperaliya' for rural development projects

Minister Samaraweera said that the government has taken the real development to the village through the Gamperaliya rapid rural development programme and Rs. 48000 million worth of development projects are being implemented throughout the island.

"Human development is given priority in a modern market economy. Under our Government, true development is carried out in the villages. The country has become a workplace. The village's small-scale contractors, businessmen and village unions and associations have the opportunity to earn an income while developing their own areas and their own development."

The Sri Lanka Transport Boad (SLTB) has cancelled the leave of all its employees in a bid to reduce the inconveniences faced by the public due to the railway strike which is currently underway.

Meanwhile, one train each has been operating from the Matara, Galle, Kandy, Chilaw, Rambukkana, and Mahawa railway stations while two trains are set to travel towards Colombo from Kandy.

Further, another train would be operating along the Kelani Valley line from Avissawella to Colombo, the Railways Department said adding that another train will operate from Mount Lavinia to Jaffna.

Accordingly, a total of 10 trains would operate today in the backdrop of the 48-hour train strike which commenced last midnight.

In a startling turn of events delivering a hateful sermon recently, the Maha Nayaka of the Asgiriya chapter Warakagoda Gnanarathana Thera claimed that while the law is useless, Muslim medical practitioner Dr. Shafi Sahabdeen should be stoned to death.

The monk did not name the doctor, but said Buddhist women devotees wanted him stoned.

"Such traitors should not be allowed to stay free. Some 'upasaka ammas' said he should be stoned to death. I don’t say that, but that is what should be done."

By making such statements, one can only question if Gnanarathana Thera is advocating a Taliban form of Buddhism.

Furthermore, Gnanarathana Thera urged his faithful not to patronize Muslim-owned restaurants saying they were systematically working to reduce the population of Sinhala-Buddhists by making them sterile.

"Don’t eat from those (Muslim) shops," the monk said. "Those who ate from those shops will not have children in the future. In another 10 to 15 years we will know the consequence.

At a socially sensitive time, statements which can incite racial tensions are serious in nature. Therefore, Gnanarathana Thera should be arrested. Gnanarathana Thera who represents one section of a casteist sangha society made these statements right after the revered Poson Poya. His comments not only harms racial harmony in the country but directly contravenes the teachings of the Lord Buddha.

This is clearly explained by Galkande Dhammananda Thera, a senior lecturer of the University of Kelaniya.

It also must be questioned if the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act not applicable to Gnanarathana Thera? Can the Mahanayaka Theras be above the law? Is this not a country of civilized people? If not is it a hell where the law does not apply to hateful extremists?

A Sri Lankan doctor who sexually assaulted a vulnerable patient at a West Australian regional hospital and led a double life, with his phone records showing he also had a fetish for prostitutes, has been jailed for three years.

Priyantha Padmike Dayananda, 49, was last week convicted following a trial of sexual penetration without consent.

The District Court of WA heard he inserted his hand into the victim's underwear during an abdominal examination at Bunbury Hospital's emergency department in December 2017.

Priyantha Padmike Dayananda was today jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a patient. (9News)

The woman, who has a history of trauma, earlier told the court she ran from the hospital as fast as she could without discharging herself and took a taxi home.

He called and texted her multiple times for the next five to six weeks, with one message reading: "Remember I touched your beautiful tummy at emergency".

The woman also said he had paid her "special attention" when she was in hospital for a fortnight recuperating from surgery in October that year, suggesting they "meet up" and stroking her hair.

The woman was assaulted at Bunbury Hospital.

In video footage of his police interview, Dayananda told detectives he didn't and wouldn't inappropriately touch "a girl like that" because he didn't find her attractive, she could have diseases and he had a wife.

The father-of-one also denied sending the woman texts, but could not explain how they had been sent from his phone.

Dayananda was sentenced today, with Judge Belinda Lonsdale saying he had committed a gross breach of trust. He will be eligible for parole after he's served 18 months.

President Maithripala Sirisena has decided to give a 6-month service extension to the Army's second in command and Chief of Staff, Major General Shavendra Silva, as he is due to retire from active service on June 21, upon reaching the age of 55, sources from the Presidential Secretariat say.

Sources added that Shavendra Silva will receive his extension in the same manner as the former Chief of Staff of the Army, Major General Dampath Fernando. Accordingly, Silva has received approval to continue in his current position until November 21.

The extension given to Army chief Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake by President Sirisena will also expire on the 18th of August, this year.

Major General Sathyapriya Liyanage, the person who is generally viewed as the successor to current Army chief Senanayake, is also scheduled to retire on November 21, upon reaching the age of 55.

The last person to receive a service extension after reaching the age of 55 was Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, during his tenure as the Army commander.