News

The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), the venerable Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who was found guilty of threatening the wife of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, Sandya Eknaligoda, inside the premises of the Homagama Magistrate Court, has been sentenced to jail today.

The Homagama Magistrate sentenced him to a one year jail term which was subsequently reduced to six months. A fine of LKR 3000 was also imposed and was ordered to pay LKR 50,000 as compensation to Sandya Eknaligoda.

The ‘Gramashakthiyen – Gama Hadana Gamana’ programme was launched today (13) in the Puttalam district under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena. 

This programme aims to provide immediate solutions to the developmental problems of the villagers and will run parallel to the Grama Shakthi People’s Movement, the Presidents Media Unit said.

A concept of President Sirisena, the Grama Shakthi People’s Movement was launched in 2017 with the objective of eradicating poverty in Sri Lanka.

The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval yesterday to establish an Office for Reparation to provide reparations in a transparent manner to individuals affected by conflict, political, civil disobedience or enforced disappearances. 

Co-cabinet spokesperson, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that the proposal has been put to the Cabinet by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with the request for it to be sent to the Legal Draftsman and the subsequent bill be gazetted and presented to Parliament. 

Senaratne further stated that all those who have been affected from the conflict will be able to seek reparations. 

“Those in the South, who were affected by bomb blasts and other terrorist acts, will also be compensated through the process", the Minister added.

He also said that the government will come up with a proper mechanism to identify individuals who are eligible for compensation.

Parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila stated that discussions are underway within the Joint Opposition with regard to the next Presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramanua.

Accordingly, MPs Dinesh Gunawardena, Chamal Rajapaksa, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa have been nominated as potential candidates from the SLPP.

A mega Chinese cultural exhibition titled "Silk Road Memory - NICE Choice Exhibition of Chinese Creative Cultural Products" kicked off in Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Tuesday, displaying China's popular culture such as Kung Fu.

The exhibition was jointly organized by China Cultural Center in Sri Lanka and the Network of International Culturalink Entities of China.

China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Cheng Xueyuan, said at the launch of the event that such exhibitions would provide an opportunity for the Sri Lankan people to learn about the development of China's cultural industry development and also provide a platform for professionals from both countries to learn from each other.


Local students visit the "Silk Road Memory - NICE Choice Exhibition of Chinese Creative Cultural Products" exhibition in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Ajith Perera) 

"The cultural industry or the cultural creative industry has become a new growth force of the world economy and will lead the economic development in the future," Cheng said.

The Ambassador added that the exhibition taking Silk Road as its theme reflects the close bond between China and Sri Lanka as the Ancient Silk Road linked the two peoples.

"The 21st century Maritime Silk Road will promote the common development of our two countries," the ambassador said.

The exhibition which last till June 16, displayed products in six thematic sections, namely Rhythm of Porcelain, Legend of Chinese Kung Fu, Beautiful Life, Festival Gifts, Dreaming about Dunhuang, and Digital China.


(Xinhua)

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) will  hold its next regional meeting in Trincomalee, today (13). 

The OMP began its outreach programme in May 2018, with meetings held in Mannar, Matara and Mullativu. 

The seven commissioners of the OMP met with families of the missing and disappeared, civil society organisations, activists working on the issue of disappearances, and the media, in order to share the OMP’s organisational plan and strategies.  The meetings also facilitated the hearing of public views and in order to incorporate their suggestions on the structure and operations of the OMP.

Sri Lanka’s first permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar , set up to expedite the high profile corruption cases against the former government, will start hearing cases related to money laundering, graft and financial crimes from July 4, the Cabinet spokesman said today.

Last month, Parliament had passed the Judicature (Amendment) Act, brought by the government to pave way for setting up of special high courts to expedite hearing of corruption cases against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration, his family members and their associates.

“The first high court will become operational in July, while two others in September,” Cabinet spokesperson Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.

Many Rajapaksa family members and their associates were tried for alleged corruption following the change of the regime in 2015. But there has been considerable public dissatisfaction over the inordinate delay in trials as the accused, who were arrested, had been released on bail.
Also, the court procedures were taking months to set trial dates, even after three years of the Rajapaksa presidency.

There are accusations that leaders of the current government are having political deals with the Rajapaksa’s to go slow in legal procedures.
Following the defeat of the ruling coalition in the local polls in February, the government sprung into action to expedite graft cases.

“This government is keen to follow the law by the book, that was why the delay in the cases. Following setting up of new courts, all cases would be heard to a finish without any delay,” the spokesman for the ruling UNP and Minister Harin Fernando said.

Source : Ada Derana

A protest was organised by Sri Lankan activists for Pakistani peace activist Raza Mehmood Khan, convener-Pakistan of Aaghaz-e-Dosti, who went missing in December last year.

Sri Lankan activists Sandya Eknaligoda, Sitthi Jameena, Vathana Sunthararaj and Mayuri Inoka and Sri Lankan activists expressed solidarity with families of the disappeared in Pakistan in their demand for justice and accountability for the disappeared from the government of Pakistan.

The protest was held today outside the Pakistan High Commission. The attached petition was handed over to the Secretary of the High Commission.

Referring to Raza’s disappearance, a joint-statement by the activists from Srilanka said: “Raza is a prominent advocate for reconciliation between India and Pakistan at Aaghaz-e-Dosti, and was abducted after attending an open discussion on extremism in Lahore. His friends and family have been campaigning desperately for his release since, launching the online.”

“Enforced disappearances are often used by repressive States as a systematic weapon of “counter-terror” to target dissenting thinkers such as progressive activists, educators, journalists and political opponents; and in the context of Pakistan, ethnic and religious minorities such as Pashtuns, Balochis, Kashmiris, Sindhis and Shias as well,” the statement added.

Raza Mahmood Khan has been missing since December 2, 2017. He was “picked up” from him rented home in Lahore by unidentified suspects. Raza was last seen at a public discussion organised at Lowkey-Lokai in the aftermath of the Faizabad protest by religious hardliners.

Financial Market analysts claim that doctors will not be charged 24% taxes for work done in goverment hospitals. According to them the Association of Specialist Doctors are making unfair demands by misconstruing the newly proposed Inland Revenue Act.  

They made this statement in response to the President of the Association of Specialist Doctors, Dr Sunil Wijesinghe who claimed they will take strict action if the government does now revoke the direct tax imposed which covers doctors as well. 

According to Wijesinghe the government has imposed a 24% tax on their services and discussions were held to get this reduced to 12%. However he claims authorities refused to reduce it. 

They had also claimed they will stawy away from consultation services in protest. However they have failed to take such action. 

But analysts say doctors are not expected to pay 24% and only expected to pay 12% which is the maximum they can be taxed. 

However the 24% tax would only apply if doctors are engaged in channeling services privately thereby gaining immense profits. This appears to be the current issue of contention.

Chief incumbent of the famous Kiriwehera temple, Kobawaka Dhamminda Thera has been injured after he was shot at by unidentified gunmen within the Kataragama holy grounds. Another monk who was also with the thera at the time had received gunshot wounds. 

Both monks are currently receiving treatment at the Hambantota base hospital the Police said. The motive for the shooting remains unclear. Sources say three individuals had arrived for the assassination attempt and was later seen making their getaway in a jeep. Kataragama Police have commenced an investigation into the incident.

The U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Managing Director for Europe, Asia, Pacific, and Latin America Caroline Nguyen visited Sri Lanka from June 11 to 13 to advance the development of the proposed MCC compact – a large-scale five-year grant program.  

This compact is being developed by the U.S government in partnership with the government of Sri Lanka for the specific purpose of reducing poverty and promoting economic opportunity for Sri Lankans.

During the visit, MD Nguyen joined U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Hilton at the Ministry of Finance to sign an agreement to provide an additional 413 million rupees ($2.6 million USD) grant to finalize compact development.  

This amount supplements the 1.2 billion rupees ($7.4 million USD grant) that MCC provided last July to support feasibility studies needed to develop a high-quality, evidence-based and sustainable program and is in addition to the final grant amount that MCC will provide for the compact. 

“We are pleased to partner with Sri Lanka on a program that will reduce poverty through economic growth and improve lives in the country,” Managing Director Nguyen said. 

“This additional funding will support the final stage of compact development and help ensure that the program will have the transformative impact that MCC and the government collectively seek", she added.

The proposed MCC compact is in the final stages of development and is expected to be presented to MCC’s Board of Directors for approval by late 2018.

State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe says he is prepared to resign as a parliamentarian if Speaker Karu Jayasuriya requests him to do so after it was revealed that he had received funds to finance his election campaign from Mendis Brewery which is linked to Arjun Aloysius of Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) who is currently embroiled in the Central Bank Bond scam.  

Responding to a question raised in a recent political program on the Derana TV channel Senasinghe claimed he did not personally receive a cheque and interest it was received by his campaign team. He also said he had no knowledge till recently of the link between Mendis Breweries and Aloysius. 

“If the Speaker asks me to resign at any point, I am ready to accept that request,” he said during the interview.