German parliamentary delegation to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 11:15 GMT]
A German Parliamentary delegation headed by Dagmar Ernstberger, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on South Asia, will arrive in Colombo Tuesday on a four day visit for the first time after the end of the war to obtain a first-hand impression on progress made and of challenges ahead. The main objective is to gain first-hand experience on post conflict development activities in the country. They will also visit the Northern Province and inspect the de-mining activities and resettled villages, the German Embassy sources in Colombo said.
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Rajapakse leaves for China

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 13:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse left Friday night on a two-day official visit to China to participate in the final ceremony of the Shanghai EXPO 2010. External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris and his Secretary Lalith Weerathunge accompanied Rajapakse on the China visit. More than 20 world leaders are attending the final event of the EXPO 2010 fair, according to Chinese reports
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Supreme Court dismisses Sarath Fonseka’s petition

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 10:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Friday dismissed the election petition filed by Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka challenging the re-election of the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election held on January 26 this year, without trial. The five-member bench comprising Chief Justice Asoka de Silva and Justices Shirani Bandaranaike, K. Sripavan, P. A. Ratnayake and S. I. Imam upheld the preliminary objection raised by the respondents including Mahinda Rajapaksa and decided not to hear the petition as the petitioner had not been able to name the respondents in proper.
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CID arrests Sinhala youth over threat on President’s life

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 11:28 GMT]
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka Police Monday arrested a nineteen-year-old Sinhala youth at Matale in the central province over an alleged threat on the life of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, police sources said
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Former Chief Justice demands release of Fonseka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 04:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva Monday signed a public petition demanding Sri Lanka government to release Sarath Fonseka, the former Commander of the Sri Lanka from Welikada prison where the latter is serving a jail sentence on being found guilty by the Second Court Martial for involvement in politics while serving the army. The petition is to be submitted to Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa shortly. The event of signing the petition was held at J. R. Jayawardene Centre Monday, sources in Colombo said.
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CID probes into Nuraichchoalai coal power plant fire

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2010, 10:19 GMT]
A team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka Police is probing into the mysterious fire that broke out Sunday at the Nuraichchoalai coal thermal power plant in Puththa’lam district. Sri Lanka Government Analyst too is sending in a team, a senior police officer said Monday. Meanwhile, it is reported that Chinese workers in the Nuraichchoalai power plant had protested Saturday about their salaries not being paid in time.
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Tissamaharama Tamil Brahmi inscription ‘missing’

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 19:34 GMT]
The third century BCE potsherd inscription in Tamil language and in Tamil Brahmi script found at Tissamaharama in Hambantota district by German excavators is now missing in Sri Lanka’s Archaeology Department, informed sources said. The inscription found sometimes back was not included in the excavation reports of the Archaeology Department. Photo and decipherment of the inscription was brought out by Iravatam Mahadevan in The Hindu in June this year, followed by TamilNet. Meanwhile, accusing TamilNet for false publications, Dr. Susantha Goonatilleke in an article posted by transcurrents.com and published by Daily Mirror said that TamilNet had recently published inscriptions claimed to be from the South of Sri Lanka, which nobody in the Archaeology Department had seen.
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Confidential report on Devananda to Madras High Court

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 13:20 GMT]
A lower court in Chennai handed over a confidential report to the Madras High Court related to a 1994 order declaring Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda a “proclaimed offender” in connection with a murder case in Chennai in 1986, Press Trust of India reported Wednesday. Douglas Devananda had filed a petition in August seeking to set aside the lower court order declaring him as a proclaimed offender treating him as an absconding accused, it further said. Consequently Justice G. M. Akbar of Madras High Court had called for a report from the trial court on 22nd September 2010.
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Power cut in Jaffna peninsula will continue – SLEB

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 10:19 GMT]
Jaffna Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) is forced to impose one hour power cut during nights in entire Jaffna peninsula as ‘Northern Power’, the Chinese firm which had entered into a contract to supply the electricity needs of the peninsula has failed to do so, its officials said. Though the officials had attempted to suspend the contract of Northern Power high level officers of Sri Lanka government had obstructed it. It is alleged that a large sum of money has been paid as bribe by Northern Power to obstruct the move to suspend its contract. SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother Minister Basil Rajapaksa is alleged to be using his influence to keep Northern Power in Jaffna despite its inefficiency, sources in Jaffna said.
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Explosive device found along A9 road in Maangku’lam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 18:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials suspended all traffic along A9 road in Maangku’lam Tuesday from 7:00 a.m to 8:30 a.m on finding an unexploded land mine along Mallaavi road from Maangku’lam junction. The vehicles were allowed to resume their journey after the landmine was exploded by SLA soldiers, sources in Vavuniayaa said. This incident had caused tension if Vavuniyaa where Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa was conducting a meeting in Vavuniyaa Joseph Camp of SLA.
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SL Resettlement minister meets Sinahala families claiming resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka minister of Resettlement Affairs, Milroy Fernando, on a special directive of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a sudden visit to Jaffna Monday to meet the Sinhala people brought into Jaffna by Sri Lanka government claiming resettlement in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The minister assured the Sinhala families now lodged in the old Jaffna Railway Station that their problems will be solved within the next three months. Meanwhile, some of the Sinhala families have been allowed to erect shelters in vacant lands adjoining some of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps in Jaffna town, the sources added.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa shuns North TNA parliamentarians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has failed to invited the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians of the North to a meeting related to ‘Development of North’ in Vavuniyaa Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Joseph Camp Tuesday, deliberately keeping away the elected representatives of the people from participating in the meeting, TNA parliamentarians of North accused. The participation of the elected representatives is crucial as issues of Sinhala colonization in the North, refusal to resettlement of uprooted Tamils in their own properties and similar matters are to be explored in Tuesday meeting, they said. Purposely shunning the democratically elected representatives from participating in decision making meetings by Sri Lanka government reveals how very much it discriminates the Tamils, TNA MPs said.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa’s effigy burnt in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 10:38 GMT]
Political parties including Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam, Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Kadchchi and supporters of the people of Tamil Eelam burnt the effigy of Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa in several places in Tamil Nadu Thursday protesting against Indian government for having invited Mahinda Rajapaksa as an Honoured Guest on the final day of the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, sources in Chennai said. The protestors carried out their demonstration defying the ban on the demonstration imposed by Tamil Nadu police. Vaiko, the leader of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) vehemently condemned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi for having invited Mahinda Rajapaksa in the demonstration in Koavai.
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HRW, ICG, Amnesty reject invite, slam LLRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 15:25 GMT]
Three leading international organizations will not accept an invitation to testify before a Sri Lankan government commission because it lacks the ability to advance accountability for war crimes, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and Amnesty International said in a joint letter to Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission that was released Thursday. The LLRC was set up by President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government, whose military campaign against the Liberation Tigers concluded in early 2009 with the massacre in systematic shelling of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. “"This Commission is nothing more than a cynical attempt by Sri Lanka to avoid a serious inquiry that would bring genuine accountability,” HRW’s Kenneth Roth said.
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Sri Lanka’s defense ministry 2011 allocation increases

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 08:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Defense Ministry is to get 214 billion rupees for the year 2011, according to Appropriation Bill approved Wednesday by Sri Lanka Cabinet chaired by the Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is an increase from the Rs. 201 billion allocated for the current year. According to the Bill the government had apportioned Rs. 75 billion for the Economic Development Ministry, Rs. 62 billion for the Health Ministry and Rs.31 billion for the Education Ministry.
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Indian Secretary General leads Commonwealth away from human rights

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 00:13 GMT]
Another instance of key persons in international organisations sabotaging international norms of humanity came to light when The Guardian leaked last Friday a document of the Commonwealth Secretariat. This time it was the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, an Indian national heading the organisation telling his staff that it was not their job to speak out against the human rights abuses of the 54 member states. The Secretary General ignored calls from secretariat staff urging him to express concern at least, when abuses were committed in member states in recent years, The Guardian said, citing specific cases including the course of war in the island of Sri Lanka. "All those cases were all about the values the Commonwealth is supposed to stand for and we failed," according to a staff member.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa leaves to New Delhi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 07:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to leave for India Wednesday evening to participate in the finals of the Commonwealth Games now being held in New Delhi Thursday as the guest of honor. External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris is to accompany him. Rajapaksa is to hold discussion with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his stay in New Delhi.
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North ‘Development’ meeting to be held in Vavuniyaa SLA Headquarters

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 07:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to preside over the Northern Provincial Development Committee meeting on October 19 in Vavuniyaa. The venue of the meeting is the regional headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) located in Vavuniyaa. Similar development committee meeting for the Eastern Province was held in the Naval Headquarters located inside Trincomalee Naval Dockyard recently.
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Rajapaksa to form new cabinet after swearing in for second term

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 04:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday indicated that a fresh cabinet would be formed after him being sworn in for the second term on November 19. He revealed this at a conference held Tuesday at Temple Trees while addressing Trade unions’ representatives, sources in Colombo said.
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Northern ‘Development’ Meeting to be held in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 05:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to hold the ‘Development’ Meeting of North in Vavuniyaa 19 October and a meeting to discuss arrangement for the Vavuniyaa meeting was held Monday in Jaffna Secretariat by Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri and Sri Lanka Minister, Douglas Devananda. The Government Agents of the districts of Jaffna, Ki’linochchi, Mullaiththeevu, Vavuniyaa and Mannaar participated in the meeting.
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