By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Oct 21, 2023The UK’s Channel 4 has declined to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday carnage. The television station has said that it couldn’t reveal confidential sources or what it called confidential journalistic material. Referring to the C4’s response, sources close to the investigation asserted that such a course of action would be severely inimical to those who valued truly independent media. President Ranil…
Posts published in “Sri Lanka”
by Sahan Tennekoon in Daily Morning, Oct 19, 2023The date of tabling the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB) to the Parliament remains uncertain since it has been removed from the Parliamentary Order Book as it has not been tabled in the Parliament on 3 October as planned. Making a special announcement yesterday (18), Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana told the Parliament that the revised ATB has been removed from the Parliamentary Order Book since it…
By SHIHAR ANEEZ in The Economy Next, Oct 19, 2023ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka needs to carefully navigate the fisheries industry in the Northern sea between India and China, the State Fisheries Minister said, as Beijing’s sea cucumber business is growing with more revenue amid increasing security concerns by Delhi and poaching of Indian fishermen. Hundreds of fishermen in Sri Lanka’s former northern war zone have switched to sea cucumber farming, a booming trade, in the…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Oct 19, 2023The government has requested UN intervention to prevent the large Indian fishing fleet from poaching in Sri Lankan waters. Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda has made the request on behalf of the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government. A statement issued by the Fisheries Ministry on 16 Oct., quoted Devananda as having told UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo Marc-André Franche that the invasion of Sri Lankan waters was a serious problem. The…
Report in The Island, Oct 17, 2023Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has moved the Supreme Court against the ‘Online Safety’ Bill. The Catholic Church has sought the SC intervention in terms of Article 120 read with Articles 121 & 78 of the Constitution &/or Article 134 of the Constitution. The Cardinal’s petition is the latest in a series of cases filed against the Bill. The petition named the Attorney General as the respondent. The…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Oct 17, 2023Top Opposition spokesperson Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday (16) dismissed Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s attempt to introduce a new system for electing MPs as a politically motivated project to sabotage national elections. Such an exercise couldn’t be justified under any circumstances at a time the Provincial Council and Local Government polls, too, had been put off indefinitely, he said Prof. Peiris stressed that the government continued to…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Oct 16, 2023The Catholic Church yesterday (15) rejected the government move to appoint a Special Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to inquire into the allegations made in the Channel 4 documentary as regards the complicity of some sections of the government in the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. Top spokesperson for the Catholic Church Rev. Father Cyril Gamini Fernando questioned the purpose in appointing a Special PSC as the issues at…
Report in The Island, Oct 16, 2023Sri Lanka wants China to share with other creditors the terms of its recent $4.2 billion bilateral debt deal, a step needed to help the country speed up the process of restoring its finances over a year after it defaulted. Sharing the information would ensure transparency and assure other bilateral creditors that they’re getting a comparable deal, news agencies have quoted Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, as sayng…
report in Dawn, October 15th, 2023NORTH WAZIRISTAN: The security forces killed six militants and injured eight others in an intelligence-based operation in the Mir Ali town of North Waziristan district on Saturday, the military’s media wing said. “Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and target killing of innocent civilians,” the ISPR said. A soldier was also martyred in the incident, the…
by Political Editor in The Sunday Times, Oct 15, 2023Is the talk about abolishing the executive presidency, gaining momentum, a trial balloon floated by an influential section of the government? So, it seems to be the likely answer. The apparent rationale behind the move is to obviate the need for a presidential poll. It is proposed to be carried out through a national referendum. That is to pave the way for a general election and…
report in The Island, Oct 15, 2023The UN Human Rights Office has raised serious concerns over two bills under consideration in the Sri Lankan Parliament – the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill. Issuing a statement, the UN Human Rights Office said the bills give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can also impose restrictions on human rights, not in line with international human rights law. The Anti-Terrorism Bill is intended…