World News

Lankan maid force to eat dog meat in Malaysia

2011-12-21T05:50:00.005-08:00

A Sri Lankan maid claimed she was abused and made to eat leftovers and dog meet by her employer in Kuala Lumpur, China Press reported. Maid, aged 23, claimed that her employer had burnt her hands with hot cooking utensils.

She then fled to Tangkak in Johor to seek help from her sister to lodge a police report. According to the sources, the maid began working for the employer in October and her nightmare began after three weeks into the job.
She said that besides doing the household chores at her employer’s two houses, she was also asked to clean the house of the employer’s mother. The police spokesman said they would record the victim’s statement and send her for a medical check-up

LLRC report will advance accountability : Commonwealth

2011-12-21T05:50:00.003-08:00

The Commonwealth has hoped that a Sri Lankan war commission report on the conflict with the LTTE will advance the cause of accountability, saying that genuine reconciliation and accountability go hand-in-hand.

Applauding the intent of transparency with which the Sri Lankan government tabled the full report of the commission before Parliament, Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said the
recommendations in the report should be implemented in an objective, even-handed and forward-looking manner.
“It is for the government and people of Sri Lanka to chart their country’s way forward after the military defeat of the forces of terrorism,” Sharma said, commenting on the report of the Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
“The Commonwealth, as a partner of Sri Lanka, which is a founder member of the modern Commonwealth, remains ready to assist the government in dealing with the challenges of building a harmonious and sustainable peace,” he said in a press release.
The LLRC was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 to probe the role of the nation’s army in the final stages of the civil war.
The war came to an end in 2009 when the Lankan military crushed the rebels.
The LLRC report cleared the nation’s army of deliberately targeting civilians in the final stages of the war against the LTTE, though conceding that some isolated incidents could have occurred.
The commission called for a political settlement of the ethnic conflict with the minority Tamils and asked the government to take the initiative for “a serious and structured” dialogue with all political parties, particularly those representing the minorities.
It asked the government to reach out to minorities and said that the Tamils should in turn reposition themselves in their role vis-a-vis the state.
However, US-based Human Rights Watch has slammed the report, saying it failed to fix accountability and “disregards” the “worst abuse” by government forces

We can't develop country by organizing motor care race : Sarath Fonseka

2011-12-21T05:50:00.001-08:00

Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka stated it’s difficult to develop country by organizing motor car race in the country.

He also questioned when do this event organizers will be aware about the problems of the in this country?
Sarath Fonseka made this statement when he was taken up to private hospital for medical treatment yesterday (20.12.2011)
He also said at present youth of this country are facing difficulties to buy a motor bike or cycle for their own but today children of politicians are organizing night motor car race said the Commander.

Family members of Fonsek should request pardon on his release: President Rajapaksa

2011-12-21T05:49:00.001-08:00

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said he was ready to consider a pardon for former army commander Sarath Fonseka if his family makes a request to that effect.

He said such a pardon would be considered under the proper procedure. Speaking at a meeting with newspaper editors at Temple Trees yesterday.
president further said there had been requests from several sectors towards granting a pardon to Sarath Fonseka and confirmed that there had been discussions on this matter and it was not something new. He said not only MP Tiran Alles but several others had also discussed the matter with him.
“It is immaterial whether you deliver a petition with millions of signatures to President Barack Obama or adopt any other strategies but the final decision rests with me,” the President said.

Top Chinese military delegation visits Sri Lanka

2011-12-13T07:23:00.003-08:00

A high-level Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) delegation headed by General Ma Hixiaotian the Deputy Chief of General Staff arrived in Sri Lanka to discuss professional training, exercises and further promotion of military assistance to Sri Lanka.

The members of the delegation will hold discussions about the move to strengthen bilateral relationship between the two armies and provide increased opportunities to the Sri Lankan Army.
The delegation will explore ways of increasing the intake of our trainee officers to Chinese military academies with requests to be channeled through the Ministry of Defence.
According to the political analyses this was an important issue where the short term period of SriLankan Army Commander return from India delegates of the Chinese Army have visited SriLanka to hold discussions with Lankan forces.

Protest organized in Colombo urging to release Kugan and Lalith held by Army

2011-12-13T07:23:00.001-08:00

The Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) staged a protest today in front of the Fort Railway Station urging authorities to take steps to find two missing JVP students Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan in Jaffna.

This protest was organized by the Movement of people's struggle . The president of the SriLankan branch Udul Premaratne and several other members were also present at the protest.
Protesters charged that they are being held by the military an also they hold the slogans urging the release of these two students.

We can't release 866 LTTE members : Government

2011-12-13T07:22:00.003-08:00

SriLankan government announced it’s difficult to release 866 LTTE carders who involved in the various crimes.

According to the government these LTTE members had carried out attacks against M.I.Helicopters, Army camps, busses and various vehicles during the war time., Several Tamil organizations requested the government to release these suspects. However government announced it’s difficult to release all these suspects.
Case had been filed against four LTTE members who were allegedly involved in a murder.
Government further said case would be file against all these suspects.

UNP did not appoint members for parliamentary select committee : Amarathunga

2011-12-13T07:22:00.001-08:00

United National Party announced that they won’t appoint members for parliamentary select committee.

UNP also decided that they won’t appoint members for parliamentary select committee since the government to end talks with the representatives of Tamil National Alliance of ethnic issue.
Party also stresses the government to hold discussions with TNA.
Recently government announced the political parties to name the respective members for parliamentary select committee.
Senior member of the United National Party John Amarathunga announced that they won’t hand over the names of their representatives to government since the government to hold proper discussions with Tamil National Alliance.

US high ranking official visit to India will discuss on Lankan issue : Colombo media reports

2011-12-13T07:21:00.001-08:00

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is scheduled to visit New Delhi will hold discussion on SriLankan issues with top Indian leaders, Colombo based news paper reports.

According to the news paper Secretary will pay his special attention on countries present situation since end of the war.
Burns, who is expected to leave on December 10 is likely to have his official meetings in New Delhi on December 12 with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, sources said.
The top American diplomat, who personally sees 'India file' at the State Department, is expected to discuss with the Indian leaders a 'whole gamut' of relationship, which includes the bilateral ties and the situation in the region including Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We can't trust Norway government on their visit to Jaffna: Divaina reports

2011-12-09T23:07:00.001-08:00

Government support sinhala news paper reveals that they were unable to trust Norway Ambassador Hildge Harasted and several other high ranking officials visited to the Jaffna recently.

During the visit Norwegian officials hold discussions with Jaffna Bishop Rev.Fr.Thomas Soundranayagam. This is the first visit made by the Norway officials since end of the war Divaina reports.
During the time of discussion Jaffna bishop urge the Norwegian officials to support for the political solution of Tamil people in this country.However we were unable to trust Norway government said the news paper.
News paper further noted that Rajasingham member of the plot organization in Norway branch reveals that Norway government is interfering on to the ethnic issue of SriLanka.

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2011-12-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

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Australian parliamentary delegation to arrive in Sri Lanka

2011-12-09T03:35:00.001-08:00

An Australian parliamentary delegation is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today on an invitation from Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, the state-run radio SLBC reported.

During their stay, the delegation, led by Labor Party MP Maria Vamvakinou will hold discussions with the Speaker, the Opposition Leader and other parliamentarians.
The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
The Australian parliamentarians are scheduled to visit Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and also to tour Jaffna in Northern Province.

Deported Lankan illegals win £37,000 and a ticket back to UK

2011-12-09T03:34:00.001-08:00

A family of deported Sri Lankan asylum seekers have been handed £37,000 compensation and told they can return to Britain even though they have no right to be here.
The UK High Court ruling provoked a swift backlash after the Sri Lankans won their six-year legal battle for cash yesterday.
Mr Justice Cranston ordered the Home Secretary to compensate the family of five because they were taken from their home in the middle of the night and not allowed to call lawyers. The two parents and their three children, who cannot be named for legal reasons and are currently in Germany where they first claimed asylum, now plan to come back to the UK and launch another bid for residency.
They were flown back to Germany in 2006 because that was the country where they first landed after fleeing their war-torn homeland and where their asylum claim should be assessed. Yesterday campaigners called the ruling a travesty. UK Independence Party Home Affairs spokesman Gerard Batten MEP said: “These are people who have been in breach of the law and clearly have no right to be here.
“The rules are quite clear, people claiming asylum in the EU do so in the first country they land in. We were right to send them back to Germany. It is not as though they were dropped into a war zone. “When the authorities try to implement the law there always seems to be some legalistic barrier that stops them acting in the public interest. This case will send out another message to people saying they can thwart the law and get paid for the privilege.”
Tory backbench MP Priti Patel called the ruling “outrageous”. “To be giving any asylum seekers public money is wrong and an insult to the public. This just exposes the flaws in the system,” he said. “If there is a problem with our procedures they need to be sorted out quickly. “We do not have a bottomless pot of money with which to pay compensation.”
The family, the two parents, one son and two daughters – now aged between 14 and 23 – were taken from their home in Wembley, north London in January 2006 in a 2am raid by immigration officials and police. They were put on a 7.50am flight to Germany because the Home Office said that country was responsible for assessing their asylum claim.
Lawyers for the five said their rights had been violated because they were taken away in their nightclothes and not given the chance to arrange for their personal possession to be looked after. Manjit Gill, QC, told the court their mobile phones were taken away and they were stopped from getting legal advice or access to the courts. It is thought they had been in the UK for nearly 10 years when they were deported. They fled Sri Lanka in 1996.
At the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Cranston awarded them basic and aggravated damages and said they could return to the UK if they wished.

A/L results out next month

2011-12-09T03:33:00.000-08:00

Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE

The results of the Advanced Level Examination 2011 will be released in the first week of December, Examinations Commissioner General Anura Edirisinghe said. For the first time in the history of examinations, the largest number of candidates sat for the examination this year.
Accordingly, 294,800 candidates sat for the examination which commenced on August 8 at 2,400 examination centres throughout the country and ended on September 3.
The number who sat for the examination this year is 50,000 more than the number of candidates who sat last year. More than 45,000 examination staffers were engaged in examination related activities during the examination period. Examinations Commissioner General Anura Edirisinghe said that, the result will probably be issued prior to the commencement of the school vacation.
He added that the Examinations Department is engaged in the result issuing process deploying the adequate number of staffers. Advanced Level answer scripts evaluation process, which commenced on September 9 has already been completed. The result issuing process normally takes 60 days from the conclusion of the examination.
He said that this year's result issuing process is somewhat complicated than last year, since the examination was held under two syllabuses as new and old. However, the Examinations Department has taken measures to ensure the smooth conduct of the result issuing process.
Under the new syllabus there are five subjects while under the old syllabus there were only four subjects, he said. The Commissioner assured that results regarding both syllabuses will be issued simultaneously or there may be a slight time gap of one or two days.2

Husband and wife murdered in Nerweli area in Jaffna district

2011-12-09T03:30:00.001-08:00

Husband and wife in the Nerweli area in Jaffna district was murdered due to a family issue.
Son of the victims was also severely and rushed to the Jaffna base hospital.
Victim was identifies as Markandu Uthayakumar(55) and Udayakumar Wasanthamalar(45) resident of Nerweli area.
It was brother of Mrs Udayakumar arrested on suspicion.
Postmortem of these bodies were carried out at the Jaffna hospital.
Kopai police carrying out further investigation this regard.

Group of SriLankan Workers Congress parliamentarians schedule to visit Vanni district

2011-12-09T03:29:00.001-08:00

Deputy Minister of Economic development Muthu Sivalingam announced parliamentarian of the Srilanka working congress schedule to visit Vanni district.
This group would be lead by the party general secretary and the Minister of Livestock and Rural community development Arumugam Thondaman.
During the visit this group will pay special attention towards the problems faced by the upcountry people residing in the Vanni district during the time of conflict in past 30 years.
Deputy Minister further said office of the SriLanka workers congress is operating in the Vanni district for past 40- years and also added this office will take necessary steps to solve the problems of upcountry people residing in the Vanni district.

SLMC wont support the stance of migrant Tamils: Minister Hakeem

2011-12-07T05:57:00.001-08:00

The Minister of Justice Rauf Hakeem stated some local and international powers are hoping to defeat the SriLankan government since they defeat the terrorism in our country.

Minister also said all communities need to support the government to defeat all these powers.
He also pointed to that minority groups such as Muslims and Tamils should understand that proposal of ethnic issue should need to be accepted by the majority Sinhala community then only we were able to establish peace in our motherland said the Minister.
Minister of justice further said that SriLanka Muslim Congress won’t accept the stance of Migrant Tamils.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a welcomed by the majority people in such situation there are possibilities to solve the ethnic issue of this country.

TID abducted a youth in Mulaitivu district

2011-12-07T05:56:00.002-08:00

A youth in the Katuvinayakapuram area in Mullaitivu was abducted by the Army yesterday(6.12.2011) while he was at home at home.

The mother of the arrested youth had reported the incident to the Mullaitivu police stating that an unidentified group of people claiming to be from the TID had taken her son.
Upon further inquiries the police learnt that the 23 year old Ganesa Moorthi Rathan was being detained in the Joseph Camp in Vavuniya.

Russia opens service centers in Sri Lanka

2011-12-07T05:56:00.000-08:00

Russia plans to open maintenance centers in Sri Lanka to service Soviet or Russian-made military equipment, a Rosoboronexport high-ranking official said.

Viktor Komardin, Rosoboronexport’s deputy general director, made a statement to this effect at an international arms exhibition in Malaysia.
Russia has supplied Sri Lanka with four Mi-17 helicopters, two infantry vehicles and 19 armored personnel carriers.
Last year, Sri Lanka received $300mln to purchase 14 helicopters.
ruvr.ru

Family man abducted in Kothena area

2011-12-06T07:35:00.002-08:00

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana announced that a family man had abducted in the Jampata street in Kothena area Colombo13.

According to the family members group of unidentified persons arrived in the white van with weapons around 2.30pm in the evening had abducted victim.
However victim is identified as 50 year old Christoper Fernando.
People of this area have burnt tires and stage protest against this abduction.

Lankan fraudsters arrested in Namibia

2011-12-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

Five persons including two Sri Lankans who were involved in ATM card frauds were presented to the Namibian High Court yesterday.

The matter in which five foreigners and a Namibian stand accused of using counterfeit ATM cards resumed in the High Court yesterday. The accused are Satheeskumar Thulasithas, a Sri Lankan, Pararasasingam Sarangan, British national, Travotta Mekaundapi Tjuiju, Namibian, Abdul Kader Jamal Mohamed, a Singaporean and Anthony Suresh Kumar Stanis also, a Sri Lankan.
The foreigners allegedly entered and exited Namibia between March 18 2007 and August 14 2007. Court documents indicate that local banks such as Bank Windhoek and Standard Bank retrieved cards from their teller machines that appeared to be counterfeit and an investigation was launched.
Yesterday, Emmerenthia Farmer, who was a waitress at New Cafe Central where the men used to be regular customers, testified on the luxury life that she and the men and their friends, some of whom not implicated in the case, lived. This included drives to lodges and frequent visits to Club Ladidas, where they sat in the VIP room, allegedly paid for by Thulasithas.
At the Napwu Guesthouse in Suiderhof where the accused were residing about U$82 850 was found, as well as a dual-sided colour PVC card printer with cards in the slot of the machine. One side of the cards had the Bank Windhoek colours and logo, while on the other side the cards were white.
Four boxes with white plastic cards, a magnetic strip reader/recorder, label printers, a laptop, printing cards software, and numerous cellphones were also found at the guesthouse. Sarangan was arrested on August 7 2007 in the early morning hours at a shopping centre in Katutura while withdrawing money from an ATM of Bank Windhoek.
Thulasithas was arrested when he came to pick up Sarangan. The men were found with large amounts of Namibian dollars, US dollars and euros, according to the charge sheet. An invitation letter and a photo of Tjiuiju were found at the guesthouse that led to his arrest on August 7 2007. Mohamed was also arrested the same day, at Hosea Kutako International Airport. Stanis was arrested on September 26 2007.
The matter is continuing. Judge Alfred Siboleka is presiding. Deputy Prosecutor-General Annemarie Lategan, assisted by State Advocate Erick Moyo represents the State, while Sisa Namandje represents Thulasithas, Sarangan and Stanis. Defence lawyer Brownell Uirab represents Tuiju and Mohamed.

We wrote Sri Lankan President’s civil war speech, Bell Pottinger told undercover reporters

2011-12-06T07:34:00.004-08:00

“Senior executives at Bell Pottinger told undercover reporters that they were so influential that they had written a key speech given by the Sri Lankan President to the United Nations”.

During the address by President Mahinda Rajapaksa last year, which the company said was used in preference to one prepared by the Sri Lankan foreign ministry, the President suggested rules governing the humanitarian conduct of war should be re-examined. He also described his troops’ action against Tamil Tiger separatists as humanitarian.
President Rajapaksa also claimed in the speech that a Commission established by the government to look into the last years of the civil war, was giving “full expression to the principles of accountability”. The Commission has been heavily criticised by human rights groups including Amnesty International because it does not have a mandate to hold individuals to account for war crimes.
“We had a team working in the President’s office. We wrote the President’s speech to the UN last year which was very well received… it went a long way to taking the country where it needed to go,” David Wilson, the chairman of Bell Pottinger Public Relations, said during the meeting with undercover reporters.
But during the meeting Mr Wilson seemed to agree with Amnesty, describing the Commission as having a “fundamental flaw in its remit in investigating what has gone on in the past, to try to bury the past”. The company also attended a meeting of Tamil dissidents in London, the British Tamils Forum (BTF) said. Days before President Rajapaksa’s arrival in London in December 2010, Tim Ryan, the chairman of Bell Pottinger International, and a colleague attended an open political meeting in Harrow organised by the BTF and the Nava Sama Samaja Party.
Gobi Ratnam, a Tamil journalist who chaired the event said the pair stood out as the only white people present. They said they were from Bell Pottinger. “They said they wanted to listen to our problems, to learn and help the Sri Lankan people,” Mr Ratnam said. “A lot of people were talking to them.”
Dr Wickremabahu Karunaratne, the Sinhalese general secretary of the NSS Party who ran for president in 2010, gave a speech at the meeting in which he called for Tamil forces to join a new alliance of opposition members and breakaway groups to challenge the government – comments that were widely reported.
There is no suggestion that Bell Pottinger did anything illegal in its dealings with the Sri Lankan government. Part of Bell Pottinger’s remit was to influence the foreign media in favour of the Sri Lankan government.
The firm sub-contracted its work in the United States to the firm Qorvis, which placed an article by President Rajapaksa in the Philadelphia Inquirer in December 2009 entitled “How Sri Lanka Defeated Terrorism”. In the piece the President suggested Sri Lanka had provided a “workable model” for defeating terrorism, from which the international community could gain “valuable insight”.

Ranil trust the US to defeate LTTE : Wikileaks

2011-12-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

“Since coming to power in late 2001, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken steps to steer Sri Lankan foreign policy closer to the U.S. Wickremesinghe’s pro-U.S. views have been long-standing and are in part a function of family connections.

His uncle, J.R. Jayewardene, for example, was Sri Lanka’s president from the late 1970s through the late 1980s, and maintained very close links with the U.S. " the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
The cable classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” analyses the Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The cable written on May 29, 2003 by the US Ambassador to Colombo E. Ashley Wills.
Ambassador Wills wrote “Moreover, Wickremesinghe, who comes from a very wealthy busi.ness family, is a strong advocate of free enterprise and strongly opposed to the disastrous socialist policies of former governments.
Wickremesinghe is also surprisingly knowledgeable about U.S. history and politics; he is an avid reader about the American Civil War, U.S. military history, and U.S. legislation. The prime minister’s pro-U.S.views also emerge out of his political calculus that Sri Lanka needs the support of the international community, especially the U.S., to constrain the Tamil Tigers. With the peace process his government’s number one priority bar none, the prime minister has worked hard to secure U.S. support for his efforts in this area from very early on in his tenure.”

Image Analysis

2011-12-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

In reading all of this literature about incorporating technology into English classrooms, it is becoming more and more evident that there are numerous possibilities. Simple enhancements of photos, fonts, captivating language, all help lure audiences in very specific ways toward specific rhetorical goals. Anne Francis Wysocki explains this concept in her article “The Sticky Embrace of Beauty.” Drawing upon her perception of an article encountered in the New York Times as a reference in demonstrating her argument, Wysocki captured me as a reader due impart to the shock of seeing a naked woman featured in the advertisement. The article provides helpful information about the history of analysis of images in ads while also giving tools to move beyond the often constricted scope of tapered perceptions associated with advertisements. The activities Wysocki offers as the remedy to this problem are useful in taking students away from their narrow perceptions by requiring them to interrogate the images in order to open and extend the conversations about them.

She offers tools for a deeper analysis of images which serves the rhetorical goal of getting students to write but overlooks the attached goal of incorporating technology. A thorough analysis of images does not necessarily lead to technological incorporation, although there are many ways which it could. The activities that Wysocki provided at the end of the chapter could easily include components requiring students to find images using computers, create online discussions topics about their projects, use digitized text, and any other technology relevant creativity which students may design.

Devaluation of rupee is increasing public debt burden : UNP

2011-12-05T05:20:00.001-08:00

The main opposition UNP yesterday charged that the devaluation of the Sri Lankan rupee at the recent Budget has resulted in the country’s public debt burden increasing by a further Rs. 81 billion, the UNP said yesterday.

UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake said the country’s public debt burden had risen to Rs. 5,200 billion.With the devaluation of the rupee by three rupees, the rupee component of external borrowings will increase by another Rs.81 billion. This is a serious situation, he said.
Mr. Karunanayake said the government devalued the rupee to suit the interests of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and it would have dire consequences on the economy of Sri Lanka.
Already, two government ministers - Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Prof. Tissa Vitarana have expressed concern over the devaluation. However, the other government ministers supported the decision saying it would increase export revenue in terms of the rupee value.