Srilankamirror - The Road Development Authority (RDA) has said there may be a few lapses in the Southern Expressway since it is the country’s first expressway. Head of the RDA, Ranjith Premasiri has told BBC that there may be a few lapses. “This is the first (such) experience of this country and there may be a few lapses,” Premasiri has admitted. Premasiri has made the...

Srilankamirror - UPFA parliamentarian and former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Thilanga Sumathipala has come down hard on the members who have served in the recent SLC Interim Committees. Sumathipala has said that those who have served in recent interim committees have no moral right to contest the upcoming elections for SLC. Sumathipala has told BBC Sandeshsaya that former interim ...

Attackers believed to be from the Sri Lanka Army opened fire and lobbed grenade and petrol bomb on the house of the head of the civic council (Piratheasa Chapai) of Kaarainakar, Mr Anaimukan Velayutham, a TNA member and a leading trader in Jaffna in the early hours of Saturday, causing minor injuries to his aged mother. The attack comes hours after an interview by Mr. Anaimukan to BBC Tamil ...

Sri Lankan conservationists couldnt be happier at the news of multinational food firm Dole based in the US abandoning plans to start a banana plantation at a national park, the BBC website reported. Conservationists quoted by the site said Dole had hoped to team up with a local company, Letsgrow Ltd, to plant the bananas at the Somawathiya National Park.The park is home to elephants...

"The ban on TamilNet is the first instance of what the Free Media Movement believes may soon be a slippery slope of web and internet censorship in Sri Lanka," BBC reported on 20th June 2007 when local reports indicated that access to TamilNet was blocked by unannounced directives to service providers from officials in Colombo. Four years later, Colombo, increasingly alarmed by proliferation of ...

Will the LLRC report re-write history? Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission will issue its report soon (hopefully to the public). It is not necessary to mention leaks; it is enough to simply look at the initial statement of purpose. “To inquire and report on the following matters that may have taken place during ...

Sarath Fonseka, the former army Chief who led the Sri Lankan Army to completely wipe out the LTTE has been jailed for three years for implicating the government in war crimes. The court has ruled out that he lent credence to allegations the defence secretary ordered Tamil Tigers to be killed as they tried to surrender ...

Colombo is beefing up security ahead of the delivery of the verdict in the controversial white flag case against former army commander General Sarath Fonseka. While there are reports that a key witness against Fonseka has fled the country in fear on a Cathay Pacific Flight bound for Hong Kong, police have also moved in a ...

(Srilankamirror) - Hirunika Premachandra has welcomed the court order to arrest MP Duminda Silva in connection with the killing of her father, presidential advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra. Speaking to the BBC from an undisclosed location outside Sri Lanka, she has said that the news had restored her faith in the judiciary. "I think this is the first time I felt happy since my fa...

BBC Sandeshaya says that it reliably learns that a brand new Aston Martin car has been hurriedly imported to Colombo by a wealthy businessman. The new Rs. 55 million sports car has been brought using a specially chartered aeroplane from UK. Former Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Upali Dharmadasa neither confirmed nor denied that he brought the new luxury vehicle, thought to be only the second A...

(Srilankamirror) - The convicted insider trader, Sri Lankan born Raj Rajaratnam, has been handed a record fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil case. A judge ordered the former founder of Galleon Group, a hedge fund, to pay 92.8 million dollars in penalties, BBC reports. This comes on top of the $63.8 m lawyers say he has already paid out in the criminal case. Rajara...

Indian Congress Parliamentarian Sudarshan Nachchiappan has emphatically mentioned that the propaganda carried out by the Diaspora with regard to Sri Lanka cannot be endorsed. He invited the Diaspora to visit their motherland and witness the real situation. In a special interview with the BBC Tamil Service, the Indian Congress member pointed out that he visited ...

British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Sri Lanka on Sunday to make progress on human rights before it hosts the next Commonwealth leaders meeting in 2013 to prevent the likelihood of boycotts, AFP reported. Cameron said he pressed President Mahendra Rajapaske during this year's Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Australia to show that Colombo did not "have things to hide" fol...

There seems to be a link between Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), illegal drugs and the recent murder of a presidential advisor, says the owner of a private media network. Shan Wickramsinghe, the owner of the TNL media network, told BBC Sandeshaya that ...

(Srilankamirror) - Players of the Sri Lanka national cricket team have not been paid in the past several months, the BBC reports. About 100 contracted players are not paid since Sri Lanka co-hosted the World Cup together with India and Bangladesh, it reports.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed that the national cricketers have not been paid their salaries for months. About 100 contracted players are not paid since Sri Lanka co-hosted the World Cup together with India and Bangladesh, BBC report. .

Networking for Rights says it is deeply concerned that the assault on Jaffna student leader, Subramaniam Thevapalasingham is a further erosion of the democratic rights of the people of Sri Lanka. In a statement, NfR says Thavapalasigham is reported to have been attacked with iron rods and is presently receiving treatment at the Jaffna Hospital.  Thavapalsingham has sustained injuries to ...

Liam Fox, the Former British Defence Secretary who was forced to resign is accused of seeking funds from wealthy Tamil businessmen in the UK. Former head of the UNP’s British branch Dr. Roger Srinivasan says he met Dr Fox few times accompanying an opposition parliamentarian visiting London during 2007-2009. Dr Fox requested him to introduce wealthy Tamils in UK at a time the Sri Lank...

The ruling party in Sri Lanka should take the responsibility for the recent murder of a presidential advisor, his family members say. In an exclusive interview with BBC Sandeshaya, Swarna Guanaratne, elder sister of slain Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra said that the family is not satisfied about the progress in the murder investigation.

Military authorities in Sri Lanka say they are not aware of a serious assault on a Tamil student leader allegedly by military personnel. Military spokesman, Brig Nihal Hapuarachchi, told BBC Sinhala service that he has received no information about the alleged involvement of the military.

OCTOBER 17, 2011: Status: Not Free Legal Environment: 23 Political Environment: 30 Economic Environment: 18 Total Score: 71 Despite the end of the government’s long-running war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group in May 2009, media freedom remained restricted in Sri Lanka, with journalists subject to myriad forms of legal harassment and physical intimidation. Altho...

Impunity lies at the heart of the Kolonnawa killings “A foul, dishonourable crew….” Giaccomo Leopardi (To Angelo Mai III) By Tisaranee Gunasekara In the Rajapaksa Security State, insecurity is the common condition of the rest of us… Impunity makes jungles out of civilised societies, where the big and the powerful prey on those smaller and ...

Noel Bruno Dawsan, a Sri Lankan, has been recognized as the world's best tour guide by the British travel magazine Wanderlust. The winner says he is delighted and will help disadvantaged people into further education with his bursary. A Tamil of Indian origin, he comes from a family of impoverished tea pickers in a remote Sri Lankan town. Mr. Dawsan was hailed by the judges as a ...

British media reports that the Sri Lanka Development Fund, set up by Britain’s Defence Secretary Liam Fox has not achieved any results other than to pay for his trips to the island. The defence secretary has told the House of Commons that he had worked with people in business, banking and politics in Sri Lanka since 2009 to set up the Trust to help with reconstruction of the country aft...

British defence secretary Liam Fox is facing renewed political pressure after emails and video footage emerged appearing to contradict his explanation of his working relationship with a close friend, Adam Werritty. BBC reports that video revealed Mr. Werritty, who has no official role, attended a meeting with Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

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A group of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka led a crowd that demolished a Muslim shrine last week, the BBC has learned

Buddhist monks led a crowd that demolished a Muslim shrine in northern Sri Lanka last week, the BBC learns, amid calls for the government to act.

The Canadian prime minister has called upon heads of state to consider Sri Lanka’s human rights record before attending the Commonwealth leaders’ summit (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo. Answering a question by a journalist in Toronto, PM Stephen Harper said he has expressed his reservations on Sri Lanka hosting the 2013 summit. “I intend ...

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