Sri Lanka and Finland agree cooperation on energy

Sri Lankd and Finland issued a joint declaration this week agreeing to closer cooperation on developing clean and renewable energy sources. The declaration comes as the Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Finland, meeting with his counterpart on Tuesday. “I trust that with this Joint Declaration new opportunities will be opened for Finnish and Sri Lankan companies to collaborate in the energy sector. We also talked about many other fields where Finland has expertise and technologies to offer to Sri Lanka – digitalisation, education, and health and water technologies,” the...

India-Sri Lanka to hold joint military exercises in Pune

Sri Lanka and India will hold joint military exercises in Pune between October 13 - 25. Officials from the army were quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, "the aim of the joint training is to exchange the best of military practices of the two countries and build a strong military-to-military relation between the two armies." "The exercise, the fifth in the series, also aims at developing joint strategies by sharing the expertise of conducting operations, especially in the counter-insurgency and counter terrorism (CI and CT) environment," the army official added.

Sri Lanka is not bound by UN rapporteur's recommendations says government

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry on Wednesday rejected reports the government would be bound by recommendations made by the UN Special Rapport on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Mr Pablo de Greiff who is due to visit the country this month. "Once Mr. de Greiff presents his Report to the Human Rights Council in September 2018, it is for the Government of Sri Lanka to decide whether there is anything that the Government considers beneficial to the people of Sri Lanka in his recommendations, and whether the Government wishes to draw on his knowledge,...

Mullaitivu womens orgs and TNPF remember Maalathy

Womens organisations in Mullaitivu paid tribute to 2nd Lt. Maalathy on Tuesday. The first female LTTE fighter to be killed in the armed struggle, Maalathy was remembered at the Tamil National People's Front's Mullaitivu office on the 30th anniversary of her death. Representatives from Kaiveli, Keppapulavu and Mullivaikkaal women's associations attended the event which also marked 'Women's Uprising Day'.

Maalathy remembered in Mannar hometown

Maalathy, the first female LTTE fighter to be killed in the Tamil armed struggle, was remembered in her hometown of Aandankulam in Mannar on Tuesday. The event was organised by the Crusaders for Democracy party of former LTTE cadres on the 30th anniversary of 2nd Lt. Maalathy's death.

I felt sad at murder of Prabhakaran and his son - Rahul Gandhi

The vice president of India's Congress party, Rahul Gandhi said he felt "sad and guilty" at the "murder" of the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009, as well as his 12 year old son, Balachandran. His comments were made this week when he spoke in Gujurat as part of a campaign tour on what he described as a "humilitating defeat in 2014" that had "drilled sense into us." "We have learnt from that defeat,” Mr Gandhi was quoted by The Hindu as saying. Speaking to students in Vadodara, Mr Gandhi said, “I will tell you something personal. My father was killed by Tamil Tiger Prabakaran...

Over 200,000 Chinese tourists visited Sri Lanka this year

Over 200,000 Chinest tourists visited Sri Lanka from the beginning of the year till now, Xinhua quoted Sri Lanka's tourism ministry as saying. The figures put China behind India in the largest number of tourists arriving in the island. Over 18,000 Chinese tourists arrived last month alone.

CID accuses Sri Lankan navy of providing false information over disappearance case

Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department told the Colombo Fort Magistrate on Wednesday that the Sri Lankan navy had provided "false and fake" information regarding the former navy spokesperson's involvement in the disappearance of 11 Tamil youths in 2008-2009. The former Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Commodore DKP Dassanayake was arrested earlier this year by the CID over the disappearance of 11 Tamil youths in 2008-2009. The CID told the court "the new Commander of the Navy was informed of the false information provided to the CID and the he had agreed to provide all the necessary...

6 arrested over protest at Indian consulate in Hambantota

A further six people have been arrested by Sri Lankan police over protests outside the Indian consulate in Hambantota, the Daily Mirror reported. Twenty-eight people were arrested previously for allegedly behaving in a violent manner at the protest. Four people were arrested yesterday, and a further two were arrested today. The police has also summoned Namal Rajapaksa MP and D V Upul MP.

Mavai promises to take hunger-striking Tamil political prisoners cases to Sri Lankan president

The TNA MP and leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi, Mavai Senathirajah has promised three hospitalised Tamil political prisoners that he will take up their cases with the Sri Lankan President. The parliamentarian visited the three detainees in hospital in Anuradhapuram, where they were admitted on Sunday following severe deteriorations in their health. The three have been hunger-striking for sixteen days in protest of the transferral of their cases from Vavuniya High Court to the Sinhala district of Anuradhapuram. Mr Senathirajah told the political prisoners that he supported their...

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