With many schools in Mullaitivu, considered to be among the most deprived districts on the island, celebrating the success of their students in national exams, one student in Thunukkai paid tribute to her widowed mother for her top results.

Manoja Jeganathan, a student at the Katchilamadu Panadaravannian Maha Vidyalayam, achieved 8 As in her O Level examinations.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s President is “exploiting the novel coronavirus pandemic to undermine the few checks and balances remaining against authoritarianism and sharpening tensions” writes J S Tissainayagam for the International Policy Digest.

“The Sri Lanka president’s rhetoric and actions to contain the pandemic will destabilise Sri Lanka and make him a poster boy in the expanding list of populist-led governments that Western democracies view as a threat.”

Amidst the losses caused by the coronavirus crisis, the passing of much loved miruthangam teacher and artiste Kandiah Anandanadesan on April 16 has shocked and saddened the Tamil community in London.

Born in 1961 in Thellipalai, Jaffna, Anandanadesan attended Union College and Mahajana college, and trained in miruthangam under Guru K P Sinnarajah. His father was a teacher at Union College, and his mother one of the first women to teach at Mahajana.

(Photo Credit: Solvency Ii Wire)

Following the Fitch Rating’s annual review of the Sri Lankan Insurance Corporation Limited’s (SLIC), Fitch has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings from “B” to “B-” indicating the potential risks to investors.

According to Fitch, this rating took into consideration the government’s response to the coronavirus and the impact said virus was having. They attribute this decline to Sri Lanka’s worsening sovereign credit profile.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has refused a request from opposition leaders to reconvene parliament in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, accusing them of having “a narrow political agenda”.

In response to a letter signed by seven opposition parties, Rajapaksa remained steadfast in his refusal to recall parliament

Colombo faces loan repayments of US$2.9 billion this year alone as debts continue to grow and the economy struggles in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, reports The Hindu this week.

Sri Lanka’s current foreign debt repayments debt alone amount to 42.6% of the country’s GDP in 2019, The Hindu said, with approximately $960 million owed to India and $5 billion to China in 2018.

“With a $1 billion-international sovereign bond maturing in October, the alarm bells are already ringing in Sri Lanka,” it added.

China’s ambassador to Sri Lanka pledged that his government and Chinese companies would look to help “rebuild” the island’s economy, as Sri Lanka’s president assured China that his regime had the spread of the coronavirus outbreak under control.

Acting Ambassador and Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo Hu Wei met with Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo this week, where the Sri Lankan president claimed the spread of the virus was “under control in general”.

 

Gravestones in a cemetry belonging to Navaly American Ceylon Mission Church have been damaged by unknown persons. 

The incident took place yesterday evening. South West Provincial Council Chairman, Anthonypillai Jebanesan and Manipay police are currently investigating the incident. 

 

<p>During a video conference, Head of Economic and Commercial Wing of India’s High Commission, Ms Suja K. Menon reaffirmed a commitment to support Sri Lanka’s economic revival after the coronavirus pandemic despite ongoing concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.</p> <p>During this conference, Ms Menon noted the importance of collaboration between industry and government as well as between India and its partners. Sri Lanka, she maintained, was of significance given its geographic proximity to Indian markets and the fact that it comprised part of the supply and global chain for many Indian companies.</p>

At least two Tamil women have been arrested by Sri Lankan police for alleged curfew violations, as they went to go deliver food to a group of women who were attacked by police officers earlier today.

Sri Lankan police officers forced entry into a house in Jaffna earlier today and viciously attacked family members with their guns and bats, leaving three Tamil women hospitalised. The officers also threatened to arrest people on false drug possession charges.

At least one woman was left unconscious by the assault, with three Tamil women in total requiring hospitalisation.