• Sri Lankan Airlines looks for external sources to stay afloat

    Dec 02
    The government owned Sri Lankan Airlines has sought S$175 million of external funding after posting a record loss last year.

    The cash strapped airlines posted a Rs.2.6 billion loss, and is turning to both the government and external funders in order to keep the company running.
  • Supreme court sanctions Media Ministry's authoritarianism

    Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Media Ministry's plans to ensure all wesbites covering news and information on Sri Lanka register with the ministry, on Friday. 

    The ruling came during a case filed by the website, www.srilankamirror.com, who had been blocked by the government since 5th November.

  • Sri Lanka bans Tamil Remembrance Day

    The Sri Lankan Government has banned all forms of commemorations of the Tamil National Remembrance Day.

    Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said today, Sri Lanka will urge other countries to follow suit.

  • Canadian foreign minister condemns 'growing authoritarian trend'

    Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, asserted that Sri Lanka must take accountability for alleged war crimes seriously, and highlighted the "growing authoritarian trend".

    Addressing the Commons foreign affairs committee on Thursday, Baird said,

  • Sri Lankan Air Force purchases more helicopters
    Sri Lanka has purchased two Bell 412 helicopters which were delivered to its storage facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee, adding to their growing fleet of aircraft.

    The helicopters, bought of the US-based Bell Helicopter company have been modified for “VIP travel”. The Air Force recently purchased 14 military transport helicopters from Russia and two aircraft from China to add to it’s expanding commercial arm, Helitours.
  • Army to publish 'new report' into war crimes allegations

    Sri Lanka's armed forces announced the release of a new report, by the country's security forces, as a response to the report by the UN panel of experts.

    Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said.

  • At the mercy of the King

    Mahinda Rajapaksa granted presidential "permission" for displaced Tamils from Talaimannar to return to their lands, following a dispute over the lands.

    Displaced Tamils from the Talaimannar area had been evicted from their homes by Sri Lankan security authorities who accused the 550 displaced families of "squatting on State land".

    In an article, entitled "MR intervenes to resettle evicted IDPs", the pro-government newspaper, The Island, stated that the matter was only settled after the Industry and Commerce Minister, Rishard Bathiudeen, raised the issue with Rajapaksa.

    According to The Island, "those evicted had been given permission to return to their land as President Rajapaksa had intervened."

  • Sri Lanka’s first motorway in the South
    President Mahinda Rajapakse unveiled Sri Lanka’s first motorway on Sunday, linking Colombo to the Southern city of Galle.

    Rajapakse hailed the construction a "revolution" and declared,

  • Akashi pushes for accountability
    Japan, one of Sri Lanka's largest donors, has reiterated the importance of accountability in Sri Lanka during talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse and called for a probe into human rights abuses in the country.
  • Tamil defiance in the Eelam homeland

    Photographs www.pathivu.com

    Tamil defiance continues with the news outlet Pathivu publishing photographs of further Remembrance Day commorations amidst militarisation in the Eelam homeland.

  • World Bank approves $100 million loan

    The World Bank announced on Tuesday its approval of a credit worth $100 million to fund the transformation of Sri Lanka’s education system.

  • And still we will go on, as yet more youth come forward' - TYO-UK

    Members of the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO-UK) addressed crowds across multiple events held in the UK for Remembrance Day.

  • British Tamils commemorate Remembrance Day

  • Jaffna uni students detail their defiant act of remembrance

    Photographs www.pathivu.com
     

    Following initial reports of Jaffna uni students lighting of a flare to mark Remembrance Day, further details have emerged of how they defied the Sri Lankan state's systematic clamp down.
     
    According to the Tamil news website Pathivu, in a simple but profound act of defiance, students lit candles and oil lamps in their hostels. Others drew maps of Eelam, pictures of the heroes and paid tribute with candles. 

    Sri Lankan military officers on high alert during at this time of year, became agitated on seeing the endless displays of lamps in bedrooms. Students said the officers were seen to be going from one room to the next demanding the lamps be extinguished.

    Students described how after the flare was set off, military officers rushed into the university, vandalising the students' cars and bikes in rage. 
     

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, one student said, 

    "we will never forget Maaveerar Naal and no matter what obstacles come our way, we will always remember the fallen and pay due respect to them. They may have silenced the Tamil people on the military front but they can’t silence our thoughts and actions".

  • Cross-party group for Tamils marks Remembrance Day - UK

    A cross-party group of British MPs sympathetic to the Tamil struggle, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T), marked the Eelam nation's Remembrance Day.

    In a statement, the APPG-T chair, Conservative MP Lee Scott  said,

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