News Archives
How a U.S. agency cleaned up Rwanda’s genocide-stained image
For a monthly fee of $50,000 plus expenses, the U.S. agency offered a tantalizing prospect to the Rwandan government: a burnished image, a sophisticated media campaign – and a chance at “drowning out” those pesky opposition voices on the Web. It was 2009, and the authoritarian regime in Rwanda was facing mounting criticism of its human-rights record. It was accused of censoring the media, suppressing freedom, shutting down newspapers and creating a climate of fear. So it turned to a public-relations agency, Racepoint Group, that had already polished the image of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. [ Full Report ]
Colombo second worst stock exchange in the world
The Colombo Stock Exchange has seen a dramatic reversal from being the world’s best performing stock exchange to the second worst ahead of the Dhaka exchange in Bangladesh. The slump in the Colombo Stock Exchange was put down to over regulation by some players in the market. Brokers say the exchange is plagued by deep-rooted problems. Foreign inflows would also be needed to create funds for the market to grow. [ Full Report ]
India, Sri Lanka hold defence dialogue
Aiming to enhance bilateral defence cooperation and to discuss the regional security situation, India and Sri Lanka have held the inaugural round of Annual Defence Dialogue here. Indian delegation comprising officers of the armed forces and senior officials from the Ministry was led by Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma. Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa co-chaired the meeting alongwith with officials. The two officers later also called on Defence Minister AK Antony at his office in the South Block. [ Full Report ]
Alleged War Criminal as an Advisor to UN Secretary General?
The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil associations in Australia and New Zealand, is appalled by the news that Major General Shavendra Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy ambassador to the UN, will be part of a group advising Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He is one of many military men given top diplomatic posts by Sri Lanka essentially to offer them Diplomatic Immunity. [ Full Report ]
Sri Lanka Got Saudi & Nepal to Stand Down, Silva to Now Cede to Kohona?
Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky on January 30 told Inner City Press to "ask the member states in the Asian Group" -- so Inner City Press did. It emerges that there was no vote in the Asian Group. Rather, Sri Lanka got candidates Saudi Arabia and Nepal to stand down. Some credited Silva's boss and former UN official Palitha Kohona with accomplishing this troubling but in UN-speak "impressive" feat. [ Full Report ]
‘Lanka Parliament alone will decide devolution’
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday said the system of devolution in the island nation should be prescribed only by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to be set up for the purpose, and not by him or the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The President was responding to a query whether he had told Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, that he was “committed” to going beyond the 13th Amendment of the Lankan Constitution to devolve powers to the provinces. “I had told Krishna that I had no objection to going beyond the 13th Amendment, and that I had said so earlier too. However, I added that I could not take a decision on the matter arbitrarily. [ Full Report ]
Bound for Canada, stranded in Togo
Some two hundred Sri lankan refugees stranded in the tiny West African state of Togo have told the BBC that they fear for their life if they are deported back to their country. They are detained at an open stadium, in the country’s capital Lome, which they say belong to the Military. “We have been arrested and detained here on charges of over staying our visa period since 24th October last year and have been told that unless we voluntarily return to Sri Lanka, we would be deported forcefully” a resident at the detention centre told the Tamil Service. [ Full Report ]- Smugglers dump Canada-bound Tamils in Togo - Postmedia News
Rajiv Killing: HC Adjourns Hearing on Convicts Petition
Madras High Court today posted to March 27 petitions by three death row convicts in the 1991 Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case seeking to set aside the August 12 last order by the President rejecting their mercy pleas and to commute their sentences to life imprisonment. Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan sought the relief on the ground of 'undue delay' in disposal of their clemency petitions. When the petitions came up before a specially constituted Bench comprising Justice C Nagappan and N Satyanarayanan, Additional Solicitor General M Ravindran said a writ petition, challenging the delay in disposal of a mercy plea by Devender Pal Singh Bullar was pending in the Supreme Court and posted for hearing on February 22. [ Full Report ]
Fiery exchange between former allies Jayalalithaa, Vijayakanth in TN assembly
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Wednesday witnessed heated scenes with erstwhile allies chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa and actor and DMDK chief Vijayakanth confronting each other over their political bonding not too long ago. While Vijayakanth told Jayalalithaa that her party would not have come to power in the state without the help of his party, Jayalalithaa slammed her former electoral partner saying she was never interested in teaming up with his party, implying that she was forced to do so by her associates. "I regret doing that. We would have won without their support," she said in the assembly. [ Full Report ]- Jayalalithaa says she's ashamed of alliance with Vijayakanth - PTI
- Jaya-Vijayakanth war of words in TN Assembly - PTI
World Bank Approves Additional US $ 11 Million for ICT Enhancement Project in Sri Lanka
The World Bank today approved a US$11 million concessional credit to Sri Lanka in the form of additional financing to assist Sri Lanka enhance its ICT services that would help gain a considerable competitive advantage in the region post becoming a Middle Income Country. The implementing agency for this project is the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka.Improvements to this sector will bring the country to the next stage of ICT development resulting in an overall better ICT operating and enabling environment in the country. [ Full Report ]
Rajapaksa does a U-turn on 13th Amendment
After promising to go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution to find a solution to the Tamil ethnic problem, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has done a U-turn and said the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) would now have to suggest a solution. After a meeting with Mr. Rajapaksa on January 17, Mr. Krishna said in a statement: “I discussed this matter [political solution for Tamils] with His Excellency the President this morning. The President assured me that he stands by his commitment to pursuing the 13th Amendment [to the Sri Lankan Constitution] plus approach.” [ Full Report ]The Fog of an Uncivil War in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s Independence Day falls on Saturday, marking the former colony’s break from Britain in 1948. The timing would seem propitious for a reversal of the government’s stance on its refusal to make a break with its more recent past.Forwarding its report to the U.N. might also elicit some assistance from Washington if the United States and the European Union place further sanctions on Iran. Sri Lanka gets 93 percent of its oil from Iran. But the fog of war still has not lifted in Sri Lanka. [ Full Report ]Canada looks for ways to prevent honour killings in wake of Shafia trial
British Crown lawyers are trained in bringing perpetrators of “honour crimes” to justice. Immigrant boys in Sweden perform in plays against domestic violence. Muslim interest groups who challenge such violence have formed in the United States. This is all taking place because young, immigrant women were so gruesomely sent to their graves by male relatives that people in these countries banded together to say “never again.” [ Full Report ]- DiManno: Mohammad Shafia destroyed more than three children - Toronto Star
What happens when Canada’s housing bubble pops?
Last week Finance Minister Jim Flaherty hinted he is also worried about housing: “We watch the housing market carefully and we are prepared to intervene if necessary,” he said. The signs of a bubble are unequivocal. At 13 years and counting, Canada’s current housing boom is one of the longest-lasting in the world, the Bank of Nova Scotia noted in a recent report. The real price of Canadian homes has increased by 85 per cent on average since 1998. The scary part is that, by most accounts, 2012 is going to be the year when housing prices start heading south. The housing market is already showing signs of weakness. Despite a rebound in December, housing starts fell in the last quarter of 2011. [ Full Report ]
Canada: Clothing donation bins spark turf war in Ontario
The business of collecting donated clothes, selling them in local thrift stores and shipping them overseas has become so lucrative it has created a cut-throat turf war in Ontario. In 2010, Canadian exports of worn clothes were valued at $174 million. Ontario's share of that market is over $132 million. Most of the clothes went to African countries, India and Pakistan. [ Full Report ]U.S. punishing small nations, says Rajapaksa
As the combined United States and European Union sanctions against Iran take effect, small nations like Sri Lanka are extremely worried. Sri Lanka depends almost entirely on Iran for its crude oil supplies and the only refinery in the country, Sapugaskanda, can only process Iranian crude. “We are discussing on what we should do,” Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said, when asked what the options before the country were. [ Full Report ]
- Sri Lanka Says it Won'T Submit War Report to UN - AP
- Sri Lanka Says it Won'T Submit War Report to UN - AP
Attack on Viluthu head office condemned
A group of well-known civil society activists have strongly condemned the recent attack on the Colombo head office of Viluthu, a non-governmental organisation working to promote social justice and women’s rights. In a communiqué signed by 35 activists which was released today, the incident is described as a “cowardly act” that was “carried out in order to intimidate the organisation”. [ Full Report ]
UN to Get Peacekeeping Advice from Alleged War Criminal, Says Ban Powerless
At Monday's UN noon briefing, Nesirky told Inner City Press to ask the Asia group about Silva's nomination to the Advisory Group, and to ask Silva's Sri Lankan mission if the more than 100 repatriated soldiers were ever disciplined. It is simply the case that the General Assembly instructed the Secretary-General to establish this senior adviser group, and the General Assembly stipulated that the membership should comprise five representatives nominated by troop-contributing countries, five nominated by financial contributors and one representative named by each of the five regional groups. And as you well know, this particular individual was nominated by the regional group concerned — Asia. [ Full Report ]
Sri Lanka is no pearl on China's string, Rajapaksa says
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was emphatic: China's presence in Sri Lanka is strictly business, and not political. Challenged on speculation that China financed and built the $1.4 billion Mahinda Rajapaksa port on Sri Lanka's south coast so it could sneak a naval base into India's backyard, Rajapaksa laughed and said his giant neighbour had not complained. "No one has said anything to us, not India, not even the U.S. Even the U.S., the British and India are now inviting China to come and invest," he said on Tuesday at a meeting with foreign journalists. [ Full Report ]Sri Lanka war torn irrigation works get IFAD boost
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said it is giving a 22 million dollar loan to Sri Lanka to rebuilt irrigation works, which will help 7,000 farmer families in former war-torn areas. To respond to the needs of smallholder farmers in the Kilinochchi district of the Northern province, the project will improve the downstream irrigation infrastructure of the Iranamadu reservoir. "The reservoir, which has not been maintained adequately for many years, will be rehabilitated to increase its water-holding capacity," IFAD said in a statement. [ Full Report ]
Next Page News Room
Life term for Cambodia Khmer Rouge jailer Duch
Govt. attempting to borrow US$1 billion in international markets: Harsha
Human Rights Study Project Visits Sri Lanka
'US to pressure Sri Lanka on reconciliation process'
Letter on Sri Lanka to Permanent Representatives of Human Rights Council Member and Observer States
Sri Lanka’s Multi Billion Rupee Commitment – Courtesy China
Events
2012-02-16 - Puducherry- 605014, -
International Conference on Sri Lanka after the LTTE: Implications for India
2012-04-25 - Oslo, -
Norway Tamil Film Festival - 2012
Notices
© Copyright 1997-2012 TamilCanadian.com