Tag: politics

Oct 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s district judges and magistrates are striking Monday, while several lawyers associations had decided to keep away from court work, over the assault of a the secretary of the island’s independent judicial services commission. Sri Lanka abolished a civil service commission, which was in charge of appointing, transferring and […]

Oct 07, 2012 (LBO) – Contrary to popular belief that Chinese arms sales to Africa fuel wars and human rights abuses, it is the United States that sells more weapons to autocracies there, a Sri Lankan scholar says. Much of the ‘China-bashing’ in the Western media is driven by domestic protectionist pressures and is reminiscent […]

September 20, 2012 (LBO) – The United States Thursday reiterated that it had nothing to do with an anti Islam film that sparked violent protests by Muslim hardliners across the globe and cost the lives of US embassy staff including that of the ambassador in Libya. “It should be noted that the United States strongly […]

Sept 13, 2012 (LBO) – The Commonwealth is ready to help Sri Lanka strengthen its public service and key institutions, build leadership capacity of senior officials and uplift professionalism of the media, a top visiting official said. Sharma said the Commonwealth is also looking at developing youth entrepreneurship in rural areas, sports and development for […]

Sept 9, 2012 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party secured victory in three provincial council elections including one area ravaged by the island’s ethnic war that ended in 2009, according to results released on Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) swept the council polls in the north-central and central regions with near […]

Sept 04, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects to connect a 24MegaWatt heavy fuel oil fired power plant to boost supply to the northern Jaffna peninsula by January 2013, the island’s power ministry said. The 4.0 billion rupees plant is designed and built for the Ceylon Electricity Board by Lakdhanavi, an affiliated firm. Three 8.6MW […]

Sept 04, 2012 (LBO) – India’s central government is taking measures to ensure the safety of visiting Sri Lankans to the country, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman has said as tourists were targeted by Tamil Nadu protestors for the second day. On Monday Sri Lanka issued a travel advisory asking citizens not to travel to […]

Aug 21, 2012 (LBO) – Japan’s special envoy to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi will arrive in the Island Tuesday on a five day visit to assess post war developments, the Japanese embassy in Colombo said. Sri Lanka faces a periodic review at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this November where the island’s human […]

Aug 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will start diplomatic relations with 13 Latin American countries, cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. “Promotion of diplomatic relations in a wide scale in this region will be another step forward in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy,” a cabinet paper said. Diplomatic relations will be established with Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, […]

August 02, 2012 (LBO) – The United States Thursday welcomed the release of Sri Lanka’s National Action Plan on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) proposals saying its full implementation will help achieve reconciliation and long term peace. The post war commission appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa is seen as a home grown mechanism […]

July 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will inevitably be drawn in to power struggle for dominance in the Indian ocean as China increasingly seeks to extend its clout beyond its “traditional areas of operation into the Indian ocean,” a top US political scientist told a gathering in Colombo. Professor Sumit Ganguly, a renowned US […]

July 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Tuesday briefed diplomats on the implementation of recommendations of a post war commission that looked into the root causes of the island’s ethnic conflict, ahead of a key UN human rights review later this year. External Affairs minister G.L. Peiris and secretary to the president Lalith Weeratunga has […]