Tag: Sri Lanka
UN rights chief pre-judging Sri Lanka
August 30, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Friday suggested UN human rights chief Navi Pillay had pre-judged his Indian Ocean island, according to a statement from his office, as the nation faces allegations of war crimes.President Mahinda Rajapakse, in face-to-face talks with Pillay, told her that Sri Lankans believe that the UN is biased, […]
Sri Lanka becoming more authoritarian: UN rights chief
COLOMBO, August 31, 2013 (AFP) – UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Saturday accused Sri Lanka of becoming “increasingly authoritarian”, with activists facing growing military harassment four years after the end of a civil war.Rajapakse’s government has since been dogged by claims of indiscriminate killing of ethnic minority Tamils. Pillay charged that military officials […]
Sri Lanka inflation up 6.3-pct in August
Aug 30, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation measured in the capital Colombo rose 6.3 percent in the 12-months to August up from 6.1 percent in July, though prices fell during the month, the state statistics office said.The Colombo Consumer Price Index fell 0.6 points during August to 176.2 points. ¬¬The food and non-alcoholic beverages […]
Lanka steps up attack on UN rights chief
COLOMBO, August 29, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka ratcheted up criticism of the UN human rights body on Thursday, accusing it of repeated “vicious and baseless” allegations, as its chief visited the island to probe alleged war crimes.Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris told Navi Pillay that Sri Lanka “resents vicious and baseless positions which are […]
Sri Lanka slams UN rights body
COLOMBO, August 28, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has criticised the UN Human Rights Council as its top official toured the battle-scarred nation to probe alleged war crimes, according to state media Wednesday.President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is on a trip to Belarus, has told his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that both nations are being targeted […]
Sri Lanka to spruce up two cities with World Bank finance
Aug 29, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will borrow 200 million US dollars from the World Bank to develop two cities, the state information office said. The three year project will boost urban infrastructure in Kandy in central Sri Lanka and Galle in the South. The project will improve traffic and transport and solid waste […]
Sri Lanka signs economic and defence deals with Belarus
Aug 27, 2013 (LBO)- Sri Lanka has signed a series of bilateral deals involving trade, taxation, tourism and defence co-operation following a visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Belarus.Agreements on trade and economic co-operation, avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion, tourism and technical co-operation on military affairs had been signed, the media […]
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COLOMBO, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cultural affairs ministry has taken strong exception to a mass “wedding” of police dogs, which used symbols of traditional Buddhist nuptials on the Indian Ocean island. Culture Minister T.B. Ekanayake demanded an explanation for Monday’s ceremony in central Sri Lanka, which was intended to promote a programme […]
UN rights chief asked to trace Sri Lanka war missing
COLOMBO, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – Families of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s ethnic war demonstrated in the former rebel stronghold of Jaffna Tuesday as UN rights chief Navi Pillay visited the area on a fact-finding mission.Demonstrators led by women held photographs of their missing relatives outside the Jaffna library and urged Pillay, the […]
UN-ESCAP boss at South Asia econ summit in Sri Lanka
Aug 27, 2013 (LBO) – Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) will deliver the keynote address a regional economic forum in Sri Lanka. The 6th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES), will start in Colombo on September 02. The Institute of Policy Studies, a […]
Sri Lanka at helm of South Asia free trade effort
Aug 26, 2013 (LBO) – South Asian nations have to cut negative lists to improve the people’s trade freedoms, a top regional official had said following a ministerial meet in the Island nation.Ahmed Salem, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation had said a goal was established at a 2011 regional summit […]
” in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, August 25, 2013 (AFP) – The UN’s top rights official began her visit to Sri Lanka Sunday by brushing aside criticism that she overstepped her brief and vowing to raise human rights concerns with Colombo.Navi Pillay, who has previously called for a war crimes investigation against Sri Lanka, said she was only holding it […]