(Aiyathurai Nadesan serving as Batticaloa correspondent of the Tamil daily ”Virakesari” was shot dead in broad daylight in the heart of Batticaloa town by assassins belonging to the Eastern breakaway faction of the LTTE on May 31st 2004. His killer was believed to be none other than Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan who was later to become the first chief minister of the Eastern Provincial council. I am reproducing without any changes the article I wrote then for “The Sunday Leader”, to commemora

Lohini Rathimohan, a former television journalist from Sri Lanka, faces an unclear future. The 28-year-old is among 15 Tamil refugees still sheltered in a single room of an aluminum factory at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port whose official statuses remain uncertain, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said.

Rathimohan (whose name is also spelled Lokini) and others were granted UNHCR refugee status in November after they fled dangers at home to seek asylum in Australia. Upon hitting stormy seas, they were rescued by a Singa

Requesting your high level intervention to stop the torture by way of the use of chili by the Sri Lankan police during interrogations

I am writing on behalf of the Asian Human Rights Commission and the reason for addressing this to you directly is because there is no other authority within Sri Lanka which can exercise any effective control over the discipline of the police and intelligence services other than yourself as the executive president of Sri Lanka. This situation is due to the manner of the exercise of command respon

Around 200 doctors, attached to the Matara General Hospital, would go on a 24-hour strike from 8.00 a.m. today (07) in protest against the hospital’s Directress, Dr. Samanthi Samarakoon, whom they accuse of being inefficient.

The doctors have deicide to launch the strike due to the disappointment towards the incompetent administration of the Directress who has released false statements to media regarding the doctors at the hospital.

Officials have announced that lectures for several external programmes conducted by the university will not be held tomorrow and the day after, due to steps being taken to eradicate Dengue mosquito breeding grounds in the Colombo University.

Speaking to Newsfirst Dr. Kumara Hirimburegama, the Vice Chancellor of the Colombo University noted that as a result of this, lectures for external courses offered by the education, management and law faculties will be affected.

Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab): What recent discussions he has had with the Commonwealth ministerial action group on Sri Lanka. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt): The UK is not a member of the CMAG, but we have regular bilateral conversations with its members. We do not expect Sri Lanka to be on the formal CMAG agenda at

its next meeting on 26 April, but we expect, and support, it being discussed at some stage in the meeting.

The UNP said today it would request the Commonwealth heads to reconsider the participation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November had the government failed to fulfill its promises to the Commonwealth before the Northern Provincial Council elections.

UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera told a news conference the government had given numerous promises to the Commonwealth stating that it would take steps to protect Human Rights and also to establish independent commissions prior to the Northern Provincial Coun

A member of a UN’s five-man tribunal set up to hear the Philippines’ complaint against China over South China Sea, has resigned saying his wife is a Filipino, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.

In a letter addressed to Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza dated May 6, 2013, Judge Chris Pinto of Sri Lanka stepped down as judge of the Arbitral Tribunal, citing his wife is a Filipino national, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told a press briefing.

Two student groups of the Kelaniya University Science Faculty clashes late last night (June 6) leaving six persons injured and hospitalized, police stated.

The clash occurred at around 11pm last night while the injured students were taken to the Kirbiathgoda and Ragama hospitals.

Strongly protesting the `abduction` of 49 fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the external affairs ministry to secure their release.

`I request you to instruct the ministry of external affairs to immediately summon the high commissioner of Sri Lanka in New Delhi and lodge the government of India`s strong protest against this latest act of illegal and highhanded abduction of such a large number of innocent fishermen in the Palk Bay by the Sri